Back in stock: String Theory Merino DK.

Posted by Julia on November 10, 2013

Last week, we had the pleasure of unpacking a large box from String Theory which was stuffed full of their Merino DK.

Having knit two cowls, a sweater, and a pair of mitts with String Theory Merino DK, I’m clearly a fan of the stuff. It’s soft and smooth, with excellent stitch definition, springy and dependable in the hands, and expertly hand-dyed in rich, memorable colorways. Our Purl Ridge Cowl is shown in “Earthquake,” a variegated colorway with more hidden hues than one might notice at first.

Whenever we get more Merino DK in stock, I’m tempted to start another project.

This time, it was Anne who gave in and cast on with String Theory Merino DK. Looking for just the right yarn for this year’s trio of hats for her grandchildren, Anne settled on Merino DK for all the reasons listed above, along with one other: Merino DK is machine-washable, perfectly suited to children’s hats.

Enjoying the yarn, and knitting on a deadline, Anne has likely finished this second hat by now, and I expect to see the start of a third soon enough.

Come by the shop to see our new selection of colors in Merino DK, and check out String Theory’s other yarns, as well. See you there!

Hello, Pebble.

Posted by Julia on November 8, 2013

Last week, I gave a brief introduction to Shibui here on the blog–their yarns, patterns, “mix” concept for combining yarns, beautiful coordinated colorways, and luxury fibers. This week, I wanted to give each of the three Shibui yarns we carry a chance to shine. Having given Cima and Silk Cloud the spotlight earlier in the week, it’s time for Pebble.

Pebble is a lace weight blend of 48% recycled silk, 36% wool, and 16% cashmere, boasting 224 yards on each 25 gram skein. This carefully crafted blend of fibers feels soft on the skein, but softer still once it’s made up into fabric. Each of Pebble’s three plies is made of a separate fiber, so that you can see how each one takes the dye somewhat differently. Its tweedy look sets it apart from the other Shibui yarns we carry, and indeed, from most other yarns you’ll find in the “Lace Weight” section of the shop.

Pebble is Shibui’s newest concoction, and it’s been introduced this fall along with a series of knitting patterns that make use of it held singly or doubly. You’ll find the Pebble pattern collection in the Shibui binder at the shop, which gives a preview of each Shibui pattern. If you find a pattern you like, you can buy it from us as a Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sale and we’ll print a copy for you and send a digital copy to your email or Ravelry library.

This colorwork-yoked sweater, “Cliff,” is another Shibui garment we fell in love with at TNNA. Pebble has a bit of a fuzzy halo when it’s knit, washed, and blocked, and it was the softness and delicacy of this yarn that turned our heads towards Shibui in the first place.

Look on the Shibui website for the Cliff Hat, a free pattern for Pebble. When searching for other pattern ideas, remember that Pebble is a lofty lace weight yarn, comfortable at a range of gauges. When held double, or paired with Silk Cloud or Cima, Pebble makes a dk weight, so you might hunt through your Ravelry queue for patterns with a suggested gauge of about 5.5 stitches per inch. Follow us on Pinterest for more Pebble pattern ideas; our “Inspiring Stitches” board is a collection of patterns and projects that make good use of yarns that are available at HYS. I’ve been pinning Shibui pattern ideas all week, so if you’re seeking Shibui inspiration, look for us on Pinterest.

Come by the shop to see Pebble, Silk Cloud, and Cima, and to peruse the Shibui pattern binder. There are still some open spaces in our upcoming Shibui Mix Party–you can sign up on our website, where you’ll also find information about our latest classes. See you at the shop!

Hello, Silk Cloud.

Posted by Julia on November 6, 2013

Last week, I gave a brief introduction to Shibui here on the blog–their yarns, patterns, “mix” concept for combining yarns, beautiful coordinated colorways, and luxury fibers. This week, I wanted to give each of the three Shibui yarns we carry a chance to shine. Having given Cima the spotlight earlier in the week, it’s time for Silk Cloud.

Silk Cloud is a lace weight yarn composed of 60% kid mohair and 40% silk, boasting 330 yards on each 25 gram skein. Mohair is tremendously fuzzy and warm, its halo filling in the gaps a bit when knit or crocheted at larger gauges. And while silk is a common ingredient in mohair yarns from many different companies, Shibui’s Silk Cloud has a higher percentage of silk than many, which seems to make it smoother on the hands and needles.

From our first browse through Shibui’s patterns, “Mix No. 19” was Anne’s favorite, a color block pullover designed to be loose-fitting. It calls for Silk Cloud held double throughout, making a substantial but lightweight fabric that drapes gently. Of course Anne cast on as soon as the yarn arrived.

Anne is knitting “Mix No. 19” in the colors it’s shown in, though there are many other tempting combinations to be found in our stash of Silk Cloud. In playing the color game, I was drawn to subtle, low-contrast combinations.

“Mix No. 2” is a similar garment, also using two strands of Silk Cloud held together, but featuring a tunic length, long sleeves, and a subtle textural stripe.

When held together with another yarn, Silk Cloud lends its halo to the finished fabric. Because Shibui’s yarns are dyed in matching colorways across the different fiber types, it makes good sense to hold Silk Cloud together with Cima, as in “Mix No. 16” and “Mix No. 20.”

Another approach to try when seeking uses for this luxurious combination of yarns is to search patterns by gauge. Silk Cloud and Cima make a sport weight gauge when held together, so try a Ravelry pattern search that filters results to show only patterns using sport weight yarn. Follow us on Pinterest for more Silk Cloud pattern ideas; our “Inspiring Stitches” board is a collection of patterns and projects that make good use of yarns that are available at HYS.

Come by the shop to see Silk Cloud and our other Shibui yarns for yourself, and flip through their pattern binder for inspiration. See you there!

Hello, Cima.

Posted by Julia on November 4, 2013

Cima is a lace weight yarn composed of 70% superbaby alpaca and 30% fine merino wool, boasting 330 yards on each 50 gram skein. It’s a 2-ply yarn, tightly plied so that it almost resembles a string of pearls.

I fell in love with this double-knit cowl when I saw it displayed at Shibui’s booth at TNNA. As we talked with the people at Shibui, choosing colors and learning about the yarns, I idly petted the cowl, admiring the drape of the fabric, the reversible design. By the time the yarn arrived at the shop, I was ready to pick out colors to knit one myself. The Mix No. 23 pattern calls for two strands of Cima held together throughout, making a sport weight gauge. Double knitting creates two layers of fabric at once, so I had a lot of stitches on my needles, but the yarn was so pleasant to work with, and the pattern so clearly written, that I sped right through it.

For my Mix No. 23, I used Cima in “Caffeine” and “Suit.” It was hard to choose just one pair of colors, though–the Shibui color palette is nuanced and unusual, and I loved pairing them up in hypothetical cowls.

Beginning in January, we’re offering a class on double knitting that teaches this very pattern. If you’re interested in learning the technique and making the cowl along the way, consider Amy’s “Double Knitting” class–you can read all about it, sign up and prepay on our website.

There are plenty of other things to make with Shibui Cima, of course, and Shibui’s own pattern line is a great place to start looking for inspiration. Shibui patterns often call for Cima to be held double, or even triple, combining colors in interesting ways, often to achieve a gradient effect. One of their free patterns, Kinetic, uses two strands and two colors in this way; you can download the pattern from the Shibui website.

Cima is also lovely on its own, held singly, anywhere lace weight yarn is called for. To that end, our “Lace Weight Shawls” binder is worth flipping through, along with our collection of lace-themed books. Follow us on Pinterest for more Cima pattern ideas; our “Inspiring Stitches” board is a collection of patterns and projects that make good use of yarns that are available at HYS.

Keep your eye on the blog for more on Shibui yarns and patterns, and come by the shop to become acquainted with these yarns in person!

Shibui Mix Party.

Posted by Julia on November 2, 2013

We’re delighted to announce that we have an exciting event coming up: a yarn tasting featuring three yarns from Shibui, a small yarn company out of Portland, Oregon. Because Shibui’s yarns are designed to be combined, two or three strands at a time, they call their yarn tastings “Mix Parties,” where attendees are encouraged to mix yarns together as they swatch.

When you’re planning to hold two or three different yarns together, it can be hard to imagine how the resulting fabric will feel or look. A Mix Party allows you to try out Shibui yarns before buying them, working up a little swatch to see how they behave as a fabric. Attendees will bring needles or hooks in a variety of sizes and we’ll serve up samples of three yarns from Shibui, along with bagels, fruit, and mimosas.

Cima: a lace weight blend of baby alpaca and merino wool
Silk Cloud: a lace weight blend of kid mohair and silk
Pebble: a lace weight blend of cashmere, fine merino, and recycled silk

We’ll have a collection of pattern ideas for all three yarns. Take advantage of our Shibui promotion and get a 15% discount on your Shibui purchases as well as prepaid Shibui Yarn orders made during the Mix Party.

The Shibui Mix Party is scheduled for Sunday, January 12th, 2014, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. There is a small fee for attending, so that we might cover the cost of food and drink, and because of our small space, we’re limiting this event to 15 people. It’s filling up quickly–sign up now to save your space! If you can’t make it to the Mix Party, no worries–I’ll report back here on the blog and tell you all about it.

Hello, Shibui.

Posted by Julia on October 31, 2013

We are excited to announce that we now carry three yarns from Shibui, a Portland-based yarn company that is known for their fine natural fiber yarns and their unique color palette. Many of their yarns are lace or fingering weight, and designed to be knit on their own or held together, using two or three strands at a time to make bespoke yarn blends.

We chose three yarns to bring into the shop this fall: Silk Cloud, a fuzzy blend of mohair and silk; Cima, a tightly plied blend of alpaca and merino; and their newest yarn, Pebble, a tweedy blend of silk, merino, and cashmere.

All three are lace weight, and can be combined in many ways and at many gauges in garments and accessories alike.

Shibui yarns are dyed in coordinating colors, so that two different yarns in the same colors can be combined to create a solid color.

Visiting Shibui’s booth at TNNA this past June, we were struck by the rich colors, interesting textures, high quality fibers, and stylish designs.

We have sample copies of Shibui’s Mix patterns at the shop; they’re all available as Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sales, so when you buy them from us, we’ll print a copy for you and save a digital copy in your email or Ravelry library.

Come by the shop to see these Shibui yarns for yourself, and to flip through the Shibui Mix patterns, lookbooks, and flashcards that suggest different yarn combinations with gauge and needle sizes. We are so excited about all things Shibui–keep an eye out for more from Shibui soon!

Mountain Colors mitten kits.

Posted by Julia on October 29, 2013

We just got in some new kits from Mountain Colors, the Montana hand-dyers that make Bearfoot. Here are the “X-Country Mitten” kits, with the pattern and yarn needed to make a cozy pair of colorwork mittens.

The yarn inside these kits is the worsted weight Mountain Goat, a lustrous blend of wool and mohair. Each kit has four little skeins of the stuff, three in hand-dyed colorways and one in cream.

The “X-Country Mitten” kits would make a great gift for any knitter, particularly a knitter who’s interested in giving stranded colorwork a try. Come by the shop to pick one up for yourself or a friend!

Back in stock: Yarn Hollow Photograph.

Posted by Julia on October 27, 2013

I was delighted to unpack a big box at the shop this week from Michigan yarn company Yarn Hollow. We carry one Yarn Hollow yarn, Photograph, a worsted weight Bluefaced Leicester wool that is hand-dyed in tonally variegated colorways, and it was that gorgeous yarn that filled this box. We’d had a special request for a particular color, which was all the excuse we needed to pick out a few other new colors and fill up on those that were running low.

There are very few patterns written expressly for this yarn, but it would be a perfect substitute for any wooly worsted weight yarn that a pattern might call for. Consider the Swans Island patterns that call for their worsted weight Organic Merino, or Berroco’s sizeable collection of free patterns calling for worsted weight yarns. Many of the single patterns in our pattern binders at the shop call for worsted weight yarns as well.

If you’re planing a project that will take more than one 250 yard skein to complete, remember that all hand-dyed yarns vary from skein to skein, even within the same dyelot. To mitigate the difference, try alternating skeins–working two rows from one ball, then two rows from another ball, back and forth to blend them together.

Come by the shop to admire Yarn Hollow Photograph and consider it for your next project!

Downton Abbey and Jane Austen Knits.

Posted by Julia on October 25, 2013

Two new special issues of Interweave Knits arrived in the past week or so: The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits and Jane Austen Knits.

The first is full of knitting patterns inspired by the television series Downton Abbey, which is, for those who have somehow escaped seeing it, a period drama taking place in a British country estate during the early 20th century. Anne and I will confess that we have both watched the show from beginning to end, gobbling up episode after episode, and we know a lot of others who have done the same. The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits looks at that favorite tv series through the lens of knitting, and that means not only Downton Abbey-inspired patterns, but also articles on knitting for the troops during World War I.

This issue of Jane Austen Knits is the fourth such collection of knitting patterns inspired by the novels of Jane Austen.

I was pleased to see many familiar yarns put to good use in this issue: a cardigan in String Theory Merino DK, a handsome scarf in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and a shawl in Fibre Company Canopy Worsted.

Come by the shop to pick up a copy of The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits and Jane Austen Knits!

Show and tell: scarves and cowls.

Posted by Julia on October 23, 2013

It’s time for more show and tell! Here are some finished pieces that began their lives as HYS yarns. They all happen to be neckwarmers of one kind of another: scarves and cowls.

Allison has been churning out Spectra scarves for a while now, and is particularly fond of Kauni Effektgarn in color EQ for this project. EQ is perhaps the most colorful Kauni colorway, a bright and sunny rainbow spectrum, shifting from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple.

Allison used EQ as both the main and contrast colors in this project, and recommends staggering it so that the main color is one or two shades ahead of the contrast color in the sequence. This keeps the colors from overlapping, so you wont find yourself with, say, orange as both the main and contrast color at any point in the knitting. This particular scarf weighed 115 grams, so it’s entirely possible to knit this from one skein of Kauni Effektgarn, with some winding and rewinding.

Margie recently finished these two scarves, knit in Malabrigo Sock and Prism Saki, respectively. The pattern is “Favorite Scarf Ever,” a free download from Ravelry, and its simple chevron pattern shows off variegated yarns to the fullest.

Speaking of chevron patterns: Cecilia came in last week wearing this beautiful cowl knit in Gina, a soft self-striping wool from Plymouth. She’d picked the colorway to match her new coat, and has since come back for a different yarn to make a coat-matching hat; I’m looking forward to seeing the whole get-up!

Mary’s needles have been busy lately, and she had three projects to show off since last I shared show-and-tell photos on the blog. Above are her two Twist scarves knit in Malabrigo Mecha, one completed, and one halfway there. She’s sailing through these one-skein scarves, planning to give them away as holiday gifts–an excellent plan for a quick knit like the Twist scarf.

Here’s Mary’s second Simple Shibori Cowl, knit in Alchemy Silken Straw and Sanctuary. It’s so satisfying to see this cowl made up in different colorways, and to see the transformation that occurs when they’re felted. This one is made with Silken Straw in color “Belladonna” and Sanctuary in “Ace of Spades,” a subtle, elegant combination.

Thanks to everyone who starts, works on, and shares their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We love to see what’s coming off your needles and hooks.