Sneak Peek

We will have a new yarn from The Fibre Co. on September 1. I was asked not to share pictures of the garments yet but I have been given the go ahead to share these pictures.

I saw the yarn and garments at TNNA. There will be 6 colours coming in September and then more in October.

Jilly Petites arrived today.

Little bundles of joy.

It hit Lynn and I today that it is just over 3 weeks until the Knitters' Fair. OH NO! Tomorrow we are starting on kits.

And tonight I am knitting on my Comfort Fade Cardi. The second sleeve is almost finished. Sarah and Lynn - I hope you guys are working on yours :)

Alpacas = Knitting Related

There are a few ways I can get home from work and one takes me on back roads past a little farm. Alpacas. Goats. An Ostrich. An Emu.  Peacocks.

It's located at the corner of Book and Smith Road. This is on Book Road between Glancaster Road and Southcote Road.

Dad and Beth have taken to feeding the animals. All our leftover fruits, vegetables and bread are packed up daily and one of them stops to feed their friends. There are benches to sit on and at night families stop with their kids. Dad and Beth love giving their food to the kids to give to the animals.

A lot of the goats are numbered. This is 18. According to dad and Beth he is mean to the other animals.

I was out of the house early today for an appointment with Trish. Then onto the store to water plants and a stop at Ancaster Community Services. They are doing their annual back to school backpack drive. Dad and Beth spent a bit of money at Walmart on Saturday so we dropped everything off. I realized I didn't have much to blog about so I stopped at the farm for pictures. There are Alpacas so it is knitting related.

I've been making my class notes for Camp. I think that my Brioche handouts are just about finished. My students are lucky. There is almost no homework. Now I'm making swatches and more swatches.

I spent some time on the Camp Fashion Show as well. We have a lot of garments coming from Rowan. The Fibre Co. is sending us 12 garments. Then we need to add in samples from the store. This is going to be our best Fashion Show yet. As the Fashion Show is finishing on Friday evening a newsletter is sent to the students with a list of all the garments and the link to their patterns on Ravelry. This makes it easy for them to find the patterns that they like. This takes some time so I started today. Here is a portion of last year's newsletter.

I've spent a lot of time typing today so now it's time to knit.

Petites

Thirty rows and Time Trades is finished. It hasn't come out this weekend because I've been working on the Comfort Fade Cardi. The second sleeve should be cast off early this week.

There is a box on the way to us from Dream in Color. It is in Canadian Customs right now and we hope to see it this week. Then I looked online. The box was just released from Customs this afternoon so we should see it on Tuesday.

Jilly Petites. Mini skeins of single ply yarn in fun colours. These will work great for the beginning of Time Trades.

21 colours - 5 skeins each

Each skein is 68m/75 yards 

There will be 10 Semi-solid colours. 5 skeins each. 

I asked the ladies at Dream in Colour to add some full skeins as well. They chose 25. What colours? I don't know. It is going to be a surprise.

Jilly is 100% super wash merino

Single ply fingering weight

400m/440 yards on a 100gram skein

I typed in 'mini skeins' under patterns on Ravelry and there are 7 pages of great designs.

Now some knitting and Big Brother. 

Cosy Merino

Cosy Merino, a collection of 6 gorgeous accessories by Quail Studio for Rowan using the new luxurious Select yarn, Cosy Merino. 

The pattern book and yarn are on the way to us. All the patterns are available for free on Ravelry. We are receiving some books and while available they are free when you purchase the yarn.

A boucle type yarn lending itself perfectly to textured stitches. This super luxury wool is blended with Cashmere and Yak making it a fantastic choice for your winter accessories. 

Not only is the yarn beautifully soft, the natural qualities of Yak and Cashmere offer less static, meaning it’s less likely to cling to your body or other clothes while providing lightweight insulating warmth.

I've been working on brioche swatches for my Camp class. Fiona always has a lot of swatches for her classes and I want to keep up.

Look, her swatches even have neck shaping and a collar. I'm not going that crazy.

Comfort

Look who came out to play.

I brought out the Comfort Fade Cardi this afternoon. The second sleeve is on the needles and I'm working on the solid section of the third colour. Hopefully by working on mine I will nudge Lynn and Sarah to finish theirs. The KW Knitters' Fair will be here soon.

Lynn just finished a sock. She used Opal Colors in Love with a skein of Shepherd Sock for the heels and toes. The pattern is the Smooth Operator Socks.

From Susan B. Anderson who designed the socks.

I love knitting top-down socks and I love self-striping and patterning sock yarn. I also love it when the patterning in the yarn doesn’t get broken up or rearranged on the front of the sock. This often happens when you are knitting the heel section of the sock. To avoid this problem I started exploring the afterthought heel, where the heel stitches are placed on waste yarn and saved for later. With a little variation of my own, I’ve found that this heel is a clever and perfect solution for your striping sock yarn woes. 

What’s different about the Smooth Operator Socks you might ask? The pattern is written for four different sizes and includes instructions for both double-pointed needles and Magic Loop. The tutorial pattern is written in conversational style with tips and tricks along the way. The pattern includes step-by-step tutorials with photos but also has a quick read version at the end for those who don’t need the tutorial or want to have a printed version. The quick version is 3-pages long without photos. 

I have a modified twist for placing the heel waste yarn that makes it much easier to remove later. Also, I’ve never loved the look of the bars of stitches in between the decreases that run along both sides of the heel and toe. I’ve found a sleeker decrease sequence to eliminate those bars so the sock looks almost completely seamless and so smooth. I like to complete the afterthought heel before the foot of the sock is finished so taking accurate measurements for the foot length is much easier. 

I hope you enjoy knitting the Smooth Operator Socks as much as I do. This is now my go-to sock for self-striping or patterning yarn although it will work for variegated, solid or tonal yarns just as well. Best of all, the fit is perfect!

I love how the striping pattern looks around the heel. No more wonky stripes.

She still likes to lay on the deck.

40 years

I love Rowan Felted Tweed. These designs are from the new book New Vintage DK. Somehow it was missed in our last order but we should be receiving it by the end of the month. Can't wait? You can purchase the patterns on Ravelry.

New Vintage DK is a collection of 14 designs inspired by classic cables, geometric pattern and lace work. Designed by Lisa Richardson, Martin Storey, Sarah Hatton, Vibe Ulrik, Georgia Farrell and Quail Studio

Basilica (above) is knit with 6 colours.

Knit this women's cardigan from New Vintage, a design by Martin Storey using our beautiful tweed effect yarn Felted Tweed (wool, alpaca and viscose.) Knitted in a stunning stripe sequence and with a small, shawl collar, this pattern is suitable for the more experienced knitter.

Corinthian (below) is knit with 3 colours.

Knit this accessory shawl from New Vintage, a design by Martin Storey using our beautiful tweed effect yarn (wool, alpaca and viscose.) Knitted in a stunning stripe sequence using three shades of yarn, this pattern is suitable for the beginner knitter.

Repton takes 9-12 balls. What a great cardigan to throw on.

Knit this women's cardigan from New Vintage, a design by Lisa Richardson using our beautiful tweed effect yarn (wool, alpaca and viscose.) With an all over textured pattern, v neck and pockets, this pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Felted Tweed is a beautiful blend of 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose.  The yarn has a beautiful tweed effect, perfect for fairisles, striping and other colour work and is the obvious choice for winter projects. The rustic colour palette makes this yarn a firm favourite, with shades ranging from cool, watery tones, to warming cherry red and fiery ginger. 

*Please note, this is a lightly pre-felted yarn. Please follow care instructions, as the yarn may felt further if washed incorrectly.

It hasn't arrived yet but it's coming. The book will sell for $37.95.

40 years and 40 magazine covers - which is your favorite?! 

This beautiful hard cover book takes a look back at some of our most-loved designs from Rowan. 

From the introduction by Marie Wallin: "I hope you will enjoy this book, and as it takes you on a journey through these four glorious decades of spectacular knitwear design, I hope you will fall in love with Rowan all over again."

Here is a preview of some of the patterns that will be in the book. There will be 20 patterns that have been knit in new yarns and refreshed colour palettes.

This will be appearing in the next Rowan newsletter. We're very excited to part of Rowan's 40th Celebration.

Part of the celebration is Rowan Anniversary Mugs. These are on order but I don't know when they will be arriving. Reserve yours now. They will sell for $16.50.

Now it's time for a bit of knitting. I have a few projects to get finished for The Knitters' Fair and Knitting Camp.