Author Archives: Julia

LYS Day 2024!

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We’re looking forward to Local Yarn Store Day, this Saturday, April 27th. Come to our shop on LYS Day for 25% off featured yarns!

LYS Day is about celebrating brick-and-mortar yarn shops and appreciating all that they offer. Here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, we are proud of our selection of high quality yarns, books and tools, and our customer service. Our mission is to provide knitters and other fiber artists with quality materials and help connect them with the knowledge they need to make things they’re proud of.

All the yarn in our shop is sorted by gauge, with sections marked Lace weight, Worsted weight, Bulky weight, and so on. We hope this makes it easier to sort through our robust selection to find the yarn that’s right for your project! For LYS Day, we’re offering 25% off one featured yarn in each gauge section:

You can read about all our featured yarns on the links above, and look for the yellow signs to find them here at the shop on LYS Day!

Come by the Hillsborough Yarn Shop this Saturday to celebrate LYS Day and get some great deals! We’re open from 11 am – 5:30 pm; see you at the shop!

 

A reminder: all discounted yarns are final sale, no returns or exchanges. Discount applies only to in-stock items, no special orders. Thanks for understanding!

“SAWA” in Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Sport.

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We try to have a handmade sample in every yarn we carry, to give folks an idea of how the yarn knits up, and inspiration for how to use it. When the time came to make a sample in Brooklyn Tweed’s newest yarn, Imbue Sport, Bailey got the coveted assignment.

Here’s her “SAWA” shawl, a brand new pattern from Olga Buraya-Kefelian. Knit in 3 colors, “SAWA” features bold texture and eye-catching shapes made with slip stitches, exactly the kind of sculptural or architectural knitwear Buraya-Kefelian is known for. Check out her MDK Field Guide, we still have copies at the shop!

Imbue Sport’s elasticity is ideal for a highly textured pattern like this, and its softness just right for something wrapped around the neck. Bailey picked greens and blues, a trio of light, medium, and dark.

Here are some more “SAWA” color ideas…

Look for Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Sport in the sport weight section here at our shop, and be sure to admire Bailey’s “SAWA” when you visit!

Hello, Sandnes Garn Tynn Line.

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We’re pleased to welcome another yarn from Sandnes Garn in Norway: meet Tynn Line!

Sandnes Garn Tynn Line:

  • light fingering weight
  • 3-ply
  • 53% cotton, 33% viscose, 14% linen
  • 240 yards/50g
  • $7.50 each

Like Sandnes Garn Line, Tynn Line is composed of a unique blend of plant fibers, making it perfect for a variety of knit and crochet projects. It’s cool and breathable for warm weather garments, comfortable and absorbent for homeware items – all in all, a lovely addition to our fingering weight section.

What to make with Tynn Line? Here are some pattern ideas!

Garments:

Homewares:

Look for Sandnes Garn Tynn Line in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and check out other Sandnes Garn yarns while you’re here – find Tynn Silk Mohair in the lace weight section, Sunday in the fingering weight section, Double Sunday in the DK weight section, and Line in the worsted weight section.

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: Mystic Prism.

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Dream in Color’s Pop Up Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. Their latest limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100g
  • $36 each

Mystic Prism is a pastel rainbow of pink, aqua, lavender, and butter yellow.

Variegated skeins like these are beautiful on their own – one skein makes a “Sockhead Slouch” hat or “Reyna” shawl – but they always inspire me to create color combinations. Here are a few I put together with the “Temperance Shawl” in mind, a three color garter stitch and eyelet pattern that works well in low, medium, and high contrast color combinations.

  • Malabrigo Ultimate Sock: fingering weight, hand dyed, variegated and semi-solid colorways, 75% superwash merino wool, 25% nylon, 420 yards/100g; $21 each

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere and friends in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Hello, Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Sport!

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We’re pleased to present the latest from Brooklyn Tweed: meet Imbue Sport!

Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Sport:

  • sport weight
  • worsted spun, 3ply
  • heathered colors
  • 100% merino wool
  • 190 yards/50g
  • $18.50 each

Just like Imbue Worsted before it, Imbue Sport’s heathered shades are made by blending brilliantly dyed hues of unspun wool, like an artist mixing paints. When spun, these bright solid colors mingle into richly heathered shades that are harmonious across the entire palette – ideal for stripes and colorwork!

What to knit with Imbue Sport? Here are some ideas!

Look for Imbue Sport here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, along with other Brooklyn Tweed yarns! We’re open from 11-5:30, Tuesdays-Saturdays.

Hello, Isager Eco Baby.

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Another new yarn from Isager! Meet Eco Baby.

Isager Eco Baby:

  • DK weight
  • undyed
  • chainette
  • 68% baby alpaca, 32% organic cotton
  • 164 yards/50g
  • $10 each

Eco Baby is a cousin to Eco Soft, both composed of baby alpaca and organic cotton, chain-plied into lofty, elastic yarns. Eco Baby is a smaller gauge, less fuzzy, and somehow even softer than Eco Soft!

“Field Sweater,” by Camilla Vad, photo © Camilla Vad

Like many of you, we first became aware of this yarn when we saw it in Camilla Vad’s “Field Sweater,” a pullover with a stunning texture pattern at the yoke, reminiscent of wheat sheaves.  There’s a “Field Cardigan,” too, along with “Field Mittens,” “Field Beret,” and “Field Slipover” – Eco Baby is a lovely choice for any of these patterns.

Anne gilded the lily on her “Field Slipover,” adding a strand of Isager Silk Mohair to her already soft Eco Baby. The result is a decadent, cuddly fabric with a fuzzy halo that still shows the texture pattern beautifully.

You have to touch this one for yourself – come by the shop to give it a squeeze!

Our supply of Isager Silk Mohair is at an all time high, with more colors than ever. Matching shades of Eco Baby and Silk Mohair blend together seamlessly, but these undyed shades can be livened up with colors of a similar value, as well. Here are some ideas!

There are so many more color combinations to try – look for Isager Eco Baby and Silk Mohair in the DK and lace weight sections, respectively. We can’t wait to see what you put together!

Back in stock: Isager Merilin.

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We’re pleased to have Isager Merilin back in stock, with more colors than ever!

Isager Merilin:

  • fingering weight
  • 80% wool, 20% linen
  • 228 yards/50 g
  • $11 each

We’re always on the lookout for plant and animal fiber blends, since they offer the best of both worlds: elasticity and drape, structure and coolness.

Merilin blends merino wool and linen, fibers that take the dye differently, giving the yarn a heathered quality more pronounced in the darker shades.

Years ago, I knit this little swatch showing Merilin on a range of needle sizes, but I have my eye on a bigger project as soon as time allows – a narrower version of Theresa Gaffey’s now-classic “stole.” I can’t wait to pick out colors!

Til then, what else to make with Merilin? Here are a few ideas…

Look for Merilin in the fingering weight section here at the shop, where you may well find your next project. See you there!

Show and tell: stripes of all kinds.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love seeing what folks are making with yarn from the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – here are a bunch of projects we’ve had the pleasure of seeing in person, featuring stripes of all kinds.

Above is Cindy’s “Bat Shawl,” a pattern from Lotta H Löthgren’s Observations. She used Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere and Malabrigo Ultimate Sock, a perfect match that shows off the slip stitch texture.

Here’s Michele’s “Stripes of Joy” pullover, knit with Malabrigo Rios leftover from various other projects. Pattern by Tif Neilan.

Above is April’s “Pressed Flowers Pullover,” knit with BC Garn Loch Lomond and self-striping Noro Silk Garden Light. Pattern by Amy Christoffers.

Margaretta made this “Shadow Stripe Pullover” with a lovely mix of high and low contrast stripes, a mix of Brooklyn Tweed Tones Light and Loft. Pattern by Jared Flood.

I knit this newborn-sized sweater as a sample for the shop when Kelbourne Woolens Skipper came out last year. The pattern is “French Macaroon,” by Noble Knits, a free download from Ravelry.

Robin saw my “French Macaroon” hanging here at the shop and was inspired to make her own – she modified it into a cardigan and sewed matching baby pants!

Thanks to Cindy, Michele, April, Margaretta, and Robin for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Hello, Cascade Botanika.

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Spring is here – time to reach for plant fiber yarns! Meet our newest arrival, Cascade Botanika.

Cascade Botanika:

  • sport weight
  • speckled with natural dyes
  • 100% organic cotton
  • 328 yards/100g
  • $12.50 each

Botanika is a soft and smooth organic cotton yarn, dyed with natural pigments sourced from plant leaves, roots and flowers. We have six speckled colors, dyed with the likes of indigo, madder, marigold, and mulberry leaf.

What to make with Botanika? Here are some pattern ideas in adult sizes:

Soft, smooth, machine washable cotton is ideal for baby things, too – here are a few patterns to consider:

Look for Cascade Botanika in the sport weight section here at HYS, along with other plant fiber yarns, like Kelbourne Woolens Skipper, Mojave, and Cascade Ultra Pima Fine!

Back in stock: Sandnes Garn Line.

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Sandnes Garn Line has become a staple since we introduced it last March – we’re delighted to have a fresh supply and loads of new colors, just in time for spring!

Sandnes Garn Line:

  • light worsted weight
  • 53% cotton, 33% viscose, 14% linen
  • 120 yards/50g
  • $7.50 each

Line is a light worsted weight plant fiber blend that knits up at 5 stitches per inch on a US 6 needle.

It’s soft, cool, machine washable, and drapes beautifully, qualities that make it ideal for warm weather garments.

Above is my “Anker’s Summer Shirt,” a top-down, seamless PetiteKnit pattern, suitable for a knitter’s first sweater. Here are more pattern ideas for Line:

Look for my “Anker’s Summer Shirt” on display at the shop, and find Sandnes Garn Line in our worsted weight section!