Quince &Co Puffin and chunky yarns for quick knits
As we reach the midpoint of winter in the northern hemisphere, there is still plenty of cold weather knitting time ahead. Knitting with chunky yarns allows you to knit a cosy and warm garment fairly quickly that’s perfect for the winter months.
Not to say that there isn’t an immense satisfaction and value in spending as long as it takes on your project, but sometimes when we need something nearer to instant gratification, chunky knits are the way to go.
This week we have some inspiration from Quince & Co and their new Puffin Collection. Super chunky and bulky yarns are great for beginners, and experienced knitters alike and chunky yarn makes it possible to experiment knowing you can quickly start again or unravel a few rows if you make a mistake.
Quince & Co have come up with some lovely designs perfect for a beginner or anyone wanting a bit of something stylish, cosy and quick to knit.
Miquelon Sweater
Cables and textures are absolutely scrumptious worked in a chunky, round yarn like Puffin. Miquelon, designed by Pam Allen, takes full advantage of those qualities, featuring a central ribbed cable and twisted stitch motif that leaps out in substantial relief from the subtly textured background of reverse stockinette.
Oderin Sweater
Oderin is another great pattern for showing off those beautiful cables that just pop off the fabric. Oderin has a slight A-line silhouette with clever shaping in between the bold cable motif on either side. Minimal and unfussy, it is completely seamless with unfinished edges and a simple garter neckband. Beautiful minimalism and a drapey fit. Yes please!
Wadham Pullover
If it’s the elegance of simple stockinette you’re after, Wadham Pullover is a super stylish and minimal top-down sweater with amazing drape and billowy sleeves. Pam Allen has used a large 12.75mm needle to achieve the drapey softness of this elegant sweater.
More chunky knits
For more inspiration, check out Tara Lynn Morrison,a Canadian designer who has some great designs on Ravelry for chunky yarns. The Kelowna Sweater is knit in a bulky weight merino and mohair blend. KOKON chunky mohair would be beautiful or several strands of silk/ mohair held together for a super light fabric.
Neringa Ruke on Ravelry has some lovely chunky knitwear designs including the Diamond Chunky Pullover. Knit in a wool and alpaca blend chunky yarn, we think the Rico Alpaca Twist Chunky would work really well.
Remember to check your gauge on the pattern you are using to make sure you purchase enough yarn to achieve the size you’d like. You can also create your chunky gauge by combining several strands. Combining two strands of worsted weight yarn will give you a gauge closer to chunky/ bulky yarns but there are so many possible combinations. Try mixing a worsted/ Aran weight and some Melted Baby Suri for extra fluff and warmth. If you need some help in figuring out your gauge, Susanna Winter has a clear and informative post about calculating yarn held double.
Chunky yarns round up
- Qing Big Merino Chunky is another beautiful chunky single ply yarn perfect for quick knit hard-wearing garments and accessories. Available in Qing Fibre’s signature speckled hand-dyed palette.
- Quince & Co Puffin is spun from sturdy American wool. Its single-ply construction knits up into garments with a soft halo and a broken-in feel. Great for wear all-the-time sweaters as well as quick and cosy accessories. Also from Quince & Co, Osprey is a squishy 3 ply chunky aran weight yarn with a relaxed twist. We’ve just had a large delivery so should be all stocked up on many of the colours.
- Illimani Cadena is a super bulky and incredibly soft merino and alpaca blended yarn with a chained construction. We also have a free pattern for this yarn! The Alvaro Scarf , designed by Rachel Atkinson is a great way to play with textured stitches and it knits up in no time.
- BC Garn Hamelton 2 is a beautiful, classic wool yarn in a luxury quality with a rustic look. Hamelton Tweed 2 is the same yarn in an autumnal palette full of speckles.
- Mrs Moon Plump is another super chunky wool. Superfine Australian merino wool blended with 20% baby alpaca makes for an incredibly soft fibre. Mrs Moon have some wonderful patterns for this yarn.
- De Rerum Natura Cyrano is a slightly lighter aran/bulky weight yarn that is 100% merino and is woollen spun, making it light and airy. Cyrano is perfect for showing off cables and stitch definition and comes in 26 beautiful colours.
- KOKON chunky mohair is a blend of South African and Merino mohair with a touch of nylon for strength. We still have a few kits for the Floral Kokon Blouse knit in this gorgeous yarn. KOKON chunky mohair makes an incredibly light and warm garment and can be knit on a wide range of needle sizes.
- Rico Essentials Alpaca Twist Chunky is a fairly new yarn to Loop. A combination of wool, alpaca and a smidge of acrylic for strength and long wear. This one would be perfect for a big cosy crochet blanket or sweaters and cardigan with a stylish and soft drape.
Recent arrivals
We have some very special La Bien Aimeé Helix in stock at the moment. Helix is a light and lofty lace weight/light fingering yarn that is made up of high quality merino wool with Gotland wool fibre. Helix held together with Mohair Silk results in a light and delicate fabric with a lovely drape and fluffy halo. Helix is not a base we usually stock at Loop so supplies are limited.
Texture by Erika Knight
With simple and stylish shapes, Erika Knight has come up with a series of 20 modern yet timeless garments. Including inspiring photography that showcases the beautiful designs. The patterns use a wide variety of yarn weights from lace to super bulky making this book the ultimate source for knitted texture.
Biches & Buches Le Gros Silk Mohair
New to Loop! We are very excited to have this DK weight Silk and Mohair blend yarn from Biches & Buches. The colours compliment the palette of their other bases like Le Petit Lambswool and Le Cashmere & Lambswool making them perfect for combining in patterns when several strands of yarn are held together like many of the PetiteKnit designs. We’ve also seen some beautiful versions of the Snowy Forest sweater by Midori Hirose in Laine Issue 10 knit in this, and it’s incredible!
Mina Perhonen fabric swatches
Some new packs of textile swatches from Mina Perhonen will be up on our website by sunday afternoon. They are a mix of all kinds of cottons, voiles, and silk blends that are wonderful for any kind of stitching, embellishing of woven or knit fabrics.
Textiles Transformed
After a slight delay we have received more Textiles Transformed books by Mandy Patullo. Congratulations again to Justine Hughes and Marsy Sumner our blog and Instagram winners of the textile giveaway! Your parcels with beautiful textile treasures are on their way. Enjoy them!
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