Big Wool

Here is a little sneak peek into one of the new books that will be available tomorrow.  

The designs in this book are knit in Big Wool. There are four brand new colours.

I brought yarn home to knit the vest. This is the project I talked about in yesterday’s post.

I chose lime.

The books are available online. We will be shipping on Wednesday.

I’m working from home tomorrow. My goal is to send out a newsletter tomorrow morning. After that I will get the new Rowan spring colours online including the four new Big Wool Colours. Then I need to finish orders for Hedgehog Fibres and Madelinetosh. They are ready to dye yarn for us.

My vest is cast on and I’m ribbing. 

Two More Sleeps

Today I got caught up on my Temperature Blanket.  

It’s very exciting seeing the purples. They are pretty in the blanket and it means warm days.

The new Rowan and Mode at Rowan books are ready to go live on March 1st. Two more sleeps. They should show up at 12:01am but I won’t be up at that time to confirm.

A new yarn is set to show up then too.

I’m mad at myself because we put the Rowan boxes away when they arrived two weeks ago and I didn’t remember that one of the books is for a yarn we already have. I wouldn’t call it a spring yarn and the patterns can be worn now. I could have had a new garment for Wednesday. I’m going to grab the pattern and yarn tomorrow and maybe I will have something new for Saturday. If I lived closer to the store I would have been there this afternoon. 😂

Tonight’s post is short because we are tidying the house. Terry is coming to clean tomorrow. She does the kitchen and bathrooms for us. Between Jackson and Lucy we have lots of dog hair running around our floors. Beth is vacuuming while I’m writing. Dad and Beth made banana bread this afternoon so there are a million dirty dishes as well. My job is the dishwasher.

Then a few rows on The Shift. 

Happy Saturday

The start of my Shift. I should have taken the picture differently. Colour A is Absolute Zero (middle ball), colour B is Dead Reckoning (bottom ball) and colour C is Cold Comfort (top ball).

I am surprised by how much I am enjoying the Lantern Moon needles. The yarn slides nicely on the needles. The needles aren’t as slippery as Addis but it’s close. The join is good - the yarn doesn’t catch. The cords swivel which means they won’t twist while you’re knitting.

Lynn and I are getting ready to put out the new Rowan yarns for Wednesday (Tuesday online). I took these shots from Rowan’s Instagram page and Mode At Rowan’s Instagram page.

There was a surprise in the boxes that I can show now. True Black Creative Linen is back in stock.

With a crisp look but a soft feel, Creative Linen is a winner for spring and summer knits. Great stitch definition means that lace or texture patterns really shine in this yarn, which comes in a fresh colour palette of brights and tonals. With a mixture of 50% linen and 50% cotton, Creative Linen will wear and wash beautifully, making it an essential choice for warmer days.

That started me thinking about last spring’s book called Ease and the amazing sweater called Chard knit out of Creative Linen.

You can purchase the book in the store or you can purchase the individual pattern on Ravelry.

Then I went down the Creative Linen rabbit hole. Here are more patterns.

This is Neri from Kim Hargreaves’ book Ravish.

The Longline Cardigan from Mode at Rowan book 2 or available on Ravelry.

Swallowtail from Rowan - pattern available on Ravelry.

Selene available on Ravelry.

If you want to join me in my rabbit hole here are Creative Linen patterns on Ravelry.

I can’t show pictures yet but Creative Linen is used in Rowan Magazine 71 as well as Mode at Rowan Collection #6.

Happy Saturday!!

Happy Snow Day!

I was late but I made it to work. Beth worked from home so I could take her truck. My car wouldn’t have made it - the roads weren’t very good this morning.

Lynn wore her Carbeth in a while ago and I took pictures to share. Then I forgot until today. Lynn knit her sweater out of Arranmore from The Fibre Co. Arranmore is no longer available but you can use two strands of Arranmore Light. This colour is River Esque and it is gorgeous. 

You can purchase the pattern for Carbeth on Ravelry. The decrease details are awesome.

A wide, cropped sweater with simple lines and a deep roll neck. Swift and straightforward to knit, this is a great sweater for beginners.

There is a new cardigan on Ravelry called Sweety Tweedy. I haven’t asked permission to share pictures but I think you will like it. It can be knit in any DK weight yarn.

Someone loves the snow. We have to drag him in the house.

I ordered a new winter coat and it arrived yesterday. Today I pulled colours to make a new Shift cowl. Now it’s time to cast on. I’m going to use Lantern Moon needles. I haven’t knit with them in years. I’m calling it research - I should knit with them so I can tell you how amazing they are.

Zickzack

We have a new scarf. This is Zickzack (a free pattern on Ravelry) knit with one ball of Noro Tsubame - colour #2. I have a brand new jean jacket and the scarf is going to look great with it!

Named for the barn swallow that migrates to Japan during cherry blossom season, this is a classic worsted-weight silk/wool blend. Each oversized skein contains 656 yards making it ideal for an endless variety of one-skein projects!

 

My Jade Scarf is at the halfway point. Beth is already claiming it. Sometimes customers ask if blocking is really necessary. You can see that my pattern isn’t lying flat - after blocking the scarf will look much better.

Isabell Kraemer has a new pattern. SSP (slip stitch party) Shawl - the pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.

SSP is worked flat (sideways), increasing along one edge to create an asymmetrical triangle. Stitches are increased in the slip stitch pattern and then onward into the 1x1 ribbing. A built-in slip stitch edge and the slip stitch colorwork (you only work with one color on any given row) will be the perfect introduction into colorwork (promise - you will have nothing but fun!). The combination of easy slip stitch patterns and the sportive wide ribbing give this shawl a sophisticated yet casual look.

The shawl is knit in fingering weight yarn. I would suggest Le Petit Lambswool. 

This version is knit with 6 colours.

📷 © Isabell Kraemer

This version is larger and is knit with 2 colours.

I came home early to get the website ready for the spring Rowan. The books should all be going live on March 1st. I’m not finished yet but hope to be in time. The new yarn is ready to go live. The new colours of existing yarns will go up on the 1st during the day.

I need to sign off because Beth is urging me (not so gently) to hurry up. We have The Amazing Race from last night to watch. 

Linen

We just received a restock of Lino from BC Garn.

Material: 100% linen
Yardage: 150m/50g
Needle: 3-4 mm
Gauge: 28 = 10 cm
Material Consumption for women's jumper size M: 450g
machine washable 30C

Linen at its best! Lino is a shiny and at the same time a bit rustic linen yarn. 

Lino is suitable for hand knitting, weaving and machine knitting. The more linen is used, the softer and beautiful it becomes.
By the way, the linen is from Italy, it is spun and dyed in Serbia.

This is Leonie designed by Julie Weisenberger (Cocoknits Julie). You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Leonie is a relaxed, slouchy tee that you’ll knit up quickly and wear constantly. And there is a bonus—the pattern will add some techniques to your knitting repertoire. Learn how to work a proper Cocoknits neckline with special BO tricks and dropped shoulders using Shadow Wrap Short Rows.

Here are some patterns on Ravelry that are knit with Lino. 

We have a brand new set of Mindful needles coming soon. This is the Explore kit.

Offered with 8 popular sizes in 10" circulars are perfect for socks and other small projects. More fun for all those who like using fixed circulars, the Explore set is offered in a smart round case that can be folded to the quarter of the open case size.

The artistically designed case shows off the needles through translucent fabric with the needles appearing like a flower in bloom. The collection of accessories includes useful tools such as darning needles, 50 stitch markers, gauge and a pair of foldable scissors. 

AVAILABLE SIZE RANGE: 

US: 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 & 6
MM: 2.00, 2.25, 2.50, 2.75, 3.00, 3.25, 3.50 & 4.00

ACCESSORIES 
1 Needle Gauge
2 Darning Needles
10 Locking Stitch Markers
10 Split Stitch Markers
30 Round Stitch Markers
Pair of Scissors

PACKAGING 
Fabric case with floral motif

March 1st. We can’t wait for the spring Rowan.

New patterns

Brian Smith has a new pattern - Diamond Lines #2. 

Diamond lines 2 is the sister pattern to the original Diamond lines shawl design. This time a triangle shape and no short row shaping.

The shawl is knit in Felted Tweed Colour. 2 balls of colour 28 and 1 ball of colour 21. I have been knitting a lot with Felted Tweed lately and highly recommend it.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry. 

Andrea Mowry rereleased Shifty this morning. This is from her newsletter.

When I designed the Shifty sweater just over 3 years ago, I was just dipping my toes into the vast world of round yoke shaping and design. Many gorgeous sweaters have been knit from the original Shifty pattern and it opened up a whole new way to play with and explore color. Over these 3 years I've continued to play myself, tinking around with yoke fit and pouring over the feedback I have received from amazing knitters from all over the world. This past year I felt I had discovered some ways to achieve an even better fit in a round yoke sweater and I wanted to take what I learned and apply it to Shifty so that it could be even better than before. Combining my new knowledge with the notes I've received from knitters like you, I put Shifty back on my needles and completely re-wrote the pattern. My goal when designing sweaters is that you have just as much fun wearing the final knit as you did making it!

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or on Andrea’s website. 

📷 © Andrea Mowry

Andrea used Spincycle’s Dyed in the Wool for her sweater but we have other options. I’ve been looking at Ravelry to see what other knitters have used.

-Zauberball Crazy

-Noro Silk Garden Sock

-Zauberball Starke 6

-Tosh Merino Light

-Hedgehog Skinny Singles and/or Sock

There are many options. 

I didn’t have time to put colours together because I was busy working on something else.

Knitting Camp. The dates will be September 30-October 2. This year we are going Friday - Sunday. Our instructors will be Kate Atherley and Fiona Ellis. Both ladies have taught at Camp before and have great workshops. Over the past two years they have added new workshops which makes picking 3 very difficult. The brochure should be ready next week - fingers crossed.

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