I’m an unabashed Rowan fan. Give me most any Rowan pattern or any Rowan yarn, and I’ll be in heaven. So when I stumbled on the delicious Ribbon Twist yarn from Rowan a couple of years ago in a series of patterns in Rowan 38, I ordered up some of this pretty yarn and made myself a “Charlotte” in the Ribble colorway ~ a soft sage green with strands of royal blue, turquoise and yellow running through it. Here’s the little ponchette, one of my favorite wraps:
This took four skeins (for smaller sizes, it’s three) and was worked on size US 17 needles in about a day and a half.
When I found out recently that my lovely Ribbon Twist has been discontinued by Rowan, I snapped up some more ~ it’s a luxurious yarn, big and thick (2 sts = 1″), in an absolutely glorious collection of colors. Since everybody I know was discovering the Charlotte, I decided to make another one, in the colorway Rocky, a granite gray with pale gray and black ribbon:
Another great yarn being axed by Rowan is Big Wool Tuft, a big, soft, plushy wonder that is from the same era as Ribbon Twist and comes in eight or 10 colors that coordinate with the Ribbon Twist colors. They’re used together in “Ribbon Twist Collection,” an old Rowan book I wish I had, in “Big It Up”, “Big Just Got Bigger” and, as mentioned, Rowan 38. A friend saw a little doggie sweater I had knitted out of white Big Wool Tuft an suggested it would make a good rug. Well, sure!
Yarniverse is currently selling Big Wool Tuft, normally $10 a ball, at $22 for a bag of 10 balls! So I snapped up three bags ~ one black, one gray, to make my daughter a bedside “faux-kati” rug, and another in off-white, just for fun. Ribbon Twist is on sale all over the place, at Jimmy Beans Wool, for example, where you can also get the Big Wool Tuft for $3.99 a ball if you don’t want a bag full.
But the best part is the fun I’ve had working up a cute sweater pattern for the puppies using these two yarns. The pattern is for a basic sweater in Ribbon Twist with two choices of hems ~ seed stitch or knitted faux fur (Big Wool Tuft). But that’s where the basic ends and the fancy-schmancy begins. The sweater neck is trimmed in big, bold vintage buttons, and my two different versions have either a button-on “fur” collar or button-on “fur”-trimmed hoodie. Here are my two angels in their new finery:
Now, you’ve met Willie, the fat little Yorkie on the left above, the ham-of-all-hams; but you’ve never been introduced to Chopsticks, my sweet, camera-shy miniature schnauzer mix, a rescue pup who’s a darling love bug, most excellent house-guarder, and ~ usually ~ not the first on the list of puppy knits. Since Willie’s my muse and he’s tiny, he gets the pretty duds. But this time I let Chopsy have the sweetest sweater ~ and she absolutely loves it! You have never seen a prouder puppy.
Chopsy’s sweater has the hoodie, and Willie’s has the “fur” collar (such a little pimp!). As a friend said yesterday, the sweaters are great for travel ~ one outfit you can wear two ways. And what about those Glamour mag office-to-evening switcheroos? Add a pair of dressy pumps and some darker eye shadow, and that plain-jane dress goes right from work to date ~ just like Willie and Chopsy’s sweaters!
There’s a pdf download for this quick and easy pattern on my FREE PATTERNS page. Soon to follow, a FREE TUTORIAL on how to line a dog sweater neck ~ and why you should.
