Tag Archives: brooklyn tweed

Brooklyn Tweed Wool People 12 Trunk Show!

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We are delighted to announce that a new trunk show from Brooklyn Tweed is here to spend a couple of weeks at our shop. Come by before March 3rd to see the Wool People 12 collection!

Wool People is an annual collaboration between Brooklyn Tweed and a variety of independent knitwear designers from around the world. Some of their names are familiar, like Shannon Cook, Isabell Kraemer, Melissa Wehrle, and Emily Greene, but many are new to me. Those designers bring their own vision and aesthetic to Brooklyn Tweed’s breed-specific wool yarns, a combination that offers an exciting array of new designs.

Brooklyn Tweed’s lightest weight yarns are featured in these designs: the lace weight Vale, fingering weight Loft and Peerie, and DK weight Arbor, all of which are 10% off during the Trunk Show.

Though there are plenty of cables and other texture patterns on display, there’s a special preponderance of lace in this collection – delicate pullovers with lace yokes, garter stitch shawls with lace edgings, a turtleneck covered in eyelet linework, an allover mesh-lace pullover, and others. If you are a lace lover or curious about the technique, this show is a must-see!

Come by the shop before March 3rd to see Wool People 12 and get featured Brooklyn Tweed yarns at 10% off!

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Show and tell: Anne’s “Dog Stars.”

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A few months ago, Anne set a lofty goal: she would knit a sweater for each of her four grandchildren for Hanukkah. When she mentioned this in conversation at the shop, eyes would widen in disbelief – even four child-sized sweaters represent an awful lot of knitting, after all. She picked Tin Can Knits’ “Dog Star” pattern, a simple, seamless, colorwork yoke, and spent every possible moment knitting these sweet sweaters, determined to complete them in time. Anne is a woman of her word, and a determined one – when Hanukkah began on December 2nd, she was ready with four finished sweaters. Quite a feat!

For her granddaughters, Anne knit “Dog Star” with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, using a sophisticated palette of purplish gray, eggplant, and cream. Knowing the girls might like to match as much as they like to distinguish themselves, Anne flipped the arrangement of contrast colors in the yoke: sisterly matching, yet distinct.

For her twin grandsons, Anne used Malabrigo Rios, again differentiating the sweaters by changing colors in the yoke.

Her boys love bright colors, so she used wildly variegated colorways in the stranded yoke, which, in her words, look like sprinkles against the dark blue background.

Hope you’ve met your own holiday knitting goals this season!

A reminder, the shop will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 25 and again on Tuesday, Jan. 1. Otherwise the shop will be open at our regular hours, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show: Early Fall 18.

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Our latest Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show just arrived, featuring garments and accessories from their Early Fall 18 collection!

Designs in this group were inspired by origami, and feature geometric texture patterns in BT’s worsted-spun yarns, Vale, Peerie, and Arbor. All three of these yarns boast sharp stitch definition, ideal for showing texture and lace.

 

Seeing these garments close up and in person is one of the great joys of a Trunk Show. Another joy is trying them on for size, making sure you like the fit and feel before you invest in a big project. We like to add one more joy: a 10% discount on purchases of the featured BT yarns during the trunk show!

We’ll have the show until December 16, and then we’ll pack it up and send it on to the next shop. Come in soon to take a look!

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Pom Pom Quarterly: Winter 2018.

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The Winter 2018 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly has arrived here at the shop!

Pom Pom is a beautifully designed magazine, carefully put together by writers and editors who clearly love printed matter as much as they love knitwear. This issue is guest edited by none other than Norah Gaughan, who was also featured in the most recent Mason-Dixon Knitting Field Guide. Fans of Norah Gaughan have a lot to be excited about this season!

“The knits in this issue are imagined for the modern heroine,” write the Pom Pom editors, and the designs do evoke strength and drama. They are also highly embellished, whether with whimsical tassels, graphic colorwork, bold cables, bobbles, or gathers.

Many of the designer names in this issue are familiar, the likes of Joji Locatelli, Caitlin Hunter, Andrea Rangel, and Veronik Avery, whose contribution is knit with one of our favorite yarns, Brooklyn Tweed Arbor.

Anna Maltz’s column is always a thought provoking, interesting read, focusing this time on notions of tradition and historicity in knitting. She rightly points out that “Tradition is not inherently good,” and asks instead that we celebrate the ever-evolving nature of our craft, and the talented people that continue to contribute to it with new designs, techniques, and technology.

Come by the shop to get a closer look at this striking issue of Pom Pom!

Show and tell: from the classroom.

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As of today, the shop is closed for a Thanksgiving break. Those of us who work and teach at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop are taking time to be with family and friends, to relax and take note of what we’re grateful for. One thing we are particularly thankful for is the community of makers that has grown in and around the shop, especially through our teachers and their good work in the classroom. With that in mind, here’s some show and tell – knitting projects completed during classes here at our shop.

Here’s Trich modeling her “Ilia” cardigan, a labor of love she completed during a class with Marsha. This intricately cabled garment was designed by Michele Wang for Brooklyn Tweed and knit with their Loft yarn, and Trich did a skillful job knitting it.  

Leslie was among the first in Amy’s class to complete her “Sammal,” a cardigan that looked simpler than it turned out to be for many knitters. She pushed through the short row shaping and textured stitch pattern that was tricky to read on the needles and wound up with a perfectly-fitting garment. Tukuwool Fingering was the suggested yarn and Leslie liked it so much, she came back for more when this sweater was done!

Gwen tried her hand at a few different colorwork techniques during Robin’s class on the “Yipes Stripes Cowl.” I love the colors of Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted she chose for this project, a mix of brights and pastels that really make the various patterns pop.

Linda knit this “Galloway” cardigan during Amy’s class on the subject, taking one of Jared Flood’s suggested colorways and tweaking it by substituting a bright teal for a medium blue. She knit it with the recommended yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, and the result is something special, a sweater that fits just how she wanted in colors she loves. Great job on your knitting and steeking, Linda!

Many thanks to our teachers and to all the knitters who challenge themselves to learn something new in classes here at our shop. We love seeing what you make and watching as you grow your skills! Check out our Classes page for information about upcoming courses – you can sign up online if you’d like to attend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, we’ll look forward to opening the shop again on Tuesday, November 27th.

Amirisu, Issue 17.

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The latest issue of Amirisu is here!

Amirisu is a bilingual knitting magazine from Japan, each issue filled with patterns, articles, and interviews. Amirisu provides a glimpse into the textile and knitting culture of Japan, though fiber artists and knitwear designers from around the world are featured.

I spotted a review of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in this issue, along with sweaters knit in Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Shelter – these are some of our favorite yarns, and worth a look if you haven’t had them on your needles yet.

Along with knitting patterns, Amirisu also boasts articles, recipes, and tutorials on a variety of crafts.

Look for Amirisu on the teacart here at the shop, which is stacked high with all manner of new books and magazines!

Laine Magazine, No. 6.

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Last week, we welcomed another beautiful new issue of Laine Magazine.

Laine Magazine is a publication out of Finland, a knitting and lifestyle magazine with a love of natural fibers and handicraft as its focus. It’s only a couple of years old, but it already has quite a following, and a reputation for beautiful designs and tantalizing photography.

Inside this issue of Laine, you’ll find a mix of knitting patterns, articles, recipes, profiles on fiber artists, and a travel guide to Reykjavik.

There are lots of familiar names sprinkled throughout this issue, like Andrea Mowry, Tukuwool, Shannon Cook, Brooklyn Tweed, Nancy Marchant, and Fibre Company, but we love getting to know new designers and yarn companies through Laine, too.

Come by the shop to page through Laine and our other books and magazines. We hope you find inspiration here!

New colors in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Loft.

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Brooklyn Tweed recently released three new shades in Shelter and Loft, and we’re delighted to have them here at the shop!

Iceberg is a pale, chilly blue; there’s truly nothing like it in the Shelter and Loft palette! It plays well with the existing blues, while also expanding the options for color combinations. In the photo below, Iceberg is on the left, with Faded Quilt in the middle and Flannel on the right.

Shelter and Loft are rich in neutral colors, but Pumice rounds out the spectrum, a new medium gray.

Below, Pumice is shown between Snowbound and Sweatshirt, for a gray gradient.

Yellowstone is the third new shade, a rusty blend of umber and dark gold.

In the photo above, it sits between Sap and Fauna, making a mossy, autumnal trio.

Look for Shelter in our worsted weight section and Loft in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show: Winter 18.

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We’re excited to have a new Trunk Show decorating our walls. Come by the shop before October 14 to see the Brooklyn Tweed Winter 18 collection!

The Brooklyn Tweed design team is prolific, and creates new pattern collections several times a year. Each one is met with excitement here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop; Anne and I often scroll through the lookbook together on launch day, pointing out sweaters we’d love to make.

We’ve been especially looking forward to seeing Norah Gaughan’s “Geiger” cardigan, shown on the right in Kettle black. It caught Amy’s eye as soon as the collection was published in January, and she’s cooking up a class on this intricate cabled cardigan for Spring 2019. Let us know if you’re interested in such a class, and we’ll be sure to notify you when more details are available!

For me, Gudrun Johnston’s “Kirigami” and Julie Hoover’s “Nolan” are the stars of this show, patterns I’ve been looking forward to seeing. Both of these, like “Geiger,” are knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, an ideal yarn for showing off texture patterns. Anne and I both took a shine to Jared Flood’s “Freja,” a quick short-sleeved knit in Quarry. Which are your favorites?

Seeing these garments close up and in person is one of the great joys of a Trunk Show. Another joy is trying them on for size, making sure you like the fit and feel before you invest in a big project. We like to add one more joy: a 10% discount on purchases of the featured BT yarns during the trunk show!

Come by the shop to see this breathtaking collection for yourself, and plan your next project in Brooklyn Tweed yarns at 10% off! See you there.

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges. Thanks! 

Show and tell: colorful shawls.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We always love seeing what you make with our yarns, and lately I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and photographing more finished projects than I can share in one blog post. For today, let’s look at some colorful shawls that started life as yarn on our shelves.

Above is Donita’s “Wisdom Wrap,” knit with Alchemy Silken Straw and Sanctuary. She brought it in to show us before felting, which will transform this partly-wool shawl from a colorblock rectangle to a softer, more organic shape – we can’t wait to see it after she takes the leap!

Gwen loves working with Ewe Ewe yarns. She’s worked with Baa Baa Bulky and Wooly Worsted before, and has come back to the latter to make the “Whenever Wrap” above. With so many exciting yarns to choose from, this return to the same yarn for multiple projects is quite the endorsement!

Nancy recently knit this “Butterfly / Papillon” shawl with Brooklyn Tweed’s newest yarn, Peerie, and is preparing to teach a class on the subject here at the shop.

Many of the “Butterfly / Papillon” projects on Ravelry have been made with self-striping or hand-dyed yarns, so it’s particularly striking to see Nancy’s solid color version. I’m looking forward to seeing the shawls that come out of her class!

Nancy’s next project is another colorful shawl, Felicity Ford’s “Efflorescent,” from her latest book, Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Playbook. The swatches below were knit with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, and show two of the three colorways for “Efflorescent,” more class prep. Read more about Nancy’s upcoming class on our Classes page – there are still a few spaces if you’d like to attend!

Many thanks to the talented knitters who shared the projects above, and to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. We love seeing what you make!