Indigo

I love some nice denim yarn. Since the discontinuation of my beloved Rowan Denim, it has been difficult to find a good replacement. I was just wearing my favorite denim sweater last week and thinking about how much I loved that stuff. Berroco to the rescue! We are happy to have a fully-stocked basket of Berroco Indigo for all of your denim knitting needs.

This lovely stuff is made from recycled cotton fibers, and knits up into a fabric very similar to the denims I have loved. We have been carrying the solids for a little while now, but the marled shades are new to us this year. 

The pattern book is pretty great, too. These are all designed by Amy Christoffers. I love her work. Let's have a look.

Indigo knits up into the sort of garment you'll want to wear all summer long. Pop in and have a look!



P.S. Silly side note. Bonus points to anyone who recognizes this British actor from his days as a Rowan Denim People model. Anyone?

 

Indigo Progress

Sally is making some progress on her Larkspur Cardigan, knit with the soft and denimy Berroco Indigo. She should have this one all finished for fall, right Sally?

Have you all tried this yarn? It's made from recycled fibers, and I am really impressed with how nicely it knits up. I would not normally consider knitting a cabled cardigan out of a cotton yarn, although I love wearing that sort of garment. This yarn has me seriously rethinking that. It knits up and softens like your favorite jeans. Who can say no to that?

We have the fabulous pattern book and sweater quantities of yarn in stock. If you get started now, you might even catch up to Sally before the end of summer!

Indigo

The new Berroco Indigo is in the shop, just in time for summer cardigans. 

Sally chose the beautiful denimy neutrals...and then the mustardy yellow. (Yellow is our unofficial shop color.) Indigo is a worsted weight yarn, working up at 5 stitches per inch on a US7, and each skein is 219 yards of recycled cotton. This yarn is going to wash up and dry like a dream. The fabric will become softer and softer over time. Look at that nubbly texture.

You know the rain is going to last at least another month, so it's a great time to start knitting those summer layers. The pattern book has several lovely options. We have a sample of Prickly Poppy in the shop window right now.

Penstemon (above) has a pretty eyelet detail, and Larkspur looks like a sweater you could live in, doesn't it? That shawl collar is so cozy.

Milkweed is a nice easy v-neck tank. Only 3 or 4 skeins for sizes 32 through 44.

If you just want to wrap up, Desert Lily should do the trick. This would make an amazing baby blanket, too.

I know Ann is working on a cardigan with Indigo, so you will likely see her wearing it this summer on chilly days. We have a nice supply for your sweaters right now, so come see this lovely new yarn!

Riveting

We love our denim yarns at Close Knit, and summer is just the right time for them.

Sally decided to bring in Riveting Sport from Kollage for the warmer months, and I find it particularly cool that this stuff is made from recycled jeans!  I was impressed with how lightweight the skeins are, too, especially since each one contains 350 whopping yards of sport weight cotton.

As with most 100% cotton yarns, this stuff will shrink lengthwise with a machine wash and dry, just like your pure cotton jeans and tees.  Be sure to think about this when choosing a pattern.

I was poking around Ravelry for some project ideas for you all.  Let's start with shawls and wraps...it's always a good idea to have a few of those handy, don't you think?

Photo borrowed from Classic Elite.

I love Riveting for the Firefly Fringed Shawl, and I think we still have that pattern book at the shop.  Just one skein and some US8s will get you going.  

Photo borrowed from Sadie and Oliver.

How about A Little Ruffle?  We had a sample of this in the shop several years ago, and it was extremely popular.  Riveting would make such a nice summer version.  You could do a smaller one with one skein, but two would be ample and so luxurious.  I would wash the body of the shawl before picking up the ruffled edge, since the shrinking will be happening in two different directions otherwise.  Not sure how that would work out...probably just more ruffles.

Photo borrowed from Knitty.

Interested in a summer sweater?  Several knitters had luck using Riveting for Amiga, a freebie from Knitty 2011.

Photo borrowed from Heidi Kirrmaier's Ravelry Shop.

Heidi Kirrmaier's Vitamin D would be amazing, too.  This yarn would have just the right swing and drape.

Photo borrowed from Kollage.

We have the pattern for Day at the Beach in stock at the shop, and the all-over pattern looks great in this lighter denim.

I wouldn't tend to use this for hat or socks, since pure cotton doesn't have a lot of bounce back.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how nicely Riveting worked up in cables and lace, though.  The texture of the yarn is a little rustic, but it really pops in the patterned stitches.  What do you all think?  I'm seeing this as a popular one this summer!

Original Denim

For years now, there has been concern about Rowan Denim.  Apparently the mill that produced it was going out of business or some such thing, and Rowan was having a hard time finding a suitable replacement.  They eventually ended up discontinuing the beloved yarn.  This spring, however, it appears that Rowan has found a solution, because there is a fresh batch of Original Denim on our shelves.

It is only available in two shades, Memphis (above) and Nashville (below), but we still have a bit of the Ecru from the old line.

If you have never worked with this, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.  Denim is a light worsted (5 stitches per inch on a US6), about 100 yards per ball, and it wears and fades like woven denim fabric.  Who doesn't like worn-in denim?  It shrinks up about 20% in length with the first wash, so you'll want to think about that.  The patterns written specifically for Denim take this into account.

I have told you before of my love for this yarn.  I actually just pulled this big ol' sweater out for spring, and I was feeling sad that I wouldn't be able to get my hands on any more of the yarn.  Thank you, Rowan, for bringing it back!

Denim

Rowan Denim is one of my favorite yarns.  Any misgivings I have about knitting with pure cotton go straight out the window in the face of this beautiful stuff.

As a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal, I am drawn to the whole rustic-turns-to-butter characteristic of denim, and this yarn washes and dries like your favorite pair of jeans.  As it wears over the years, the dye slowly fades to reveal the white core of each individual ply of the yarn.  Any textural bumps will fade a little faster, revealing a beautiful, worn, and loved effect.

I've used Denim for a few projects that are in heavy rotation.  I made a large sweater for my brother several years back.  After receiving it, he admitted that he doesn't wear sweaters.  Lucky me, he sent it back to Oregon to be loved.  It is way too big, but I wear it anyway.

I created my own pattern for this using Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.

I also made a little gansey for my older daughter when she was tiny, and the younger daughter gets to wear it now.  The pattern is Scamp from Rowan Pipsqueaks, and it will be around for generations.

The purl bumps really pop and add so much satisfying texture to the design, and I have often considered making a grown-up size of this sweater for me.

But there are so many great designs in Rowan's classic Denim People.

Here are a few of my favorites.  These pieces are: Ticking, Bret, Lush, and Paris.

Some brave souls even BLEACH their Denim pieces.  Check out Slouch.

You'll want to machine wash and dry anything you make out of Denim, so it's important to be prepared for the 10-15% shrinkage in length that will happen.  The designs written for Denim take this into account, but you'll need to add length if you are knitting a pattern that was not written for Denim.

We had a knitter stop by this week who was considering making Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap with Denim.  Brilliant!  Now I want to make that, too.

P.S.  Bolt is having a big ol' sale this weekend!  Come to your favorite spots in Portland for some spring crafty fun!