I recently received the latest publication from Rowan: Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine 66. But instead of one magazine it now consists of two separate ones – the main magazine featuring a story titled Bookbound and another magazine called Rowan Focus.

Altogether there are 40 patterns for men and woman. Bookbound features 25 patterns knitted and crocheted using some of Rowan’s favourite yarns such as Felted Tweed, Kidsilk Haze and Alpaca Soft DK. Rowan Focus highlights two new yarns, Cashmere Haze and Island Blend, with a further 15 women’s designs, 

I started flicking through Rowan Focus first as the new yarns intrigued me. All the 15 patterns are designed by Lisa Richardson and this one immediately caught my eye, Breeze, knitted using Island Blend and Kidsilk Haze.

Ooo! I do love a long cuddly cardigan with hand warming pockets!

So, what is Island Blend? It is a mixture…a blend…of fine merino wool from the Falkland Islands, baby alpaca and silk. According to Rosee Woodland’s An Island Story article in the main magazine, Island Blend is a “super-light and soft yarn” and “knits into a sophisticated, drapey fabric on 4mm needles”. Sounds lovely and looks lovely too…

Island Blend is available in 10 shades.

I’m not normally into scarves and wraps but Harmony, a floaty looking crocheted wrap, looks great…

If you’d prefer a scarf, cast on a few less stitches.

Harmony is crocheted in Cashmere Haze, which is a blend of baby alpaca, cashmere and silk and has very similar qualities to Kidsilk Haze: fluffy and lightweight.

If you look closely at the image above you will see that the yarn strand has a white core which Rowan says, “creates a beautiful mélange effect in our darker shades”.

On to the main magazine and a few patterns stood out for me straight away. First of all was Larkin by Lisa Richardson, knitted in Felted Tweed…

I fancy making something that looks like a little tweedy jacket. How smart!

Yes, I think I might be in need of a long v-neck jumper just like Haddon by Lisa Richardson, knitted using Felted Tweed and Kidsilk Haze…

Great for wearing over those leggings to cover the derrière!

And then there’s Holtby, designed by Annika Andrea Wolke and knitted in Felted Tweed…

And Holtby’s not just for men as there is a wide range of sizes from bust/chest 32-34” (81-86cm) up to 52-54” (132-137cm).

What I liked about this design was how simple it was but how very clever. I loved the way the designer has transitioned from one shade to another. Hopefully you can see this in the close-up of part of the sweater below…

Just think about the different colour combinations you could come up with from the 48 shades of Felted Tweed to choose from. I’ve come up with six using colours based on the Felted Tweed shades Carbon, Alabaster, Maritime, Peony and Seafarer. See my graphical representations of the pattern design below…

There are a total of 25 designs to choose from in Bookbound so if you don’t like any of my favourites go and take a look for yourself on the Rowan Yarns website at https://knitrowan.com/en. You can also buy the magazine from many yarn shops or have it delivered to your door by subscribing to Rowan Yarns: check out the subscription page on Rowan’s website at https://knitrowan.com/en/rowan-subscriptions.

For more information on some of the things I have mentioned above check out the links below:
Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine 66
Rowan Felted Tweed
Rowan Island Blend
Rowan Cashmere Haze

Maybe you have already got your copy of Magazine 66? If you have what has caught your eye? Please do let me know by scrolling down to “Leave a Reply” below.

Esther x

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