What’s Bulky Weight Yarn?

Bulky yarns are thick yarns that are fast and fun to work with!

You can use them for knitting and crocheting all sorts of things like garments, accessories, blankets, baskets, totes, pillows, you name it 🙂 If you need a bit of inspiration I have gathered some really nice crochet and knitting kits made with bulky weight yarn. Just scroll down and you will find them at the end of the post!

But back to what bulky yarn is. Yarns are divided into categories after weight aka thickness. This is the yarn weight categories sorted from the lightest to the thickest:

bulky yarn facts:

• Meterage / Yardage: approx 100–130 yards / 90–120 meters per 100 grams
• Needle size: US 9–11 / 5,5–8 mm
• Hook size: 6,5–9 mm, or K–10½ to M–13
• Gauge: 12–15 knit stitches; 8–11 crochet stitches per 4 inches / 10 centimeters
• Please take into consideration that these numbers are only recommended. All yarns are different, and so are knitters too 🙂

Bulky yarns are fun to knit and crochet! If you switch to bulky yarn from a thinner weight you will be surprised by how fast it works up! But also with how different it feels to work with! Items made with bulky yarn also get a certain expression that you can’t achieve with lighter yarns.

The heavy yarn produces large stitches that are more visible. Textured and three-dimensional stitch patterns like cables, lace stitches, or knit and purl stitch patterns make a real impact when done in bulky yarn.

Big stitches also make it easy for beginners to learn how to “read” their stitches and see where they are and what to do next.

Bulky yarn can also be called:

• Group 5, bulky
• Chunky
• Craft
• 12 Ply
• 14 Ply

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Bulky yarn crochet kits

Bulky yarn knitting kits