Tag Archives: cashmere

Hello, Caper Sock.

Posted by on

As many of you already know, String Theory yarns move quickly around here. One week, we’re tearing into a box of their hand-dyed yarn, and the next, it seems, we’re studying an emptying cubby of Caper Sock, wondering how we sold out of so many colors so quickly. It gives us an excuse to give them a call and request more, of course, and with each order, we are tempted by the many colorways we haven’t stocked before. Our most recent order brought the biggest variety of Caper Sock we’ve seen yet.

What a spectrum! I find myself selecting colors I’d normally pass over. Suddenly, I like purple, and grass green.

Those of you who subscribe to our newsletter may already know that I recently self-published a pattern using Caper Sock.

North Arrow is a two-color garter stitch scarf with a short-row triangle and chevron stripes. My version is now hanging in the shop, so you can see and touch the scrumptious, soft fabric that Caper Sock creates. With our current selection of colors, choosing a pair for North Arrow makes for a fun diversion. I’d love to see a North Arrow in any of these combinations, for example:

Or you could follow Anne’s lead, and knit a North Arrow in Malabrigo Sock yarn.

We have even more Malabrigo Sock to choose from than we do Caper Sock, if you’ll recall, making the color-combining into a seemingly-endless game. Come to the shop and play!

And do take a look at North Arrow on Ravelry, if you’re interested. I’d love to hear what you think!

Dream in Color.

Posted by on

Two new yarns arrived at the shop this week from Dream In Color, a Chicago-based producer of hand-dyed yarns. We’ve had their Classy yarn, a washable worsted weight wool that I’ve written about here on the blog before, as well as their fingering- and lace-weight wools, which are named Smooshy and Baby, respectively. This week, we got a Smooshy upgrade: eight colors of Smooshy With Cashmere, which boasts 400 yards and 20% cashmere content. This yarn is a real treat for the hands, a smooshier Smooshy.

We also received six colors of a new lace-weight yarn from Dream in Color called It’s Native, so-called because the wool and mohair fiber it’s made of is grown, spun, and dyed in the United States. Anne makes sure that we offer yarns manufactured in the U.S. whenever possible, and it’s great to see more and more of them show up at the shop. It’s Native comes in generous skeins, too: 1000 yards can get you through a lace shawl, several scarves, or an entire Whisper Cardigan. 
Check out these two latest offerings from Dream in Color next time you’re seeking fingering-or lace-weight yarns. See you at the shop!

String Theory. Once more.

Posted by on

The String Theory Caper Sock yarn all but disappeared from our shelves in a matter of weeks. Not yet ready to cast on, or even settle on a project befitting this luxurious cashmere and wool blend, I held off on the skein of Caper Sock that had caught my eye. When the last skein in that colorway was sold, I pouted for a minute, then remembered that we were expecting a shipment from String Theory this week. Not only were we awaiting one backordered color each in Selku and Merino DK, but Anne had also ordered another 24 skeins of Caper Sock.

By the time we’d refilled the half-empty cubby that Caper Sock calls home, I had to hold off yet again, for there were at least four colors vying for my attention.

When my Arroyo socks are done, I might be ready to choose a color. Until then, it’s all yours, String Theory lovers. Enjoy this new selection of colors in Caper Sock!

Hello, String Theory.

Posted by on

I know I said we were elated at the arrival of Jitterbug last week–and really, we were! But that was before yesterday’s shipment from String Theory, a new yarn company for us. Yesterday, excitement erupted at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop as Anne pulled skein after skein of beautiful hand-dyed yarn out of the box, passing them around to an appreciative group of knitters who petted, hugged, and admired the new yarn with great delight. Several of them decided they couldn’t leave without a skein, and so they were here and gone before they even made it onto the shelf. Luckily, there is still plenty to show off. Have a look at what all of the fuss is about.

String Theory is a small company out of Blue Hill, Maine, a two-woman operation that has been getting a lot of attention recently. String Theory was recently profiled in Coastal Knits, a lovely pattern collection that we’re forever reordering. Clara Parkes mentioned them in a recent post on Knitter’s Review, which led me back to her Knitter’s Book of Socks, where I found patterns using both of the String Theory sock yarns we just got in.

String Theory’s Caper Sock is a luxurious fingering weight yarn, a blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon. Cookie A’s pattern from Knitter’s Book of Socks, below, uses the Caper Sock yarn with lovely results.

Bluestocking, on the other hand, is perhaps the more interesting of the two String Theory sock yarns because of its fiber content: 80% Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon. Bluefaced Leicester is a particular breed of sheep known for its long, strong fibers, which ought to make a particularly durable pair of socks. (Care to learn more about breed-specific wools? Put Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Wool on your holiday wish list, or give it to yourself as a gift. Fascinating stuff!) It’s rare and exciting to see a yarn label that specifies the breed of sheep whose wool is inside it, with the exception of the ubiquitous Merino. I can’t wait to give Bluestocking a try, perhaps using Ann Budd’s pattern from Knitter’s Book of Socks.

The third and final kind of yarn we received from String Theory this week is their Merino DK, a name which speaks for itself. I can add little else to describe it, though I’ll mention that it’s superwash, squishy and soft, and that each 100 gram skein is packed with 280 yards. At a dk weight, that can easily take you through a hat, cowl, pair of mittens, or maybe even a scarf.

Come by the shop and we’ll be sure to show you in person all that I’ve shown you here. Forgive us if we can hardly contain our delight: we love yarn, we love knitting, and we are utterly irrepressible. See you at the shop!

Pagewood Farm: Alyeska.

Posted by on
Pagewood Farm Alyeska is back in stock! Though you may know it as “the Pagewood with the cashmere,” which is what we often call it, its softness being somewhat more memorable than its name. This is decadent sock yarn, folks.

Sock knitters looking to pamper their feet should consider Alyeska, as should mitten, glove, and hat knitters seeking a special, soft, fingering weight yarn. Come to the shop to caress and consider!

Getting our sock yarn fix.

Posted by on

It’s been a big week for sock yarn here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. First, our dwindling collection of hand-dyed sock yarn from Pagewood Farm was replenished. We carry both Denali, which is a sturdy combination of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon, and Alyeska, a soft blend of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Here they are snuggled up together in their basket.



        
I had just arranged the Pagewood Farm sock yarn, it seemed, when the next box of sock yarn arrived. From Crystal Palace, a brand new yarn named Sausalito. It’s an extremely soft blend of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon. Sausalito also self-stripes, much like Crystal Palace’s Mini Mochi, but with a slightly different effect because Sausalito is 2-ply while Mini Mochi is a single ply. Where one color begins to fade into the next, the two plies are different colors for a stretch, looking rather marled.
We were also pleased to receive a box from The Alpaca Yarn Company, filled with their Paca-Peds sock yarn as well as Paca-Paints, a worsted weight yarn. These yarns aren’t new to us, but like the Pagewood Farm yarn, we had been running really low on them until this week. In fact, we were down to one lonesome skein of Paca-Peds. Those days are gone now. Welcome back, Paca-Paints and -Peds!
All this is to say: if you’re looking for your sock yarn fix, it’s probably here. See you at the shop!