Before you knit anything

About a month before every Rowan launch, we get a preview of the collection.  Trisha walks us through the collection with a video and slide deck, and then we get our Flagship box with actual documents showing all the collections and yarn requirements.  

I always ask the team to go through the booklets and choose their favorites. Everyone uses a different colored sticky note, but even without that, I can pretty much tell you who's chosen what. 

And we almost never choose the same thing.

Ginni gravitates toward tailored, slightly sporty silhouettes. Mary's eye goes straight to the accessories. I tend to prefer things with a long line and lots of drape.  After so many years, none of us is surprised by what the others pick.

And that’s the point.

Taste is not random.

Rowan works incredibly hard to offer a wide range of silhouettes, constructions, and proportions in every collection. There are drop shoulders and structured set-in sleeves. Relaxed layering pieces and more tailored jackets. Each one styled beautifully. Each one thoughtfully designed.

But here’s what experience teaches:

You can admire a sweater and know it isn’t yours. 

I LOVE the cabled sleeveless tops like Knots, but over the years, I have knit (and given away) enough garments like that to know better now.

I have learned that I can appreciate the beauty of a garment without feeling obligated to add it to my wardrobe.

That's discernment. The ability to look past styling and see construction, ease, proportion, is crucial to successful knitting, and once you have it, you never look at a pattern collection the same way.  

It’s the difference between flipping through a magazine and feeling overwhelmed…tempted by everything and flipping through and knowing ...

This is the one.  Not that one. This one.

Even when two sweaters seem very similar.  A lot of it is in the details.  It's subtle but important.  Here's an example. Tell me what you think in the comments.

The new Rowan magazine launches this week, and I’m opening pre-orders now.

If you love thoughtful design, elegant photography, and the quiet pleasure of studying a collection the way a designer would, you’ll want this one.

On YouTube this week, I’ll walk through the collection and share what I’m noticing.

Because the goal isn’t to knit everything.

The goal is to learn what works for you and be able to see patterns clearly through that lens.

Pre-order your copy here → [link]