Back in stock: Classy mini-skeins.

Posted by Julia on March 24, 2015

Back in August, we got a bundle of mini-skeins from Dream in Color and a fun, simple pattern to go with: the “Technicolor Cowl.” We all had fun putting wild colorways together, and before we knew it, they were sold out. I’m happy to report that we were finally able to get Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins back in stock!

Dream in Color Classy is a worsted weight superwash merino, hand-dyed in Chicago, IL. Each of these mini-skeins comes with about 50 yards of yarn.

Nancy Leuer’s “Technicolor Cowl” calls for 8 mini-skeins.

We’ve seen so many kinds of color combinations made from these mini-skeins, and they all look great. Some are gradients, pulling 8 shades from one or two color families. Some are brightly colored, with high contrast shades side by side in each stripe. Some feature duplicate skeins of one main color studded with only a few contrasting shades, for a less colorful but no less interesting look.

Come by the shop to put together a “Technicolor Cowl” colorway of your own!

New colors in Titus.

Posted by Julia on March 22, 2015

We’re delighted to announce the recent arrival of three new colors in Baa Ram Ewe Titus!

Titus is a fingering weight blend of alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wools, sourced and spun entirely in the UK.

We’re proud to have been the first US stockist of the stuff, back in 2012 when it came in just one color.

Since then, Titus has been warmly embraced by knitters, crocheters, and weavers all over the world, and the palette has expanded considerably.

We have three sample garments knit in Titus at the shop, which hint at the many possibilities for this special yarn: “Baht ‘At,” a pair of intricately cabled fingerless mitts, “Color Affection,” a three-color garter stitch shawl, and “Northallerton,” a slouchy colorwork hat. Titus is happy at a range of gauges, depending upon how dense a fabric you’re after, and upon the kind of garment you’re making.

For more pattern ideas, check out Coop Knits Toasty Vol. One, Kate Davies’ “Paper Dolls” and “Catkin,” Kirsten Kapur’s “Minetta,” and Carol Feller’s “Titus Adrift.” Also follow us on Pinterest, where I recently sorted the patterns and projects by gauge, just like the yarns at our shop. Check out the “Fingering weight” board for plenty of ways to use Titus, then come by the shop to plan your next project!

Triangle Yarn Crawl.

Posted by Julia on March 19, 2015

The Triangle Yarn Crawl is a self-guided tour of local yarn shops, where yarn-lovers get together and hop from one shop to the next, shopping, entering raffles, and seeing the full breadth of available fibers. They happen twice a year, and the time has come again: the Spring 2015 crawl is coming up soon on March 21st and 22nd!

Each local yarn shop has something special to offer, and we’re no exception: all of the books we currently have in stock will be 25% off during the weekend of the Triangle Yarn Crawl! Indulge in some of the latest publications, or pick up a handy resource you’ve been needing. If you’re looking for recommendations, Anne and I are more than happy to oblige–we love our books almost as much as we love our yarns.

There’s a raffle prize at each of the participating shops, a Lantern Moon rice basket filled with goodies generously donated by Triangle Yarn Crawl sponsors. We added this little Fibre Company project bag to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop raffle prize, with something special from Fibre Company tucked inside.

We’re lucky to live in such a fiber-friendly part of the world, with so many choices available to us, and the Triangle Yarn Crawl is a great time to see all of those choices. Come see us as you’re crawling along!

A reminder: all sales are final on sale items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Discount applies only to in-store purchases. Thanks!

For crocheters.

Posted by Julia on March 17, 2015

The last couple of weeks have seen a trio of new publications for crocheters here at the shop.

The Spring 2015 issue of Interweave Crochet features a range of projects, from blankets and bags to sweaters and skirts.

Kristin Omdahl’s Crochet So Lovely is all about crocheted lace. She covers lace motifs and allover lace patterns, as well as how to achieve a lacy look by playing with gauge.

I spotted some familiar yarns in this book in the form of two tunics: one in Fibre Company Meadow, and another in Alchemy Silken Straw, pictured above.

Boho Crochet is a colorful collection of crocheted home goods and accessories. It looks like a great source of patterns and inspiration for crocheters of all levels, with guidance to help beginners make sense of unfamiliar stitches and techniques.

Come by the shop to browse the latest books and magazines, and pick one or two for your own crochet library! See you there.

Rowan Pure Wool: new colors, booklets.

Posted by Julia on March 15, 2015

Rowan has added six new shades to their Pure Wool Worsted line, and we’re happy to have them on our shelves.

All six are heathered, each shade composed of a few solid shades that are blended together to look solid from a distance. They fill out our existing selection nicely to make a well-rounded palette.

What to make with Rowan Pure Wool Worsted? Martin Storey has answered this question with two pattern collections in Pure Wool Worsted.

Pure Wool Worsted makes a great sweater yarn, especially for casual everyday sweaters.

It’s smooth and predictable on the needles, sturdy and easy to care for, renders stitch patterns crisply, and happens to be the most economical superwash worsted weight wool we’ve found.

Superwash wool at this gauge is tremendously versatile, and has many uses beyond adult-sized sweaters: use it for baby blankets, children’s sweaters, slipper socks, cold weather accessories, home goods, and the like. It’s also a good candidate for toy-making, as it happens.

I used Rowan Pure Wool recently to knit this pair of bunnies from a pair of free patterns. The bigger one, “Henry’s Rabbit,” is for my niece, and the smaller one, “Henry’s Bunny,” is for her sibling-to-be, due at the end of the month. One skein of Rowan Pure Wool was enough to make the pair. Stuffed animals are definitely not my typical knitting project, but I must say, this was a truly delightful diversion, and this yarn was a perfect fit!

Come by the shop to peruse the Martin Storey booklets, see the new colors, and plan your next project. See you there!

Vogue Knitting.

Posted by Julia on March 13, 2015

The Spring/Summer 2015 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

This issue features an article on sizing oversized sweaters, helping to make sense of positive ease.

Meg Swansen’s column is all about decreases, and choosing the best kind for the project at hand.

Besides the articles, there are plenty of patterns: a spread of sporty stripes, colorful tees and tunics, and plenty of those oversized sweaters I mentioned earlier. The colorblock sweater below is knit in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, a worsted weight blend of cotton and wool.

This colorwork jacket was knit in Fibre Company Savannah, a sport weight blend of plant and animal fibers that is perfect for Spring stitching.

Look for the latest issue of Vogue Knitting on the teacart, among the new books and magazines. See you at the shop!

New colors in Zauberball Starke 6.

Posted by Julia on March 11, 2015

We recently replenished our supply of Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball Starke 6, a sport weight, self-striping yarn.

Zauberball Starke 6 slowly changes from one color to the next several yards at a time, so that whatever you’re knitting or crocheting with it comes out striped. Additionally, it’s 2-ply, where both plies are not always the same shade, giving the yarn and finished product a marled look.

Thinking Spring, Anne and I chose several colorways with grassy greens, bright shades for lively stitching.

When you’re choosing projects for Zauberball Starke 6, look for patterns with interesting construction but relatively simple stitch patterns, as the stripes and marled colors will likely outshine any complex lace or texture pattern. Paging through Ravelry, lots of knitters have used Zauberball Starke 6 to make “Wingspan,” “Hitchhiker,” “TGV (High Speed Knitting),” and “Wurm.”

Here at the shop, we have a “Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf” on display knit in Zauberball Starke 6; this self-striping yarn highlights the short-row triangles. Composed of 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, Zauberball Starke 6 is great for socks or legwarmers, too! Look for more pattern ideas on the “Sport weight” board on the HYS Pinterest page.

Come by the shop to pick up a skein or two of Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball Starke 6! See you there.

Hello, Shibui Staccato.

Posted by Julia on March 8, 2015

Another new yarn from Shibui! Meet Staccato.

Staccato is a lustrous blend of 70% superwash merino and 30% silk in a fingering weight. Like Cima, it has a nice high twist, giving it the look of a string of pearls. Each 50 gram skein has 191 yards, enough for a hat or a pair of mitts; two skeins would make a lovely cowl, or a special pair of socks. Staccato looks to be a stellar sweater yarn, as well; check out the “Fingering weight” board on our Pinterest page for pattern ideas!

Both silk and superwash wool have a tendency to grow after washing and blocking; plan for this by washing your swatch and adjusting needle size accordingly. I know this can feel like an extra step sometimes, but it’s worth it to end up with a garment in the size you intended!

Look for Shibui Staccato in the fingering weight section, and be sure to check out our other Shibui yarns and patterns while you’re here. Come by the shop when you’re seeking inspiration; we look forward to helping you plan your next project!

Hello, Shibui Twig.

Posted by Julia on March 6, 2015

We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of Shibui’s newest yarn: meet Twig.

Twig is a slightly textured blend of 46% linen, 42% recycled silk, and 12% wool.

Each 50 gram skein has 190 yards, and it knits up at a sport or dk weight gauge into an open, draping fabric.

Shibui yarns are dyed in matching colorways across the line, designed to be knit on their own or held together to make bespoke yarn blends. Twig is no exception; I expect this yarn will play quite well with the others.

Like Shibui Linen, Twig has a crisp feel and a plant fiber’s tendency to stretch rather than cling, qualities that make it ideal for warm weather garments and accessories. If you like a little more elasticity, consider holding Twig together with Cima or Pebble.

The design team at Shibui has included Twig in its Spring/Summer 2015 collection, featuring the kind of loose-fitting, modern garments that Twig is best suited to.

Some patterns are for Twig alone, others pair it with different Shibui yarns, or offer several combinations to choose from.

That, after all, is what drives the Shibui mix concept: by combining more than one yarn and/or color, you can create exactly the fiber, texture, or color blend you’d like. As long as you’re getting the gauge the pattern calls for, you can mix and substitute yarns to your heart’s content.

Come by the shop to see Twig for yourself, peruse the Shibui Spring/Summer 2015 pattern collection, and plan a Shibui project!

String Theory: new colors, show and tell.

Posted by Julia on March 4, 2015

Another shipment from String Theory arrived at the shop last week, a box filled with Bluestocking and Merino DK. We also happened to see these two yarns in a couple of beautiful finished projects recently, so I thought I’d share show and tell along with the news of new colors.

Bluestocking is a soft, sturdy fingering weight yarn composed of 80% Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon. Bluefaced Leicester wool is known for its long fibers, which make for sturdy, lustrous yarn with a bit of a fuzzy halo. Bluestocking is excellent for socks, but just as nice for scarves, shawls, mitts, and other accessories.

Pete knit this “North Arrow” with two shades of Bluestocking, one variegated and one semisolid. I love seeing how two colors interact when knit up into thin stripes; they can blend into one another or pop out in contrast, and you can’t be quite sure how they’ll behave until they’re on your needles. Pete’s color choice came out beautifully, and I’m flattered to say that she’s planning to knit a second “North Arrow” in Caper Sock!

Last week’s box came with three new shades of String Theory Merino DK, a soft and smooth superwash merino yarn in a DK weight. Merino DK is springy and dependable, has sharp stitch definition, and comes in rich, hand-dyed colorways. I’m a big fan of this yarn, having used it for all kinds of projects: two cowls, a hat, a sweater, and a pair of mitts.

Mary recently pulled a skein of String Theory Merino DK out of her stash to make a “Hermes Baby” hat from the Vivacious Volume One booklet. The simplicity of the stitch pattern gives this particularly variegated colorway room to shine.

Come by the shop to see our full selection of String Theory yarns, and plan your next project!