YOTD: Rowan Romance

Today's YOTD is Rowan Romance. I bought this one at the same time as Twinkle at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace two years ago, and having recently been to the latest one I am using up some of the old stash! It is a bulky weight yarn and knits on 7mm needles. I used this yarn  ages ago in one of my techniques post and here is the picture from that post so you can see it in the ball.

Rowan Romance is unfortunately another discontinued yarn, but I have found some and on sale!! Here at English Yarns they are £3.55 a ball, a saving of 30%!! Rowan Romance comes in 50g balls and you get around 60yrds/55m on a ball which is good for a chunky yarn and is made from a massive combination of 36% Acrylic, 27% Nylon, 26% Mohair, 8% Polyester, and 3% Wool. Now that sure is a mix!!! The tension is hidden on the picture but over 10cm it is 11.5sts over 15 rows. 

As you can see, the yarn is quite a loose ply and there is a glitter strand running through it. It is a really easy yarn to work with, and this project was actually my first ever project knit entirely in the round. So it was a great achievement for me too so I do love the cowl that I knit with this. It is a bit scratchy for me, but I have incredibly sensitive skin so that could just be me. I am so sensitive I can't even wear certain cashmere!!! In my view, it is one of the softer yarns I have worked with and It is so so pretty knitted up.

Here is my cowl here, being fetchingly modelled by my water jug, but you get the idea. This is a very long cowl that you double up. In terms of the pattern I used, well I made that up as I went along. Kinda cast on some stitches and knit until I was happy. (when you see happy, actually read fed up!!)




I think this is really pretty and I love all the colours available. You are looking at shade 99 which is a deep grey colour, but available at English yarns are a soft pink, white, light grey, green and a deeper grey. The only problem- Hand Washable! This is a great yarn for accessories, especially scarves and cowls like mine. Great yarn, enjoyed working with it. Would I buy it again? No, its too itchy for my skin and I really don't need any more scarves. Simple as that!!!!
Have a great day all!!

YOTD: Rowan Cashsoft DK

Happy Sunday Everyone!! I hope you are all well. It's actually not raining here so thats a bonus. Can you believe a year ago my Mum was getting married? Wow, I cannot believe it has been a year since we were in France and we have had so much happen in the space of just a year. They are off out today to celebrate and I hope they have a lovely day. Happy Anniversary Mum and Dave!!!

Today's YOTD is Rowan Cashsoft DK. It is a beautiful yarn which is a blend of 57% extra fine merino, 33% Acrylic microfibre and 10% cashmere. It is a very soft lovely yarn and knits to a tension over 10cm of 22sts over 30 rows on 4mm needles. It normally retails for £5.75 which is pretty good for a cashmere blend, but I found 2 balls in an odd ball bin (good old John Lewis) for £1.50 per ball, which is in anyone's book a blooming Bargain!!! You get 115m or 126yrds on a ball too so not bad for a 50g ball.

It knits up to a lovely thick fabric. There is one little issue with the plying of the yarn, as in both balls I had there was a couple of bits that were big and fluffy and white!! Which shows really badly!! I had to cut them out and reattach the yarn a couple of times. But actually it is so worth it!!

From the 2 balls I got, I managed to make the Puerperium cardigan above, and the Hospital Hat below, and have about 10g left of the ball too, which will go later into something stripy, so I was really impressed. I enjoyed knitting it, and the yarn is lovely to work with. I would probably buy it again, and I would pay £5.75 a ball for it. It went a long way

It is machine washable too, and you can iron it. It is not tumble dryable, but I would tend to dry hand knits flat anyway so I am happy to ignore that. It is also available in over 20 colours, and in various deep and pastel shades. I have shade 508- Ballad Blue, and it is a lovely colour, and the pictures do show the true colour.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!!

YOTD: Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton DK

Hi Everyone!!! Happy Wednesday!!! Hope you are all doing well, and have entered the competition I'm running, and get the chance to win the yarn and/or book!! Today's Post is a YOTD post and it wasn't until I started researching this yarn that I realised it was discontinued. I'm still giving you the review because I know there will be lots of odd balls and ends in shops that you will come across and probably on sale, so this is perfect timing for a YOTD post about it.

Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton DK Naturally Dyed is an epic title for a ball of wool, but it is a 100% organic cotton yarn, and it has been made to ensure that everyone in the line of growing, spinning and creating the yarn gets the best money and make the best living for their families. Now normally a ball of this costs you £5.50 for 120m of DK yarn. I think this is quite a lot of money in comparison to other cotton yarns, but you are getting organic and naturally dyed. The tension of this yarn is 22sts over 30 rows over 10cm, so within the basic DK tension requirements.

My yarn cost me £1. Yep, £1 a ball, from John Lewis in Bluewater, in the odd ball bin. Mine is also faded. I have the indigo shade, and it has faded on the outside, so I am guessing if you leave your garments out or in the back of the car, then they are going to fade. However, I have 2 balls of it, and I actually don't mind the fading. The yarns are pretty much all varigated anyway so the fading doesn't really matter to me.

I like this yarn. It is soft, and surprisingly for a cotton yarn it is not too splitty when you knit it on wooden needles. On metal, it does a bit, but still it is not as bad as others so I actually love it. The colour is delicate and pretty, and I like it. Its expensive I think for what it is, but I am not an organic kinda girl. I am not going to justify my position, because each to their own. The tension is good, and I love the finished fabric. It knits well on 4mm needles, and I wouldn't go any bigger on the needles, with some cottons you can, not with this one.

Would I buy this cotton again? Actually, if I was looking for a cotton, then yes I would. I know its discontinued, but it is a lovely non-split cotton yarn, easily blocked but the colour runs. The natural dye does run a bit, not majorly, and because of the variegated it doesn't really notice. It is hand wash only and non-tumble driable so the care of the finished work is problematic. I've knit a bib from it to get a good swatch, and its cotton, so it has to be a bit absorbent.

So colours? Now the one above is a slightly faded Indigo (994) a pretty shade of blue. Others include Madder (980) a light rose pink, Brazilwood (982) a brighter rose pink, Quebracho and Cuba (983) a pale green, Lipstick Tree (985) a very bright orange, Natural (986) which looks like natural cotton, Quebracho Bark (987) which is a milk chocolate colour, Myrobolan (988) a light tan colour, Cherry Plum (989) a reddy brown, Oak Apple (990) a charcoal grey, Chrysanthamum (991) a very dusky pink, Chlorophyll (992) a light green, Oak Bark (995) a light grey, Rhubarb (996) a light yellow/ cream and finally Light Brazilwood (997) a lighter version of 982.

Now I'm off because I've already burnt one of my cakes for my Dad's birthday cake getting too involved with wool!!!! Happy 50th Birthday Daddy!!!