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Great Fabric – Not Necessarily By-the-Yard

Big Needles + Big Yarn = Fast Projects

Tina Hilton, contributor

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I love this Ballet T-shirt pattern!  You can find it in Teva Durham's book, Loop-d-Loop or on her website.

Courtesy Teva Durham

Big, beautiful Rowan Raspberry yarn begging to be wound around those hefty size 17’s!

Tina Hilton

Yes, there is such a thing as a size 35!!!

Tina Hilton

Now that’s what I call big! Julia Hopson of Knit Wits and Cornish Organic Wool was awarded The Guinness World Record for ‘Knitting with the Largest Knitting Needles’ in 2006.

Courtesy of Knitwits Penzance

I love this Ballet T-shirt pattern!  You can find it in Teva Durham's book, Loop-d-Loop or on her website.

Photo: Courtesy Teva Durham

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Simple, big needle projects have been calling to me in my dreams. Lately I have been feverishly working on a lacy summer top for the blog that is really fun but seems to be taking a long time to complete. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful and intriguing to knit but sometimes it’s fun to have a fast and easy project on the side for a dose of instant gratification. During a break from my knitting action I have taken a detour to investigate some big needle projects for those occasions where I need a quickie.

I began my quest with a dig through my knitting books. I immediately gravitated to Teva Durham’s Loop-d-Loop book of loveliness. Of the forty designs that grace the pages, nine are innovative projects knitted on biggie needles sized from a 13 to a whopping size 19. My Favorite is the Ballet T-Shirt ( see picture).  A visit to her website offers additional patterns to satisfy your need for a project to be done yesterday.

In my project staging drawer I have a stash of Rowan Big Wool in a rich raspberry waiting to be transformed into a yummy button front cardigan.  Rowan published a stylish pattern book a couple of years ago called Big It Up with over 15 designs using mostly size 15 and 17 needles. Rowan is really big into big, offering a variety of fat yarns including Big Wool, Biggy Print, Big Wool Tuft, Chunky Print and Scottish Tweed Chunky. Need patterns? Rowan has got you covered. Check out Big Just Got Bigger, Next Big Thing and The Big Easy for a wealth of inspiration

More big knitting resources:
Books -
Fast Knits Fat Needles by Sally Harding
Big Knitting by Sophie Britten
Big Needle Knitting by Bobbie Matela

Big yarns –
Colinette Point 5
Karabella Brushed Alpaca
Plymouth Yukon
Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick

Grab those turkey baster sized needles and start on a spectacularly big project today!


Knit well and often,

Tina

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Comments (4)

lavenderone writes: help. I saw a super poncho that was basically only a rectangle sewed together. The lady said she used only a garter stitch, bit needles and two yarns. I have tried to duplicate, but it seems not to work. Does anyone have suggestions?
Posted: 3:02 pm on August 30th

pamphyila writes: Looking for a good big needle design for mohair yarn to make a shawl - any ideas? pls post at www.myfrugallife.com/blog_pamphyila.html - in comments !
Thanks
Posted: 6:36 pm on August 13th

Tina_Hilton writes: If you love big needle knitting, check out a range of knitting books - Twinkles Big City Knits, Twinkles Weekend Knits and the latest, Twinkles Town & Country Knits (out September 2008). The fun and fab Twinkle designs are by designer Wenlan Chia (http://twinklebywenlan.com) who also has a range of companion yarn produced by Classic Elite and a range of ready to wear designs. Continue to have fun in a "big" way!

Tina
Posted: 10:48 am on August 3rd

margknittinaround writes: Thanks so much for posting - i luv the big needle projects and am always on a quest to find fun patterns to make. :) Marg
Posted: 9:10 pm on July 26th

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