Author Archives: Julia

The Best of KnitScene.

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Another new title from Interweave has found its way to the teacart.



The Best of KnitScene is a collection of patterns from KnitScene magazine, as its title makes evident, but it has a lot of other information as well. A friendly introduction to the world of knitting from patterns, this book offers short, clear explanations of a variety of knitting techniques that could otherwise appear intimidating, such as fair-isle, cables, and lace. 
It’s primarily a collection of sweaters, but there are some socks in there, too, along with hats and other accessories. 

The Best of KnitScene would make a nice gift for an adventurous intermediate knitter who has advanced past the obligatory scarf, hat, and fingerless mitts, and is ready for the next step up. Some patterns would be a piece of cake for such a knitter, while others would be an exciting challenge, making this one book a collection to keep said knitter busy for quite some time. Come by the shop to flip through it and see what you think.

Hello, Briggs and Little Sport.

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Recently I completed a project that had been stuffed in the bottom of a basket for about a year. I’m not a monogamous knitter, but lingering unfinished projects do bother me a bit. Every once in a while, I’d remember this particular project, a half-completed colorwork vest, and worry about it a little. Would I ever finish it? Why did I put it down again? There must have been something intimidating ahead in the pattern, something scary enough that I’d hide the whole thing away and spend a year knitting other things. When I pulled out the pattern, an out-of-print Meg Swansen gem called the Square-Rigged Vest, it was immediately clear why I had stopped when I did. After casting on at the bottom edge and knitting happily round and round in the color pattern, I’d reached the armpit, where I’d have to plan for steeks. I’ve cut my knitting before, but something about the little bit of math and boldness required for this next step tripped me up. Coming back to it a year later, I was pleased to find myself excited rather than nervous at the prospect of steeking, and in a matter of weeks the whole project was done.

The yarn is Briggs and Little Sport, an unsung hero of a yarn. A rustic, single ply, 100% wool yarn, Briggs and Little Sport is quite affordable, comes in an astonishing array of colors, and has a sticky quality to it–all of which make it perfectly suited to stranded colorwork knitting. Once knit, the stitches cling to each other, which is handy for steeking, since it takes some serious pulling and stretching for the cut stitches to unravel.

Briggs and Little Sport is often passed over, I think, because it isn’t soft to the touch. It took some time to get used to it, but soon my fingers were accustomed to the texture of the yarn and enjoying the process. I was promised by those who had knit with it before that it would soften with washing and I can’t tell you how right they were. It’s not cashmere or anything, but then, that’s exactly what I love about this classic, wooly yarn.

If you’re considering a colorwork project, Briggs and Little Sport is certainly worth your attention, but I’ve seen it used successfully in other ways as well. Marion and several of her students have made February Lady Sweaters holding the Briggs and Little doubled to obtain a worsted-weight gauge. When I searched for the yarn on Ravelry, I found that many knitters are using it for socks, shawls, mittens, and hats, as well as sweaters. Come by the shop to visit this unsung hero and consider how you might make use of it. See you soon!

Knitter’s Pride.

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I’ve written before about the range of needles and hooks we offer at the shop. Today, I’m here not to summarize our collection, but to introduce the latest line of circular knitting needles: Knitter’s Pride Dreamz.

These circulars are made from laminated compressed birch, and come in 16″, 24″, 32″, and 40″ lengths in a wide range of sizes. They also come, as you may have noticed, in a wide range of colors, making them pretty as well as functional. For those of you who loved the colorful (and sadly discontinued) Lana Grossa laminated circulars, this may be just the substitute. Come by the shop to look through these candy-colored needles, and enjoy having yet another variety to choose from when shopping for circulars. We hope you’ll give them a try and let us know what you think!

Hello, Classy.

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If you’ve ever come into the shop looking for washable worsted weight wool, you’re not alone. This seems to be one of our most common requests. Wool is soft, warm, wonderfully stretchy, and has many applications, all of which are qualities that draw knitters and crocheters to wool yarns. Many of those knitters and crocheters (as well as those they knit and crochet for) are also looking for yarns that can be machine washed without fear of accidental felting. Enter superwash wool. We’ve got a lot of it, and the rich, tonally-variegated Classy, from Dream In Color, is one of the first stops on the Washable Worsted Weight Wool Tour at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Our stock had been dwindling, but a recent order got us back up to date on many colors that had been marked with the dreaded “L,” which stands for “Last,” as in, “Last skein in stock. Sorry!” Now there is a good chance that we have a sweater’s worth of most any color one could select from the Classy basket. Dig in, you makers of hats, mitts, baby sweaters and blankets, and rest easy: there’s no accidental felting in this yarn’s future.

Swans Island hat and mitts.

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Though Anne and I were both beside ourselves with excitement over the arrival of the new Swans Island yarn, it’s possible I was more excited, because she had assigned me the task of swatching it. I began by looking through their patterns for inspiration–a good starting place, as their patterns are beautiful in their simplicity, allowing the knitter to relax and enjoy the yarn. I chose the Harbor Hat pattern, which progressed quickly, and soon I had completed it, with more than half the skein to spare. Back to the Swans Island pattern binder I went, this time, for the Blackberry Mitts. 

The completed set now lives on the teacart with the Swans Island yarn, perched atop the basket, ready to be inspected by those who are curious just how this stuff knits up. Allow me to spoil the surprise: the yarn is wonderfully soft, smooth, and consistent. The patterns are easy to follow and quick to knit. Our love affair with Swans Island continues. In fact, I’ve started a sweater for myself out of the fingering weight Swans Island, the New Zealand Pullover from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knit One Knit All. At 7 stitches to the inch, it’ll be a while before it looks like much, but I will surely do some show and tell once it begins to resemble a sweater.
Come in and admire the Swans Island yarn and patterns if you haven’t yet done so, and slip your hands inside these mitts. See you soon!

knit.wear.

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Behold: the premiere issue of knit.wear, a brand new knitting magazine from Interweave. Billing itself as a collection of “simple handknits for the thoughtful knitter,” knit.wear is packed with clean, modern-looking sweater patterns. Anne and I were impressed with this stylish new magazine. What do you think?

Come by the shop to flip through the premiere issue and see all else that is new.

Chiffon.

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Let this be my last Cascade addendum, the last of the contents of those 40 pound boxes to be introduced: say hello to a sumptuous new fingering weight yarn from Cascade, called Heritage Silk.

A few months ago, when we first ordered Heritage Silk, Anne got a single skein for us to knit up as a shop sample. That skein was passed to me, and as soon as I had wound it into a ball, I knew that I would love this yarn for socks. It’s a smooth yarn with the kind of high twist that makes for excellent stitch definition and well-wearing socks. Made from 85% no-nonsense superwash wool and 15% shiny, glamorous silk, Cascade Heritage Silk is a nice blend of basic and indulgent. I tried to knit a sock that reflected those qualities, and this is what I came up with: meet Chiffon.


Like my first sock pattern, Interrupted, Chiffon is knit from cuff to toe with a short-row heel, but is dressed up a bit with three bands of ruching. Come by the shop to see a sample of Chiffon, which you’ll find tucked into a cubby on the sock wall with the Heritage Silk yarn. Download the pattern for free on Ravelry, and please let me know what you think!

Weekend Hats.

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Knitted hats are wonderfully useful things. For the knitter, they work on several levels. We often recommend a hat as a second or third project for beginners, as they give the relatively new knitter the opportunity to learn a few new skills: decreasing and working in the round, both with a circular needle and double pointed needles. For more experienced knitters, hats are wonderfully small canvases on which to play with different kinds of designs, from colorwork to cables to lace. Designer, innovator, and all-around knitting heroine Elizabeth Zimmermann often suggested using a hat as a swatch for a bigger project, so that one might find out their honest-to-goodness in-the-round gauge for that project. Another thing about knitted hats is that they make great gifts. They are substantial and happily received, yet small enough that the knitter can give one away without feeling too sad to see them go. 

This week, we got a new collection of hat patterns which show off all the fine qualities of knitted hats. Weekend Hats is compiled by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre, authors of last year’s New England Knits, and features patterns from a bunch of other great designers, including Jared Flood, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Kate Gagnon Osborn, and Kirsten Kapur. Here’s a peek inside:

All three of these hats were made with yarns that we carry, by the way–Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Malabrigo Worsted, and Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, respectively. Come by the shop for more hat inspiration!

Cascade addendum.

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Along with all of that yarn from Cascade, we also got a beautiful sample sweater, the Cable Lovers’ Pullover, knit in Eco +.

The pattern is available as a free download from Cascade’s website, along with a handful of other patterns for Eco +. In fact, Cascade offers a selection of free patterns for nearly all of their yarns, including those that I mentioned here yesterday, Lana d’Oro, Eco Duo, and Magnum.

If you’ve been considering making a sweater in Eco +, come by and examine this sample to get a sense of the weight, stitch definition, or size. You’re always welcome to try on any of our samples–just ask, and we’ll be happy to pull one down for you. See you soon!