Giant Knitting is Big

There are lots of different ways to knit, using needles, a loom, your fingers or your hands. And there are lots of scales on which you can knit, from teeny tiny projects that might fit a mouse to human-scaled objects and gigantic projects literally worked on broomsticks or bigger needles.

This story is on the big side. Huffington Post recently wrote a story about knitting on a large scale, and though the lede paragraph is horrid (knitting is the new black and a reference to rocking chairs in just two sentences), it is interesting to see the giant blankets and other projects that can be made when you work with giant yarn and needles.

While the story is mostly talking about projects that are so big they wouldn’t use even conventional jumbo yarns and needles, this is a trend we can all try on a slightly smaller scale by using really big yarn and needles, holding multiple strands of yarn together to make a larger yarn or even doing arm knitting, which makes much bigger stitches than you can get with standard needles.

Do you like the big knitting trend? Have you knit with jumbo yarns? This time of year is a great time to consider it if you still have gift knitting to do!

[Photo from Instagram user lilyandpeabody, via Huffington Post.]

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

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