Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits: 20 Shawls, Hats, Ponchos, and More in Bulky Yarn

by Barbara Benson, Gale Zucker (Photographer)

Overview

Lace gets a whole new look! Lace has traditionally been knit in finer weight yarns to create airy, delicate designs. But when knit in bulky yarns, lace becomes bold, graphic, and dramatic. Working with thicker yarns also makes the projects move along more quickly and the lace repeats shorter, so it's easy to learn new stitches and techniques. For those new to bulky yarns, Barbara Benson shows you how these yarns work best in lace designs and provides tips and tricks for reading and executing lace patterns. Then you are ready to knit any of the 20 patterns for beautiful lacy shawls, mitts, hats, cowls, blankets, and more. Gorgeous photography by Gale Zucker shows the pieces to their full, stunning effect. Get those big needles and chunky yarn ready to roll!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811737876
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	07/01/2019
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,163,373
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Barbara Benson is an independent designer, knitting instructor, and the author of Mosaic & Lace Knits. She lives in Sarasota, Florida, and her designs are available online as well as in various books and publications. She teaches at both local yarn stores and national venues such as Interweave Yarnfest. Her love for teaching and talking about knitting can also be seen in the hundreds of videos on her popular YouTube channel “WatchBarbaraKnit.”

Table of Contents

Introduction v

Getting Started with Lace 1

The Patterns 7

Shoot the Moon 9

Asymmetrical Balance 13

Sparrow Grass Hat 17

Rocinante 23

Coefficient of Modulation 27

To Warmly Go 31

Giant Elves 37

Teeter Totter Toque 41

Cinches and Ladders 45

Signet Throw 49

Dash Panel 55

Un, Deux, Trois 59

Bonus Stitch Hat 65

Drunk Spider 69

Shorty Squiggle Mitts 73

Hearts in Chains Poncho 77

Rupee Slouch 83

Avasarala 89

Bitis Shawl 95

Iguazu Falls 101

Techniques 107

Knitting in the Round 108

Cast-On/Bind-Off 109

Abbreviations 115

Yarn Sources 119

Acknowledgments 120

Visual Index 121

Editorial Reviews

Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits will give you all the inspo you need to change up your shawl and accessories game. The premise is that if you zoom in on daintier lace patterns, you'll get an entirely different effect. That's what Barbara Benson, host of the popular YouTube channel "WatchBarbaraKnit," found when she began knitting lace with larger needles and zaftig yarns. In addition to dramatic time savings afforded by upsizing your materials, you'll discover new surface-design potential in the exaggerated stitches presented here. For example, Benson's Cinches and Ladders cowl uses big moves (double yarn overs and cinch-4 stitches) to create a graphic neck warmer knitted at 2.25 stitches to the inch. Un, Deux, Trois is a two-skein wonder that retains its lacy feel in spite of the supersized gauge. And the bold lace of Bitis will chase the chill of untamed air-conditioning all summer long. Use this as a primer to explore lace knitting on a larger, quicker scale or to lace up something fast.

From the Publisher

Synopsis: Lace has traditionally been knit in finer weight yarns to create airy, delicate designs. But when knit in bulky yarns, lace becomes bold, graphic, and dramatic. Working with thicker yarns also makes the projects move along more quickly and the lace repeats shorter, so it's easy to learn new stitches and techniques. For those new to bulky yarns, in the step-by-step illustrated instructions that comprise "Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits: 20 Shawls, Hats, Ponchos, and More in Bulky Yarn", Barbara Benson shows how these yarns work best in lace designs and provides tips and tricks for reading and executing lace patterns. Gorgeous photography by Gale Zucker show the pieces to their full, stunning effect. Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits: 20 Shawls, Hats, Ponchos, and More in Bulky Yarn" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library Needlecraft instructional reference collections. It should be noted that "Big Yarn, Beautiful Lace Knits" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.49). Editorial Note: Barbara Benson is an independent designer, knitting instructor, and the author of "Mosaic & Lace Knits". Her designs are available online as well as in various books and publications. She teaches at both local yarn stores and national venues such as Interweave Yarnfest. Her love for teaching and talking about knitting can also be seen in the hundreds of videos on her popular YouTube channel "WatchBarbaraKnit."

Wisconsin Bookwatch - James A. Cox

Lace has traditionally been knit in finer weight yarns to create airy, delicate designs. But when knit in bulky yarns, lace becomes bold, graphic, and dramatic. We all know that working with thicker yarns also makes the projects work up more quickly and the lace repeats shorter. Using bulky weight yarn for knitting lace makes it easy to learn new stitches and techniques. One of the things that you will learn from Barbara in this book is that not all yarns play well with lace knitting. Learn from Barbara’s experiments on how to pick the yarn that will be best for the lace work you would like to try. You will also learn how to read lace charts as the are a little different than some of the other knitting charts you might have seen before. Walk through this book and study the tips and tricks of lace knitting and you will be ready to knit any of the 20 patterns for beautiful lacy shawls, mitts, hats, cowls, blankets, and more.

Marly Bird