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Jumbo Yarn: What exactly is it?
Jumbo yarn is the Craft Yarn Council size for six stitches or fewer per 4 inches, and I explain how arm knitting led to it and what it's good for.
Back in 2014 the Craft Yarn Council got together to address a phenomenon that had sprung up within the fiber arts community.
People were losing their stitches over this new craze…
Instead of using needles, this ingenious knitting method only required the use of your hands and gigantic pieces of wool roving.
These huge knits allowed the average craft inclined person to make a blanket in an afternoon.
The results were Instagram worthy, warm and cozy projects that began popping up on Pinterest boards everywhere.
Pretty soon yarn companies caught on to the trend and began producing super thick yarns that addressed some of the shortcomings of working with wool roving.
You see roving isn’t spun, so while it’s incredibly soft, it lacks any structural integrity. The projects would pill like crazy, and lose their shape over time.
These new yarns took innovative approaches to solving these problems.
Some filled fabric tubing with fibers, others used lightly spun felted fibers, and some made novelty yarns that were just REALLY big.
Enough of these yarns started to hit the market that the CYC created a brand new yarn size; JUMBO.
So what exactly is a Jumbo yarn?
According to the CYC, jumbo yarns have a stitch gauge of 6 stitches or fewer per 4 inches (10cm) and use a needle sized US 17 (12.75mm) or larger.
In the 8 years since this designation has been added, we’ve seen jumbo yarns come and go.
But they’re still a great way to explore a different facet of knitting.
So what are jumbo yarns good for?
In my opinion this type of yarn has two main uses:
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**Big knit accessories
**It’s fun to have an oversized hat, scarf or cowl, and these types of projects work up incredibly fast. -
**Blankets
**There’s basically no faster way to make a blanket for you living space. You can knit up a jumbo throw in an afternoon and a bed spread in a day or two.
One thing I love about jumbo knits is they emphasize the beauty of simple stitches.
A basic cable becomes a statement in a jumbo knit blanket, and every stitch of stockinette gets to shine.
Are jumbo yarns on their way out?
Or are they still the next BIG thing? 😉
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