I’m not a yarn sniffer. I know many knitters pick up a brand new skein of yarn and the first thing they do is inhale deeply. Not me. I’m a stroker, with a distinct preference for the cheek test. That’s facial cheek, before I get accused of doing anything unsavoury! If a yarn feels like a tiny baby kitten rubbing against my face then I know a yarn is for me. It never occurs to me to sniff the yarn, though, unless someone asks what it smells like.
But give me a new Rowan magazine and I’m in olfactory heaven. I love the smell of new books in general, but there’s something about the Rowan book that smells of autumn, chocolate and optimism.
Rowan and I have never had a very good relationship. They didn’t like larger knitters and their yarns are pricey. But still I kept buying the magazine and sniffing the new book scent and imagining the day when I was slim enough to knit something from those pages, even if I did sub the yarn.
Then Rowan 40 arrived:
And they’ve only gone and listened to my pleas, and probably those of hundreds of other well-endowed knitters. Half the garments go up to a size 22 or, rather, to fit a 46″ bust.
So now I can sit sniffing the magazine and, while probably getting slightly intoxicated on the fumes, plan what I want to knit.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I am taking my first baby steps with stranded knitting. This was my progress on Wednesday:
And the hat – We Call Them Pirates from Hello Yarn – is now finished and blocking. And I do believe I have caught the fairisle bug.
So how about this from the new magazine?
It’s Shaded Flower by Kaffe Fassett. Only two colours per row, and so beautiful and autumnal. And I don’t normally like brown!
I’ve admired Kaffe Fassett’s designs for ages. I have a well-worn copy of Glorious Knitting that I bought on eBay for 99p. The colour combinations on the garments in the book are beautiful and make me want to have the confidence to put together my own colour schemes some day.
But one step at a time! I’ve got another shawl to knit, and already have progress photos ready to post tomorrow. I’m such a tease.
