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I Want, I Want, I Want…

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It’s not my birthday. It’s nowhere close to my anniversary. The best I can hope for is Christmas.

This is what I want, I might even trade my next few breaths for it:

rowan30 years of great patterns. 30 years of their most popular designs, and 80 photographs!

Rowan — a name synonymous with quality. Originating in England in 1980, Rowan has achieved world-class status for its fine knitting yarns as well as its knitting publications and classic fashion patterns.

A 30-year retrospective. Rowan’s Greatest Knits brings you 30 of its most popular knitwear patterns from the 80s through today — all in one big, beautiful book. Here, you’ll also be treated to 80 stunning color photographs from the original pages of Rowan magazine.

Classic knit patterns. With clearly written instructions, knitters of all skill levels can reproduce these enduringly beautiful patterns for knitted sweaters, vests, scarves, mittens and socks. Patterns include helpful yarn replacement suggestions.

Inspiration from top designers. Some of today’s leading designers have partnered with Rowan to produce outstanding knitwear. Kaffe Fassett, known for his brilliant designs and use of vibrant color, wrote the introduction to this book. And the works of Jean Moss, Sasha Kagan, and Annabel Fox, among others, are also featured.

This book is truly a “keeper”. It’s perfect for anyone who loves to knit and enjoys creating classic fashions with style.

<swoon…> I knew you’d want it too. Here’s the link to get your own directly from Taunton Press: http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/rowans-greatest-knits-kate-buller-071298.html

Must. Go. Knit!

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Have you read?

Knit a Linen Stitch Hot Pad

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough. 

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern. 

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed. 

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do. 

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces. 

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls. 

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry. 

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