KNITmuch Issue 16

Stay on trend with Bella Chenille Big Glimmer:
Why this yarn is a favorite!
Cynthia MacDougall
Bella Chenille Big Glimmer yarn
I couldn’t resist! This i-cord is 7⁄8” [2cm] wide! I laid
it over a ruler so you can see!
You can use Bella Chenille Big Glimmer to make
this wreath.
We’re kicking off 2022 in a BIG
way with Bella Chenille Big by
Universal Yarn! Bella Chenille has
been around for a while, but in
this series, I’m looking at the new
Glimmer line.
Bella Chenille Big is a 100%
polyester chenille yarn, and in
each ball of Glimmer, 6% of the
polyester fibers are metallized,
giving each of the 12 colors a soft
shimmer that children and adults
alike are bound to love.
It’s really challenging to get a
photo to show off a shimmer or
metallic fleck in yarn. You can
see white flecks in the purple
ball. That’s the light catching the
metallized fibers!
A super bulky yarn, the
recommended gauge for Bella
Chenille Big Glimmer is about
6 stitches to 4” [10cm]! The
recommended needles are,
well, huge, at size 13 or 15 [9 or
10mm], so, if you want a quick
scarf, 12-15 stitches ought to
do it! It also makes the biggest
i-cord ever!
Bella Chenille Big Glimmer
comes in 12 sumptuous shades.
Drift (white), Believe (pale
pink), Dewdrop (pale gray), and
Reflection (pale blue) would
all make great baby play mats.
If you prefer jewel tones for
babies, Thorn, Dreams, Thistle,
Primrose, and Starlight (rich
shades of green, navy, teal, red,
and purple respectively) fill the
bill, and if neutrals rock your
world, the aforementioned Drift
and Dewdrop can be paired
with Whispers (medium gray),
Hourglass (sandy beige), and
Magic (shimmery black).
Each ball of this big yarn has
200g (about 7oz), with 87 yds
[80m], which minimizes the
frequency of yarn joins.
One ball of Bella Chenille Big will
make a hat, two will make a cowl,
and a whole bunch will make one
of those hooded-blanket-withsleeves
that are all the rage this
winter (and perfect for my chilly
basement!). There’s no better
yarn for trapping air and making
one stylishly cozy than Bella
Chenille Big Glimmer!
Other cool (well, warm) ideas
for this yarn include a top-down
capelet using – or adapting – a
chunky knit, round yoke sweater
pattern; a bed or TV watching
jacket; a cozy tuck-in for around
a baby’s car seat; some truly
fuzzy slippers; a hot water bottle
cover; bed scarf; even a festive
Christmas wreath! If I had a
supply of Thorn or Primrose, I
might be tempted to adapt this
wreath pattern I did two years
ago! I wonder if I have a cable
needle that’s big enough!
This wreath was originally knit in
double knitting weight yarn, but
I could use Thorn or Primrose to
adapt it on a large scale for Bella
Chenille Big Glimmer.
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KNITmuch | issue 16