Spring preview: Rowan

Quick note to readers: I just realized that some of you are actually sending me emails using the blog link to the right. In a rare burst of humility, I hadn't been checking that email address often, so I apologize for anyone who sent an email and waited for a response (thinking, no doubt, what a stuck-up bee-atch I was). I will be checking it more often in the future, so if you've got something to say, and don't want to leave it in the comments, go for it.

By popular demand, I'll continue tantalizing you with hints of things to come. Many knitters, myself included, don't get as breathlessly excited about spring as they do about fall. The weather's getting warmer, not colder, which means less fabric and therefore less knitting. I enjoy some of the special qualities about wool -- its sproinginess and elasticity, most particularly -- that cottons and silks lack. But Rowan is one of my favorite companies, so I look to them most of all to get eager about spring and summer knitting.

Rowan Magazine No. 39 is due out February 1st. Rowan's own website has some previews of their spring designs, organized into three "fashion stories."




The above "Three's Company"-inspired blouse (no, not really) perturbed me for quite a while until I realized it was the bag that was knitted... from the "Provence" collection, garments "from the Mediterranean countryside - beautiful[,] feminine to wear and enjoy."

This cardigan is cute, and if I lose about 35 pounds before April, I plan on making it, dammit. [Hey, stop snickering.]



The other "fashion stories" are "Aqua Marine," "inspired by the freshness of the sea," and "Tribal," "dramatic, colourful [and] bold." There are some Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably colorwork designs in the latter, for those of you who are fans. I shan't opine as to the silliness of the Brit models in their Maori warpaint or whatever it's supposed to be. I'm sure my commenters will have a field day.



In addition to No. 39, Rowan will be releasing two individual booklets to go with its two new yarns. The Rowan Classic (RYC) line is releasing four new books, one of which is devoted to kids. Rowan must be stingy with its publicity shots, because I couldn't find any on-line previews of these books.

On to yarns.

Rowan broke some hearts when they announced that Cork and Polar were discontinued. They've also discontinued the Rowanspun line (with Yorkshire Tweed and the Scottish Tweed lines, it's easy to see why Rowanspun got the ax) and more relevant to spring knitting, Linen Drape. My research found mention of four new spring yarns, two for Rowan and two for RYC, although information on the 'net is sparse, and I wasn't able to find any photos of the yarns.

Rowan is introducing Holiday, a cotton-viscose blend in eight colors. Holiday is a kind of flat ribbon or tape with a tone-on-tone look (maybe one matte ply, one shiny). Glimmer Print is half cotton and half something else (acetate maybe?), a matte tape with gold shot through.

You can expect to see the still relatively-new Cashsoft Cotton (in DK and 4-ply weights) to be prominent in the Rowan Classic (RYC) line. RYC is also introducing a yarn called Natural Silk Aran, a blend of mostly viscose with silk and linen. There are six colors, muted shades with a ply of cream. Luxury Cotton DK is half cotton blended with viscose and a bit of silk. The palette includes both paler shades and deeper ones, again plying a twist of the matte cotton along with a twist of the shinier viscose/silk.

So there you have it. Apparently, it's going to be the Spring of Viscose as far as Rowan is concerned.

Coming this week: More yarn previews, Adventures in Dyeing, and the Surprise is Revealed (and no, it's not a Chibi cover but that was a good guess).