New Shibui samples.

Posted by Julia on April 25, 2015

If you’ve been to the shop this week, you might have seen a few new sample garments hanging on our walls. These three were kindly lent to us by one of the wonderful people at Shibui, Carol.

Here’s the “Ship to Shore Shawl,” knit with Shibui Linen. Loosely knit in a fingering weight plant fiber, this one-skein shawl makes a perfect warm-weather project: lightweight and portable. I bet this would be equally lovely in Shibui’s newest yarn, Twig, though I’d get two skeins to be sure you have enough yardage to complete the project.

“Haruni” is a free pattern by Emily Ross, a favorite with many thousands of projects on Ravelry. This feather-light version was knit in Shibui Silk Cloud, a lace weight blend of mohair and silk.

Amy is planning a class on “Haruni” this Summer; keep your eye on our “Classes” page, or let us know if you’d like a heads-up when it’s posted!

Here’s Carol’s “Mix No. 9,” a cowl knit with Shibui Staccato and Silk Cloud held together throughout.

These two yarns combine to make a lush, lustrous fabric, perfect for a next-to-skin garment like a cowl.

Shibui yarns are dyed in matching colorways, to encourage the combining of different fibers. Here are some Staccato/Silk Cloud pairs, ready to become “Mix No. 9.”

Come by the shop to admire these new samples, and plan a special Shibui project all your own. See you there!

Knitting Traditions.

Posted by Julia on April 22, 2015

The Spring 2015 issue of Knitting Traditions is here!

Knitting Traditions looks at the craft from a historical perspective, focusing on techniques and styles from all over the world and across time. This issue’s focus is adventure, telling historical tales of explorers and their knitted garments.

The striped sweater on the cover is knit in Swans Island Organic Merino Worsted, and is one of a handful of men’s garments in this issue.

I spotted another familiar yarn in Hunter Hammersen’s “Serpula Contortuplicata Socks” : Shibui Staccato.

Look for Knitting Traditions among the latest publications on the teacart. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Binkwaffle bags.

Posted by Julia on April 20, 2015

Our supply of Binkwaffle bags had dwindled to just one lonesome bag when we got a package from Holly at Binkwaffle and breathed a sigh of relief.

We’re so happy to have these back on our shelves!

This order brought a a mix of small and large reversible bags, each one a unique combination of fabrics.

The small bags are a good size for a pair of socks or mitts, a hat or scarf, perhaps. The large bags are big enough to house a generous shawl or even a sweater.

Binkwaffle bags are being snapped up as quickly as ever, so come by the shop soon to snag one of your own! See you there.

New colors from Alchemy.

Posted by Julia on April 18, 2015

We recently freshened up our supply of Alchemy yarns, starting with one new colorway, shown here in Sanctuary, Sparky, and Lust.

Sanctuary is a sport weight blend of wool and silk, which, like all Alchemy yarns, is lovingly hand-dyed by designer Gina Wilde.

Anne picked six new shades of this sumptuous stuff, filling out our color selection nicely.

Use Sanctuary on its own, or in combination with Silken Straw or Sparky for Alchemy’s signature shibori-felted designs, like the “Wisdom Wrap” or “Simple Shibori Cowl,” both of which are on display at the shop.

Not long ago, Rosi finished this “Sparky Serpentine Scarf” knit in Sparky, a sample that now hangs on the wall here at the shop. The mesh lace pattern is easily memorized, and sparkles in this silk yarn, which is wrapped in a metallic thread.

Look for Alchemy yarns in the sport weight section of our shop, and don’t miss Lust in the fingering weight section! See you there.

Knitscene.

Posted by Julia on April 16, 2015

The Summer 2015 issue of Knitscene is here!

The “Serape Shawl” on the cover is knit in Shibui Staccato, a luscious fingering weight blend of merino and silk. Staccato is a new yarn at the shop this Spring, but has quickly become a favorite. Many of these patterns call for yarns you can find at HYS, in fact.

A cropped pullover in Rowan Wool Cotton, a cross-front tank in Fibre Company Meadow, a fringed cowl in Plymouth Mushishi… seeing familiar yarns in new contexts is always refreshing.

Come by the shop to pick up a copy of Knitscene and prepare for summertime knitting!

More and more new colors in Shetland Spindrift.

Posted by Julia on April 13, 2015

It’s been about a year since I last wrote about Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift here on the blog. Our little basket of Shetland Spindrift has grown over the past year, as interest in the yarn and in colorwork knitting has grown here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift is a classic fingering weight 2-ply shetland wool. It comes in little 25 gram balls to accommodate fair-isle knitters and their many-colored projects, for they don’t always need much yardage in any one shade.

Shetland Spindrift comes in 200+ colors, and though we can’t have them all in stock, we’re more than happy to order whatever colors you like, in whatever quantity.

We’ve expanded our selection of colors one special request at a time, and now I associate these shades with particular knitters and their projects: a palette of undyed shades for a “Sheep Heid” tam, rich blues and greens to recreate a favorite striped sweater, a few bright shades to perk up a growing stash of Shetland wool for colorwork knitting, autumnal rusts and mossy greens for a series of slip-stitch scarves, and so on.

We’ve seen lots of finished projects in Shetland Spindrift, too. Here’s Ruth in her “Mitered Cardigan,” from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knit One, Knit All. With guidance from Nancy during last year’s class on the subject, Ruth knit this unusually-constructed cardigan in record time for such a fine gauge yarn.

One of Shetland Spindrift’s many lovely qualities is the structure it brings to knitted fabric, which is critical for a good-sized garment mostly in garter stitch. I’m certain Ruth’s sweater will look as lovely years from now as it does in this photo.

Here’s my “Puffin,” from Kate Davies’ Colours of Shetland, a sweater that you’ve likely seen on my person if you’ve been by the shop in the past several months. I loved knitting it, love wearing it, and anticipate making another Kate Davies sweater with Shetland Spindrift sometime soon.

Amy brought in her “First Footing,” an elaborate pair of colorwork socks designed by Kate Davies. This half of the pair is currently on display at the shop, so you can get a good look at it while you browse our baskets of Shetland Spindrift.

I know there’s plenty of Shetland Spindrift out there on the needles; we’d love to see what you’re making with it! Come by the shop to share your progress and plan your next project. See you there!

Splendid Apparel.

Posted by Julia on April 11, 2015

Designer Anna Zilboorg’s latest book is here! Meet Splendid Apparel: a Handbook of Embroidered Knits.

Zilboorg is local enough to visit our shop a few times a year, and even led a workshop here back in 2011. She taught what must have been the beginnings of this book: a bit of embroidery, and a bit of her signature almost-seamless panel sweater construction.

Splendid Apparel is an exhaustive resource on those subjects, showing how to embellish knit fabric of all kinds, from ribbing and lace to twisted stitches and cables. Zilboorg thoughtfully includes embroidery instructions for both right- and left-handed people.

The sweaters are intricate, colorful, and richly textured.

Zilboorg makes good use of HYS yarns like String Theory Merino DK, Berroco Ultra Alpaca and Ultra Alpaca Light.

Check out Splendid Apparel next time you’re in the shop, and while you’re at it, take a look at Zilboorg’s other books: Knitting for Anarchists and Magnificent Mittens & Socks.

See you at the shop!

Hello, Handwoven.

Posted by Julia on April 9, 2015

We’re delighted to announce that we now carry Handwoven Magazine!

Handwoven is an Interweave publication dedicated to handweaving in its many forms, and on many kinds of looms. Inside you’ll find articles on particular techniques and weaving traditions from around the world, along with projects that put those techniques and traditions to work.

I was pleased to see that the cover project uses UKI Supreme 8/2 unmercerized cotton yarn, which we’ll happily special order in whatever colors you like; come by to see the color card! We keep a selection of UKI Supreme mercerized cotton mini-cones in stock in 10/2, 5/2, and 3/2 weights.

Weavers and weavers-to-be, check out Handwoven Magazine next time you’re here at the shop! We hope you find inspiration here.

Show and tell: Fibre Company.

Posted by Julia on April 7, 2015

Here’s another round of show and tell! As I was sifting through my stash of recent show-and-tell photos, I noticed one brand of yarn popping up over and over again: Fibre Company. Let’s have a look at what you’ve been making with Fibre Company yarns.

Mary knit this bright “Autumn in Garrison” hat with a single skein of Fibre Company Canopy Worsted. The pattern is available as a free download from Kelbourne Woolens, and Mary has made several of them now, a tribute to a well-written design.

Pat knit her “Mix No. 26” scarf with two different yarns: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK and Fibre Company Acadia. I love these neutral colors, and the textural contrast between the smooth Alpaca Silk DK and the tweedy Acadia.

Conny recently finished her “Gillam” sweater, knit in Fibre Company Knightsbridge. I’m always impressed at how nicely Knightsbridge renders texture patterns for such a soft and fuzzy yarn; this is truly a beautiful garment. Planning to knit a “Gillam” of your own? Be sure to check Ravelry for errata, and take a look at Kelbourne Woolens’ tutorial on the “tuck stitch” used in the pattern.

Anne knit this “Greenpoint” cowl with one skein of Fibre Company Canopy Worsted, though it didn’t go exactly as she planned. As Anne herself will tell you: it’s important to read the pattern carefully before you begin knitting, but, as we all do sometimes, Anne hurried ahead, eager to dig into her project. She worked the i-cord cast-on on US #7 needles, as written, but missed the instruction to change to a US #9 for the body of the cowl, resulting in a snug little cowl, indeed.

Not one to be discouraged, Anne knit a second “Greenpoint,” and kept them both to illustrate what a difference a few needle sizes can make, and as a reminder to read patterns carefully.

Amy is teaching an upcoming class on the “Greenpoint” cowl, which is a great introduction to cable knitting. Read more about it on our website, where you can sign up and prepay for classes, if you like.

Thanks to the many knitters, crocheters, weavers, and other fiber artists who use yarns from our shop in their creations; we love seeing what you make!

Show and tell: shawls.

Posted by Julia on April 5, 2015

We always love to see what you’re making with HYS yarns, and I love to take photos of your beautiful finished pieces to share here on the blog. I’ve collected a nice bunch of them over the past couple of months, enough for two blog posts. Let’s begin with shawls.

Amy knit this exquisite garment for her daughter’s wedding, a delicate lace shawl in the Estonian tradition. The pattern is “Lilac Leaf Shawl,” by Nancy Bush, and the yarn is Shibui Cima, a lace weight blend of merino and alpaca.

Here Pat models her “Dhania Shawl,” a pattern from the Spring 2014 issue of Interweave Knits, which she knit using Louisa Harding Mulberry. The allover texture pattern is studded with eyelets, making a lightweight fabric that’s especially drapey in 100% silk.

Here’s Kathy in her cozy “Range Wrap,” knit in Ella Rae Classic Wool, and fastened with Jul closures.

Thanks for the show and tell, everyone! Keep your eye on the blog for even more finished projects soon.