FINGER WEAVING MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE A LEG TIE: To start you will need two different colors of wool yarn to work with. Two four inch long bamboo sticks like the ones you make kabob on. A tape measure to use for measuring the yarn pieces. Four very small rubbers band. You will need a pair of scissors to cut the yarn with. Measure your one color of yarn 36 inches long and make 12 of them. Now make 8 pieces of the other color 36 inches long. You should have 20 strands of yarn. Wind a rubber band around the end of each stick. Make sure you do both ends of each stick. SET UP Split your yarn into two different piles. Each pile should have six of one color and four of the other a total of ten. Take one pile of yarn and make sure all the ends are together so as to have 10 ends in your hand. Now find the middle of your yarn strands and lay something across the strands to mark it. Cut a piece of yarn five inches long. Where you have the yarn strands marked wrap your short piece around twice and then tie in a double knot. Now do the same with the other pile. The order that the strands will be placed on both the sticks is 3 of one color-4 of the other color-and 3 of the first color. You will start your work on the stick about 2 inches from where you have it tied. Using one stick and one pile of yarn you are going to wrap each strand of yarn around the stick just once going under the stick, up and over, to the left of where you started, and down the back side and let it hang down. Do this for each of the ten strands on the BOTTOM row. You will use the other stick and wrap the yarn once around going over the top of the stick, down and around, up over the back, to the left of where you started and then let it hang down. Do this for each of the ten strands on the TOP row. You can tell the difference because the bottom row the strands go under the stick and the top row the strands go over the stick. Cut another piece of your extra yarn about two feet long. Have your bottom row of strands in your left hand so the strands hang down so that the stick is going up your palm toward your fingertips. The strands should be hanging on both sides of your hand. Now place the top row over the one in your left hand in the same way. Take your right hand and rubber band the two sticks together at both ends. Gather all the strands, above the two sticks, hanging over the top of your hand, and tie them tightly together with a double knot. Now you will anchor this to the back of a chair or something that will not move with the short piece you just tied in the middle. WEAVING RULES The weaving goes from the right to the left. Always take the furthest strand to the right through the middle of the top and bottom rows. Always start your weaving by bringing up the furthest to the right strand from the bottom row. The next strand goes down from the top. When you have worked through the row the strand you brought through is always going down. HOW TO BEGIN WEAVING Hold your work in your left hand about 3 inches from where you are working. Place the bottom strands between the first and middle finger. The top row strands are held between the first finger and the thumb. Now take the first strand of yarn, which should be on the top row, through the middle of the top and bottom row and tie it in a loose knot on your stick. You are now going to weave by taking the bottom strand furthest to the right into your right hand. Next you will take the furthest to your right strand from the top row and let it drop down. Now you will take the furthest to you right strand on the bottom row and hold it in your hand so now you have two. Continue this across the row till you have ten in your hand and nine hanging over the back of your hand, Untie the one you have wrapped around your stick and it goes down. Make sure your work is neat. You will learn how to use tension to keep the edge even and good looking. Tighten you weaving up close to the strand that you pulled through by pulling the top strands up and the bottom strands down. You have now completed your first row of weaving. Continue doing this until you are about four inches from the end of your work. NEXT STEP Start on the left and take one strand from the bottom and one from the top and tie it in a double knot up next to where your weaving stopped. Do this all the way across. Go back to the left side and start braiding the ends three strands at a time and putting a knot at the end of each braid. One of the braids will have four strands in it and you decide which one you want to put it in. TURN AROUND TIME It is time to untie your work from where ever you have it anchored and to carefully cut the yarn you bound the strands together with. Now anchor your leg tie by the finished end by tying a piece of yarn about two inches down on your weaving. Make sure that you are holding onto your leg tie so that you will be working from right to left, and that the farthest strand to the right is on the top row. Repetition here will be helpful. Make sure the bottom strands are between your first finger and your middle finger of your left hand. Have the top strands on top of your first finger and hold them with your thumb. Remove the rubber band off the ends of the sticks. Now for the magic act, you will pull that sticks out as you do not want them as a permanent part of your leg tie. Now you can start to weave again from right to left and you have all the directions you need for that. Just a few final words: Try to make sure your strands stay in the right order and you will be very successful. As we are made in our creators image and we do not want to try to out do him. It is important that everything we make have a mistake in it to show respect for he who made us. PLEASE remember that the only stupid question is the one you do not ask. NEVER under estimate or prejudge anyone's ability to do anything. POSITIVE thinking WILL bring positive results. Have lots of fun and relax. I am learning disabled and was able to learn how and I can do it with my eyes closed...now. Love to all and here is a big hug Little Mother Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/