Rowan - From Rug Yarn to Luxury Yarns

Oldest Surviving Rug - 5th Century BC Pazyryk Carpet

The oldest known surviving carpet in the world is the Pazyryk Carpet from the 5th century BC.  Unearthed in a frozen Pazyryk grave (in Siberia), the wool rug is in remarkable condition.  The design has flowers along with horsemen, griffins (a mythical half lion-half eagle beast), and deer woven in rich reds, blue and yellow.

You know Rowan as a knitting yarn manufacturer today, but did you know they started out making rug yarn?  Nearly 2,000 years after the Pazyryk Carpet was made (in 1978, to be exact), Stephen Sheard and Simon Cockin set up shop in Yorkshire, England to sell rug yarn.

Now the thing about rug yarn is it has to be a sturdy, durable yarn and able to withstand a lot of use - but not necessary pretty.  Rowan's aim was to change that standard by developing colorful rug weaving yarns in vibrant colors.  Their rug yarn was targeted towards designers and rug weavers who wanted to create rugs that were exciting!

Rowan Pure Wool Worsted

Kaffe Fassett was (and still is!) a painter, knitter, and needlepoint designer who loved vibrant colors when he teamed up with Rowan in 1981.  He consulted Rowan on rug yarn colors, but with Kaffe Fassett egging them on it wasn't long before Rowan shifted its focus away from rug yarn to the luxury handknit yarns that we know Rowan for today.

And that's good news for knitters like us!  We carry 42 different Rowan yarns. For the month of January we have all of them on sale at 20% off!

That's a lot of fun yarn to choose from, but I'd have to say my favorites are Pure Wool Superwash Worsted and Pure Wool Superwash DK.  They're both good, solid staple yarns in an impressive range of colors (55 Worsted colors and over 30 DK colors!), plus I like that they are machine washable and maintain their wool features better than other superwashes.

Max's Adventures with Rainbows Sweater

Of all of the staff here at FiberWild! only Karen has grandchildren, so we all swoon appropriately over her grandkids - and especially over things she has knit for the grands!  Karen was just giddy over two-year-old Max's sweater, knit with the Adventures with Rainbows pattern by Jennifer Steingass (available on Ravelry) with Pure Wool Superwash Worsted yarn.  Karen said it was a simple knit that went quickly because of the weight of the yarn - because there's nothing worse than finishing a child's garment only to find out he outgrew it before you finished it!

Kaffe Fassett KAL in Pastels, by Ladymay

Psst!  Did you join in the 2014 Kaffe Fassett Mystry Knit-Along?  We have a great shopping list of the Rowan Pure Wool Worsted yarn needed for each of Kaffe's four suggested colorways - and they are all on sale at 20% off!  Plus, since the pattern is no longer a mystery, we have photos of the completed projects!  Yay!

Happy Knitting . . . . Amy