Ruffles, ruffles and more ruffles!!!

The thing around here of late has to be ruffles!! Ruffles are the word of the day and ruffles are clearly the yarn on manufacturers minds too. There are quite a few different kinds of ruffle yarns on the market, ranging from elegant to fun and whimsical. My first exposure to ruffle yarns was Trendsetter Cha Cha and Cha Cha Print. Then we got Flounce and things just went to ruffles after that. Of course, my new favorite ruffle yarn has to be Kidsilk Haze Creation!!

Rowan's Kidsilk Haze has to be one of my ALL time favorite yarns for many reasons, not the least of which are it's fantastic feel, halo effect and just general quality in such a wonderful, yardage-generous package. Of course, Rowan has added Kidsilk Stripe to their line up and what's not to love there? However, I am on a yarn detour and must get back to the theme of this post, and that is ruffles!!

Leanne is the best ruffle model ever!

What's that? You love ruffles?

As I mentioned, Kidsilk Haze is one of my favorite yarns, but I have to say that Rowan has a real hit with its new Kidsilk Haze Creation!

I grabbed a hank in Dewberry, read the pattern (on the inside of the label), and went to town. The first thing I did was hand wind my yarn to keep it flat and smooth. Then I worked as instructed from the label. I needed a little extra guidance, so I watched Rowan's GREAT instructional video (knitted version). I finished my scarf in just about 40 minutes, but who's counting?

You wouldn't think that 11 yards of anything is much, but this yarn is full of surprises! I will be giving several of the luscious scarves as gifts and stocking up too! Rowan is making this yarn in limited quantities, so I am not going to let it pass me by. I swear that the scarf Leanne is modeling really is from just one hank!!

I have a million ideas on how I want to use this yarn and my next scarf will be in Jelly and Dewberry held together. What do you think? The other idea I had was to use the yarn as cuffs and collar edging on a sweater, but I have to find the right sweater to work with.

I am thinking a fun trip to my favorite thrift store is in order for that one. What would you like to do with this lovely yarn? I sure would love to hear your creative ideas and hope you will consider giving this fantastic new yarn a try. It's rufflicious!!!

Note that we have a winner from our SMC Select Silk Wool Giveaway:

Thank you to everyone for leaving your comments for our SMC Select Silk Wool Giveaway! There were so many wonderful comments about what people are asking Santa for that we used a random number generator! Here is the winner of the SMC Select Silk Wool Giveaway:

StaceyD! Below is what she is asking Santa for:

"Sleep and time to knit... In that order. My 6mo old hasn't slept properly in almost two months, so i need the first to recharge the body and the second to recharge the mind."

Congratulations StaceyD! We hope Santa will bring some much needed sleep and time to knit to you! Please email your mailing address and color and size selection to info@jimmybeanswool.com by Wednesday, November 23rd to claim your prize!

Thanks again to Sarah Hatton and SMC Select! We are so fortunate to work with such awesome people!
As always, happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne

PS- Beans for Brains 2012 Scholarship Program! Don't just apply- Donate!

JBW and 9 other sponsors will be matching YOUR donations dollar for dollar during the month of November (each sponsor will be matching up to $1,000 each, for a total of $10,000) to the Beans for Brains Scholarship fund. We will be accepting donations here and in our retail store with the targeted goal of raising $10,000 from all of YOU for a total of $20,000 in awards!! Together, we can help Craft a Higher Education! Track your donations on our Beans for Brains Facebook page!!