TNNA snapshot: more.

Posted by Julia on June 13, 2016

Yesterday’s snapshot posts only offer a tiny glimpse into the whirlwind that is TNNA. We saw lots of other familiar faces, not to mention plenty of new ones. Heather at Ewe Ewe was showing her new Baa Baa Bulky, the thickest yet in her line of squishy superwash merino yarns. We also made our annual stop at the Swans Island booth to admire their singular naturally dyed yarns, and to refill our emptying bins of the stuff back home. Baa Ram Ewe is always a favorite booth of mine. Verity was there showing new designs and colors in Dovestone DK, along with a lovely new yarn.

Now it’s time to head home, exhausted but excited, our minds abuzz with new ideas. The shop will be open at our regular business hours tomorrow; see you there!

New patterns for Dovestone DK.

Posted by Julia on April 20, 2016

I’m happy to report that we recently got some new single patterns for Dovestone DK, the yarn featured in our current Baa Ram Ewe Trunk Show.

Alison Moreton’s Landmark Collection features garments and accessories knit in Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK. Each design is inspired by a landmark in Yorkshore, home of Baa Ram Ewe.

The pattern photos show each piece before the landmark that inspired it, a fascinating peek into the process of translating the shapes and textures around us into knitted fabric.

Another new collection for Dovestone DK is Ella Austin’s Dovestone Smallholding.

This sweet spiral bound book is filled with stuffed animals and dolls knit in Dovestone DK: a cabled kitten and wensleydale lamb, colorwork fowl, pig, and shetland pony.

Look for these new patterns here at the shop, and come before May 6th to catch the Baa Ram Ewe Trunk Show and the 10% discount on Dovestone DK that goes with it. See you there!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Discount applies only to in-store purchases. Thanks!

Baa Ram Ewe Trunk Show!

Posted by Julia on April 17, 2016

We’re delighted to be hosting a Baa Ram Ewe Trunk Show, featuring garments from Carol Feller’s Dovestone Hills.

All six of these garments are knit in Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK, a dk weight blend of 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, all sourced and spun in the UK. We’re offering a 10% discount on this special yarn while the trunk show is here.

Come by the shop before May 6th to admire the Baa Ram Ewe Trunk Show and pick out some Dovestone DK for your next project!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Discount applies only to in-store purchases. Thanks!

Show and tell: big projects.

Posted by Julia on March 3, 2016

Every finished project comes with a sense of accomplishment, but bigger projects, which tend to take longer and use more yarn, can bring us perhaps an even greater sense of satisfaction. Here are some of the larger-scale projects we’ve seen at the shop lately.

Leslie came in the other day wearing her “Teegan” sweater, knit in Fibre Company Knightsbridge. The color she chose flatters her as well as the stitch pattern, and looks great paired with the ever-popular “Honey Cowl.”

Paula knit this “Amsterdam” sweater for her husband, using Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool XL. Paying careful attention to her stitch and row gauge, she modified it so that it would fit her husband perfectly, measuring against and improving upon an existing sweater that fit him well.

Alissa recently came in wearing her “Mia Cardi,” which she knit in Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK. The simple stockinette and garter stitch design shows off this special yarn so well!

Eileen knit this extraordinary blanket with three shades of Plymouth Galway, using Barbara Walker’s Learn to Knit Afghan Book, which has patterns for 63 different knit blocks. When one of her squares came out a few inches wider than she expected, Eileen boldly trimmed it by steeking, a clever fix.

A hearty thanks to all the fiber artists who start their projects here and share their work with us! We love to see our yarns grow up into finished pieces, and are so inspired by the work you do. See you at the shop!

New colors from Baa Ram Ewe.

Posted by Julia on February 6, 2016

The folks at UK yarn company Baa Ram Ewe dreamed up two new colors for their Titus and Dovestone DK yarns, and I’m happy to report that we now have them on our shelves here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

The two yarns take the dye differently, coming out bright and clear in Titus, but deeper and heathered in Dovestone DK. “Lotherton” is a bright turquoise, and “Rhubarb” is a hot pink.

These new shades are definitely the boldest we’ve seen from Baa Ram Ewe, yet they fit nicely into the color palette, offering new opportunities for high-contrast color combinations.

Dovestone DK is a dk weight blend of 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, all sourced and spun in the UK. It’s a nice big 100 gram hank with 252 yards, plenty for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl. For pattern ideas, look to Carol Feller’s Dovestone Hills booklet, Kate Davies’ Buachaille, and our “DK weight” board on Pinterest.

Titus is a fingering weight blend of 50% wensleydale wool, 30% alpaca, and 20% bluefaced leicester wool. There’s plenty of pattern inspiration for Titus to be found on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, of course, and we’ve seen some beautiful Titus projects here on the blog over the years, but we wont turn our nose up at new patterns for Titus, either.

Titus Mini Knits is a collection of accessories knit and crocheted in Titus, from mitts and socks to hats and cowls. CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 2 is another round of accessories in Titus from designer Rachel Coopey, whose colorwork patterns look like such fun.

Come by the shop to see all the new goodies from Baa Ram Ewe, and consider Titus or Dovestone DK for your next project!

Interweave Knits.

Posted by Julia on February 3, 2016

The Spring 2016 issue of Interweave Knits is here!

Flipping through this issue, the first thing that caught my eye was a review of Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering, a bouncy, naturally-dyed yarn that I’ve tried and loved.

I spotted another familiar yarn put to use in this capelet, designed by Carol Feller; yep, it’s Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK.

There are plenty of other intriguing patterns in this bunch, along with a helpful short row tutorial by Bristol Ivy.

You’ll find Interweave Knits on the teacart here at the shop, by the swift and ballwinder, and all the latest publications. See you there!

Show and tell: hats.

Posted by Julia on January 20, 2016

Here’s another batch of show and tell, projects that started their lives as yarns here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Earlier in the week, we saw examples of knitters who go back again and again to the same patterns; today, let’s look at hats.

Peggy tried her hand at colorwork for the first time in a recent class here at the shop, and this glorious “Northallerton” hat is what she made. I love the three shades of Baa Ram Ewe Titus she chose, and her pom-pom came out perfectly!

Here’s Hazel’s “Wurm,” knit in Noro Silk Garden Lite, a self-striping yarn. She used two balls that started at different points in the color sequence, striping back and forth to emphasize the stripes of stockinette and reverse stockinette that make the hat so squishy and slouchy.

To the left, you’ll see Margaretta in a beautiful cabled hat she just finished, knit with Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone. The pattern is “Palatino,” from Carol Feller’s recent collection, Dovestone Hills. It’s constructed side-to-side and cleverly shaped with short rows. Nicely done, Margaretta!

The hat below is Emily’s creation, a slouchy striped beanie knit with Dream in Color Smooshy. Wanting a snug, cozy brim, she worked a deep folded hem in stockinette. Rightfully pleased with the results, she wrote a pattern, so you could make one, too; look for her “Red Moon Slouch Hat” pattern on Ravelry!

Thanks to those who share their projects with us, it’s inspiring and exciting to see all that you create. It’s a show-and-tell kind of week here on the blog, so you can look forward to another round in just a few days. In the meantime, see you at the shop!

More show and tell.

Posted by Julia on December 25, 2015

Time for a second batch of show and tell! Our first round was child-sized, full of sweaters and accessories for little ones; these finished projects are made by grown-ups, for grown-ups, though they’re no less playful. Let’s dig in.

Margaretta knit her second “Yipes Stripes Cowl” using five shades of Mirasol Qina, a soft and drapey blend of alpaca and bamboo. There’s something very satisfying about seeing this pattern in new color combinations; this cool palette is a particularly pretty one.

Amy recently taught a class here at the shop on stranded colorwork, focusing on Rachel Coopey’s “Northallerton” hat. For her own “Northallerton,” she used three shades of Baa Ram Ewe Titus, though this hat was quickly claimed by her daughter. Another hat was in order.

Amy knit this one with three shades of Cascade 220 Fingering, substituting different motifs for a colorwork hat all her own.

I recently knit Kate Gagnon Osborn’s “Seathwaite” hat, which is a free pattern written for Fringe Association’s Hatalong No. 5. I used one skein of Fibre Company’s newest yarn, Cumbria, a worsted weight blend of merino, masham, and mohair. The yarn is sturdy yet soft, fuzzy but smooth enough for well-defined cables. I made this for my sister as a Christmas gift, and enjoyed every stitch of it.

I also completed a shop sample not long ago, a “Starshower” cowl knit in Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering. This unique hybrid of shawl and cowl falls so gracefully around the wearer’s neck. Come by the shop to try it on!

Theresa loves to knit and felt colorful slippers, and sent us a photo of her most recent polka-dotted batch.

She used Bev Galeskas’ classic “Felted Clogs” pattern and a variety of shades of Plymouth Galway, a worsted weight wool that is perfect for felting.

Here, Irene models her “Kashmir Cardigan,” from Helga Isager’s Amimono: the Map Collection. She used several strands of yarn held together to create a marled effect, augmenting some mohair from her stash with a few shades of Isager Highland and Spinni. Blended colors and fibers along with short rows and stripes make for a garter stitch coat that is so much more than just a garter stitch coat–nicely done, Irene!

A hearty thanks to all the fiber artists who start their projects here and share their progress with us! We love to see our yarns grow up into finished garments, and are so inspired by the work you do. See you at the shop!

Hello, Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK.

Posted by Julia on September 8, 2015

Baa Ram Ewe’s new yarn has arrived! Meet Dovestone DK.

The masham is naturally dark brown, and just as in Fibre Company Cumbria and Swans Island All American Worsted, the light and dark fibers combine to create a gray base over which all the other colorways are dyed. It complicates the colors in a pleasing way, adding depth and a slight heathered quality.

Baa Ram Ewe has released some simple accessory patterns for Dovestone DK, showing how nicely it behaves in stripes and stranded colorwork, along with lace and crochet.

They also enlisted the help of designer Carol Feller, whose new booklet Dovestone Hills is named for the yarn used within.

Myself, I’ve been anxious to use Dovestone DK for an “Epistrophy” cardigan, from Kate Davies’ Yokes. We saw one hanging in the Baa Ram Ewe booth at market and I’ve been smitten ever since.

Check out our “DK weight” board on Pinterest for more pattern ideas, and come by the shop to see Dovestone DK for yourself!

Another day at TNNA.

Posted by Julia on May 31, 2015

One of the great opportunities at TNNA is to take classes with skilled designers and teachers in the field of fiber arts. This morning, Anne and Rosi tried spinning with Nancy Shroyer, and Amy and I had classes with Lily Chin and Cat Bordhi, respectively. After two educational hours, we headed back to the showroom floor to continue shopping. We had to stop by Baa Ram Ewe, of course, having become obsessed with their new Dovestone yarn. I’m hoping to use it to knit “Epistrophy,” from Kate Davies’ Yokes, and was delighted to find exactly that sweater hanging on the rack in the booth, in exactly that yarn, of course. Yarn Hollow attended TNNA for the first time this year, and we stopped in to order a few new colors in Photograph. From there, we wandered the showroom floor, taking it all in, and discovering exciting new products that we can’t wait to bring into the shop. We even ran into Clara Parkes, of Knitters Review, and chatted about our favorite new yarns for this coming season. It’s always a pleasure to get her take on these things, and a treat to do it in conversation with Clara herself.

Somewhere along the way, we came across this display of Anna Zilboorg’s swatches and samples from her Splendid Apparel book. We’re looking forward to seeing her at the shop this coming Thursday, June 4th, for an informal book-signing and perfect buttonhole tutorial. We’d love to have you join us and meet Anna; sign up for this free event on our website!