Tag Archives: fingering weight

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Loft.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love to see what you all are making with yarn from our shop, and when I’m able, I take pictures so that I can share those projects here on the blog. Looking over my current collection of show and tell photos, I spotted a handful in Brooklyn Tweed Loft, which has been featured in our BT Sample of the Month throughout March. With its heathered colors and rustic texture, Loft is worth celebrating – here are a few great ways to use it!

Kathryn designed and knit this “Bradshaw” cardigan for her son using Brooklyn Tweed Loft. This lightweight, woolen spun yarn beautifully shows the cables and gives this sweater a classic look. The pattern comes in a wide range of sizes, covering 0-6 months up to 10 years.

Above is Sidney’s “Perch,” designed by Gudrun Johnston, a triangular half hap featuring “old shale,” a classic lace pattern. I’m always pleased by the flecks of color that pop out of Loft when its knit up – in this case, they’re bright and festive against the overall dark brown color of the yarn.

Nancy knit Bristol Ivy’s “Bayard” hat with two shades of Loft, a high contrast color combination that blurs and blends a bit in one-row stripes and slipped stitches.

Thanks to Kathryn, Sidney, and Nancy for sharing their work with us, and thanks to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Shibui Spring 2020 patterns.

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Shibui recently released a pattern collection for Spring 2020 – let’s take a look!

This collection comes from Shellie Anderson, who was an in-house designer Shibui for some years and still loves to work with their yarns. She has a knack for creating garments that look simple, but feature thoughtful details to “challenge and delight the knitter,” in her words.

Most of these garments feature Koan, Shibui’s latest yarn, a linen and silk blend that’s perfect for warm-weather knitting.

Anne has “Calla” on her needles now, a striped tank with a bit of texture. She’s stretching a little by knitting in this bright aqua shade, which looks sharp with dark gray stripes.

There are so many fun combinations possible in Koan – below are a few I came up with, but I’m looking forward to seeing what others choose!

Patterns from the Spring 2020 collection are all available to purchase on Ravelry, and we have plenty of Koan in stock, along with many other Shibui yarns. Use our new form to Order Online – though our storefront is closed to walk-in traffic, we’re still here filling mail orders!

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club: March.

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Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. March’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

This month, dyer Veronica was inspired by a photograph of colorful pottery at a little shop in Hatch, New Mexico, and she painted some of those vibrant shades on Dream in Color’s aptly-named Smooshy with Cashmere.

Smooshy with Cashmere is a super soft blend of superwash merino wool, cashmere, and nylon – perfect for a special shawl or pair of socks. A skein like this would make a great “Starshower,” “Pebble Beach Shawl,” “Sockhead Slouch Hat” or “Sockhead Cowl,” all patterns that do well with variegated yarn. Look for more pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” board over on Pinterest.

You’ll find this limited edition colorway in the fingering weight section here at our shop, along with other special skeins from Dream in Color. See you there!

Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month: Voe.

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Our Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month for March is here! Come by this month to see “Voe.”

Designed by Gudrun Johnston for Brooklyn Tweed Loft, “Voe” is a colorwork yoke pullover worked from the bottom up – a style, technique, and construction that I count among my personal favorites.

Loft is a fingering weight, woolen-spun Targhee-Columbia wool. Loft is named for one of its best qualities, which makes it somewhat delicate, but especially warm for its weight. The rustic texture and heathered shades make it an ideal yarn for colorwork, which is apparent in this garment.

We have all 45 colors in stock, and are offering a 10% discount on Loft throughout March – come by the shop to see “Voe” for yourself and plan your next project!

 

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

Hello, Shibui Koan.

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We’ve just unpacked the latest yarn from Shibui – meet Koan!

Shibui Koan is a fingering weight blend of 70% linen and 30% mulberry silk, with 248 yards on each 50 gram skein. These fibers are known for drape and sheen, qualities that define Koan.

Shibui is known for their penchant for combining yarns two or three strands at a time, a way of creating unique fiber blends. Because of this, most of their colors are available across most of their yarns, and all but two of the Koan colors are familiar favorites.

Crete and Paloma are brand new colors for Shibui, bright pops of aqua and pink that electrify the whole color palette.

What to make with Koan? A new pattern collection is coming soon to answer that question, but until then, look to the Shibui archives. Koan is a great substitute for Reed, so the “Athens” tank and “Octave” wrap would look great in this new yarn. From independent designers, I spotted the “Westbound” tee, “Albers Shawl,” and “Natsu Cardigan” in Reed – substitute Koan for a little extra shine.

Look for Shibui Koan in the fingering weight section here at our shop, and check out our other Shibui yarns while you’re here – we have them all, from lace to worsted weight!

Back in stock: Zauberball.

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Last week brought a colorful box of yarn our way – hello again, Zauberball!

Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball is a single ply fingering weight yarn that slowly changes from one color to the next several yards at a time, so that whatever you’re knitting or crocheting with it comes out striped.

While we were at it, we refilled our baskets of Crazy Zauberball and Starke 6, which are also self-striping, in fingering and sport weight, respectively. The 2-ply construction of these yarns gives the finished fabric a marled look.

All three of these yarns are great for sock-knitting, as they share the same sturdy fiber content: 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon. They’re also well-suited to shawls, however – think “Wingspan,” “Hitchhiker,” and “Daybreak.” Look for more ideas on our Fingering weight and Sport weight Pinterest boards, and come by the shop to scoop up a Zauberball or two!

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Peerie.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love to see what you all are making with yarn from our shop, and when I’m able, I take pictures so that I can share those projects here on the blog. Looking over my current collection of show and tell photos, I spotted three in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, which is currently 10% off as it’s featured in our BT Sample of the Month. With its soft hand, bold colors, and superb stitch definition, Peerie is worth celebrating – here are a few great ways to use it!

Above is Pam’s “Butterfly / Papillon,” a striking shawl decorated with short rows, which she knit using six shades of Peerie.

Emily was in a mood for colorwork one day, and came by the shop to select an open-ended palette of Peerie for hat-making. She wound up knitting two “Lucerne” hats and a “Bousta Beanie,” two of our favorite fingering weight colorwork hat patterns. These are great fun, whether you’re trying stranded knitting for the first time or just in a colorwork mood, like Emily!

Margaretta has worked with Peerie several times now, coming back again and again for the smoothness, bounce, and stitch definition.

This is her “Ensata Scarf,” rich with twisted stitches, texture, and lace, all of which shine in this special yarn.

Thanks to Pam, Emily, and Margaretta for sharing their work with us, and thanks to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next. If these talented knitters have inspired you, come by the shop during February to get Brooklyn Tweed Peerie at 10% off!

 

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

Koigu Collector’s Club: Refuge.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu.

January’s colorway is a little late, but still so welcome – a variegated bouquet of pastel shades with streaks of turquoise, pink, and ivory. This whimsical colorway is dyed on Koigu’s classic KPPPM, a fingering weight superwash merino.

We have an abundance of special Koigu colors right now.

Pick three to make Churchmouse’s “Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf” pattern, which blends disparate variegated shades into a harmonious fabric that almost looks woven.

Look for Koigu KPPPM in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

Hello, Balayage.

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We’re pleased to announce the arrival of a brand new yarn – meet Pascuali Balayage!

Balayage is the result of a collaboration between knitwear designer Melanie Berg and German yarn company Pascuali. Balayage is a fingering weight blend of 80% alpaca and 20% organic merino wool. The resulting combination is incredibly soft in the hand, perfect for next-to-skin wear.

The color palette is a beautiful range of lights, mediums, and darks, neutral colors and brights, all designed to play well together for stripes and other kinds of colorwork. This harmonious palette was achieved in part before the yarn was even dyed; the alpaca fiber was naturally white and gray, while the merino was white, so all the shades of Balayage are dyed over this heathered gray base.

Melanie Berg has designed two shawls for Balayage so far, “Rock My Shawl” and “The Big Easy.” Both patterns use four shades, so that’s the number I played with as I created the color combinations below.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of color possibilities – we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

For more pattern ideas, consider Julia-Maria Hegenbart’s “Rough Sea” shawl, Victoria Maria’s “Viura” pullover, Ewelina Murach’s “Tucked Away” shawl, or Christelle Nihoul’s “Brise d’Automne” hat and cowl. Our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board has lots of pattern ideas, too!

Look for Pascuali Balayage in our fingering weight section here at the shop, where we hope to see you soon!

Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month: Orime.

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Our Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month for February is here! Come by this month to see “Orime.”

“Orime” is a short sleeved top designed by Veronik Avery for BT Early Fall 2018. It features knit stitches arranged diagonally on a background of reverse stockinette, a folded collar and neckline facing for structure and a professional look.

Amy is offering a class on it, to guide you through the fit, construction, and finishing details – read all about it on our Classes page!

“Orime” is knit with Peerie, Brooklyn Tweed’s fingering weight merino. It comes in 45 colors, so there’s plenty to choose from. Even better, we’re offering them at 10% off during February – come by soon to take advantage of this discount!

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