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Knitting Jenny

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I had a Knitting Jenny! I don't remember how old I was, but I got it from 'Santa Clause' and I really loved it... until it broke.

I took my Knitting Jenny with me everywhere (except to school - but I think I did take it for show and tell). I made tobbogans and pocketbooks (drawstring bags), scarves, doll clothes and doll blankets.

It was bright orange plastic and had some sort of plastic stick tool for lifting the bottom loops over the top loops and off the pegs. It also came with a large plastic darning needle for stitching your projects together to make things. You had to take it apart to put it back in the box. It had legs on each end and I believe they fastened on with a wingnut. There was something about the way the pieces fitted together that meant the legs held the top part together. When it broke, one of the legs broke in half so it wouldn't hold together anymore and I couldn't use it anymore.

The past couple of weeks something reminded me of all the things I used to make and do and I started thinking about it, so I did a Google search and found this site. I just wanted to see one again. I was actually trying to find one on eBay after getting one of those little potholder looms from the 50's. I had always wanted one of those when I was young. All the other girls were making potholders. I think I was lucky that I got the Knitting Jenny instead. I do remember that I missed it very much after it broke. I guess I was too young to try to figure out a way to fix it - or maybe they just didn't have the kind of epoxy glues you can get now.

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Do You Remember Knitting Jenny?

Do You Remember Knitting Jenny?

  • Anonymous user
    on
    Found this page after searching for the Knitting Jenny. I got mine as a prize for selling something in elementary school in the mid 60s. All that's left is the wood "needle" it used.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Dear Linda M. Do you think it would be at all possible to put the taking the knitted item off the Jenny into a video? I have a scarf on that Im afraid to take off. With a video Id be more confident. Karen W. EMAIL: natosaki@yahoo.com
  • Anonymous user
    on
    hahaha!!!linda u r funny....i had a 'jenny',got me into handycrafts...
  • Anonymous user
    on
    To Ainsley and anyone else wanting to know how to use the Knitting Jenny. Though I no longer have the instruction book, I still use my Knitting Jenny. There is a similar item on the market known as a Knifty Knitter (tm). It has thicker pegs spaced further apart, but the process is the same. Start by anchoring the yarn in the slot on the left. Wrap the yarn clockwise around the lower-left peg, proceed to the upper-leftmost peg and wrap counter-clockwise. Continue looping each peg alternating between clockwise the bottom and counter-clockwise on the top until you've covered all the pegs (or as many as you want to use). The yarn should have enough tension to keep it from popping off the pegs, but not so much that it will be difficult to lift off later. This is how you cast on. Anchor the yarn in the slot on the right. Gently press the first row of loops to the bottom of the pegs. Remove the yarn from the right hand slot and begin wrapping in a zig-zag fashion starting with the lower right peg and proceeding to the top next-to right. From above, the new row will resemble a piece of ribbon candy. When all pegs except the top-rightmost have been looped, anchor the yarn on the left, then lift the loop from the bottom of each peg up and over the top of the peg. (Leave the peg with only one loop alone.) Gently press the remaining loops to the bottoms of their pegs. Remove the yarn from the left hand slot and beginning with the top left peg (skipping the lower leftmost), zig-zag the yarn back to the right. Again, it looks like ribbon candy. Lift the lower loops up and over the pegs as instructed above. Gently press the remaining loops down. Repeat the zig-zagging and loop-lifting until the piece is as long as you like. To bind off, you will want a crochet hook. Begin at the end opposite wherever you have parked the yarn. If the yarn is on you left, start with the top right peg, if it's on your right, begin with the lower leftmost. Lift the loop from the starting peg onto your crochet hook. Lift the loop from the peg directly opposite the starting peg onto your hook and pull it through the first loop. Continue lifting new loops and pulling them through what's on the hook, alternating between a peg on the top row and one on the bottom. When you've done all the loops in this way, wrap the yarn once around the hook, pull it through the final loop and cut the yarn end. Weave in the loose yarn tails and you're done. Now, who's up for how to do double knits with color swaps?
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Well, i just found mine again and there is a half finished thingy on it still. I am trying to find out how to finish it. Does anybody remeber how to use this thing?

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