Josh Bennett U.S.A Tour


North American Designer Josh Bennett is riding high. He has six sweater designs for men in Rowan Magazine 51, all of which are garnering high praise on Ravelry and other knitting social media. He provided a retrospective of his designs at North American wholesale show TNNA in January, and was the star of the Rowan booth with a fiesta-themed book signing.


Josh also modelled his sweater, Soho, at the TNNA Yarn Group Fashion Show. It was great to see him work the runway, hands casually in his pockets, the same way he might wear the cardigan, as designed, for shopping. All of his garments looked great on the Westminster Fibers stand.


At the end of February, Josh left for his first tour for Westminster Fibers, the North American distributor of Rowan yarns. Coordinated by the Westminster marketing team with the help of regional sales representative, Nancy Kleiber, Josh left his apartment in New York City on Friday 24 February, and flew on a blustery day to Minneapolis, Minnesota. There he was met by Nancy, who was chauffeur and concierge for the next four days.


That night, Josh was the guest of honor at a party at Amazing Threads in the suburb of Maple Grove. Owner Bobbi Krebs, a Rowan AT shop and a Westminster Shop Within a Shop, held a reception and book signing for Rowan Magazine 51. The next morning, Josh was back at the shop,


14 - March 2012


teaching two classes throughout the day. Students listened to Josh explain tips and tricks of making garments look professionally knit and finished, and well as watching a slide show on 7th Avenue Secrets -- a topic that Josh – who also works with Project Runway winner Irina Shabayeva and 2011 CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year , Michael Bastian – knows a lot about.


On Sunday 26 February, Josh gave two classes at Darn Knit Anyway, a Rowan stockist in nearby Stillwater. From there, Josh posted on Facebook that the shop and the classes were “just amazing.” The next afternoon, he was guest of honor at StevenBe’s, one of the area’s most creative retailers. In cooperation with Jan Walkovets, owner of Linden Hills Yarn, who was one of the first Rowan stockists in the area, owner Stephen Berg hosted a private collection fashion show of all things Rowan. In the 30+ years since Linden Hills started with Rowan there’s


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