Knitting & Crochet Magazine 52 Preview - Rowan

July 2012
January 2012 - 1

Hello and welcome to the July issue of your enewsletter.
It’s that time of year again, and what better way to welcome in mid July than with the
launch of Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 52! We hope that you like the new mag
and all its fabulous designs. We’re very excited about it.
On top of that, we look at a day in the life of Gemma Atkinson, the in house Rowan assistant
designer, catch up with member Moochka, and reveal details of the
winner of the Rowan Design Competition 2012!
Of course, we wouldn’t forget your exclusive FREE download pattern.
We hope you enjoy your new issue.
The Rowan Team
CONTENTS
Rowan Design Competition 4
Knitting & Crochet Magazine 52 Preview 6
Introducing Gemma Atkinson 8
Kidsilk Creation Stripe Embellishments 10
2 - July 2012
Front Cover:
Harris by Marie Wallin
Using Kid Classic & Felted Tweed
Knitting & Crochet Magazine 52
Follow us on
Summer Knits 11
Three Peaks Challenge 12
Moochka 14
Yarn in the Spotlight 16
Click on the symbol
where it appears for a link to
further information

E X C L U S I V E
Flame
by Lisa Richardson
using Kidsilk Haze, Panama,
Revive & Fine Lace
Flame
For this and hundreds of
FREE patterns exclusive to
m e m b e r s
click the button below:
FREE PATTERN
ARCHIVE
May 2012 - 3

R O WA N Design Competition 2012
In March we launched an exciting design competition, to produce an accessory design
inspired by one of the nations taking part in this year’s Olympic Games.
Entries have now all been judged, and a winner chosen! The judging team, including
head Rowan Designer Marie Wallin, were blown away by the standard of the entries,
so much so that they chose to award two extra prizes of a Rowan Subscription package
to second and third placed winners.
Miki Pettit took third place with her beautiful “Stars and Stripes” beret in Cashsoft DK,
whereas Janis Clinton was just pipped into second place with her knitted headphone
covers. Lynette Meek also received a Highly Commended award.
However, there could only be one winner, and Julie Ferguson’s Aboriginal Cowl
took the top place award. Julie wins yarn up to the value of £150 and a free Rowan
Subscription membership for her and a friend.
Many thanks again for taking part in our competition, we really were thrilled by all the
wonderful ideas and designs which were submitted.
Stars and Stripes Beret
By Miki Pettit
4 - July 2012
Knitted Headphone Covers
By Janis Clinton

Aboriginal Cowl
By Julie Ferguson
July 2012 - 5

Ronaldsay from Hebridean
By Lisa Richardson
Using Wool Cotton
Ruby from Essentials
By Marie Wallin
Using Kid Classic
6 - July 2012
Knitting & Crochet
Magazine 52
Preview
Heritage knitwear dominates Autumn Winter 2012,
with warmth, security and functionality all playing
leading roles.
Alongside this, bright colourwork and patterning
are key, creating a new take on the traditional.
Different colour mixes contour the body silhouette,
emphasising and exaggerating their effect.
Uncomplicated yet modern shapes are key, with
fringing, intarsia, cabling and structured texturing
all important.
These trends are reflected in the following three
design stories:
North Sea
North Sea is a celebration of British historic knitting
with Guernsey, Aran and cable stitches being used
with a contemporary twist. Traditional stitches are
exaggerated and manipulated to create a unique
look, which combines perfectly with colour blocks
and mixes.
Hebridean
Hebridean tells the story of Fair Isle and Nordic
pattern, reworked, magnified and rearranged to
create an electric yet casual collection. Inspired
by the atmospheric landscape of Scotland, the
collection is coloured in rustic greens, rusts and
rich earthy tones.
Essentials
Essentials translates key trends into simplified,
wearable pieces. Predominantly a plain knitted
and solid coloured collection, the emphasis is on
shape, of fitted knits, cropped sweaters, fringing
and mohair effects are all present.
For further information on our
Rowan Subscription package click

Fitzroy from Northsea
By Lisa Richardson
Using Creative Focus Worsted
Shannon from Northsea
By Marie Wallin
Using Kid Classic
July 2012 - 7

Introducing... Gemma Atkinson
8 - July 2012
What is your role within the Rowan design
team?
I’m the Assistant Designer here at Rowan,
designing for Rowan publications and www.
knitrowan.com. I also set out the charts which
go into the publications (some can be beasty
ones which take hours!). I also swatch with
possible new yarns, help out at shows like The
Knitting & Stitching Show, and assist at photo
shoots.
What is your design background?
I’ve studied textiles from being at school, but
it was at college where I learned to knit and
crochet. I did a course in printed textiles at
Huddersfield University and graduated in
2009. When the job came up to be Assistant
Designer at Rowan, I applied, and here I am!
What are your favourite parts of your job?
Getting to work with such a lovely bunch of people, going on photo shoots and
swatching with gorgeous and exciting new yarns!
What’s your favourite Rowan yarn and why?
Mmmmm, tough one…I think it’s got to be Lima, the colours are so beautiful and it’s
such a soft, luxurious yarn – I love it!
Tell us something we don’t know about Rowan (we’ll keep it a secret!)
Oooooh, there are lots of exciting things coming your way…but I couldn’t possibly
elaborate! Let’s just say watch out for a glamorous NEW yarn this Autumn.
Knitting or crochet?
It’s too difficult, can I say that I love them both equally???

Biscay by Maria Wallin
Available to download for free
from Gemma’s favourite yarn Lima
Jubilee Bunting by Gemma
July 2012 - 9

Kidsilk Creation
Stripe
Gemma and Lisa from the Rowan
design team have come up with four
inspired ideas on how to customise and
embellish your knitted pieces with our
beautiful Kidsilk Creation Stripe yarn.
Give a new and different effect by
finishing off with the ruffle yarn, click @
for full details!
10 - July 2012

Summer Knits
It’s that time of year again, and what better way to relax on your holidays this
summer than knitting and crocheting? We’ve suggested a few projects ideal to
squeeze into that travel bag…go on, you know you want to!
Morris & Myner,
Summer Baby
Moonflower,
Meadow
Moss Purse,
Winter Warmers
Cos,
The Purelife
Recycled Collection
July 2012 - 11

Three Peaks Challenge
We wanted to take this chance to congratulate our very own Rowan team, who
recently completed the gruelling Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge!
Lisa Richardson and Vicky Sedgwick from our Rowan Design team, Nicola Turner from
our Marketing team, Lizzie Foster from our Sales department and Paul Calvert from
our Graphics team undertook the daunting challenge on June 10th, and completed
it in ten and a quarter hours! A marvellous achievement we think, made all the more
impressive by the difficult weather conditions.
For those who aren’t familiar with the event, the challenge is to scale the peaks of
Pen-y-ghent (691 metres), Whernside (728 metres) and Ingleborough (723 metres),
usually in this order, and in under twelve hours – a route which measures a massive
twenty-four and a half miles! Well done team, we say.
For further information on the challenge and how to take part visit:
www.thethreepeakschallenge.co.uk/yorkshire-three-peaks-challenge/.
12 - July 2012
Paul, Vicky, Lizzie, Lisa & Nicky

July 2012 - 13

We noticed Anna’s fabulous work when she posted on our Facebook page, and
we wanted to find out more about her!
What is your greatest inspiration when you create your designs?
I gather inspiration from all manor of places, for example, I frequently visit museums.
The V&A is my favourite and in fact my ‘Alice’s Dream’ collar was created after a
recent visit where I saw tremendously magnificent Victorian collars. I wanted to
create something that was on a smaller scale yet dainty, feminine and could be worn
every day.
What is your crafting background?
Since I can remember I always saw my mum, nan and sister knitting and crocheting.
My mum used to make the most incredible creations. In those days in Poland ’making
your own’ was a necessity, but unfortunately I did not join in craft then. My mum taught
me the basics about 12 years ago, but without practice that was quickly forgotten,
then 6 years ago I discovered Rowan yarns....and the rest is history; let’s just say I
have not put my needles down since.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
Hmmmm......I have letter-number synestheshia, as a result I intensely avoid number
3...I also love languages, so much that at one point I wanted to teach English. I’m
fluent in English and Polish of course, with a bit of Portuguese thrown in, and now I’m
also studying Italian (when I get the time, that is).
14 - July 2012

When was Moochka created?
Moochka is truly a dream come true, my little piece of paradise. It was created in my
head 4 years ago, but only about 10 months ago I started doing something to make
that dream a reality, with huge help from my wonderful boyfriend Dave who built the
website. Officially Moochka went live 2 months ago!
Do you have a favourite product to work with?
I adore to crochet with Rowan Handknit Cotton, as it’s such a wonderfully smooth
yarn, it defines every stitch beautifully. I also love Rowan Creative Linen which I think
possesses such raw quality.......... and the colours, uffff incredible yarn!
Who are you following on Twitter at the moment?
Unfortunately I’m not much of a tweeter; I set up an account for moochka about
2 months ago but I haven’t really immersed myself in it yet, having said that I’m
following Alan Carr.
For further details visit: www.moochka.co.uk
July 2012 - 15

16 - July 2012

Yarn in the spotlight…
Fine Lace
Here’s one for those of you who are following
the lace trend at the moment, Rowan Fine
Lace.
Available in 16 beautiful shades ranging from
red hot Vamp to muted damson Era, the lace
weight yarn is the ultimate luxury.
Stunningly soft, the yarn is a blend of 80%
baby suri alpaca and 20% fine merino wool,
and is the perfect choice for that statement
lace piece.
Click @ for full details on Rowan Fine Lace.
July 2012 - 17

Wool Week 2012
At Rowan we’re starting to think about our plans to
celebrate Wool Week 2012, which will take place
October 15th – 22nd this year. We’re very excited and
have lots of exciting events and initiatives in the pipeline, for instance look out for a
new exclusive collection by design students from the Royal College of Art later this
year.
We also have plans to create a special one off promotional piece designed by Marie
Wallin, to shout about British wool in a unique way! Watch this space for further details
on this and our other celebrations. Visit our Facebook page to tell us about your
plans, we’d love to hear about them!
Summer Fruit Shades
Celebrate summer in style with smooth berry shades reminiscent of fruit sorbets.
18 - July 2012
Creative Linen
Raspberry 631
Handknit Cotton DK
Cassis 351
Kidsilk Haze
Blackcurrant 641
Savannah
Wild 934
Summer Tweed
Summer Berry 537
Siena 4ply
Sloe 670

Stockists
To find your local stockist view our
store locator at www.knitrowan.com by
clicking the button below
STORE
LOCATOR
Workshops
To view a full list of workshop dates
visit www.knitrowan.com 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 2012 by Coats Crafts UK LTD Green Lane Mill, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, HD9 2DX
E-mail: mail@knitrowan.com Web: www.knitrowan.com© Copyright Rowan 2012
July 2012 - 19

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