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.]

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The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

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