September January

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1 September 2014 January

2 CONTENTS Welcome Letter 4 Monthly Free Pattern 5 Honley School takes up Yarn Bombing 6 Rowan Loves... North 8 Rowan Ambassadors 10 Celebrate Kidsilk Haze s 13th Birthday 12 Kirstie Allsopp s The Handmade Fair 14 Kaffe Fassett 50 years in Textiles 16 The Wool Merchant 18 Design Intarsia Workshop 22 with Dee Hardwicke Stockists & Workshops 23 Social Media Links September 2014

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4 Welcome to September s enewsletter! As the days begin to shorten here in Yorkshire, we are excited to bring you news of some fabulous new competitions and initiatives around our Kidsilk Haze yarn, as it nears its 13 th birthday. We also hear from UK retailer The Wool Merchant, look at a stunning new collection from Kim Hargreaves and bring you an exclusive chance to win tickets to see us at The Handmade Fair later this month. We hope you enjoy your new issue! The Rowan team Front Cover: Maree by Martin Storey using Brushed Fleece Brushed Fleece Collection MAREE Click on the symbol where it appears for a link to further information Keep in touch with us on social media 4 - September 2014

5 EXCLUSIVE Ptolema by Martin Storey All Seasons Chunky PTOLEMA For this and hundreds of FREE patterns exclusive to members, click the button below: September

6 Honley School takes up Yarn Bombing Honley Junior School is quite used to taking part in art projects. With a community arts organisation resident in the barn on the school site, there is always something going on. So when the school joined forces with the Infant School and the High School, working together with the PTAs and Heads Together the community arts organisation, to stage the annual Music and Arts Festival, lots of ideas came up to decorate the school grounds. It was the children who came up with the idea to do some knitting as decoration. 6 - September 2014

7 The annual Summerfest draws in around 1,500 local residents, family and friends and the children at the school were keen to show off their new knitting skills. A lunchtime club was set up and Linda Strudwick from Heads Together led the weekly sessions with a group of eager knitters producing some wonderful knitted patches. A flyer was sent home with all the children at the Junior and Infant school and they soon began receiving donations of knitted squares from families and members of the community. With a donation of wool from Coats UK, the children really excelled in the knitting group, and took yarn home to finish extra knitting. As the Summerfest drew nearer, the children started to yarn bomb a tree in the school grounds, incorporating a cycle wheel to fit in with the Le Tour theme of the festival. They also made some fantastic knitted bunting and pom poms for decoration between the trees. The three Honley schools, their PTAs and Heads Together would like to say a big thank you to Coats UK for their generous donation of yarn, and a big thank you to everyone who donated knitting to us, helping the children develop their craft skills. September

8 ROWANLoves North by Kim Hargreaves Kim Hargreaves anticipated new North book doesn t disappoint. Featuring 21 stunning patterns from an elegant fitted dress, to a timeless sweater and cosy accessories, the book is beautifully photographed and is styled with a sophistication typical of the designer. 8 - September 2014

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10 AMBASSADORS This June, the Rowan team were pleased to welcome our network of Rowan Ambassadors to the mill for a wonderful visit and feedback session. The Ambassador programme has now been underway for over a year and provides Kate Buller and the design team priceless insight into what our Row@n members want to see from us. Meet the Ambassador team and check out their blogs to find out more! To view our ambassadors blogs click on the name below. Viovioleta Esther Hartley Maria Niedermayer Jen Geigley Kristen Rettig Linda Ortyl Sarah Woodhouse Ute Rehner Cindi Brumpton Anne Featonby Dayana Krawchuk Anja Troschau Konrad Siebenhüter Claire Durbin 10 - September 2014

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12 Celebrate Kidsilk Haze s 13th birthday Help us celebrate this landmark birthday and look out for some new Kidsilk haze designs, a create a shade competition and lots of fabulous giveaways September 2014

13 Save the date - 15th September Designers Kidsilk Haze Competition As part of our plans to mark Kidsilk Haze s birthday this year, we are launching a very special and exclusive competition for you, our Row@n members. Keep an out on knitrowan for the upload of a fabulous image lookbook, detailing the chosen favourite Kidsilk Haze designs of thirteen famous Rowan designers. Once the lookbook has been published, we will open a poll for you to choose which of the designs you would most like to knit the winning design will then be made available as a FREE download from the 15th October. 20th September Create a shade We are giving you the once in a lifetime chance to create a shade of our bestselling yarn. To enter, simply send us a picture of a colour you would like to see in the Kidsilk Haze range and a short explanation of your choice. It may be your favourite holiday sunset, a favourite sweater or it might be a shade from the past which you adored! All entries must include: A picture of the shade, this will allow us to match the shade as best as possible. Winning shades will be entered into the Kidsilk Haze range for Autumn Winter Some background information on why you selected the image/shade. A suggested shade name. You must title your entry with the category you wish to enter; Best knitters shade, Best retailers shade or Most unusual story. Watch out for futher information on how to enter on Ravelry, Facebook and Knitrowan. Good luck!! September

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15 Win tickets to Kirstie Allsopp s The Handmade Fair! Win the chance to visit our stand at the Handmade Fair, Hampton Court Palace, UK, during the 19 th 21 st September, with our fabulous Row@n competition. Take part in craft workshops and listen to inspirational lectures from famous names including Kaffe Fassett, Cath Kidston, Stuart Hillard and Mr X Stitch. To enter into the draw for one of three pairs of tickets, simply visit and tell us in which new publication the Lune design can be found. CLICK HERE TO ENTER Competition closes at 5pm on the 15 th September visit www. thehandmadefair.com to find out more and learn about our exciting craft tent areas! September

16 Wishing Kaffe Fassett a Happy 50 th Anniversary in Textiles We take a look at the huge importance of Kaffe during his time in the industry and his strong bond with Rowan. The year of 1981 will forever prove to be a milestone mark, as it was then that a chance meeting occurred between Rowan co-owner Stephen Sheard and a youthful Kaffe Fassett at a craft fair. From that point on, Kaffe was to become a hugely influential figure within the Rowan team, both in terms of colour selection and, of course, his iconic designs. Kaffe first ventured into the world of colourful yarn on a visit to a Scottish wool mill with fashion designer Bill Gibb. Inspired by all the beautiful colours of the landscape, he was amazed to find these recreated in knitting yarns. From this moment on, Kaffe was to become a champion of the designer colour concept, and this proved to be hugely influential in his relationship with Rowan. Rowan s insight into fashion and colour complement Kaffe s skill perfectly, and together we have produced decades of truly inspirational and iconic designs as part of our Knitting & Crochet Magazine series. Alongside this, Kaffe s design talent is also showcased brilliantly through his range of designer lifestyle fabrics, which he has been creating for fifteen years. In 1988, Kaffe became the first living textile artist to be granted an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The exhibition doubled attendance figures to the museum, and has since visited 16 - September 2014

17 Finland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Canada, USA and Iceland, where 5% of the total population attended. Throughout this glorious career, Kaffe has maintained a guru-like status of master of colour and design, and has taught and inspired many in the use of both of these. At Rowan, we d like to congratulate Kaffe on his 50 th anniversary in textile crafts here s to many more years of talent and expertise! SNEAK PREVIEW! Look out for an exciting Kaffe announcement coming soon on September

18 The Wool Merchant The Wool Merchant, was set up three years ago by Dawn Riggs in the Mid Devon town of Tiverton. We hear from Dawn about her history and current day store. All my life, I have been fascinated by natural fibres. I have no memory of learning to knit, as my mother taught me at the tender age of two and I was knitting my own clothes even as a young child. I remember many happy winter afternoons spent with an elderly neighbour and her mother knitting and crocheting by the light of a log fire. The neighbour, a gentle, white-haired old lady, would use up her left over yarn from knitting projects crocheting brightly coloured, cushions, and blankets. There was no sign of any patterns - she just made up the patterns as she went and taught me to do the same. In the summer, we would sit out in the garden shelling peas, gardening or knitting, I have an abiding memory of the 18 - September 2014

19 colours of the wools and the flowers, both of which have influenced my adult life. Many years (and much knitting) on with a husband and three children, a desire to make something from scratch led to an interest in spinning, and I joined The Devon Guild of Spinners weavers and dyers. When my children started school, I was asked to take the spinning wheel in and demonstrate to the class. Some years on, I turned this into a part time job by travelling around to local primary schools, giving talks and workshops on natural fibres and the history of spinning. I was soon demonstrating at National Trust properties and eventually giving lectures, and displays on natural fibres at The Eden Project. I grew cotton, bred silk worms and sourced traditional scutched flax from a mill in Ireland, which enabled me to expand my talks and show the processes involved. It was very exciting, and my daughter would come along and help me. Seven years ago, I moved to Mid Devon from South Devon where I had grown up, and spent four years renovating a 12th September

20 century priory, which I ran as a B&B with an acre of gardens. Again, with the help of my daughter, I researched and designed several areas of historical gardens, amongst which was a textile garden, plants used for fibre dye tools and design through the centuries. Three years ago, I started looking around for premises for a wool shop. The shop on Fore Street had just become vacant and, when I saw the wooden floor and old brick fireplace, I knew I had found the right place. As it happened, Rowan had a lovely book out with a picture on the front of a blanket crocheted in vintage shades, with cushions and a fire place, so I rented the shop, made the blanket and opened up The Wool Merchant shop, selling knitting wools and tools. I specialise in selling high quality, natural fibre yarns from around the world. The plan for the future is to expand into selling spinning, weaving and dying equipment, as well as traditional needlework and crewelwork September 2014

21 Many people spend hours in the shop, and often arrange holidays so that they can come back. Locals come in for a chat and a cup of tea or coffee, and I am always on hand to help with problems. Tiverton is an ancient wool town like many in England and has a merchant s trail to walk around and explore places of historic interest linked to the wool trade. The wool merchants of old made this town prosperous; hence I named the shop to reflect this historic link. not like other shops, I hope that there will always be a place on the high street for shops that are different. To succeed, you have to go the extra mile; you have to stand out as somewhere that people look forward to visiting. I tell my customers that if they buy wool from me it comes with a guarantee, that I will get them to the end of their project! I have often been told that the shop is September

22 Rowan Mill, Holmfirth, 8th & 9th November ROWAN Workshop Design Intarsia with Dee Hardwicke Dee Hardwicke is a ceramic artist who takes inspiration from the natural world. Using her designs and in collaboration with Rowan Yarns she has created Little Colour Knits, an inspiring new book full of colourful projects to knit. During the workshop, participants will be guided through the working of a number of small intarsia squares featuring motifs as used in Dee s Little Colour Knits. Once a basic understanding of the intarsia technique has been established, Dee will spend the weekend showing participants how to develop an understanding of colour and use of inspiration to develop an intarsia chart of their own design and help them make a start incorporating that design into a small project. Participants will leave with a working knowledge of the intarsia technique, and with the inspiration, skills and confidence to create their own colour charts from things that inspire them. For more information click below. WORKSHOPS 22 - September 2014

23 Stockists To find your local stockist view our store locator at by clicking the button below STORE LOCATOR Workshops To view a full list of workshop dates visit by clicking the button below WORKSHOPS All right reserved. Reproduction in whole or any part of all material, including illustrations, in this publication is strictly forbidden. No part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the copyright owners having been given in writing. The designs in this publication are copyrighted and must not be knitted for re-sale. Reproduction of this publication is protected by copyright and is sold on the condition that it is used for non commercial purposes. Yarn quantities are approximate as they are based on average requirements. Colour reproduction is as close as printing will allow. First published in Great Britain 2014 by Coats Crafts UK LTD Green Lane Mill, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, HD9 2DX [email protected] Web: Copyright Rowan 2014 September

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