A visit to Kaffe-topia

Earlier this week, I gave you a peek into the dreamy world of Rowan No. 44. Let us continue our look at what's coming this fall from our friends at Westminster Fibers (US distributor of Rowan) by considering the gorgeous bright hues of a color genius. For that, we must take a quick trip to Kaffe-topia.

Because this blogger bitch fancies herself a crack journalist (hey, if the tools at Fox News can call themselves "fair and balanced", I can call myself a journalist, no?), I have consulted with various and sundry of my yarnie sources and present to you good news: there will be more Kaffe yarns in fall of 2008!

For those of you who enjoyed the lovely colors of Regia's Kaffe Fassett-designed sock yarn colorways (Regia,, like Rowan, is distributed by Westminster Fibers in the US, and both are owned by the same parent company), there are more! There are four new colorways in the Landscape line (these are the ones that make distinct stripes), including earth tones (Landscape Canyon), a more muted blend called Landscape Amazonas and two that defy easy categorization (Landscape Jungle and Landscape Celebration). In the Mirage line, the ones that feature blends of color rather than clear stripes, there are two new colors: Mirage Canyon (again, earth tones) and Mirage Jungle (a mix).

And there is a new line of Kaffe sock yarn called Exotic, featuring bright mixes of color that seem to fall halfway between clear horizontal stripes and more fluid effects.

Through exhaustive research and an insatiable greed for sock yarn, as well as the beauty of teh internets, I have managed to get my hands on these:





two of the new Exotic colors. Really lovely stuff!

You might think that this would be enough to satisfy my Kaffe-lust. But wait: there's more. Our friends at Rowan have brought us this:


a new yarn called Colourscape Chunky,



with colorways designed by His Kaffe-ly Highness himself. This is a 100% lambswool yarn, knitting at around 3.5 stitches per inch (soft!). You get nice big hanks of 100g which run around 175 yds a hank. The yarn looks pretty evenly spun to me, without going back and forth between thick and thin. There are eight colourways -- Carnival, Cherry, Heath, Frosty (I believe the photos I'm showing are of Frosty), Candy Pink, Ghost, Northern Lights and Camouflage -- each colorway designed by Kaffe Fassett. That sound you hear is me sighing with delight. Rowan will also be publishing a design book devoted solely to this yarn; the book is called "The Colourscape Chunky Collection" and includes 12 designs for women by Sarah Hatton. Some of these sweaters were on display at TNNA and I can tell you that they are gorgeous.

So if the summer heat and humidity are getting you down (assuming you live in the same climatic region as me; g'day, Aussies & Kiwis! I know it's winter where you are! isn't it?), if you can't wait for the kids to go back to school and quit saying they're bored, if it's a lo-o-ng time until your next vacation, then cheer up. Think about how nice it is to live in a world where there will be more Kaffe Fassett-designed yarns than ever before.