I love girly sweaters knitted in elegant yarn.  I like them fitted with tiny, feminine, details.  I make a lot of those kind of sweaters, but while looking through my sweater wardrobe last season, I noticed I was missing the most basic: the casual, everyday sweater--that sweater that goes in and out of the washer/dryer and basically takes the place of a sweatshirt.  With so many new machine-washable yarns available, it's an easy problem to remedy, so I set about to make a few.  Bellerose by Martin Storey fills that void in my wardrobe and is the newest item in my closet.  It calls for Rowan Pure Wool Worsted, a yarn I have used many times since it's introduction last year.  It's an easy care, machine-washable, well-priced yarn meant for the entire family. It's easy to knit, with enough bounce to achieve an even fabric with just a light blocking.  While the ball band will tell you to dry flat, I tumble dry with great results:

Step one:  turn inside-out.
Two:  put in a sweater bag.
Three:  Wash on gentle cycle with cool water.
Four:  Still inside-out, remove from sweater bag and tumble dry on LOW until almost dry.
Five:  Turn rightside-out, lay flat and pat to shape to finish drying.

Rowan does not recommend the above, but I just wanted to share what I did with success.  So there you go.  I do want to say, that even though a sweater may be machine washable, it is still a hand-knit, and I respect that.  I make sure that I don't wash it very often.  I find I can get some distance between washes if I hand wash the cuffs only or dab out a spot.  I don't throw it into the wash basket willy-nilly.

Bellerose is from one of the newer Rowan Loves books--they have quickly become favorites of knitters as each pattern has a few options for style details and yarn.  This pattern can be knit as a pullover or a cardigan.

Bellerose by Martin Storey is from 

Rowan Loves Pure Wool Worsted and Creative Focus Worsted
the yarn, Rowan Pure Wool Worsted

my Ravelry project page with all the details

I asked my teen-age neighbor Jessica to model for me.  She just does such a nice job in front of the camera, doesn't she?  That last picture above is me, but can you guess where I am?  For Big Sur lovers, the iconic concrete bleachers with their bright pillows are a dead giveaway that I'm at Nepenthe.  Kaffe Fassett fans know he grew up here.  His family still owns the restaurant, cafe, gift shop, family home and surrounding land and I know he comes to visit about once a year.   Me too, Big Sur is one of my favorite places in the world and I have to come at least once a year or I'll miss it too much.  If it's been a while, I beg my husband to take me there, if only just for a day trip.  For this trip we were meeting for a one night family reunion and had lunch at Nepenthe.  It was as crowded as I've ever seen it, probably because the weather was breathtaking--bright blue skies with a few puffs of white clouds just for contrast.  We stayed at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, very rustic, but reasonable prices for the area and besides, there's really not a lot of choices.  We've stayed there a few times and like it, but if you go on my recommendation, please do remember that it's rustic, but like I said, I love Big Sur.  So much. Grandpa's room is my favorite and it has a record collection with a turntable and plenty of old records.  I played some Chambers Brothers, Tower of Power and Moody Blues.  The younger people in our group came in to have a good look at this curiosity!

Hello!  I started this as a travel knit over a year ago, finished it in no time, then promptly forgot to blog about it.  The pattern is Isabel Kramer's versatile Ravello, a top-down pattern that is the end-all, be-all of top-downs.  There is a little bit of short-row shaping in the back for a perfect fit, you can add more or less, then it's just knitting on down in-the-round until you're done.  I pretty much use this pattern as a template for all my top-downs.

Who better to model this than my sweet and pretty California girl neighbor, Jessica.  Did she like it?  Yes, she did!  She came out of the dressing room with her arms wrapped around herself and said, "Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm wearing a cloud!"  I had to laugh because that is how I describe Kidsilk Haze: feather-light and cloud-soft.  I asked her if she liked the color, and she said, "Yes, it's so pretty it looks like a sunrise!", which made me laugh again!  The colorway was made by the master colorist himself, Kaffe Fassett, and is called California Sunrise.  It's a mix of the prettiest colors splashed on my favorite yarn and using one of my favorite patterns, this is a winner!

Below is a picture of another California girl, me, wearing the same sweater.  The picture below that is from earlier this year, when Brandon Mabley and Kaffe Fassett came to town.  Brandon taught a class at my local yarn store, and of course I took it!  He was traveling with Kaffe, and after class my lys owner, Stephanie, asked me to join them for dinner.  I was beyond excited, but I guess you can imagine that!  Brandon and Kaffe are so charming, funny, and down-to-earth.  While Brandon was teaching the day-long class, Kaffe spent the day walking around our little town and stopped for lunch with his sister and nephew (the owners of Nepenthe of Big Sur, where Kaffe grew up) who had come to visit for the day.  Over dinner, I asked Kaffe if he could walk around our town unnoticed or did people recognize him?  He said, "Oh no, not really, I don't get noticed very often."  I said, well how about bigger cities, like San Francisco or London?  Again, modestly he said, "No, not so much."  Then in a big stage whisper Brandon said, "Oh yes he gets noticed--all the time!   He is so tall and handsome, people stare at him all the time.  And of course they all know who he is!"  Brandon is funny and bubbly, Kaffe is warm and charming, and it was a wonderful evening. 

Kaffe complimented my sweater, asked me if I'd knit it and said it was a pretty color.  I smiled and told him it was one of his colors from the Kidsilk Haze Stripe collection, and he said, "Oh yes, I remember doing that!  That was fun!"  He said he was becoming more interested in quilting than needlepoint and knitting and how his interests have changed over the years.  They were pretty excited about their home fragrance line which at the time was in the works but is now available.  He talked about his early association with Rowan and asked me about my Rowan Ambassadorship.  We talked a bit about how much they love to travel; it seems like they are on the road and often travel to exotic places, combining work with pleasure.    We also talked about Big Sur and what it was like to grow up there.  He said he tries to visit once a year and that's about how often we get there too, and always have lunch at Nepenthe, the restaurant his family still owns.  If you ever come to this part of the world, a visit to Big Sur and Nepenthe should be at the top of your list.  Kaffe and Brandon were completely charming and I'll leave you with this little nugget:  Kaffe does not own a computer or cell phone and does not know how to use either!  I kid you not!

Ravello, the pattern

Rowan Kidsik Haze Stripe yarn

My Ravelry project page for California Sunrise

My lys, Uncommon Threads of Los Altos

Leah's Yarn Stylist blog 

Big Sur

Nepenthe 

Kaffe Fassett

Here's my progress on the Kaffe KAL, and the thing is, I just love knitting stripes.  Plus I love the colors, but never would I have imagined them together, but it all works and is a project I am enjoying so much.  If you are interested in joining approximately 2,000 knitters from around the world, it's not too late.  The patterns are free and we are in week 2 and will be knitting through December as the clues are released at an easy pace of one every week and a half.  If you don't have time to start it now, at least download the patterns each release date so you can have them in your library to work on when you can.  They really are fun to knit.  The yarn is machine washable Rowan Pure Wool Worsted, a fat bouncy yarn with great stitch definition that's easy to knit.  I love it.  The pattern includes color selections for 4 Kaffesque colorways, red, turquoise, pastel and brown (mine).

Clue Schedule:

Wed. Oct. 1 - 1st clue
Fri. Oct. 10 - 2nd clue
Wed. October 22 - 3rd clue
Fri. October 31 – 4th clue
Wed. Nov. 12 - 5th clue, making-up instructions
Fri. Nov. 21 - 6th clue
Wed. Dec. 3 - 7th clue
Fri. Dec. 12 - 8th clue
Fri. Dec. 19 - 9th & 10th clues together before the holiday season
 
Kaffe PWW Mystery KAL Links:

Download the shopping list (4 languages, 4 colorways, print out only the pages you need!)

Become a member of the Rowan club, it's free and gives access to free patterns and more.

Join the Ravelry discussion

Follow the Rowan FB page for updates
Sarah's easy spreadsheet PDF

Kate Buller interviews Kaffe Fassett about the KAL  

Download the Pure Wool Worsted color chart

Kaffe KAL map!

Many knitting stores are kitting the color ways up.  My lys, Uncommon Threads is doing just that.

You can also purchase the yarn online; here are some stores I recommend

with links that take you directly to their Pure Wool Worsted:

Webs

Jimmy Beans

Churchmouse

Black Sheep

John Lewis

Love Knitting

Deramores

Jannettes

Please note that many of these online stores ship internationally.

If yes, there will be a button to click that changes to your currency.  

Knitionary

Finally, the average knitter can make a Kaffe design!  Rowan has just announced a new afghan (or cushion option) knit along in an easy design that takes advantage of Kaffe Fassett's unfailing color instinct.  Seriously, is there anyone else like him? There are 4 colorways: red, turquoise, pastel and brown.  When I was at the Rowan mill in June I saw all four knitted up and it was hard to choose a favorite. All four are stunning examples of Kaffe's extraordinary explosive color sense. If you are a teensy bit apprehensive, no worries, as no special knitting skills are required.  This KAL is for ALL knitting levels, pinky swear.  Really, it's all about celebrating COLOR!  The KAL will commence Oct. 1 and will continue through January.  You will receive a clue every week and a half and will be knitting squares that will be joined together at the end of the KAL.   Below are the four colorways.  Join me, I'm going with a brown cushion, or maybe the red.  Which colorway is your favorite?  To get started, all the pertinent links are at the end of the post.

Kaffe PWW Mystery KAL Links:

Download the shopping list (4 languages, 4 colorways, print out only the pages you need!)

Become a member of the Rowan club, it's free and gives access to free patterns and more.

Join the Ravelry discussion

Follow the Rowan FB page for updates

Kate Buller interviews Kaffe Fassett about the KAL  

Download the Pure Wool Worsted color chart

Kaffe KAL map!

Many knitting stores are kitting the color ways up.  My lys, Uncommon Threads is doing just that.

You can also purchase the yarn online; here are some stores I recommend
with links that take you directly to their Pure Wool Worsted:

Webs
Jimmy Beans
Churchmouse
Black Sheep
John Lewis
Love Knitting
Deramores
Jannettes

Please note that many of these online stores ship internationally.
If yes, there will be a button to click that changes to your currency.