Rowan + Wool and the Gang!

Have you seen out the NEW collaboration between two of my all-time favorites, Rowan + Wool and the Gang? You're going to love this.

Rowan Selects Stone Washed, an on-trend collection for Rowan + Wool and the Gang features Rowan's new denim-inspired tape yarn. The collection includes quick knit vests, ribbed sweater and dresses with simple textures suitable for any knitter.

These knits are right up my alley – simple and oh-so wearable! The best part? Sign into the Rowan website and you can download the patterns for FREE! Find them here in the Rowan Selects Stone Washed collection. 

WIP Wednesday

I feel like the queen of WIPs lately, but that's okay. I find that I'm a sloooow sweater knitter and I want to remedy that. Must knit faster. With zero distractions. In a perfect world. HA. Just like every other knitter out there, I'll get there eventually ... stitch by stitch, one row at a time.

Anyway, here are the two biggest projects on my needles right now. And I've got a good start on both, so they shouldn't take too much longer. You would think. ;)

The first is Greenwich by Martin Storey, and I'm using Rowan Super Fine Merino DK in a colorway called 'Zing.' I will admit that I've been working on this since October. (Flinch.) But it's coming along so nicely - I have finished the back and I'm about halfway through the front. The fabric is so extremely soft and springy, and I know I'm going to love this sweater when I'm done. If you've never knit with Super Fine Merino DK, here's the run-down: it's extremely buttery soft, and almost feels like rubber (in the best way) as it glides through your fingers. Weird but true. I am in love with this yarn. And the stitch pattern in this sweater is interesting, too – not complicated, but it's a k1 below rib which looks pretty great on both sides of the fabric and keeps things interesting.

My second WIP was my airplane knitting project on the way to and from NYC last week. I started the Julia Sweater from Wool and the Gang, and I'm knitting it with Shiny Happy Cotton in Ultra Violet. Again, this yarn is so extremely soft and cool and it's my favorite cotton yarn ever – it will not tear up your hands like some cottons do. This sweater is made of a loose-ish seed stitch fabric, which is going to give it some fabulous drape. I'm excited to finish and wear this one.

So, what are you working on? Are you on a sweater kick, too? Tell me, tell me. :)

Rowan Loves: Pure Wool and Creative Focus Worsted

Take a peek at another one of my favorite collections from Rowan's 2015 A/W releases – Rowan Loves: Creative Focus Worsted & Pure Wool Superwash Worsted. This is the third brochure in the Rowan Loves series, and features nine designs that can be knit in either yarn, giving you lots and lots of options. I am absolutely in love with the photography and styling of this collection, and no surprise, these were all designed by the talented Marin Storey. See for yourself why I adore all of these gorgeous sweaters and accessories. So wearable with fun details ... and it's so much fun seeing the design variations and differences between the two yarns! Enjoy.

 

Let's start off with Bellerose, a classic striped cardigan or sweater. The contrasting colors in the cuffs and bottom edge are so cool; I'm in love with both versions of this sweater.

 

Use either yarn to knit Rockette, too. This casual sweater has ribbed edgings, semi set in sleeves and a pouch pocket. I would wear this all of the time.

 

Bergen would clearly be gorgeous in either Creative Focus Pure Wool Superwash. This boyfriend style cardigan has contrasting pocket and cuff detail. I love the shape of this and again, the color-blocked sections are super fun.

Corona is a textured cardigan or sweater. The longer length cardigan has placement pockets and the longline sweater has a deep rib collar and edgings.

Astoria is a chunky cable sweater with a roll neck and raglan sleeves. It can be knitted in either a shorter or longer length version.

Driscoll is a classic sweater with semi set in sleeves. It has a stand up rib collar and can be knitted in either a shorter or longer length version.

Haven is a boxy sweater or jacket. Both of these loose-fitting designs are knitted in moss stitch with delicate, contrasting lace panels.

Skyland is a scarf or shawl! How clever. Knitted in garter stitch and finished with pom poms, you can choose either a shorter length scarf or a longer length shawl. (I love pom poms.)

And finally, Union is a slouchy hat knitted in garter stitch. It uses just one ball of yarn!

Keep an eye out for Rowan Loves this fall at your local or online Rowan stockists ... you'll love this collection!

Rowan A/W Preview: Martin Storey's Easy DK Knits

Rowan is launching three brand new DK yarns this Autumn/Winter season, and I'd love to give you a quick preview of two of them: Pure Wool Superwash DK and Super Fine Merino DK. These two new yarns are showcased beautifully in Martin Storey's collection, Easy DK Knits.

A little bit of info about these two yarns: Super Fine Merino DK has a natural elastic quality for movement when wearing. The knitted fabric is soft and smooth and feels great to wear. Super Fine Merino will also be available in 4-ply and Aran.

Pure Wool Super Wash DK is hard wearing, making this yarn idea for the whole family and perfect for household knits. It's superwash, too!

This book is quite possibly my favorite this season and has so many perfectly wearable sweaters in it. My absolute favorite is this simple pullover, Greenwich, which I plan on making (right away) in Super Fine Merino in a bright chartreuse shade called 'Zing.' Check out more photos below of my favorite designs from Easy DK Knits.

Greenwich – Super Fine Merino

Barbican – Pure Wool Superwash DK

Mayfair – Super Fine Merino DK

 Brixton – Pure Wool Superwash DK

 Dulwich – Super Fine Merino DK

 Hampstead – Super Fine Merino DK

Kew – Pure Wool Superwash DK

Keep an eye out for this gem this fall at your local Rowan stockists ... it's sure to be a classic go-to collection that you'll turn to again and again.

TNNA recap: the Rowan adventures

I have a few more TNNA photos to share, and this time it's all about Rowan. I was invited to attend the trade show with Rowan via Westminster Fibers, which was a super cool experience. The highlight of the weekend was getting the opportunity meeting some of the Rowan team from the U.K. One of my favorite knitwear designers of all time is Martin Storey, and it was a real treat to be able to chat with him over the weekend. Pictured above is my wonderfully talented TNNA roommate, Kristen from Knitionary, Martin and I. He is one of the head designers at Rowan and learning about what goes on behind the scenes (the photo shoots, design stories, pattern design, putting together collections) was absolutely fascinating. He's such a nice guy!

There was a knitwear fashion show on first evening of TNNA which featured 75 designs by various yarn companies. Rowan showed four designs – a vest, a fair isle sweater, a wrap and a wedding dress. This gorgeous Kidsilk Haze bridal gown was saved for the finale and was a showstopper! 

The next day, we got to check out the Rowan booth which was bursting with brand new designs and new yarns.

One of my new favorite yarns for fall is Hemp Tweed, which feels a bit squishy and seems to have great memory/stretch to it. I loved all the designs that were showcased using this yarn and can't wait to knit with it this fall. (I believe it's available beginning July 2015.)

And Kristen and I had fun checking out the new Swarovski + Rowan collaboration, which includes yarn pre-strung with Swarovski crystals and packages of crystals/baubles/beads that are available for purchase on their own.

Martin Storey and the lovely Kate Buller brought out champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for everyone during their knitting with Swarovski demonstration, which was really neat. Martin showed us all how to knit with pre-strung crystals.

And they had a sweet little baby garment display showcasing Rowan's Super Fine Merino 4ply, which is another favorite of mine. It feels so nice and will be amazing to knit with. It's washable, too.

And that's it! I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet these sweet and talented people and spend the weekend with other knitting enthusiasts, doing what we do best. A huge thanks to Rowan for everything – I had such a great time!

TNNA recap: the experience

Last weekend, I attended my first TNNA (The National NeedleArts Association) trade show in Columbus, Ohio and wow – what a time! I was invited to attend with Rowan via Westminster Fibers, which was an honor. This recap is basically photos from the overall experience and soon I'll share a collection of photos of my friends from Rowan and their new yarns and garments. (There is so much to share!)

First of all, Columbus is a delightful city. I'd never been, and I really enjoyed all of the restaurants and coffee shops and stores that were within walking distance of our hotel. The view from our window was pretty great, too. (Unbeknownst to us, the Rolling Stones played in Columbus on Saturday night and ended up staying at the hotel across the street from us!)

Perhaps the best part of the weekend was finally meeting this wonderfully talented and crazy sweet knitting friend, Kristen from Knitionary. We are both Rowan Ambassadors and have been friends for a few years online but it was so fantastic to meet her in person and hang out with her all weekend. We were roommates and naturally stayed up talking until 1:00 a.m. every night.

Friday night, I attended Marly Bird's Designer Dinner, which was a treat. I sat at a table with several talented ladies and ended up sitting next to Stefanie Japel, knitwear designer extraordinaire and teacher at Craftsy. We enjoyed food and drinks and giveaways and swag bags ... it was pretty sweet.

The actual trade show opened on Saturday morning, with fiber displays as far as the eye could see. Before I knew it, I was bumping into knitting friends, shop owners and designers I had long admired.Like Olga Buraya-Kefelian (OlgaJazzy) and Meri Tanaka, the founder of Amarisu.

And the one and only Nicky Epstein.

And the entire Ravelry team, minus Jess who was outside with her sweet baby. How do they do it? Such a sweet and kind crew.

We talked about women in baseball and adventures in advanced body/armhole shaping with Ysolda Teague. She is completely brilliant and delightful.




And I had to say hi to your knitting hero and mine, the fantastic Mr. StevenBe. I hope to head up to his shop in Minneapolis soon for a visit (and yarn shopping.)




Do you love Arne & Carlos? I do. They were there in spirit. I had to check out what they were knitting.

What else? Well, to summarize ... it was a weekend of yarn. And beautiful knitwear. Too many things to list ... but one of the highlights was obviously Rowan. Their display space was huge and completely gorgeous. (More on that soon.) Other favorites were Madelinetosh, Spud & Chloe, Blue Sky Alpacas, Knitter's Pride, Shibui Knits, EweEwe, Classic Elite, Jade Sapphire, Wool and the Gang, Knit Collage, Lavishea, Loopy Mango, Malabrigo and Zealana. There was so much to see.




And of course, before I left Columbus I had to hit up Jeni's. I had heard about Jeni's for years from other people who had made it a TNNA tradition. And now I know why there's always a huge line when you walk by.

This ice cream is spectacular. So yeah, I get it now. I get it! I got the Trio (3 half scoops) of Pistachio and Honey, Brown Butter Almond Brittle and Salty Caramel. Holy. Cow. So delicious.

And then as I was stuck in the airport waiting for my delayed flight, I discovered a Jeni's vending machine ... at the airport. At my gate! It made my long wait much more tolerable.

And that's my recap! On my journey home, I jumped on delayed flights from Columbus to Chicago in the very middle of the night, and then back to Des Moines to rest my head and snuggle up with my family. The weekend went so fast and was jam-packed with knitting and new yarn and the most lovely people ever. Would I go again? Yup. I definitely would.

on my way to TNNA

I'm headed to Columbus, OH this weekend for the 2015 Summer National Needle Arts Association show. I'm excited to be attending with Rowan and rooming with one of my very favorite Rowan ambassador friends, Kristen from Knitionary. I know we will have a fantastic time together and I'm looking forward to meeting up with lots of other knitting pals over the course of the weekend. This will be my first time attending TNNA but from what I've heard, I can look forward to a weekend of exploring downtown Columbus, checking out the new yarns/products/books, attending Marly Bird's Designer Dinner, meeting up with long-distance friends, good food, tasty drinks and the legendary Jeni's Ice Cream that I have heard so much about. I cannot wait.

I am the world's worst over-packer. But the hardest thing is deciding which knitting projects to bring. So much knitting time on the plane! And all of my projects are super bulky. Hmm. Shoes or yarn? Yarn or shoes. That is the question. 

Will I see you there? Have you attended in the past? Do you have any last-minute packing advice for me? I'm all ears.  ;)

Echoes

You must see Kim Hargreave's new beachy collection, Echoes! This collection of 21 designs uses some of my favorite Rowan yarns including Original Denim, Creative Linen, Cotton Lustre, Handknit Cotton, Summerlite 4ply, All Seasons Cotton, Panama, Mohair Haze and of course, Kidsilk Haze. The light and breezy cardigan above might be my favorite so far; it's called Spray and is worked in Cotton Lustre. But check out the rest of these beauties. Wow.

This eyelet skirt with fringe is a must-knit. So cool. This is Reed and it's made with Cotton Lustre.

 This is Aqua, an amazing openwork sweater. Also worked in Cotton Lustre.

And Wave, a longline cardigan using Kidsilk Haze.

Cape is a preppy, short-sleeved sweater made with cotton Summerlite 4ply.

Coral is cropped cardigan with broad shadow stripes. It's made with Panama (linen, cotton and viscose.)

Drift is made with gorgeous Mohair Haze.

Harbour is a long sleeved cardigan with a soft ruffled hemline, made with Panama.

 Lagoon is a cool garter stitch tank made with Cotton Lustre.

This classic sweater, Ocean, is worked in Creative Linen.

Reef is a long line hooded cardigan, worked in a textured stitch with a garter stitch edging in lovely All Seasons Cotton.

Splash, a simple raglan sweater has a gorgeous neckline and is made with Creative Linen. I would wear this a ton, I have a feeling!

Tide, a generous cabled and textured pullover is made with Handknit Cotton.

 And Ebb is a close fitting raglan made with Kidsilk Haze.

I'm guessing you're in the mood for spring and summer beachy knitting now, right? Echoes is available at Kim's website and at Rowan stockists everywhere. You can check out the details for each pattern right here.

Rowan swatch party (and a giveaway!)

Hey hey! I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but around here we've been seeing a lot of snow. (Like almost 12" in 24 hours.) Which means lots of shoveling, lots of layers, lots of blankets and, of course, it's the perfect time for knitting. I haven't had a chance yet to show off some of my favorite new Rowan yarns from the Autumn/Winter release so I decided to knit up some swatches and let the yarn do the talking. From left to right, we have Brushed Fleece, Rowan Fine Tweed, Rowan Finest, Fazed Tweed and Chenille.

The dark blue swatch on the left is one of my new favorite yarns (of all time.) This is Brushed Fleece – lightweight but extremely warm and not itchy whatsoever. I'm knitting a cardigan (called Stour) with Brushed Fleece right now. The green swatch was made with Rowan Finest, which is luxurious and oh-so-soft. This yarn is a blend of extra fine merino, cashmere and royal alpaca wool. The marled blue and white swatch is a new yarn called Fazed Tweed, and is (in my opinion) the most innovative of the bunch! Fazed Tweed is a mix of wool and fine alpaca with a filled tube-like construction held together with a fine net-like fiber. Finally, on the far right is Chenille, which is absolutely gorgeous in person. Chenille is 100% cotton, very soft and has a great texture that makes it super fun to knit with.

And I didn't get around to making swatches for these guys, but another favorite yarn that I'm loving this season is definitely Rowan Fine Tweed. It comes in a zillion fantastic shades that all work amazingly well together.  This is a beautifully soft, 100% wool, traditionally spun tweed yarn made in one of the few surviving mills in Yorkshire. But again, the colors are what draws me to this yarn ... it's perfect for colorwork and Rowan offers tons of gorgeous patterns that encourage you to let your imagination run wild with color combinations.

GIVEAWAY!

THE PRIZE

One lucky reader will win will get a ball of Chenille, Fazed Tweed and Brushed Fleece. (I might have a few more secret surprises from Rowan to throw in your package as well!)

HOW TO ENTER

• Comment below telling me what you are knitting right now.
• Like Rowan Yarns on Facebook.

THE RULES

• U.S. residents only. (Sorry!)
• Giveaway is open until February 16th, 2015 at 11:30 PM CST.
• Comments must include a valid email address or Ravelry ID so I can contact you if you are the winner. :)
• Winner will be chosen via random number generator and will be contacted within 48 hours after giveaway ends. 

Best of luck and thanks so much for reading!

Filigree

Lacy crochet + knit tops? Yes please. Take a look at this incredibly gorgeous preview of some of my favorite designs from Marie Wallin's new book 'Filigree.' This monochrome collection includes 10 designs using Summerlite, a new 4-ply Egyptian cotton yarn from Rowan. The combination of knit and crochet plus the genius construction of these garments is extraordinary. And you will absolutely love the photography in this book ... the flowers! Take a look.

Daisy

Hollyhock

Buttercup

Tulip

Rose

Lupin

Peony

Exquisite! If you're getting married or are attending a special event this spring, you absolutely must make Peony. It's mandatory. So gorgeous.

'Filigree' launches on Marie's website on Thursday, January 15th and will also be available from Rowan stockists soon. Happy Friday and have a great weekend!