The latest issue of Knitting Traditions has arrived!
A few weeks ago, our hero, Clara Parkes, posted a particularly intriguing review on her excellent and very informative blog, Knitter’s Review. As soon as Anne arrived at the shop that day, I said, “Did you read Clara today?” Her response: “I already ordered it.”
The subject of that Knitter’s Review post, and the object of our desire, was the Color Grid, a tool developed by hand-dyer Gail Callahan for choosing colors. The Color Grid is a sturdy little pamphlet with a spectrum of colors arranged in a grid, as the name suggests. One of the panels is black, with holes of different sizes.
Hold the largest hole over the color that most closely matches your main color, and the smaller holes highlight the closest relatives of that main color.
A thin, rectangular slot below those holes highlights a contrasting color which Callahan calls the “spark.” A bit of that spark color is sure to make your main color sing because of their relationship on the color wheel.
The color wheel, by the way, has always been on my list of Things I One Day Plan to Understand. Until I take the time to sit down with some color theory and study, the Color Grid will join my intuition in my color-choosing toolbox. And along with the color-choosing comes my favorite part: diving into a pile of knitting books, preferably of the colorwork variety. Many of these books offer more information on color theory, if you’re curious about exactly how the Color Grid is working, and how colors interact in knitted patterns of many kinds.
What a fun toy it is! Come by the shop to snag a Color Grid of your own.
Satisfaction, to me, is a finished knitting project. Once all the ends have been woven in and the knitted piece has been washed and blocked, I can stand back, admire my work, push aside the urge to point out whatever errors I made, and get ready for the next project. Anne and I have both recently completed samples for the shop, both of which you can see hanging proudly in the front window.
Anne used the Schulana Macaibo yarn to make Little Sister’s Dress, a sweet pattern that’s available as a free download on Ravelry. Like the baby sunhat that Anne was knitting a few weeks ago out of Schulana Tamarillo, this sample shows how differently the yarn knits up than you might have supposed, looking at it in the ball.
Meanwhile, I’ve been working on a brightly colored lace scarf out of SWTC’s Pure yarn, made of 100% soysilk. Pure is one of those yarns that somehow never got swatched, though we’ve had it at the shop for a few years now. I tried my hardest to stretch the yardage of a single skein and managed to get a nice narrow scarf out of just 165 yards. The pattern is Veronik Avery’s Lace Ribbon Scarf, a free pattern from Knitty. I only cast on 26 stitches, though, working two repeats of the lace pattern rather than the suggested five. Like I said: I was trying to stretch a single skein.
Yes, finishing things up is a good feeling, matched only by the excitement of casting on for something new! You can see these and plenty of other sample garments at the shop, and if you have any questions about the yarn or the pattern we used, don’t hesitate to ask. See you at the shop!
The newest issue of Knit Simple has arrived at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.
The Spring/Summer 2012 issue has many projects to offer: springy sweaters and tops, lacy scarves, knitted flowers, and dresses for little girls.
Take a look next time you’re in the shop!
Several weeks ago, a new magazine arrived at the shop and I neglected to blog about it. WollZauber had the misfortune of making its grand entrance on the same day as the new Schulana yarns. I photographed WollZauber, promised to get back to it, and then we got a box from String Theory, followed by a most exciting shipment from Malabrigo. Suddenly a month had passed, and all the while, WollZauber has been patiently waiting for an introduction.
WollZauber provides pattern support for Schoppel-Wolle yarns: Zauberball, Crazy Zauberball, Zauberball Starke 6, and Lace Ball. All of the above are self-striping yarns that are unusually packaged in round balls. Many of them are great for socks, and all are fine choices for shawls and scarves. One of our customers made a Wingspan in Zauberball, in fact, and we have a beautiful Multidirectional Scarf made up in Crazy Zauberball, lent to us by another lovely knitter.
It never hurts to have more ideas for these most interesting yarns, though. Here’s a peek inside WollZauber.
Find WollZauber by the Zauberball basket.
It’s been a knitterly gadgets kind of week here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Along with the Fix-a-Stitch, we also received a shipment of double point work-in-progress tubes, or DP Wip Tubes, for those who like to abbreviate.
Like the Fix-a-Stitch, the DP Wip Tube solves a specific problem simply and well. Say you’re knitting a sock on double pointed needles and you want to toss it into your knitting bag. How can you be sure that your live stitches wont accidentally slide off of one of those needles? You could put an individual point protector on each double point, to be sure, or you could carefully fold your sock-in-progress around your needles and hope for the best. The DP Wip Tube offers complete security to your stitches.
Anne is certainly a proponent of the DP Wip Tube, with two in use (and in reach) when our new shipment arrived.
Handy, no? Pick up a set of DP Wip Tubes next time you’re at the shop.
New yarns, books, and magazines we expect. New patterns, new colorways, a new brand of needles or hooks every once in a while: sure. It is much more rare, I think, that I come here to announce a new knitterly gadget like this one. Here is the Fix-a-Stitch, a short, two-ended crochet hook for picking up dropped stitches, a particularly handy tool for correcting mistakes in garter stitch without having to turn your work around again and again.
They come as a set of three sizes to accommodate various weights of yarn. Anne and I had never seen anything like it before, and we’re pleased to add them to the notions collection at the shop. If you’re curious about how such a thing is used, the Fix-a-Stitch website has a few videos to demonstrate. It certainly looks like a tool worth keeping in one’s knitting bag. Find the Fix-a-Stitch at the shop!
Another new Debbie Bliss booklet has made its way to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.
Celebrating Family, as the name suggests, is a collection of knitting patterns for babies, children, and adults. All of the patterns call for sport-weight yarns, either Debbie Bliss Eco Baby, an organic cotton, or Cashmerino Baby, a machine-washable blend of merino wool and cashmere.
Find Celebrating Family on the teacart, and Debbie Bliss Eco Baby and Cashmerino Baby yarns on the shelf just beyond it.
A few months ago, I overheard Anne having a serious-sounding phone conversation with a representative from Malabrigo Yarns. I heard her request “a bag in every color” and knew it must be something good. Then a pause. Then, “better make it two bags in every color.” It must be very good indeed, I thought. How right I was!
Malabrigo has released another new yarn: Finito, a fingering weight superfine merino wool. Produced in limited quantities only once a year, Finito is made from the very finest of merino wool fiber, and beautifully hand-dyed in the usual Malabrigo fashion. The people at Malabrigo told us it was softer than their usual merino wool, which was hard to imagine, but I must say, they weren’t wrong. Each 50 gram skein is 200 yards long and deliciously soft to the touch.
Of course Anne has already selected enough for a sweater. I tried to exercise some restraint and only came home with three skeins to play with. What will become of these three skeins I don’t quite know, but I’m sure I will have a wonderful time finding out.
Come by the shop to see this newest Malabrigo yarn as well as the old favorites: Malabrigo Lace, Sock, Arroyo, Rios, Silky Merino, Worsted, and Twist. See you at the shop!
Thank goodness for this week’s shipment from String Theory! Our Caper Sock cubby was practically empty. Just look at it now: a few new colors, a few familiar colors. A pleasantly full cubby.
We’ve also replenished our supply of String Theory Selku and Merino DK, which live in twin baskets on the teacart, by all the new books and magazines.
Come by the shop to take a look at our String Theory collection and daydream about how you’ll put it to use.