Tag Archives: alpaca

New colors in Acadia.

Posted by on

The Fibre Company’s gorgeous Acadia has become quite popular at the shop. After a month and a half of life here, the Acadia basket was missing two colors, and looking quite sad indeed. When Anne and I reordered those colors, and others we were low on, we figured, why not get a few new colors, as well?

DSCN0907

This dk weight blend of merino wool, alpaca, and silk is tweedy-looking and soft to the touch, perfect for scarves, shawls, hats, mitts, and other accessories. I’ve been daydreaming about making a sweater in Acadia–that would be a treat.

DSCN0906

Come by the shop to see the new Acadia palette!

Hello, Titus.

Posted by on

Back in October, Clara Parkes reviewed a new yarn out of the UK, a fingering weight blend of UK-sourced wools by the majestic name Titus. Anne was taken with the story of the yarn as much as Parkes’ positive review: Titus is an attempt to revive Britain’s diminishing textile industry by relying on UK-sourced wools and UK yarn manufacturers. Considering North Carolina’s own textile history, this story resonated, and Anne was quick to write to Baa Ram Ewe with a wholesale inquiry. A few weeks later we got a response, and I’m proud to announce that we’re the first US wholesaler of Baa Ram Ewe’s Titus.

Titus is every bit as wonderful as Clara Parkes suggests; soft and fuzzy from its alpaca content, shiny and drapey from its Wensleydale and Bluefaced Leicester wool content, and rustic in its natural color. These qualities make it appropriate for many projects, from shawls, scarves, and sweaters to hats, mitts, and other accessories.

It’s been such a hit here at the shop that we sold out of our first shipment in about two weeks, long enough for our weaver friend Victoria to weave an entire scarf out of it.

Now it’s safely back in stock, with ten skeins on the shelf and thirty more on their way from Leeds. Come by to see Titus for yourself!

Quaking Aspen shawl.

Posted by on

I wrote a few days ago about a new yarn in the shop, the Fibre Company’s Acadia, and mentioned a shawl in the making with said yarn. I’m back now to report that the Quaking Aspen shawl is blocked and sitting happily in a basket at the shop with Acadia. Have a look.

The Quaking Aspen shawl is knit from the top down, with a garter stitch body, stripes, and a lace border. The Acadia, a dk weight blend of alpaca, merino wool, and silk, was very well-behaved in blocking, and drapes beautifully.

It’s available as a free download from the Fibre Company, so get yourself a copy of the pattern and then come by the shop to pair colors.

See you at the shop!

Hello, Acadia.

Posted by on

We are happy to announce that we now carry the Fibre Company’s Acadia.

Acadia is a dk weight yarn made of merino wool, alpaca, and silk. The silk fiber takes the dye differently than wool and alpaca, and stands out from those fibers, creating a tweedy, rustic look. The feel of this yarn is far from rustic, however; Acadia is just as soft as its fiber content suggests.

We have a couple of patterns from the Fibre Company for Acadia, and of course it could also be used in most any pattern calling for dk weight yarn. Rosi knit a shop sample in Acadia–“Quaking Aspen,” a shawl pattern available as a free download from the Fibre Company. The ends were just woven in as the yarn arrived at the shop, and now the shawl is blocking, getting ready for its HYS debut. Look for photos of the “Quaking Aspen” shawl on the blog soon, and come by the shop to see Acadia in person!

New colors in Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

Posted by on

Have you had the pleasure of working with Berroco Ultra Alpaca? It’s a soft and sturdy blend of wool and alpaca in a worsted weight, with a suggested gauge of 5 stitches per inch. This 50%/50% combination of animal fibers gives Ultra Alpaca the structure and elasticity of wool along with the drape, halo, and softness of alpaca. It comes in reasonably-priced, 100 gram hanks with 219 yards each; enough yarn to make a small scarf, a hat, or a pair of mittens.

Berroco offers plenty of free pattern support for Ultra Alpaca on their website, and the options open up completely when you think of all the patterns out there calling for worsted weight yarn. Ravelry currently lists over 71,000 patterns for worsted weight yarn–more than any other weight. Any of those that lend themselves to cozy, fuzzy yarns could be happily completed in Ultra Alpaca, whose smooth texture makes it just as obedient in cables and lace as in garter stitch or colorwork.

We recently replenished our supply of Ultra Alpaca, restocking colors we were low on, and adding a few new colors, too.

Come by the shop to take a look, and consider Ultra Alpaca next time you come across a tempting pattern that wants about 5 stitches per inch.

Araucania Azapa: now on sale!

Posted by on

UPDATE: As of 11/19/2014, we are totally sold out of Araucania Azapa!

*************************************************************

In tandem with our anniversary sale, which entitles our much-appreciated customers to 15% off everything in the shop between October 13th and 21st, we’re discounting Araucania Azapa by 25%.

Araucania Azapa is a bulky weight blend of merino wool, alpaca, silk, and rayon, with about 140 yards on each 100 gram skein. Azapa is a single ply yarn, and comes in semisolid colorways with tweedy flecks. It’s soft and cuddly, makes a great bunny hat, and is exactly the right gauge and length to make a Bandana Cowl.

The Bandana Cowl is a free pattern from the Purl Bee, one which is well-written, easy to understand, and knits up quickly. It was only published a year ago, but already, there are almost 3,000 Bandana Cowls on Ravelry–a number high enough to be considered a recommendation in and of itself. A cozy Bandana Cowl in Araucania Azapa makes a perfect holiday gift or instant-gratification fall knitting project. Come by the shop soon to get it at 25% off!

All You Knit is Love.

Posted by on

Another new pattern booklet featuring Isager yarns has arrived–Susie Haumann’s All You Knit is Love has landed on the teacart at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

All You Knit is Love is filled with simple, classic designs for babies ages 0-18 months.

Some are made with Isager yarns held singly, and some have you hold two strands together to achieve a bigger gauge.

You can look forward to a Trunk Show featuring finished garments from Haumann’s collection in November. Until then, come by the shop to see the Amimono 3 and Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Shows as well as our growing collection of Isager pattern books. See you at the shop!

Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn.

Posted by on

Back in June, I was moving some armful of yarn from here to there when I discovered a lonesome skein of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn. Once, we had many skeins of the stuff, all living together in a basket. While its friends went home in the hands of knitters and crocheters to become pairs of socks and mitts, scarves or shawls, this particular skein was left alone. It was a little dusty, having been forgotten in some nook or cranny for however long, but none the worse for wear. I held it up and called to Anne, “What should I do with this?” Sensitive as she is to lonesome skeins, Anne brushed it off, purchased it herself, and began knitting a pair of socks with it.

The more she knit, the more we wondered why we didn’t stock the yarn anymore. Composed of 50% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% silk, and 10% nylon for durability, the fabric it created was cuddly, yet sturdy, and the colors were rich and compelling. “Maybe we’ll visit Misti Alpaca at market,” Anne said, “and get some more of this.” A couple of months have passed, and Anne has completed sock #1, cast on for #2, and Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn is back on our shelves.

Come by the shop to admire sock#1 and consider Misti Alpaca for your next project.

An Isager shipment. Part 2.

Posted by on

Alpaca 2 wasn’t the only yarn in the latest Isager shipment. We also stocked up on Alpaca 1, a lace weight yarn made of 100% alpaca which is spun in Peru. We now have 20 colors available, the most we’ve carried so far.

We also expanded our selection of Isager Highland, a fingering weight yarn made of 100% lambswool and spun in Scotland. Highland and Alpaca 1 are used together in Marianne Isager’s Fan sweater from Japanese Inspired Knits, making a soft and lightweight fabric. Anne is teaching an upcoming class on the Fan, and though that class is full, we do keep the book in stock if you’d like to try it yourself. Or perhaps you’ll try using Highland and Alpaca 1 held together in some other project–it’s such fun pairing these colors up, and imagining what they’ll look like as one.

Come by the shop to admire these and other Isager yarns, and consider them for your next project. As Anne and many other knitters can attest, you’ll quickly become an Isager addict.

An Isager shipment. Part 1.

Posted by on

As I’ve written here before, Theresa Gaffey’s Stole from the book Wearwithall has been a popular project at the shop lately. Gaffey’s design is beautiful in its simplicity, allowing knitters to relax and let the exquisite yarn do the talking.

The yarn is Isager Alpaca 2, a fingering weight blend of merino wool and alpaca. Only two weeks into our inventory sale, we were completely sold out of Wearwithall and very nearly sold out of Alpaca 2. I’m happy to announce that both are now back in stock. To all who were interested in making the Stole your next project: come and get it!

You can find Wearwithall and Isager Alpaca 2 in the Fingering Weight section of the shop in the second room. See you there!