Tag Archives: baby things

Hello, Ewe Ewe.

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Once again, Clara Parkes inspired us with a recent Knitter’s Review. She never fails to peak our interest. Sometimes it’s a tool, sometimes a book–this time, it’s yarn, from a new company called Ewe Ewe.

Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted Washable is a squishy, soft yarn which is well described by its alliterative name. With 95 yards of machine-washable merino wool in each 50 gram ball, Wooly Worsted Washable is an excellent choice for accessories and baby things.

The color palette is limited but vibrant, and the pattern support makes good use of it in stripes and colorwork.

This yarn is a pleasure to knit with, with brilliant stitch definition and a springy texture. “It knits itself,” Anne has often remarked since Ewe Ewe’s arrival, and she should know. This baby hat was completed in less than 24 hours, with enough yarn left over to make another with the colors inverted.

Come by the shop to pet Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted Washable, and remember it for baby- and gift-knitting. Find it on the teacart, and find Ewe Ewe patterns in our recently reorganized pattern binders.

60 More Quick Baby Knits.

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60 More Quick Baby Knits is the latest collection of patterns for the popular Cascade yarns, focusing this time on Cascade 220 Superwash Sport, a lightweight washable merino wool.  

60 More Quick Baby Knits is well described by its simple title; inside, you’ll find everything baby: sweaters, booties, onesies, hats, blankets, sleep sacks, and more. There’s a nice variety of patterns, as you might expect in a group as big as 60, from simple texture patterns to cables, lace, and colorwork. Something for every knitter with a baby project in mind.

Find it on the shelf with all our baby books. See you at the shop!

Works completed.

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Satisfaction, to me, is a finished knitting project. Once all the ends have been woven in and the knitted piece has been washed and blocked, I can stand back, admire my work, push aside the urge to point out whatever errors I made, and get ready for the next project. Anne and I have both recently completed samples for the shop, both of which you can see hanging proudly in the front window.

Anne used the Schulana Macaibo yarn to make Little Sister’s Dress, a sweet pattern that’s available as a free download on Ravelry. Like the baby sunhat that Anne was knitting a few weeks ago out of Schulana Tamarillo, this sample shows how differently the yarn knits up than you might have supposed, looking at it in the ball.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on a brightly colored lace scarf out of SWTC’s Pure yarn, made of 100% soysilk. Pure is one of those yarns that somehow never got swatched, though we’ve had it at the shop for a few years now. I tried my hardest to stretch the yardage of a single skein and managed to get a nice narrow scarf out of just 165 yards. The pattern is Veronik Avery’s Lace Ribbon Scarf, a free pattern from Knitty. I only cast on 26 stitches, though, working two repeats of the lace pattern rather than the suggested five. Like I said: I was trying to stretch a single skein.

Yes, finishing things up is a good feeling, matched only by the excitement of casting on for something new! You can see these and plenty of other sample garments at the shop, and if you have any questions about the yarn or the pattern we used, don’t hesitate to ask. See you at the shop!

Celebrating Family.

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Another new Debbie Bliss booklet has made its way to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

Celebrating Family, as the name suggests, is a collection of knitting patterns for babies, children, and adults. All of the patterns call for sport-weight yarns, either Debbie Bliss Eco Baby, an organic cotton, or Cashmerino Baby, a machine-washable blend of merino wool and cashmere.

Find Celebrating Family on the teacart, and Debbie Bliss Eco Baby and Cashmerino Baby yarns on the shelf just beyond it.

New yarns from Schulana.

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Last week, I wrote about two of the most recent knit samples at the shop. If you’ve been in the shop in the past week or so, you may already have seen two more finished samples: hats made with new yarns from Schulana.

First up is a hat I made using Schulana Lambswool, a marled tweed yarn whose fiber content is reflected in its name. The yarn is incredibly soft and light, with 110 yards on each 25 gram ball.

We thought it’s rustic look and lofty nature made Lambswool an excellent substitute for Brooklyn Tweed’s Loft yarn, so we picked Gudrun Johnston’s hat pattern for Loft, Norby. I’m pleased with the result–so pleased, in fact, that I’ve already taken home a sweater’s worth of Lambswool. I can’t wait to figure out what I’m going to do with it!

While I knit up the Lambswool, Anne was working on a top-down baby hat using Schulana Tamarillo, a machine-washable cotton tape yarn with multicolor slubs that pop out from the knitted fabric.

This little hat is a great example of why we try to have samples and swatches of every yarn we carry. It’s not always easy to envision the finished fabric just by looking at the yarn in a ball. Some yarns, like Tamarillo, will surprise you when you knit them up. The pattern, Baby Boy (Or Girl) Sun Hat, is available as a free download from Ravelry.

Finally, our third new Schulana yarn for spring is Macaibo, a self-striping cotton/viscose blend, knit sample forthcoming. Enjoy perusing these new yarns next time you’re at the shop!

Heritage Fiber Publications.

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This week, we added some new single patterns to the pattern binders.

Heritage Fiber Publications offers a wide range of patterns, from shawls and scarves to hats and socks.

Don’t forget to check the pattern binders as well as the bookshelves and magazine racks when you’re looking for a new project–there are tons of single patterns tucked away there. Dig in.

Purple caps.

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Thanks to all the knitters and crocheters who made purple baby caps this year, we were able to send off a big box of 174 purple caps to the good people at the Period of Purple Crying project. They’re working to educate new parents and other caregivers that an infant’s increased crying is totally normal, and that it is never okay to shake an infant in frustration, that real harm can be done that way. These purple caps will go home with newborns throughout North Carolina along with information about the Period of Purple Crying.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Hit the books.

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We got lots of new books in this week at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Some of them ended up on the teacart, where they’re sure to capture attention, but not all new books are so lucky. The teacart is small, after all, and can’t show off everything at once, so some new books get tucked on the shelf with little fanfare. Here’s a round up of the newest titles available at the shop, so these books can have a proper introduction. 

  • Entree to Entrelac: The Definitive Guide from a Biased Knitter, by Gwen Bortner
  • Wonderland: Modern Baby and Children’s Knitting Patterns 
  • Knitting for Little Feet: 40 Booties, Socks, and Slippers for Babies and Kids 
  • Cute and Easy Baby Knits: 25 Adorable Projects for 0-3 Year-Olds, by Susie Johns
  • Crochet So Fine: Exquisite Designs with Fine Yarns, by Kristin Omdahl
  • Crochet Master Class: Lessons and Projects from Today’s Top Crocheters, by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss
  • Crochet Lace Innovations, by Doris Chan
  • The Knitter’s Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn, by Clara Parkes
  • The Knitter’s Book of Wool: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving this Most Fabulous Fiber, by Clara Parkes
  • Double Knitting: Reversible Two-Color Designs, by M’lou Baber
  • My Grandmother’s Knitting: Family Stories and Inspired Knits from Top Designers, by Larissa Brown, featuring Ysolda Teague, Jared Flood, Meg Swansen, Cookie A., and many more

If any of these books strike your fancy, come to the shop to check them out in person, and if you’re having trouble finding one in particular, just ask us where we’ve hidden them!

Summer classes.

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We have a handful of new classes scheduled for the coming months, all centered around projects you may have seen around the shop lately:

  • Have you seen the newest issue of Vogue Knitting magazine? Katherine is teaching a class on the cover project, a cabled capelet. If you’re interested in learning to cable and to knit in the round, this may be the class for you. 
  • Have you seen the ruffled scarf hanging from the lamp by the desk? Christy’s Ruffle Scarf class was a hit, so we’re offering it again. It was neat to see all the different combinations of yarn that her students chose, with fibers ranging from cotton to wool to silk to angora, and weights ranging from lace to dk to bulky. Some self-striping, some solid, some variegated, some tweedy. The ruffle scarf is endlessly variable. If you’ve learned to knit and you’re ready to move on from your first garter stitch scarf, this may be the class for you.

  • Have you seen the two baby cardigans hanging in the shop window? Christy’s version might be even cuter. If you’re eager to figure out the basics of sweater knitting before you take on an adult-sized sweater, let Christy walk you through this baby cardigan in a two-part class beginning in late August.
  • Have you seen a pink and purple hat hanging out by the Katia Fabula? Learn to make one yourself, with Christy as your teacher. If you’d like to learn to knit in the round and construct a basic hat with a ribbed brim, this may be the class for you.
If any of these classes appeal to you, read more about them and register on our website. Look out for a new class from Marion in the coming week, as well! She’s putting the finishing touches on an original mitten pattern which is sure to make for a fun and informative class.


Mission Falls baby sweaters.

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Happy Mother’s Day, folks. Speaking of which: look at what’s hanging in our window.

Two tiny baby sweaters, one in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, and one in 1824 Wool. Perfect baby gifts for brand new mothers.

1824 Cotton.

As I mentioned before, the Mission Falls yarns are perfect for baby things. Each one is soft and machine-washable, and each comes in a range of subtle hues that look wonderful together. These sweaters, knit by myself and by Nancy, make for nice examples of the fine qualities of Mission Falls yarn. The fact that these two yarns are also currently on sale makes for another fine quality: these yarns are inexpensive.

1824 Wool.

The pattern is “Baby Sophisticate,” by Linden Down, a simple, well-written, free Ravelry download that calls for only three skeins of Mission Falls. Nancy and I both knit the 0-3 month size in only two skeins, making for incredibly quick knitting. If I had to make a gift for a baby in a hurry, I’d turn to this yarn and this pattern.

We’re busy cooking up a baby sweater class to take place sometime soon, for an intermediate knitter. If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to let us know. In the mean time, come by the shop to plan a Mission Falls baby sweater of your own!