Rowan Ambassadors at "The Mill"
 |
| The time has come to let you in on the what happened at "The Mill" full disclosure....no holds barred.....are you ready? |
The original "Rowan Weavers" operated from premises above a local shop in Holmfirth, but in 1979, Stephen Sheard and Simon Cockin, friends and business partners, bought the neglected Green Lane Mill building with the view to rejuvenate it and make it their home.
A chance meeting with Kaffe Fassett, a deal with a magazine, their first mail order kit, "Super Triangles Jacket" changed their focus toward knitting yarns, and "Rowan" was born.
 |
| the "Super Triangles Jacket" Rowan thought that they "might" sell 400 of these kits. Woman and Home magazine thought that this design called for too many shades.....nobody would knit it! over 7000 kits were sold! |
 |
| in 1986, Rowan launched their twice annual Rowan Magazine series... Kaffe Fassett, Sasha Kagan, Annabel Fox and Sandy Black had designs in this first magazine. Over the years all of the great British hand knit designers have appeared in the Rowan magazines - Jean Moss, Sarah Dallas, Erika Knight, Martin Storey, Susan Duckworth, Zoe Mellor, Brandon Mably, Debbie Abrahams, Sharon Miller, Lucinda Guy, Lois Daykin, Stella Smith and Jennie Atkinson. Kim Hargreaves, Louisa Harding and Debbie Bliss all started their careers with Rowan! |
 |
| My subscriber package just arrived! Magazine 56 along with an excessive Members Collection of designs and the members July Newsletter! |
Knitters all over the world collect and treasure their Rowan magazines! The Rowan International club is still going strong with over 7500 members.....all choosing to have their Rowan Magazines delivered to their door! (click here to go to the Knitrowan web site for info on becoming a Rowan subscriber).
My personal history with Rowan started in 1990....when I walked into a LYS and saw Rowan Magazine 11....it's the second row, second cover.....an intarsia sweater done in fine gauge cotton yarns.....gosh I was fearless back then! That yarn sat for years in my stash...I'd open the box, play with the yarn, I even did a swatch!....until I finally admitted that I'd never knit it and sold it to a fan of intarsia...
 |
This door has one of those super secret pushbutton access points....well.... it was WIDE OPEN for us! |
Gosh, this post is getting a bit long... so I think I'll have to save the details for my next post.
I hope you'll take a moment to subscribe to "Life Lackadaisical" via one of the links on the top right....either to your reader, by e-mail, or to the RSS feed of your choice!
Then you won't miss my next post about what actually went on once we passed through these doors!
One yard of trim done (I haven't actually measured, but it feels like a yard!)
Did you participate in the Rowan Mystery Pure Wool Worsted Afghan KAL? How are you doing? Finished? Struggling? On the trim...like me?
Keep on knitting!
Anne
#rowanyarns #knitrowan #rowanpwwkal #rowankal #knitting #kaffefasset
I brought all my squares on my vacation to sew up but didn't bring the sewing up yarn! Good thing I brought a backup project to knit! Have you sewn yours together yet?
ReplyDeleteJust sewing them together now Kristen.....a strip of squares....knit a little trim....on track to be finished by the end of the month.
DeleteAs a long-time fan of Rowan I really enjoyed your post. I'm envious of your trip to visit Rowan in the UK. I'm lucky enough to have all the magazines and still enjoy the first ones as much (sometimes even more!) than the newer ones. Thanks for posting about your trip.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's great to look back at the early magazines...4, 10 and 23 are particular favourites of mine.
DeleteAfter all these years "Super Triangles Jacket" by Kaffe Fassett is still on my list of projects that I want to make. So many beautiful designs..... you know how the saying goes!!
ReplyDelete