Yarn Review: Rowan Felted Tweed

A rustic effect yarn

Hi guys! Welcome to my weekly yarn review. Each week, I write about a specific yarn that I’ve worked with in the past and discuss what I loved about it, where it falls short, and what kind of knitted items it may work best in. For my more yarn reviews, and to get notified when I write a new one, sign up for my newsletter!

Today I’ll be reviewing Rowan Felted Tweed – a relatively new-to-me yarn that I picked up for the first time around Christmas 2021.

I’d seen it around in my local yarn stores in Norway (but it sold for nearly $20 per 50g skein) so I’d never thought about buying it before. However, LoveCrafts announced a flash sale on Rowan yarn and I had to grab some to try it out.

It’s a mildly rustic yarn with a small amount of “bite” (though not nearly as much as the stiff, hard-wearing Istex Lettlopi). Felted Tweed is sold in 50g skeins of 175 meters each, and is composed of 50% wool, 25% alpaca, and 25% viscose.

Good for:

- Cable knitting. I instantly knew I wanted to make a cable sweater out of this yarn when it arrived in the post. It has these subtle flecks of color carded through the yarn that shine in cable knitting. Because it’s such a light-weight yarn, the added bulk of cables don’t add much additional weight to the sweater and this makes it perfect for fall/slightly chilly weather
- Durable knits. This yarn is surprisingly pill-resistant, and that lends itself to pretty hard-wearing knits that look nice without a lot of TLC (though I wouldn’t quite recommend using it for a hiking or camping sweater since it’s pretty thin).
- Projects where you need a good color range. Felted Tweed is sold in over 50 shades – all of them gorgeous – and this makes it so easy to find the perfect colors for a fair isle sweater or stripey sweater.

Not great for:

- Wearing right against your skin. It’s not that the yarn is itchy, per se, but there are long alpaca fibers in the yarn that “tickle” my skin when I wear it, so I prefer to wear a shirt underneath my Felted Tweed sweaters.
- Budget sweaters. There’s always the chance that Felted Tweed goes on sale but at full price, a sweater quantity would be a little out of my budget range (especially in Norway where I live). However, it is a lovely yarn and I would definitely recommend grabbing it on sale or if this isn’t an issue for you.

Recommended patterns in Rowan Felted Tweed:

- The Menlo sweater
- The Winter Beach Cardi by Andrea Mowry
- The Vidar Sweater from Arne & Carlos
- The Hankshaw Pullover by Amy Christoffers