Tag Archives: cotton

Shibui Sample of the Month: Graphique.

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September is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample til the end of the month.

This month’s sample is “Graphique,” a small striped kerchief knit with Shibui Fern. It’s worked in the round, from the center out, in a stripe pattern that makes concentric squares.

Fern is a sport weight organic cotton, with 232 yards on each 50 gram skein. Two skeins is plenty for this little project – just one in each color. Which two would you choose for a “Graphique” kerchief? It looks quite classic in this high-contrast combination, but I’d be interested to see a more subtle version, too.

Come by the shop to before September 30th to see “Graphique” and get Shibui Fern at 10% off to make one of your own!

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

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Mojave.

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The women of Kelbourne Woolens are on a roll – meet Mojave, their third line of yarn this year!

Mojave is a sport weight blend of 60% cotton and 40% linen, with 185 yards on each 50 gram skein. It’s composed of five tiny 2ply yarns twisted together, for a yarn that’s smooth and soft but also strong, with the beautiful drape we expect from plant fiber yarns.

The color palette is Kelbourne Woolens’ biggest yet, 15 shades from subtle neutrals to blazing brights.

Meghan Kelly has designed six summer tops for Mojave using a variety of textures and techniques. Kelbourne Woolens has made their patterns available through Ravelry rather than in print, an effort to diminish the company’s paper usage.

We happen to have the Mojave Collection on display here at the shop as a Trunk Show until July 15 – hurry in to see it for yourself!

Look for Mojave in our sport weight section here at the shop, and keep it in mind for summer stitching. See you there!

Kelbourne Woolens Mojave Collection Trunk Show!

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Another trunk show has come to decorate our walls for a couple of weeks. Hurry in before July 15th to see the Kelbourne Woolens Mojave Collection!

The Mojave Collection is composed of six garments knit with Kelbourne Woolens’ newest yarn, Mojave. This cotton/linen blend landed in our sport weight section here at the shop less than a week ago, and so hasn’t had a proper introduction here on the blog – I’ll remedy that in the next couple of days.

Every piece was designed by Meghan Kelly of Kelbourne Woolens, whose love of plant fibers and bright colors are obvious in this collection.

Read more about the development of Mojave and the Mojave Collection in this interview with Meghan on the KW blog!

Look for the patterns on Ravelry, the yarn in our sport weight section, and the trunk show on our walls here at the shop until July 15th. Remember, July is our Annual Inventory Sale month, so everything in stock is 15% off – see you there!

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

Cottons, old and new.

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Summer begins this week, and summer weather is well underway. Hot days like these find many of us reaching for cool plant fibers, rather than fuzzy wool. With that in mind, we’ve restocked several of our best-selling cotton yarns and added a couple of new ones, too.

Cascade Ultra Pima and Ultra Pima Fine are 100% mercerized cotton in DK and sport weights, respectively. They’re economically priced, shiny and smooth, and come in a rainbow of colors.

We’ve had lots of crocheters and knitters use these yarns for making Knitted Knockers, which we’re still collecting here at the shop so our friend Ana can take them to the UNC Cancer Center. 60 Quick Cotton Knits has many other project ideas, too – scarves, wraps, tops, bags, and more.

Cascade’s Nifty Cotton is new to our shop, an aran weight cotton that can be machine-washed and dried, one without a mercerized lustre. That matte quality makes the yarn “thirstier,” more absorbent, and thus, ideal for making dishcloths.

 

BC Garn Alba is another new addition, a fingering weight organic cotton in a pleasing array of colors. It’s been popular right off the bat because of its appearance in the latest issue of Pom Pom Quarterly; Lia Moya’s “Judoka” bag is knit with this soft, smooth yarn. Interested in making one of your own? Check out Marsha’s upcoming class on the subject!

Come by the shop to take a peek at these and other popular plant fiber yarns, like Shibui Fern, Twig and Reed, Isager Bomulin and Japansk Bomuld, and Berroco Modern Cotton. See you there!

Hello, Zauberball Cotton.

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We recently replenished our supply of Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball yarns, those colorful self-stripers in fingering and sport weight.

Zauberball, Zauberball Crazy, and Zauberball Starke 6 all slowly change from one color to the next several yards at a time, so that whatever you’re knitting or crocheting with it comes out striped. All three of these yarns have been staples here at our shop for years; imagine our delight and curiosity when we learned of a new addition to the Zauberball family – Cotton!

Like Zauberball and Zauberball Crazy, Zauberball Cotton is a fingering weight, self-striping yarn, but it’s composed of 100% organic cotton from Greece. It’s smooth and cool to the touch, and loosely-plied for a soft hand and matte finish.

It may not be sturdy enough for sock-making, but Zauberball Cotton is ideal for warm-weather garments and accessories: shawls, cowls, scarves, lightweight tops, and baby things. Look for ideas on our Fingering weight Pinterest board, and look for Zauberball Cotton here at the shop – see you there!

Hello, Shibui Fern.

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Shibui’s newest yarn is here! Meet Fern.

Fern is a sport weight organic cotton, with 232 yards on each 50 gram skein.

Unlike Rain, Shibui’s DK weight cotton, Fern is matte rather than lustrous, and brushed for extra softness.

Like all Shibui yarns, Fern is designed to be used on its own or mixed with other yarns for intriguing fiber and color blends. By itself on a US 4, the suggested gauge is 24 stitches over 4 inches; we knit up a little swatch to give a sense of it.

Fern appears in several patterns from the new Shibui Spring/Summer 2018 collection, including “Oasis,” a bias knit scarf with thin stripes and a bit of texture.

This pattern is free when you purchase the yarn here at our shop. Other patterns from the new collection are sold singly; look for them in a binder near a basket of Fern.

Look for Fern in our Sport weight section here at the shop, alongside Shibui Twig. See you there!

New from Shibui.

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We just got a huge order from Shibui, full of new yarns, patterns and colors!

Their newest yarn is Fern, a sport weight organic cotton, which comes in a wearable range of neutrals with a few pops of color.

New to us is Reed, a replacement for (and improvement upon) their now-discontinued Linen. Reed is a fingering weight, chain-plied linen, softer and more consistent than the Linen that came before.

Their Spring/Summer 2018 pattern collection is here, too, with the usual simple yet sophisticated fare we’ve come to expect from Shibui.

All that and three gorgeous new colors in nearly every Shibui yarn… It’s just too much for one blog post – stay tuned for a closer look at all of the above, or come by the shop to see it for yourself!

 

Hello, Isager Japansk Bomuld.

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Meet Japansk Bomuld, our second new arrival from Isager!

Japansk Bomuld is a lustrous lace weight cotton tape, with 344 yards per 50 gram ball.

Marsha kindly knit a swatch for us in a range of needle sizes, showing how it behaves in stockinette stitch – look for it in the basket with the yarn. Swatches like these are just a starting place, a bit of fabric for one’s mind to extrapolate from.

The fabric relaxed considerably with washing, and the fine gauge, while lovely on its own, suggests the many possibilities for yarn mixing. Imagine Japansk Bomuld knit with Isager Alpaca 1, Spinni, or even Shibui Silk Cloud!

We have a few new patterns for Japansk Bomuld, from Danish designers Annette Danielson and Mette Winge – more on those soon. Also consider Churchmouse’s striped variation on their “Alexandra’s Airplane Scarf,” which makes good use of this special yarn.

Look for more pattern inspiration on our Lace weight Pinterest board, and come by the shop to see Japansk Bomuld itself!

Hello, Isager Bomulin.

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February has just begun, but new Spring yarns are already beginning to arrive here at the shop. Two have come from Isager, in Denmark – let’s begin with Bomulin.

Bomulin is a light fingering weight blend of 65% cotton and 35% linen, with 231 yards per 50 gram ball.

Plant fibers like these have little elasticity and a lot of drape, making them perfect for spring shawls and scarves, or loose-fitting warm-weather garments.

Anne is knitting a tank with two strands of Bomulin held together, Marianne Isager’s “Braided Top.” The construction on this piece is unexpected, and worth a closer look; come by to see Anne’s work in progress and she’ll tell you all about it.

Look for pattern ideas on our Fingering weight Pinterest board, and come by the shop to browse new Isager patterns for Bomulin. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Berroco Modern Cotton.

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Berroco Modern Cotton is a staple around here, an economical, machine-washable blend of cotton and rayon in that versatile gauge, worsted weight. It was time for a restock and restock we did, filling our Modern Cotton bins and brightening up our selection.

Modern Cotton is perfect for warm-weather knit and crochet projects, or year-round for those allergic to wool.

It’s also well-suited to blanket making, and to that end, knitters, consider “Chevron Baby Blanket,” “Saurey,” “Hydrangea,” or “Super Easy Crib Blanket.” Crocheters, try “Ripple Blanket,” “Vintage Crocheted Throw & Afghan,” “Oh, the Places You’ll Go Baby Blanket,” or “Crochet Super Easy Baby Blanket.”

Look for more pattern ideas on our Worsted weight Pinterest board, and come by the shop to see the yarn itself and plan your next project!