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.]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

Comments

Have you read?