Rowan Fashion Show

I had a great evening out last night. First I made a quick trip into Spin A Yarn for a ball of yarn for my Mum so she can finish off her Rowan cardigan. Then I headed down the road to a pub and knitted while waiting for 2 friends to turn up. We had a drink together and knitted and chatted and nearly got to the fashion show late. The fashion show was held at hte Devon Guild of Craftsmen which was right next to the pub and I looked at my watch and realised it was 18.23 and it started at 18.30. time flyes when you're knitting. The coffeeshop was packed when we turned up and we struggled to get a seat. In the end we sat in the comfy sofa and coffee table corner rather than at any of the proper tables. Much more comfy really. I immediately got my knitting out. I was working on a sleeve last night and as I'm struggling to get this project finished on time I didn't want to miss an evening of knitting. i knit continental style and I knit quite fast and I don't normally look down at my knitting much if I'm doing stockign stitch. So I was sitting there chatting with my friends and knitting along while people were queing up for the bugget. The queue went right past our table and we decided that instead of standing in a long queue, we'd just relax and wait. The number of people who were looking at my knitting style and commenting on my speed was quite funny and made me feel a little self-conscious. I just kept feeling eyes on me. Several people were amazed that I didnt have to look at all and how fast I knitted. Proof again how quick and efficient the continental method is. I took the opportunity to point out that I teach continental knitting at Spin A yarn. Spin A Yarn was hosting the event.

On the coffee table in front of us was piles of yarn which turned out to be the raffle prizes for the evening. MOst of it was Rowan and it was all divided into bags of 3 or 4 different types of yarn. I was lucky to win one rafffle prize and my friend one a prize and let me choose the yarn. I had threee yarn combos I was keen to win but unfortunately they went before my ticket was called out.

I won this trio of felted tweed, kid classic and kidsilk aura. All Rowan yarns. I've never knitted with any of htem actually. I frequently buy odd balls of yarn to use for swatching for new designs, so that's what I'm intending to do wiht this lot.

My second prize was a group of summery yarns. The pink one is Rowan Pima Cotton DK, the green one Rowan Lenpur - which I love, the blue one Rowan silk cotton which I'm not sure is still in their reange and the beige one is unlabelled but feels like cotton. Again I'll use some of them for swatching and the others I may crochet some dishclots out of eventually.Now to the fashion show. Grace and Annabel from Rowan were there. Grace is Rowan's new designer and is a customer at Spin A Yarn as is her mum and grandmother apparently. She was showing her new designs for Rowan Studio. They were nice and obviously aimed at the young and trendy. Not quite my taste but then I'm probably 20 years older than their target age range. A lot of reverse stocking stitch which I don't like. The rest of the collection featured a variety of designs, most in very neutral colours. There were one or two things I liked but nothing that stood out really. Several people were unimpressed with the designs on show actually. I liked seeing the new Rowan yarn Revive (I think thats what it's called) Don't think it's in the shops yet but it sounds like an interesting yarn. Grace and Annabel were talking about the designs as they were being modelled but neither of them had a microphone and it was difficult to hear what they said.

But even though the fashion show was a bit of a disappointment the evening was great. Food was great and saw a lot of people I knew. I'd definitely go again.

Now i'd better get back to my knitting.

Dont' forget to check the post below for the winner of the organic merino shawl name competition.