I was recently sent a gorgeous box of goodies from Love Knitting with a new yarn from their Willow and Lark, range called Woodland, a lovely tweedy yarn. It reminds me very strongly of Rowan’s Felted tweed, which is my all-time favourite yarn, but with Rowan’s ex-brand manager working with Love Knitting, that may not be a coincidence. Woodland even has the same meterage!
Being such a lover of Felted Tweed, and having met some poor imitations in the past, I was understandably sceptical.
I decided to test a couple of shades by knitting a new Fair Isle design I have been playing with and I can happily tell you that Woodland is lovely to knit with. In fact I am very happy with the result.
The Felted Tweed palette can seem a bit dull, which many Rowan fans have commented on, but the Woodland shade range feels brighter. The ribbing knitted in Woodland is a bit flimsy but overall it’s a thumbs up from me. I do have to admit that in a blind testing I’m not sure I could tell the two yarns apart.
I hope that, going forward, Woodland continues to expand its palette to include some more modern colours and doesn’t just try to echo Felted Tweed’s muddy hues.
I’m another fan of the Rowan Felted Tweed. I knit a cardigan that’s now sadly too big for me,