Dodgem in Rowan Fur and the new Big Accessories collection

I’ve just finished knitting ‘Dodgem’ in Rowan’s new yarn ‘Fur’.  Dodgem is a design by Sarah Hatton and is featured in the fabulous new ‘Big Accessories’ brochure published for this autumn winter 2015 season.  Its a really clever design featuring an integral loop and a collar shaped with short rows, plus it was super quick to knit.

Dodgem requires 3 balls of Rowan Fur, pictured here in Brown Bear (092) and 7mm needles.  The yarn is made of wool with a little polyamide to bind.  It’s light, soft, cosy and warm and I think it’ll be very on trend this season – great for collars, cuffs, gillets, homeware and even toys and it can be purchased in a lovely natural colour pallete including the shades: Polar, Brown Bear, Bear and Panda.   I might even find myself knitting another ‘Dodgem’ in another shade – I’ve had a few requests already….

Here’s some Rowan Fur in Bear 091, which I’m going to be using for another project – yes – I’m really pleased with this new yarn and will definitely be using it again 🙂

The Big Accessories collection showcases some of Rowan’s chunkier yarns including one of my favourite yarns from last autumn winter season: Thick ‘n’ thin, together with Tumble, Alpaca Chunky as well as the new ‘Fur’ yarn, making all of the accessories super quick to knit.  There are 15 designs for men and women including hats, scarves, cowls, capes, a gillet and interesting neck pieces.  I’m really looking forward to knitting ‘Bandit’ next, featured on the cover of the Big Accessories book in the photo below.  Fingers crossed for snow this winter!

Check out the ‘Big Accessories’ collection here and Rowan’s new Fur Yarn here.

Here are a few of my other favourites:

Helter: a gillet designed by Sarah Hatton, knitted here in Panda 093:

Teacup, designed by Martin Storey and knitted in Thick ‘n’ Thin and Fur:

Swingboat, designed by Lisa Richardson in Tumble:

Skelter, designed by Sarah Hatton using Thick ‘n’ Thin:

And Voltini, designed by Gemma Atkinson in Tumble:

I’m off to pack for a family holiday in Cornwall now, and looking at the weather forecast, I think Dodgem might be sneaking into my bag….

Now to choose:  should I make space in my suitcase for clothes or yarn…. decisions, decisions….

Have a great weekend and thanks for popping by 🙂

xx

 

Rowan Afghan Ta Dah!!

Hurrah, I’ve finished my afghan!! Thank you to Martin Storey for a wonderful design and to Rowan Yarns for a great Knit-a-Long – I’ve really enjoyed taking part and I hope there will be more KALs in the future or maybe a Crochet-a-Long (hint hint Rowan!)

I’m really pleased with how my afghan has turned out and now have a lovely blanket to snuggle under in the coming autumn and winter, although it has already been “borrowed” by children and pets….

In the end I decided to make a slightly smaller version of the official afghan design but I included at least one of each weeks patterns as I really wanted to try out each design for myself and have a finished afghan that incorporated a little of everything.  My afghan is made up of 35 squares rather than 48 and I also decided to crochet the trim using Linda’s pattern over on the Knitted Pink blog.  I do love to mix knitting and crochet and I’m pleased how it turned out as well as the fact that it was super quick to do.

I used a simple slip stitch to join the squares:  using the tail of yarn left over from the cast on/cast off, insert the needle into the loop of each purl stitch along the edge of the squares you are joining:

So, to round up ~ my favourite square:  French Plait (week 7)
I do love a nice cable and I also loved knitting with this shade of Pure Wool Worsted – a rather vintage looking pink (Candy 118).

Favourite shade of Pure Wool Worsted: Oxygen 137
I also love the Nordic Square design from Week 2.

Another favourite shade of Pure Wool Worsted: Peacock 139, shown here in Dots & Dashes  from week 5:

I also used Peacock for the crochet trim.

Favourite KAL helper: Izzy the dog: a keen lover of wooly blankets

I love the way that an afghan holds so many memories, reminding me of the places that I visited and the people that I met and who I was with when I was knitting each square… something to always be treasured.  If you didn’t take part in the KAL and would still like to make the afghan, you can download the entire design for free on Rowan’s website by clicking here.

Thank you also to my friend Deana who very kindly let me borrow her lovely sofa for my afghan photos. Do pop over to Deana Ashby Interior Design at www.deanaashby.com ~ Deana lives in a very beautiful house and is a very talented lady.
So, what’s next on my needles? Well, I’m finishing my jumper in Alpaca Colour that I started before the afghan KAL and I’m also SUPER EXCITED about the new autumn / winter yarns and designs over at www.knitrowan.com.
Have you finished your afghan?  Do you have a favourite square too?  What projects have you got lined up for next season?

Thanks for visiting!
xx