Life LackaDaisiCal

I first mentioned "Wave" back in this blog post.... "Coffee Table Update" . I was intrigued with using two different size needles to make a light, yet substantial, Kidsilk Haze fabric.  You have to take care not to miss a strand when knitting two strands of any yarn together, and doubly attentive when it is Kidsilk Haze! A couple of times I didn't notice until I was quite a few rows above one of these mistakes! I had to drop down to the offending stitch and then carefully knit the stitch back up...alternating needle sizes...worth the effort, but honestly, it's easier if you catch a dropped thread when it is only a row or two back! To do this, I learned to stop every right side row, hold my knitting up to the light, and have a scan of the last couple of rows. If you have missed a strand, trust me, you'll see it and it will be easy to fix. If you knit too far past a dropped stitch, it is doable, just a whole lot more fiddly. I had to re...

Yes, MORE ARAN designs coming your way, this time from Martin Storey in his  "Easy Aran Knits" This design collection uses two Aran weight yarns.... Rowan's Fine Art Aran - now with 6 tonal shades added to the 8 hand painted original shades; and the new Super Fine Merino Aran - in a range of 12 sophisticated solids! The designs in this collection are classed as "easy", but that doesn't mean they are plain or heaven forbid, boring! "Clayton"  teams the casual sweatshirt style  (neckline detail, raglan sleeves... and a hand warmer pocket),  with the new "Super Fine Merino Aran" (Dusk 013) to reach a whole new level of casual sophistication! "Woolley"   is another "easy" raglan design,  with a knit/purl textured  allover check pattern. It is shown here in Fine Art Aran (Squirrel 002) "Saltaire" is a long "Coatigan" with side slit  deep bottom rib  and handy front b...

If you love knitting Aran weight yarn, you are spoilt for choice this season!  Rowan is introducing two new Aran weight yarns! First up - Hemp Tweed! Yes, HEMP! (75% wool, 25% hemp) I loved knitting with this....look at the soft tweed effect, beautiful stitches, a light feeling Aran! Another "breathable" combination....and the hemp keeps the knitted fabric from stretching out, while naturally softening with wear. Hemp sounds like a pretty amazing addition to wool (my favourite fibre). I LOVED knitting with this yarn (Yes, I know I've already said that!), so much that I'll be doing a bit of an "acid test" on it to see just how much I love it! (I've said it before, and I'll say it again....buy a ball of yarn, take it home, swatch with it, wash it, block it, rub it up a bit....see how it reacts. Is this a yarn you can live with? If it is, then it is worthy of your knitting time.) I'd buy this collection of designs by Lisa ...

Then you will love this new new design collection by Martin Storey...12 super easy, super stylish garments, knit in DK yarn! This design collection introduces not 1 but 2 new DK yarns to the Rowan yarn collection! PURE WOOL SUPERWASH DK A dk version of Pure Wool Worsted Superwash, this DK version is introduced with a colour family of 32 shades! (including 10 new heathers) It's 100% wool, and would be a hard wearing yarn for those family members you know that love your sweaters, but maybe don't always remember to take care of them like they should? (Everyone has one of those in their family right?) This yarn would be fabulous for kids wear and for homeware projects too! This yarn is Spun in Romania, as is it's cousin, Pure Wool Worsted.) and....for those who love a bit of luxury... SUPER-FINE MERINO DK This season Rowan introduces a line of "super fine" merino yarns! Super Fine means that the merino fibre is less than 18 microns...only 5% of me...

Rowan Yarns Magazine 58 is officially released today! You might have seen spoilers here and there on the internet....but today is the official release day and Rowan has done a media blitz today to showcase this fabulous collection! On the Knitrowan.com web site On Pinterest , where they upload photos of all of the designs, so that you can "Pin" them to your boards! On You Tube - where you can view a video version of the designs... and where there is a "behind the scenes" video of the "Frost" story in the magazine. See Lisa Richardson doing her styling and art direction....I wondered how they got the models hair to look like that! The snow scenes! The more I look at this magazine, the more I love! Colour work, textures, Sweaters Knit in the Round! OMG!!! Designs keep jumping into my Pinterest Queue board! Check it out at the top of the side bar! I hope to knit a few of these beauties this season. How about you? Have you added any Mag...

First Up? Let's look at the newest addition to the Big Wool series (Big Wool, Big Wool Colour, and discontinued Drift too!) . BIG WOOL SILK! Yes, Big Wool has been refined and polished with the addition of 30% Silk to the 70% Wool base. It is put up in exactly the same 100g 80m balls as Big Wool, so any design that has been published using Big Wool/Big Wool Colour, can be knit in this yarn!  Using Big Wool Silk will give your knit a beautiful sheen, make it soft to the touch and luxurious to wear, showing off perfect stitch definition no matter what you knit - stocking stitch, texture or cables! Rowan has added to the selection of designs suitable for the "Big Wool Family" with the addition of "Autumn Accessories", 14 accessory and garment designs by Marie Wallin. These new designs are shown knit up in  either  Big Wool or the new Big Wool Silk....to reinforce how these yarns are totally interchangeable! Knitting with this yarn was sublime. Th...