Waulking Song Mittens

This month's Project of the Month is the Waulking Song Mittens designed by our own Johanna Marshall! The name of the mittens comes from the Scottish folk songs, traditionally sung by women while waulking.

Waulking, the Scottish name for fulling, is a step in woolen cloth-making which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. This involved a group of people beating newly woven tweed rhythmically against a table or similar surface to soften it. Simple, beat-driven songs were used to accompany the work. A waulking session often begins with slow-paced songs, with the tempo increasing as the cloth becomes softer. As the singers work the cloth, they gradually shift it to the left so as to work it thoroughly.

Here's how these mittens came to be. It all began when Jenna, Johanna and I (lots of J's here) had originally planned to each take a wheel of Cestari Pencil Roving and see what resulted for each of us. We often used Cestari when teaching people how to use a drop spindle, but didn't know what else could be knit, having a certain level of substantiation. There are patterns that call for unspun icelandic wool that would probably suit this yarn just fine, but there had to be something else.

Jenna's project was a bust, as was mine, but Johanna was quite successful in coming up with something. She decided to take two of her favorite things & put them together by knitting mittens at a larger gauge than needed, and fulling them. The result is one of the warmest pair of mittens I've stuck my hands into.


You can knit & full them and leave them plain or you can embroider/embellish them as you please. An awesome blog to find free patterns daily is Hand Embroidery Network.  Sublime Stitching also has some great patterns for sale on their website that made me a bit weak in the knees, too.

The pattern is available for download on the Rosie Knits page and the Cestari roving is sold at about $2/oz. Most of the wheels are 3-5oz, making this a super-affordable project! Cestari might not get an encore performance in the shop, so snag a wheel or two while the getting's good!

The Other April Project of the Month

Just on the off chance that yesterday's project doesn't cry your name in quite the way you'd like, here's a more demure (but equally lovely) pattern. The Articulation Scarf is a beginner-level lace project made from one skein of Louet Mooi, a luscious bison/bamboo/cashmere blend.

It features a simple two-row repeat, the double-ladder look being achieved by working yarnovers on both right & wrong sides.

Articulation is available for free download here on our Rosie Knits Pattern page. Happy April!

February Project of the Month: Pebble Lace Crocheted Tam

As we were planning ahead (and looking back at the past year) and thinking of design ideas for Rosie's Projects of The Month, it quickly became very clear that crochet has not received its fair share of face time!

So, this month, Jen designed a totally awesome beret for you to crochet. The project is designed in two sizes (less or more slouch depending on your tastes) and features a classic Rosie's favorite, Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (available in every color in the shop)!

For die-hard crocheters, there is a ribbed crochet brim, or for knitters looking for a crossover project -- or those adept at both needle and hook -- there is also a traditional K1 x P1 brim option (shown above in the Larger size).

Click the link above to be taken to the pattern page. Then, come into Rosie's, pick out your favorite color and whip up this super cute beret. If a project like this appeals to you and you have the basics down but you are a little daunted by the pattern, don't worry! We offer a crochet drop in on the 4th Monday of each month. If you can't wait until then, give us a call at 215.977.9276 and sign up for a private lesson with the designer herself!

November Project of the Month: A Cap for Nessa's Mother

It's been a busy week here at Rosie's! We packed up the Uhaul yesterday and sent Lisa, Stacy, DC and Abby down to Baltimore for Stitches East which is this weekend (Friday-Sunday) at the Baltimore Convention center. Every year we pack up part of the store and head down to Stitches where we set up a booth (three booths this year!) and sell yarn and meet people. This year Lisa, Carol and Laura are all signing Knit So Fine in our booth at 3:30 on Saturday, and we also have a trunk show of all the garments! They are really lovely. Be sure to stop by and try on your favorite! We also have a lot of the yarns there so you can purchase projects and get your book signed all in one fell swoop. Stacy is designing our booth space this year so it's sure to be adorable. Kate and I also made kits of all your favorite Rosie Knits patterns, like Selbu Modern, the Sugar Mountain Beret, Trellis Lace Capelet and more. They are super cute. Stay tuned, the kits will be available in the shop and online for holiday shopping this year. They are sure to be a hit. Which brings me to the topic of this blog post, the new Project of the Month!

A Cap for Nessa's Mother

I know the name is sort of a mouthful, but there's a story behind it.
Years ago, when I first started working here, the office was strictly Lisa's domain. Occasionally she would ask me to print out a pattern for a customer and I would take a deep breath and dive into the tangeled mess of files. Throughout the years so many patterns had been written, rewritten, edited, renamed or abandoned that the "My Documents" section of the office PC was overrun with files called things like, "Sweater revision for Frances" or "How I make my buttonholes" or "A Cap for Nessa's Mother." I familiarized myself with all of them so that I could help the customers and also so I would know where to find a basic worsted weight watchcap pattern for a toddler (the file called, shockingly, "Kid's Worsted Watchcap") so I could just print it out for a customer instead of pouring through books. There's all kinds of useful things in that "My Documents" folder that Lisa has accumulated over the years: Items like, "Big Cable Hat" "Child's Poncho" "Crocheted Kippot" "Easy Felt Bag" and "Fuzzy Fingerless Mittens".
A Cap for Nessa's Mother began as just that. A woman, ostensibly named Nessa, came in with a hat that her mother had knit years ago with yarn and a pattern from Wanamakers, so long ago that Wanamakers was not only still in business but it also had a wool department. Her mother had lost the pattern and wanted to make the hat again. Lisa looked at the hat and concocted a pattern for her. Years passed, and then I resurrected it in all it's cute glory. The time has come, and this is a great quick knit perfect for an "in-between projects" project or as a quick gift for the holidays. I knit this one in Manos Silk Blend color 3044 briar, Stacy has already whipped one up in Black. It uses under one skein of yarn, so it's also great for using up scrap yarn you have at home. I would guess that I used about 3/4 of a skein, or about 100 yds. Download the free pattern now!

See you at Stitches!

October Project of the Month!

There are a few well known things about me. One, I really really love (read: am obsessed with) my dogs. Two, I am always cold. And three, I love to design vintage and classic inspired knits with a modern twist.

A few years ago, I was given a double knit navy and white (reversible) wall hanging with traditional Selbu motifs on it. It has floated around in our house, sometimes hanging, sometimes covering the back of a chair, but never really finding a place in our home. (What do you all do with your 3' x 4' double knit motif based wall hangings?) Randomly, one day, I looked at the wall hanging and was immediately inspired

And so I began to knit!

The end result is Selbu Modern, a traditionally inspired beret with a modern twist. And whats best, it is perfect for keeping my head warm while walking the dogs. A trifecta of happiness!

The beret is knit with 2 skeins of Koigu KPM, (one each of the MC and CC) and the end result is super soft and sproingy. Any solid fingering weight yarn will do, though! Download the free pattern below and come in and pick out your favorite modern color combination!

Ravel it!