Author Archives: Julia

“Lento” in Isager Bouclé & fingering weight yarns.

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We’ve got a brand new sweater on display at the shop – here’s my version of Jonna Hietala’s “Lento” pullover knit with Malabrigo Ultimate Sock and Isager Bouclé!

Bouclé is a fine alpaca yarn with one looped ply, which makes a fluffy, textured fabric when combined with the soft and smooth Ultimate Sock.

This yarn pairing is ideal for this simple stockinette pullover. While I was working on it, Anne would ask anyone passing through, “Have you touched Julia’s sweater? It’s so soft!”

I love watching two different yarns come together in a marled project – it always seems to make a fabric that’s more beautiful and intriguing than either yarn would be on its own.

Here are some color combinations in Ultimate Sock and Bouclé that I think would make gorgeous “Lento” pullovers!

  • Isager Bouclé: lace weight, looped bouclé texture, 100% alpaca, 190 yards/50 grams; $11 each
  • Malabrigo Ultimate Sock: fingering weight, hand dyed, variegated and semi-solid colorways, 75% superwash merino wool, 25% nylon, 420 yards/100g; $21 each

Bouclé is unique, but we have many fingering weight yarns to choose from – seeking even more softness? Hold Bouclé together with Isager Alpaca 2!

  • Isager Alpaca 2: light fingering weight, 50% alpaca, 50% wool, 275 yards/50 g; $12 each

Perhaps, like me, you prefer a bit of structure in your sweaters – look to Brooklyn Tweed Tones Light.

  • Brooklyn Tweed Tones Light: fingering weight, woolen-spun 2 ply, overdyed, 100% Columbia wool, 225 yards/50g; $16.75 each

Look for Isager Bouclé in the lace weight section here at our shop, and browse our entire fingering weight section for just the right match to make a “Lento” of your own!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: August + September, 2023.

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Dream in Color’s Pop Up Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. Limited edition colorways for August and September are here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100g
  • $36 each

First up, August’s special colorway: Sagrada, a variegated and slightly speckled mix of pale aqua, magenta, rust, gold, and teal. Look closely and I’m sure you can find many other colors in these vibrant skeins!

Here’s Sagrada knit up into a “Terra Hue Shawl,” a slip stitch scarf with a woven-looking texture that shines in highly variegated yarn like this.

September’s colorway is Venice in Autumn, also highly variegated, but with warmer tones – olive, lime, and red, with streaks of cream and pink.

Dream in Color dyer Veronica is working on a “Terra Hue Shawl” herself, using Venice in Autumn – here’s a close up!

Inspired to cast on for a “Terra Hue Shawl” of your own? Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and ask us for a coupon code for 30% off the pattern!

Seasonless: Patterns for Life, by Karen Templer + Amirisu.

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A new book has arrived to inspire your knitting this fall and beyond – let’s look inside Seasonless: Patterns for Life ($28), by Karen Templer + Amirisu!

You may recognize Karen Templer’s name from her years of slow-fashion blogging, or from Fringe Supply Co., where she used to sell wildly popular project bags. She’s a knitwear designer, too – perhaps you’ve knit her “Log Cabin Mitts,” “Improv” sweater, or “Anna Vest.”

For this new collection, a collaboration with Amirisu, Templer wanted to create “patterns that are endlessly adaptable and, therefore, priceless, while also presenting the opportunity for a newer knitter to build skills along the way.”

Seasonless: Patterns for Life features 5 fundamental patterns: fingerless mitts, a hat, a vest, a pullover, and a cardigan. For each of these accessories and garments, Templer + Amirisu offer 4 stitch pattern variations, multiple finishing and shaping options, and thoughts on yarn substitution.

 

Each pattern is knit at a worsted weight gauge, and Kelbourne Woolens Germantown is one of the featured yarns. There are so many others we carry and love – think Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted, Malabrigo Rios, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, Tones, and Imbue Worsted.

Look for Seasonless: Patterns for Life ($28) here at HYS, or order online for local pickup or shipping!

New colors in Malabrigo Rios + Arroyo!

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We’re excited to share a dozen new colors in Malabrigo Rios, and another dozen new colors in Arroyo! These soft and smooth superwash merino yarns are favorites around here, and their cubbies were both looking empty before last week’s shipment arrived.

This new Rios palette is Zodiac themed, with a colorway for each sign.

Malabrigo Rios:

  • worsted weight
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 210 yards/100g
  • $17 each

Some of the new Arroyo colors are familiar from other Malabrigo yarns, and others are brand new, a mix of speckles, variegated and semisolid shades. Something for everyone!

Malabrigo Arroyo:

  • sport weight
  • hand-dyed
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 335 yards/100g
  • $21 each

Look for Malabrigo Rios in our worsted weight section and Arroyo in our sport weight section.

You’ll find plenty of Malabrigo all over our shop, in fact – Mohair in lace weight, Ultimate Sock in fingering, Caprino in DK, Mecha in bulky, and Noventa in super bulky, to name a few!

Pom Pom Quarterly: Autumn 2023.

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The latest issue of Pom Pom Quarterly is here!

This Autumn 2023 issue is guest edited by Candice English, of The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers in Montana. English brings a fresh perspective to PPQ 46, along with her distinctive aesthetic, drawing from both her Indigenous roots and life in the American West.

Bobbles, colorwork, cables and fringe adorn the sweaters and accessories within, the work of designers Tin Can Knits, Lindsay Fowler, Elena Solier Jansà, and others.

Pom Pom has always been an interdisciplinary magazine, featuring recipes and a variety of crafty tutorials alongside their knitting patterns. This issue includes profiles of Indigenous artists, and a piece from Blackfeet Elder, Pauline Matt (Candice’s Mother), who shares her traditional medicine rituals and a tea recipe.

Pom Pom Quarterly is $25.50 – come by to snag a copy between 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays. We’re also taking orders online for local pickup or shipping. Along with this issue, we have a cubby full of back issues available, now marked down 50%. See you at the shop!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Azurite.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu. KPPPM is a fingering weight superwash merino, hand-dyed in vibrant colors by mother/daughter team Maie and Taiu Landra on their farm outside of Toronto, Canada.

Koigu KPPPM:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, variegated
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 175 yards/50 g
  • $15.50 each

Azurite is a saturated mix of blue and purple, with lively streaks of aqua, lavender, and lime.

As soon as Amy Christoffers released her new “Pressed Flowers Socks” pattern, my mind went to Koigu – Anne used it in her “Pressed Flowers Hat” earlier this year, and the variegated yarn was perfect in this floral mosaic pattern.

“Pressed Flowers Socks,” by Amy Christoffers, photo © Amy Christoffers

Here are “Pressed Flowers Socks” color combinations pairing Azurite with Kelbourne Woolens Perennial, one of our go-to solid sock yarns.

I couldn’t stop there, of course – it’s too fun to play the color game!

If any of these combinations speaks to you, you can order online for local pickup or shipping. Prefer to shop in person? Look for Koigu KPPPM in the fingering weight section here at our shop, along with many others! We’re here from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; masks required for entry.

Observations: Knits and Essays from the Forest, by Lotta H. Löthgren.

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The latest book from Laine Publishing is here – let’s look inside Observations: Knits and Essays from the Forest ($45), by Lotta H. Löthgren.

Lotta H. Löthgren is a writer, knitwear designer, dyer, and yarn shop owner living in a small village in Sweden, a setting that inspired this enchanting collection of essays and knitting patterns.

Observations includes nine knitwear patterns for long-lasting, wearable garments and accessories, along with essays about living a life close to nature.

”The patterns have been created in a quiet conversation with the land, drawing elements from the natural world and translating them into stitches and fabric,” Löthgren writes.

Laine selected beautiful Swiss binding for this hardcover book, a binding technique where the sewn spine is fully visible. It’s as practical as it is pretty – Swiss bound books lay flat when opened, a helpful quality when knitting from a book!

You’ll find Observations ($45) on the teacart with new releases here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – pick it up if you love texture, colorwork, and thoughtful prose. See you at the shop!

Brooklyn Tweed + Chroma.

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Jacqueline Cieslak’s latest pattern, “Chroma,” immediately caught my eye, with its bold color blocking and cute pockets.

“Chroma,” by Jacqueline Cieslak, knit with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. Photo © Jacqueline Cieslak.

I was pleased to see that “Chroma” is knit with none other than Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, one of my favorite sweater yarns. In Cieslak’s words, Shelter “has a soft and squishy but slightly rustic hand, and knits up into incredibly light garments with beautiful structure, stitch definition, and minimal drape.” Couldn’t agree more!

With two- and four-color options, “Chroma” is a blank canvas for color play. High contrast, low contrast, complementary colors, shades from the same color family – they all work!

Brooklyn Tweed Tones is another great option for “Chroma” – it’s lofty like Shelter, but has 3 plies for a slightly smoother texture. Brooklyn Tweed recently expanded the Tones (and Tones Light!) palette with 3 new color pairs: Acer, Icicle, and Deco, each of which comes in lighter Overtone and darker Undertone shades.

Here are a few more “Chroma” combinations in Tones!

Look for Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Tones in the worsted weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, along with many other “Chroma” possibilities!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Caprino.

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Our supply of Malabrigo Caprino dwindled to almost zero during our Annual Inventory Sale – we are so happy to have this yarn back in stock!

Malabrigo Caprino:

  • DK weight
  • hand-dyed, variegated, speckled, and semi-solid colorways
  • 80% merino, 20% cashmere
  • 159 yards/50 g
  • $18 each

Like all Malabrigo yarns, Caprino comes in a variety of vibrant, memorable hand-dyed colorways. What sets it apart is the extra softness of cashmere, which really makes Caprino a treat to work with and wear. Lately it’s been popular for PetiteKnit’s “Sophie Scarf,” a small garter stitch neckwarmer that many knitters have been making on repeat.

I knit Andrea Mowry’s “Nightshift” shawl with Malabrigo Caprino a couple of years ago, and it now hangs at the shop, inspiring knitters to make their own. It was fun to combine semisolid, variegated, and speckled colorways in this slip stitch pattern and see how they worked together.

What else to make with Caprino? Here are some ideas!

Look for Malabrigo Caprino in the DK weight section here at our shop!

Hello, Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Worsted!

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We’re thrilled to announce that we now carry Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Worsted!

Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Worsted:

  • worsted weight
  • worsted spun
  • heathered colors
  • 100% merino wool
  • 104 yards/50g
  • $18.50 each

When Imbue Worsted first came on the scene last year, there was a limited supply due to a dyehouse closure, so it was only available directly from Brooklyn Tweed. Now that BT has secured a new dyehouse partner, production of Imbue Worsted has increased and we’re beyond excited to have it here at our shop!

Imbue Worsted’s heathered shades are made by blending brilliantly dyed hues of unspun wool, like an artist mixing paints. When spun, these bright solid colors mingle into richly heathered shades that are harmonious across the entire palette – ideal for stripes and colorwork!

What to knit with Imbue Worsted? Here are some ideas!

Because Imbue substitutes easily for Brooklyn Tweed Tones or Shelter, there’s a world of patterns to choose from – click here for a roundup of some favorite BT worsted weight patterns!

Look for Imbue Worsted here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, along with other Brooklyn Tweed yarns! We’re open from 11-5:30, Tuesdays-Saturdays; masks required for entry.