New Directions in Sock Knitting.

Posted by Julia on February 25, 2016

It’s been a while since we had a new book about sock knitting, so we were delighted when this one showed up on our doorstep! Take a virtual peek at Ann Budd’s New Directions in Sock Knitting.

We’re all familiar with the two most common directions of sock knitting, cuff-down and toe-up. New Directions in Sock Knitting includes interesting patterns from both of those categories, featuring the work of innovative sock-designers like Cat Bordhi, Rachel Coopey, Hunter Hammersen, and others.

What really sets this book apart, however, is the variety of less-common sock-construction techniques, like General Hogbuffer’s “U-Turn” socks, which are worked partly flat and partly in the round. The self-striping Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball yarn highlights the unusual construction.

Kate Atherly’s “Mirror Socks” are knit two at a time on one set of double pointed needles, with one sock inside the other. The technique is something like double knitting, where odd-numbered stitches belong to one piece of fabric and even-numbered stitches belong to a second, simultaneously-created piece of fabric. A nifty trick, no?

There are a variety of other surprising sock techniques represented here, though Budd also covers some helpful basics, like fit, gauge and needle-choice for sock-knitting.

Look for New Directions in Sock Knitting on the teacart here at the shop, where you’ll find the newest books and magazines for knitters, crocheters, and weavers. See you there!

Refined Knits.

Posted by Julia on February 18, 2016

A new stack of books have found a place on the teacart here at the shop, Jennifer Wood’s Refined Knits.

Refined Knits is a collection of patterns for garments and accessories, focusing on lace, cables, and stitch patterns that combine the two.

I spied some of our very favorite yarns in this book, like Shibui Staccato and Fibre Company Knightsbridge.

This cabled cardigan uses Shibui Staccato and Pebble held together, for a thicker fabric and a unique combination of a lustrous solid color yarn and a tweedy one.

Along with the patterns, Wood offers tutorials and tips throughout the book, shedding light on some of the techniques she employs.

Come by the shop to browse our collection of books, magazines, single patterns, and handknit samples. We hope you find inspiration here as you plan your next project!

Recent books.

Posted by Julia on November 30, 2015

Over the past few weeks, a couple of new books have arrived here at the shop, each with its own unique tone.

Courtney Spainhower’s Family Friendly Knits is full of practical garments and accessories for children and adults, and has a rustic, wholesome look. Look here for tweedy sweaters for fall and winter, practical pieces for layering in transitional seasons, and colorful cold-weather accessories.

These “Choose Your Own Adventure” hats are knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, a favorite yarn of mine that we now have in more colors than ever. I love that this pattern encourages the knitter to improvise a bit when it comes to the color choice and assignment, stitch pattern, and other elements, like Latvian braids and pom-poms. Choose your own adventure, indeed!

Marlaina “Marly” Bird’s Cold Weather Crochet is a beginner-friendly collection of brightly-colored crocheted garments designed to keep you warm. If holiday gift-making is your aim for this year or next, look here for a variety of casual crocheted hats, scarves, cowls, and mitts. The hat below is made with Berroco Ultra Alpaca, a yarn you’ll find in abundance here at the shop. If you’re looking to dig into a larger project, there are a couple of colorful afghans here, too.

Anne Podlesak’s Free Spirit Knits is a collection of designs inspired by the American Southwest, which means warm desert earth tones punctuated by bright turquoise and purple, hats and shawls inspired by cactus and agave plants, and colorwork informed by the Navajo rug-weaving tradition.

The shawl above is knit in Fibre Company Canopy Fingering, a perfect choice for a gently draping fabric. Look for it in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and look for the latest books on our teacart as you come in. See you there!

Hello, Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK.

Posted by Julia on October 17, 2015

Rowan’s newest yarn has arrived at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! Meet Pure Wool Superwash DK.

We’ve long been searching for a good quality superwash wool in DK weight, one that comes in loads of colors and at a reasonable price, and this yarn is it. Last fall, Rowan met a similar need with their Pure Wool Superwash Worsted, and this yarn is very much a thinner version of the same good stuff.

Superwash DK weight wools like this one are good for all kinds of projects, from accessories to home goods to garments. One 145 yard ball would make a nice pair of mitts, like the Churchmouse “Welted Fingerless Gloves,” or for that matter, my own “Welting Fantastic Mitts.” Baby and children’s things are also a good fit for Pure Wool Superwash DK; I’ve made “Milo” a couple of times using Rowan Wool Cotton, and this yarn would make a nice wintry version of the same little vest.

For adult sweaters, Martin Storey’s Easy DK Knits is a collection worth checking out. Rowan sent along a sample of the cover sweater, “Barbican,” a garter stitch pullover with drop stitch patterning at the bottom edge. Come by the shop to see it in person, and get a tangible sense of how this yarn works up. Easy DK Knits uses a variety of knitting techniques to make relatively simple sweaters, including texture patterns, cables, and beginner-level colorwork.

In addition to these patterns, consider Rowan’s recently-announced Fall Knit-Along, featuring this very yarn, and hosted by designer Amy Herzog. Herzog is a prolific sweater-designer, and one who cares deeply about how those sweaters fit the knitters who make them. Her Options Knit-Along will guide you through the creation of a highly-customizable sweater knit in Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, from choosing a size to making modifications to finishing. There’s a textured pullover option and a striped cardigan option, and it looks like there’ll be other options within each of those. Read more about it on her website, where you can download the shopping list and get ready to start the Rowan Options Knit Along this Monday, October 19th!

Look for Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK in the DK weight section of the shop, where we’re happy to help you plan your next project. See you there!

The Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook.

Posted by Julia on May 1, 2015

Meet Felicity Ford’s Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook. This special book is not a collection of patterns, but rather a manifesto on design.

Within it, Felicity Ford shares her particular system of translating inspiring images into colorwork knitting, from selecting colors and designing charts to swatching, evaluating your swatches, and applying your designs to knitted garments.

This is a beautiful book, and one about which you may already have heard rave reviews. When it first came out, Kate Davies did a lovely write-up on her blog, as did Clara Parkes and Ysolda Teague. All three are in agreement: Ford’s Sourcebook is an inspiring one because it is so particular to its author. It’s an interesting and galvanizing read, one that had me itching to pull out my colored pencils and Knitter’s Graph Paper Journal, and dive headfirst into a basket of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

The Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook began as a Kickstarter project, with designer Felicity Ford seeking crowd-funding to self-publish the book. Though the subject and her approach are somewhat esoteric, Ford found many supporters, making the book a resounding success. We’re proud to stock it here at the shop, and in fact, are on our third reorder.

Look for The Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook on the teacart, amongst the latest books and magazines, and look to our class listings for more opportunities to learn about stranded colorwork. See you at the shop!

Little Things.

Posted by Julia on February 5, 2015

Kelbourne Woolens has just released a new book of patterns for Fibre Company yarns: Little Things.

Little Things is full of small projects: accessories, home goods, and baby things. You’ll find a variety of knitting techniques represented, from soothing stockinette and stripes to lace and stranded colorwork.

You’ll also find a variety of Fibre Company yarns represented, including their lace weight Meadow, sport weight Savannah, dk weight Acadia, light worsted weight Knightsbridge, and Canopy Worsted.

Come by the shop to pick up a copy of Little Things and a few skeins of Fibre Company yarns for your next project!

New books.

Posted by Julia on November 19, 2014

It’s been a busy season for new books here at the shop. Every couple of days, I find myself once again rearranging the teacart to make room for another stack of books.

The folks at Interweave have been particularly hard at work this fall, publishing a wide range of knitting books.

Some focus on particular styles or themes, like First Frost, Graphic Knits, and Knitting Wizardry, while others dive into a single technique or kind of garment, like No-Sew Knits, Twigg Stitch, and Fresh Knitted Accessories.

We also recently received Margaret Radcliffe’s newest book, The Knowledgeable Knitter, a compendium of tips and tricks for every stage of the knitting process. Radcliffe takes you from thoughtful pattern-, yarn-, and needle-selection to modification, fit, and finishing.

Come by the shop to browse our ever-growing book selection and pick a new title for yourself or for a friend–books do make excellent gifts, after all. We’re offering a special 15% discount on all in-stock books and magazines during Ladies Night Out this Thursday, November 20th, and we’ll be open til 8:00 pm that night. Many other Hillsborough merchants and restaurants will have specials that night as well; come out and explore downtown Hillsborough!

New books from Leisure Arts.

Posted by Julia on January 12, 2014

Leisure Arts is a publishing company that specializes in accessible how-to books on a wide range of crafts. We recently stocked up on some knitting and crochet books from Leisure Arts, from the very basic skills to more advanced techniques like entrelac and cables.

With Leisure Arts publications, you can count on clear diagrams and photos to illustrate the techniques in question, along with some patterns that make use of those techniques.

We also got a book on crocheted snowflakes, having just wrapped up a popular class on the subject, and a book of simple children’s sweater patterns.

Pick the Pieces, by Lorna Miser, is a collection of patterns, but also a collection of pattern elements: different sleeves, collars, pockets, necklines, etc. Miser encourages you to mix and match those elements to create exactly the sweater you want in sizes 6 months – 6 years.

Come by the shop to check out the latest books and magazines, and plan your next project!

The Yarn Whisperer.

Posted by Julia on December 21, 2013

At last, Clara Parkes’ newest book has arrived at the shop! We pre-ordered it before it was even published, but its popularity has kept it backordered for months. Anne and I were so excited when a stack of them showed up this week.

Clara Parkes, for the uninitiated, is a writer, designer, and expert reviewer of all things fiber. She’s the blogger behind Knitter’s Review, and it’s there that we first learned about some of our favorite products, needles, and yarns. We keep her first three books in good stock at the shop, wonderful resources that they are: The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, The Knitter’s Book of Wool, and The Knitter’s Book of Socks.

Her writing is clever, approachable, well-informed, often humorous, and sometimes downright moving. At TNNA this past June, we were delighted to discover that she’s just the same way in person. I anticipate that The Yarn Whisperer will bring us more of the same, but don’t expect patterns or techniques from this book; it’s a collection of essays, musings on a life of knitting and yarn. “The book was born from a simple notion,” Clara writes. “We are what we knit. … Over the years I’ve realized just how deeply knitting itself—our stitches, materials, techniques—is a metaphor for who we are and the lives we live.”

If knitting has played an important role in your life and you’d like a good book on the subject, come by the shop and pick up a copy of The Yarn Whisperer for yourself or a knitter friend. See you there!

Knits of a Feather.

Posted by Julia on November 21, 2013

Another new book has found its way to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop: Knits of a Feather, by Celeste Young.

As its title suggests, Knits of a Feather is a collection of bird-themed accessories and garments.

A variety of knitting techniques are represented, including beading, cables, lace, duplicate stitch, and colorwork. Young pairs information about these techniques with the patterns that use them, and includes photos of what the work looks like in progress–tremendously helpful when learning a new skill. I was also pleased to see that the charts in this book are large enough to read easily, without making a trip to a copy shop to enlarge them.

You’ll find Knits of a Feather on the teacart, with the newest books and magazines. See you at the shop!