Daily fibre – Rowan pure wool dk

I find myself working with Rowan pure wool dk time and time again and the other day I asked myself why.  What is it about this yarn that makes me work with it so often?  It is such a great all-rounder yarn.  My stitches always look even and my colourwork crisp when I work with this yarn. Stitch patterns and cables have good definition when worked in Rowan pure wool too!

Often when I was learning to knit I heard people saying how good quality yarn can make all the difference to the finished fabric.  Most newbie knitters reach for the cheaper acrylic yarns, feeling that their early knitting efforts are not worthy of the pure wool price tag.  I was no exception, my stockinette stitch was uneven and  my colourwork was disappointing.  So many times I told myself colourwork  just wasn’t for me.  But I adore knitting Fair Isle, holding one colour in each hand,  working my way through the chart…. bliss.  I clearly remember working with a pure wool yarn for the first time and thinking ‘why didn’t I do this sooner?’

But the most compelling reason I turn to this yarn,  the colour palette.  I can always rely on Rowan to keep their shade cards on trend.

Oh and if I have not sold you on the virtues of Rowan pure wool yet, being superwash it is ideal for garments, especially kids and those given as gifts!

On my desk at the moment…..

Shades; Black, Anthracite, Shale, Enamel, Hyacinth

 

 

 

Available in 26 shades you are spoilt for choice

 

Rowan pure wool is also available in 4ply and aran weight.  Do you have a favourite yarn? I would love to hear why.

Daily Fibre – Langdale by Eden Cottage Yarns

Sometimes I get to work with some truly beautiful yarns and today is one of those days.  Today I am working with Langdale Superwash Aran from Eden Cottage Yarns.

 

  Colorway – Damson

Langdale is a hand dyed superwash 100% merino aran.  Langdale aran (named after the Langdales in the Lake District), is a fantastic all-round machine washable pure merino yarn. It comprises of three plies, to make it smooth and soft whilst retaining a bouncy and hard wearing quality. The lovely Victoria from ECY tells me the yarn gets gradually softer with washing.  Being a machine washable yarn it is going to be ideal for garments, especially those which are for children or gifts! 

The knitty gritty;
100% superwash merino
100g/166m/180yds
4.5 – 5.5mm needles

The beautiful deep tones and subtle variegation in this yarn are not done justice by my photo,  the yarn is soft to touch and has a great bouncy to it.  I can’t say yet what it is going to be, but watch this space.

 

 

Knitted Wedding Fever

The sun is starting to shine, the flowers are blossoming, it can mean only one thing – hayfever!  Only kidding, wedding season is upon us.

If, like me, you are allergic to fresh flowers, why not knit yourself a buttonhole?  In this months issue of Let’s Knit Magazine I have a couple of wedding themed projects.  Firstly, Chimes; a set of pretty rose buttonholes.

 

Of course these don’t have to be buttonholes, flowers look lovely anywhere.

Next I designed a cute mouse couple who are celebrating their special day.  This fun pair would make a great gift for a bride and groom.  Mrs To Be has a really simple yet effective veil and paper flower bouquet.  Mr To Be has a dashing tuxedo and gentlemanly whiskers.  This handsome couple are very quick to make, why not add some personal touches for the happy couple to be?

The happy couple even made it onto the cover!

You can download your copy of Let’s Knit Magazine from the App Store here, of purchase from any good newsagent.

As always I would love to see your finished projects on my Facebook page.

Jane x

Dealing with the Craftermath

This week I read an essay by Franklin Habit titled ‘Lost in Space’.  He talks about how he can never find a tape measure despite owning A LOT of tape measures. I won’t go into too many details about the essay as you really should pop over here and take a look for yourself. Franklin is guaranteed to make you smile and shout ‘me too!’

So why am I telling you this? Great question ;)

At the weekend I bit the bullet so to speak and finally replaced my workspace in the den. My small computer station with pull out glass side table was simply not up the job anymore. Well to be more accurate, it wasn’t large enough to house the sheer amount of projects I have on the go at any one time. My draw space was limited and needles and notions were spilling out all over the place. In an attempt to cut down on the amount of time spent looking for missing scissors, tape measures, cable needles, stitch markers etc organisation had to be found.

As I sorted all of my notions and placed them logically into their new homes, I came across my very first knitting bag. I use the term bag loosely, measuring 15cm it is a mere purse! This is where I kept my knitting notions in the early days. A kilt pin for a make shift stitch holder, an earring as a stitch marker, crochet hook, darning needle and pin. A plastic darning needle for the days I couldn’t trust myself with a sharp one. And a couple of spare eyes, what else does a knitter need? Oh yes, scissors and a tape measure, they are as you would expect – lost!

Today my knitting paraphernalia is quite different. There are literally draws full of needles, hooks and notions and for a short while they are all nicely sorted into sizes.

Plastic wallets inside suspension folders make great storage for Circular needles

Double pointed needles draw

Hooks and clock mechanisms, as you do!

 Next time I want a pompom maker, I might actually be able to find one!

One thing baffled me as I sorted through my double pointed needles, why oh why do I have so many 4.5mm dpn’s? I rarely find myself having to go up a size to get gauge, I can only conclude that the 4mm needles have got a little wider round the middle, just like myself!

So tell me, what is the strangest item in your knitting kit?

Jane

x

What do a fox, a lamb and chickens have in common?

I am  one happy bunny!  My Foxy Lady purse made the cover of Simply Knitting magazine this month :)

 

Foxy Lady is a quick fun make,  worked in Drops, Alpaca not only is it mega cute but it won’t break the bank.

 

Of course with Easter just around the corner you just knew that the fox wouldn’t be the only cute creature I had featured in this issue….

Looking for an Easter gift for a lamb lover and I am not talking about the Sunday roast, mint sauce variety.  But those cute spring lambs,  just for you I have designed a fun key ring.  If you like knitting bobbles you are going to love this! Bobbles knitted in Rowan, Purelife Boucle, it was just crying out to become a sheep.

For those of you who are subscribers to Simply Knitting Magazine,  this months subscribers exclusive pattern is also cute, animal related and would make a great Easter gift….

My gift to you is three fun projects to brighten up your Easter, that should keep you crafting and not eating the Easter Eggs.  Wondering what to do with all that left over chocolate….. GIVE IT TO ME

Happy Easter Knitting

x