Jade Sapphire

In continuing with our Fall = Tons and Tons of New Yarn theme, we are happy to announce new colors and more stock of two popular yarns from Jade Sapphire: Lacey Lamb and Silk Cashmere.

At 400 yards/2 oz and variable between 5-8 sts/inch on size US 1-4 needles, the Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere is a perfect yarn for a beautiful scarf, stole, shawl or other knitting project that yearns for drape.


Lisa recently finished Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole in Golden Amber:

Thanks to Stacy, the always willing model.

Another Rosie's favorite is Lacey Lamb. At 825 yards per 60g ball for only $18, spun from the softest lambswool and put up on squishy soft balls, it is hard not to love.

We currently carry over 18 colors, including some popular discontinued ones and a few new for Fall of 08. This yarn would be perfect for heirloom shawls or fine winter accessories that call for a cobweb weight yarn, or a great way to shrink a bedspread size shawl knit in a heavier yarn into a smaller size. If the uber-fine weight doesn't work for you, consider doubling for a broader gauge range.

All of the Jade Sapphire yarns are available in limited quantity so come in and grab your favorite!

Rowan KAL

This Tuesday evening join us for a Rowan Knit-a-Long! There are so many of us who are gearing up to cast on (or have already) from the new Rowan Magazine that we thought it would be more fun if we all got together to work on our projects. On Tuesday evenings for the next 6 weeks we'll meet up at Rosie's from 5-7 to work on our Rowan projects. My hope is that this will get my project finished quicker, so I can actually wear it this Winter and still get some holiday knitting done when it's finished. I hope to see you there!

Rowan Roundup

Where to begin?
It has been pretty hectic here since the new Rowan came in. As Courtney mentioned before, we have all been working to get it organized and ready for you! Now that it is all inventoried, photographed and on the shelves, we're ready to share!

New this season is Pure Organic Wool - Naturally Dyed. Similar to the Pure Life Cotton, this yarn is certified organic and dyed with all natural plant dyes and non-toxic mordants. The yarn has a beautiful hand and softness and the colors are subtle and rich. We currently carry six from the line (How pretty would a pair of fair isle mitts in Tannin and Horsetail be?):

If you're looking for more inspiration, true to their nature, Rowan has excellent pattern support: The Purelife Organic Wool Collection. Inside you will find rustic yet fashionable sweaters that effortlessly meld the organic qualities of the yarn with modern styling. Lovage is shown below:

This next yarn needs a disclaimer: I am not normally a yarn sniffer. To be honest, I think its a little weird. But this yarn smells so good. We talk a lot about Yarn with a Capitol "Y" here, and the British Sheep Breeds collection definitely fits the bill. Minimally processed and directly in support of local British farmers and breed quality and maintenance, the 5 natural colors are a treat for the eyes.

The British Sheep Collection Book is, like the Organic Wool Collection, excellent pattern support for the yarn. Not only are there some beautiful sweaters for women, there are a few men's patterns, like Gunnerside shown below, destined to become classics:

Cocoon was a new and popular yarn for us last year so we were excited to see ten new colors introduced this fall to compliment the 7 original "naturals" in the line:

The Cocoon Collection, the new pattern book for the line is beautiful. The cover sweater, Cheri, deals with bulky yarn in a clean, sophisticated and feminine manner. Too tempting.


Not wanting to ignore the "little" guys, we expanded our collection of Scottish Tweed 4 Ply to include the whole line. It is hard to find words to describe this yarn. It is just too beautiful. Perfect for colorwork, accessories, cabling, steeking. Perfect for everything. I can't get enough.

In addition to the 4 ply, we decided to carry a few colors of the Scottish Tweed DK. I knit a sweater out of this yarn last year and it continues to be one of my favorite handknit garments. I have my eyes on another bag of Apple for a cabled sweater for fall. (We also have some exciting news about this yarn and our dear friend Laura...but thats for a later date!)

And, last but not least, we added new colors to the Kaffe Fassett Regia line and stocked up on some of the most popular from the Landscape line last year:

Two new magazines we are uber excited about are Heartfelt: The Dark House Collection by Kim Hargreaves featuring modern and funky patterns in all gauges and styles:

and Rowan Magazine 44: The 30th anniversary edition.

We've all gone a little batty for Dietrich (I am thinking steel grey with cream crochet accent and pearl buttons)

And I can't wait to see Abby in Lombard:
We also received other great patten books such as Rowan Studio 11, Winter Gifts, Vintage and Alpine and new colors of Pure Wool DK (coming soon to a website near you), and Felted Tweed:

Now all that is left to do is decide what to knit first!

Driven to Distraction

When you are overwhelmed with work, finding yourself taking one step forward to be kicked two steps back isn't it nice to feel like you've accomplished something? Like a scarf, a garter stitch scarf, on #13 needles? We just finished knitting a maddening number of sweaters on deadline only to be faced with doing it all over again, the Rowan order in all of it's 14 box glory arrived, the October Project of the Month is on the 3rd re-knit, the website is drowning me in code-of-doom, Clyde is cutting his first tooth AND he learned how to move his little body around the room (and occasionally into other rooms) by scootching. It's been quite a week.
On Wednesday last I worked at the store with Kate and a woman came in and described a scarf she had seen on a TV show. It had two leaves at the bottom, one end went into a slot on the other side. We noodled around for patterns, found a little choker type thing in Classic Elite's Make it Modern, and finally settled on Dorlynn's Koigu Neck Cozy, which is essentially what she wanted but it was in Koigu, not a quick knit and more of a...well, neck cozy than a scarf.
After work I found myself at Macy's, which is unusual for me but we had to get a watch resized. While wandering around listening to the closing notes of the Wanamaker Organ I saw the scarf! It had occured to me when the woman was in the store that this would be a pattern worth writing, and now it was kismet. When I got to work the next day I wound yarn and got out my notebook and cast on. Just a few days later I was weaving in the ends! Ah, the sweet smell of a finished project.
The pattern uses 2 skeins of Manos del Uruguay yarn held double in color #46 and a #13 needle for a gauge of about 2.5 sts per inch.
Cast on 2 sts.
k1, m1, k1
k--3 sts
k1, m1, k1, m1, k1
k--5 sts
k2, m1, k1, m1, k2
k--7 sts
k2, m1, k3, m1, k2
k--9 sts
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, m1, k17, m1, k2
k23
Now work decreases back as follows:
k2, ssk, k15, k2tog, k2
k21
k2, ssk, k13, k2tog, k2
k19
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, ssk, k1, k2tog, k2
k7
Work keyhole:
k2, sl1 to a holder, k1, sl1 to a holder, k2
Work in garter on the 5 sts remaining on your needle for 8 rows.
Break yarn and place sts on a second holder.
Rejoin yarn to the 2 sts on holder and inc 1 in each st--4 sts.
K 8 rows in garter on these 4 sts.
Rejoin sts from holder:
*K1 from holder, k1 from needle; rep 4 times ending with k1 from holder--9 sts.
k1, *m1, k1; rep from * to end--17 sts.
Work in garter on these 17 sts for 120 rows.
Work second leaf backwards as follows:
k1, (k2tog) 8 times--9 sts.
Work keyhole:
*k1, sl1 to a holder; 4 times ending k1.
K 8 rows in garter on these 5 sts, break yarn and place on holder.
Rejoin yarn to the 4 sts on holder and k 8 rows in garter.
K2 tog twice--2 sts.
Rejoin:
k2 from holder, k1 from needle, k1 from holder, k1 from needle, k2 from holder--7 sts.
k2, m1, k3, m1, k2
k9 sts
k2, m1, k5, m1, k2
k11
Continue in pattern as set until:
k2, m1, k17, m1, k2
k23.
Now work decreases:
k2, ssk, k15, k2tog, k2
k21
k2, ssk, k13, k2tog, k2
k19
Continue in pattern as set until you have:
k2, ssk, k1, k2tog, k2
k7
Now:
k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1
k1, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1
k3
k2tog, k1
Bind off 2.
Weave in ends and block. To give it a little extra length I wet it and squeezed it out then hung it over the shower rail in my bathroom. When it was almost dry I smoothed the leaves out to shape on my bed and let them dry completely. I think this scarf would also be great in Misti Alpaca Chunky, held single. It's sooo soft. If you do it in this I would skip the hanging to dry part. Alpaca is pretty heavy and it might get too long.
I hope that the woman who was looking for this pattern reads the blog!
Ravel it!

FALL ROWAN IS HERE!

The Fall Rowan Shipment finally arrived yesterday, all 14 some odd boxes of it! Stacy has been busy rearranging the store to accomodate it all, Jen's been busy inputting it into the computer, Kate's been snapping photos and I'm busy today uploading it all to shiny new webpages. Whew! If you want to see it all in person head on in, and this Saturday and take 10% off any Rowan project in celebration! Don't miss the Rittenhouse art show while your in our neck of the woods.
Blog post with all the juicy pics forthcoming...

Rauma Ull

It all started with Selbuvotter a few months ago and was fueled by a visit to Arnhild's Knitting Studio at TNNA: Rosie's has Rauma Fever. We now carry Finullgarn, Gammelserie and Lamullgarn.

Gammelserie is a 2-ply 100% wool. Each ball is 50g, 175 yards each and spun at a recommended gauge of 28sts/4 inches but would stretch happily between 26-32 sts/4 inches. We chose 5 colors from their more traditional palette:

Funullgarn comes in over 100 colors, and we carefully selected 25 colors plus the traditional black and white. Perfect for Fair Isle sweaters or traditional accessories in modern colors, Funnulgarn is 2 ply, 100% wool. Each 50g ball is approximately 180 yards. Funullgarn is labeled at 24 sts/4 inches, but, Like Gammelserie, can work anywhere between 24-30 sts/4inches.


Lamullgarn is the finest of the three, at 30-32 sts/4inches. We went very traditional with this one, and currently have true black and bright white.

Each yarn would work beautifully in all the patterns found in Selbuvotter, but we also carry wonderful books and single patterns filled with mittens, hats, stockings, sweaters and much more. Each book has an English insert by Arnhild, and she is always available for any additional translation support if needed.

Raumagarn no. 4 and Raumagarn no.3 are tradtional pattern booklet filled with mittens, stockings and hats:
Selbustrikk is a pure accessories book with a focus on imagery and motif:

Per Tryving AS is a family accesories book:


Stacy is busy working on a pair of Selbu mittens in modern colors of OWool 2 ply and I picked up some magenta and mint green Finullgarn for some mittens as well. Abby is ahead of the pack and has already finished a pair of traditional black and white mittens from Selbuvotter (and, as we hear it, already deep into her second pair!)

Whether purely traditional, or someone who goes for a more modern twist, you, too, can catch Rauma Fever.

September Project of the Month: Sugar Mountain Beret

As cooler weather swiftly approaches Rosie's has shifted into high gear in preparation for fall. A lot of this means we've been gussying up (come check out the new space if you haven't already -- I still have paint in my hair!), excitedly putting out the new fall yarns (Rowan is on its way - check here for first notice of arrival!) and dreaming up the perfect projects to compliment your Fall wardrobe. Fall is a wonderful time of year: the smell of crushed leaves, apple cider, crisp clear mornings, hayrides, pumpkins, the beauty of foliage, my..ahem..birthday. Most importantly, hand knits are worn again after a summer hiatus and appreciated once more.

While on vacation this summer in the mountains armed with a few balls of yarn, needles and no doubt dreaming about cooler weather, Courtney designed the beautiful Sugar Mountain Beret. Knit out of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran and designed to show off the many wonderful qualities of the yarn: sheen, drape, stitch definition, softness and subtle rich colors, the beret is an interesting and enjoyable knit from start to finish. Necessary skills include knitting in the round, reading charts, lace and cable comprehension, increasing and decreasing. The result speaks for itself:

Isn't D.C. Beautiful?

If you would like a jump start on Fall, too, download a .pdf of the Sugar Mountain Beret below. Knit one for yourself, or get ahead on Holiday knitting for those you love.