I just inherited a WHOLE LOT of chenille yarn, both cotton and synthetic, from someone who is moving. The yarn is beautiful, colorful, and delightful, but I havn’t the foggiest what kind of projects/objects/garmets/tricks/pitfalls/etc come along with it.
So I’m throwing out a request for ideas on what to knit with it (I’m an intermediate/advanced knitter in terms of stitches if not yarn), what works well with it, and otherwise general info about how to work with it.
Thanks for the help!
All I have any idea about using it for is for a scarf. I made my mom a gorgeous scarf using the chenille I had. Good question though. I have a skein left over of the Chennile thick and quick and would like some ideas for it.
Trish
bumping for ideas. i’ve inherited some chenile too! but only a small quantity…
What about a floppy teddy bear or sock monkey type thing? They would certainly be cuddly! Or knit a small tube, thread some elastic through and make a scrunchie. An afghan and matching throw pillow? Knit 2 squares and stitch them together around a plain white pillow form… OR a pillow in a complementary color, if you want to do some openwork knitting, I think that would look neat (I’m picturing a wine colored pillow encased in emerald green)
How come I can never think of anything when I need an idea? Now I guess I have to go buy some chenille and a pillow.
thanks for the ideas hildegard! was that totaly off the cuff!?
Yeah, nice ideas, HVK! If I run out of ideas for my pattern book, I know who to call!
Amy
These are some great ideas!
Of course, the chenille I inherited is is huge spools (a foot tall, 8-10 inches wide or more each!) and very fine weight (thinner than fingering weight sometimes). Lots of these ideas sound like they’d work better with thicker yarn.
So another question:
Is there a good way to work with more than one ply of yarn, or wrap yarn balls or hanks in double or triple ply, or otherwise find some handy way to multiply the threads to thicken them?
And for all those pattern ideas, I want to go out and get more normal weight chenille and knit them! Which is the last thing I need because I have a whole corner of my room devoted to chenille spools now
I’ve always prefered faster projects. If it were me, I’d double or triple it, as you say. Or knit something small with it.
If you’ve got more than you’ll ever use, you could sell some of it on eBay, and use the money to buy other yarn you like!
Chenille, chenille! I think people either love it or hate it.
I have half of my walk-in closet filled with cones of chenille in a ton of different thicknesses and colors.
One hint is that it seems easier to crochet with than it is to knit. It tends to be kind of twisty. Try putting a manageable amount into a ball rather than knitting it right off the cone. Otherwise, you might see some slanty knitting fabric and you’ll get discouraged. A little trick I do is to keep the tension kind of taut and even is by threading my working yarn between my toes, giving me a couple of nice straight feet of yarn leading up to my hand.
Having said that, I will tell you it’s really lovely to make into a bathrobe, or pillows as someone else said. Afghans are also great made of chenille. Scarves, beret-type hats…anything that should be soft and cuddly. I tried to make a tote bag out of it, but it was too squishy so I doubled it with some color-coordinated homespun and the bag is great.
I have some white chenille that is 2000 ypp. For the longest time I didn’t know what to make out of it, but now I think it would be really nice made into a very lacy shawl. mmmmmmmmmm
Good luck with your chenille. If you like it, yell out and I will tell you where I get all mine at an amazing price.
I love cotton chenille too. I have some Crystal Palace and wondered if it is thick enough for a bathrobe or shawl? If not, do I double it or switch to a different chenille? If I need to switch, which cotton chenille do you (or anyone) suggest? Also I’d love to know where you get your chenille at a great price.
Here’s some nice chenille patterns from Patternfish.
Beth and Lizzy…this post is 11 yrs old. The original poster hasn’t been here for years. :teehee:
Thank you for the resource Lizzi! ~beth
Thanks for the great resource Lizzie. ~beth