Author Archives: Julia

We got a very large box from Berroco.

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After much unpacking, admiring, reorganizing, and rearranging, it’s time to show off.

New colors of Berroco Sox, stuffed into their cubby but eager to get out. We also have a new pattern book to go with–brightly colored children’s garments, taking advantage of the self-patterning quality of this yarn.

A bright spectrum of Pure Pima, lounging around on the fainting couch, ready for spring knitting. Also, the latest booklet from Norah Gaughan, which features patterns for Pure Pima.

Finally, the more subdued but equally lovely Jasper, its colors replenished.

Last week was a particularly very-large-box-filled week at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, so there’s plenty more to share. I’ll be back here soon with the rest of our haul.

Andrea knits socks.

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My friend Andrea has been a sometime knitter for a few years now, completing a scarf here, a patchwork blanket there, but focusing primarily on her animation projects (a subject worthy of an entire blog; go there and see this if animated wool peaks your curiosity). Recently, however, she has taken up knitting in a more serious, dare I say, obsessive way. Since October, she has produced a handful of hats, a pair of colorwork mittens, two sweaters, a pair of self-designed fingerless gloves, and now she’s knitting socks, too. First, she made these, with Lang Jawoll sock yarn:
Which warmed her feet while she made these, from Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Fine:

Only a handful of days later, those socks, too, were completed, making room for the next pair:

These socks are made from two shades of gray Jawoll yarn, made sporty with stripes of reenforcement thread in contrasting colors. All three pairs of socks are riffs on a simple Ann Norling pattern for beginner sock-knitters. I’d never been particularly interested in knitting socks until Andrea made it look so easy, and so good. For those of you feeling similarly inspired, we still have a couple of copies of that Ann Norling pattern, and plenty of sock yarn. Come by the shop and check it out.

Cascade 220 Superwash Sport.

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********* As of December 15th, 2015, we no longer have any Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in stock. *********
Allow me to introduce you to my favorite yarn of the moment. Simple, sturdy, yet soft, and suitable for most any project: Cascade 220 Superwash Sport. A few weeks ago, we had only a handful of colors. I’d just begun a pair of socks in a light heathered gray when I overheard Anne on the phone, saying, “Yes, I’d like a bag of every color. Except gray.” Every color?
Oh yes. Every color. To me, this yarn suggests complicated fair isle sweaters, striped socks, many-colored hats and mittens… first, though, I had to finish my gray socks.

 

The completion of these socks brings mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s a success to have finished a pair of socks, where before I’ve been plagued by second sock syndrome. On the other hand, it’s impossible to ignore that they are simply too big. Looks are deceiving: the socks appear to be the right size, yet they lack the negative ease that makes socks fit snugly, and so they feel oddly loose. I thought I’d try to shrink them in the wash, because, hey, it’s machine washable yarn, but it’s probably not machine dry-able. Bad news for my socks, good news for consumers of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport: the socks emerged from the dryer in exactly the same state they had entered it. This yarn is superwash, indeed.
Back to daydreaming about colorwork, then. Also, trying my hand at fingering-weight socks, which I’ll show off here soon…



Katia Fabula.

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A lot of days at the yarn shop begin with a box. 
 
This one arrived last Tuesday. Our UPS guy dropped it off in the back room where we could spread out its contents and find space to store them. 
Inside, I found a few replacement bags of Noro Silk Garden Sock in colors whose numbers have been dwindling, and beneath that, something new: three bags of Fabula, a superwash, super-bulky merino yarn by Katia. Fabula is not entirely new to us. Indeed, it first showed up several weeks ago but never made it out of the back room before it was sold out; the first few people that saw it simply had to have it, and so Anne reordered it the same day it arrived. 

This time, Fabula has lasted long enough to find its way into a display, sitting atop the sock books.
The thickness and softness of this washable yarn makes it perfect for accessories, as many knitters have shown–Fabula’s Ravelry page is full of cozy-looking hats, cowls, and mittens. Our own Jodie has already begun a ruffly scarf in a rich red and purple colorway and is making quick progress.
Come by the shop to admire this new addition, and consider Fabula the next time you need to knit a hat in a hurry.