Tag Archives: fingering weight

More new kits from Dream in Color.

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Our newest batch of Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins is hard to miss, in three large overflowing baskets right in front of you as you walk into the shop, a stack of “Technicolor Cowl” kits just beside them. What you might not see as readily is another little display of new kits from Dream in Color, featuring two skeins of their 2ply BFL Cash/Silk.

Veronica of Dream in Color put together these kits with Lynn Di Cristina’s “Cumberland & Carey Park” shawl in mind, though the pattern is not included. Each pair features a deep charcoal paired with a pop of bright color.

There are so many patterns out there for fingering weight shawls in two colors; if these high contrast pairs catch your eye, consider also Melanie Berg’s “The Love of Spiders,” Veera Välimäki’s “Stripe Study Shawl,” Lisa Hannes’ “Laurelie,” Kirsten Kapur’s “Cladonia,” and Joji Locatelli’s “Pure Joy.”

Look for these kits in our Gifts section! See you at the shop.

Lucerne.

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Our shop is abuzz with excitement over Brooklyn Tweed’s new yarn, Peerie. The folks at BT were kind enough to send a couple of sample skeins our way in advance of the release, giving Anne just enough time to knit “Lucerne.”

Jared Flood’s “Lucerne” is a colorwork hat in two, three, or four shades of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie. It’s a perfect starting place for those new to stranded colorwork, and Peerie’s 45 shades are an absolute playground for knitters of all experience levels.

Anne’s “Lucerne” is in two shades, the dark green Nori and pale gray/green Gale. In this sample, the darker shade is the main color, but their positions could easily be swapped for an equally attractive, but very different look. Here are a few more two-color combinations to consider.

I couldn’t stop here, of course – in fact, I spent the better part of Wednesday afternoon creating and photographing color combinations for this project! Next up are three-color combinations. I began with one that Flood suggests in his pattern.

The formula here is straightforward: three colors, all from the same family – one light, one medium, and one dark. I had fun creating a few more in this vein.

The possibilities for four-color combinations are even more varied, of course. There are no rules, but it’s wise to have a range of values, so the individual colors can be distinguished from one another in the context of the pattern. Here’s one from Jared Flood.

Here are a few I came up with, just the beginning of what’s possible.

Until June 30th, the pattern is free when you buy Peerie here at our shop. Look for the yarn in the fingering weight section. We can’t wait to see what color combinations you come up with for “Lucerne” hats of your own!

Hello, Peerie.

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We are bursting with excitement because Brooklyn Tweed’s new yarn is here! Meet Peerie.

Peerie is a fingering weight, worsted spun, 100% merino wool yarn made entirely in the US. The sheep graze in Utah and Nevada, their fleece is spun in Springvale, Maine, and the resulting yarn is dyed in Saco, Maine.

Brooklyn Tweed is devoted to supporting the domestic textile industry, and works only with producers and processors who share their commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. Founder and designer Jared Flood and his team are also interested in breed-specific yarns, allowing knitters and crocheters to appreciate the unique qualities that each kind of wool possesses. Merino is one we’re used to seeing and working with, but American merino is less common; head to the BT blog for more information on that.

In Shetland vernacular, “peerie” means small, and is the name for the littlest, simplest fair isle motifs, a good sign that this yarn was designed with colorwork in mind. It comes in 45 shades, and we have each and every one on our shelves here at the shop.

Because of its round, smooth structure, Peerie is equally well-suited to texture, lace, and cable patterns.

The BT team reworked patterns in each of those veins: Heidi Kirrmaier’s “Boardwalk,” Irina Dmitrieva’s “Loden,” and Jared Flood’s “Afton.” For colorwork, consider Julie Hoover’s “Ashland” and Flood’s new “Lucerne.”

Any pattern that calls for fingering weight yarn should work well with Peerie – what are you itching to make with this exciting new yarn?

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

Show and tell: Hitofude.

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Amy has now taught her “Hitofude” cardigan class three times at our shop, and has just begun a fourth. With an unusual construction and a repetitive lace motif, Hiroko Fukatsu’s “Hitofude” is a gracefully draped garment that many knitters have been drawn to. So far, we’ve seen five finished garments come out of these classes, and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Above is Amy’s own “Hitofude,” knit with Shibui Staccato. The combination of silk and superwash merino means drape and shine, both of which bring elegance to this piece.

Many of Amy’s students chose Staccato for their “Hitofude” cardigans; here’s Jane in hers.

Jane lengthened the sleeves and the body of the sweater for exactly the fit she wanted, and it came out just right.

Margie made similar modifications, but used Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering, a wool/mohair blend with more structure and less drape than Staccato. It makes a more substantial garment appropriate for fall and winter, and Margie is happy with the results.

Pam used Madeline Tosh Merino Light for her sweater, which looks springy and playful in a tonally variegated chartreuse. It’s not a yarn we carry at the shop, but Malabrigo Mechita is similar – a hand-dyed, single ply, superwash merino.

This group photo shows Linda, second from the left, in her “Hitofude,” knit with Shibui Staccato. She kept the original sleeve and body length of the pattern for a slightly cropped silhouette. It’s amazing what an impact these slight differences can have from one garment to the next, even with the same pattern – we love seeing knitters in self-made sweaters that reflect their preferences and show off their skills!

Thanks to these knitters for sharing their work with us, and especially for participating in classes here at the shop. We feel so lucky to have such talented teachers on our team, and students who are excited to learn more about their craft. I’m so looking forward to seeing more “Hitofude” cardigans as they’re completed!

New colors in Malabrigo Mechita.

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This week brought us a big box of Malabrigo Mechita in nine brand new speckled colorways!

Mechita is a single ply superwash merino in a fingering weight, with a generous 420 yards on each 100 gram skein.

Suitable for sweaters, shawls, scarves, cowls, mitts, baby things and lightweight hats, Mechita has great potential.

In fact, it’s become a bit of a staple in our Fingering weight department, one we reorder again and again.

Look for Mechita in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and peruse our “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest for pattern ideas. We hope you find inspiration there, as well as among these colorful skeins of yarn!

Back in stock: Vivacious 4ply.

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Last week brought an enormous shipment from Fyberspates, bursting with bags and bags of Vivacious 4ply.

Vivacious 4ply is a high twist, superwash merino wool in fingering weight. Each 100 gram skein has 399 yards, enough for a pair of socks or mitts, a hat, scarf, or shawlette.

We restocked all the colors we’ve ever had and added a few new ones, too.

Tom recently knit this “Wuthering Heights MKAL” shawl with two skeins of Vivacious 4ply in a beautiful high-contrast color combination.

Lately we’re seeing many knitters reach for this yarn to knit larger shawls and wraps. The robust and ever-growing palette of colors lends itself particularly to gradient-making, or fades – think Andrea Mowry’s “Find Your Fade,” or Joji Locatelli’s recent “Fading Point.” Here are a few color combinations with the latter pattern in mind.

Colors shown, left to right: 602, 617, 615, 626, 625.

Colors shown, left to right: 609, 607, 608, 606, 626.

Colors shown, left to right: 624, 610, 628, 609, 607.

Colors shown, left to right: 611, 618, 600, 620, 628.

Check our “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest for more pattern ideas, and look for Vivacious 4ply here at the shop!

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!

Back in stock: Tukuwool Fingering.

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We recently restocked a relatively new-to-us yarn, Tukuwool Fingering, which has quickly become a favorite. Anne and I were so excited when this enormous box arrived from Canada, especially because it held three brand new colors!

Tukuwool Fingering is a woolen-spun, fingering weight blend of Finnsheep and Finnsheep-Texel wool, sourced and produced entirely in Finland. It’s a little toothy, but soft enough for next-to-skin wear, depending upon one’s preferences; a springy and resilient yarn.

I knit two “Bousta Beanies” with this yarn and fell in love with it along the way. Its texture and color palette make it particularly well-suited to colorwork, I think, a quality that shines in local designer Kerry Bullock-Ozkan’s “Rionnag Cowl.”

Perhaps you saw this cowl on display during our recent HYS Colorwork Trunk Show – it’s home with Kerry again, but still on my mind. We have print copies of the pattern here at the shop, but it’s also available on Ravelry.

Unpacking that big box of Tukuwool, I contemplated quartets of color with this cowl in mind; here are a few I came up with.

Since I first wrote about Tukuwool Fingering back in September, a number of new designs have been published for this special yarn:

Look for Tukuwool Fingering here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – come by to see and touch it for yourself, and plan your next project!

Hello, Shibui Reed.

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Today was the first day of Spring, though dropping temperatures and a prediction of snow had us doubtful. Still and all, warm weather is coming, and that means new plant fiber yarns are popping up at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Last week, I introduced Shibui Fern, an organic cotton – today, let’s meet Shibui Reed!

Reed is a replacement for (and improvement upon) Shibui’s now-discontinued Linen. The gauge, yardage, fiber content, and structure are all the same: both yarns are fingering weight, chain-plied linen, with 246 yards per 50 gram skein.

The difference is that Reed is softer and more consistent than the Linen that came before, a refinement that came with switching mills.

Reed is ideal for any pattern that calls for Linen – “L.1” and “Otherside” are popular examples – but consider it whenever fingering weight yarns are used and drape is desired. Looking on Ravelry, I saw plenty of “Hitofude” cardigans in Linen or Reed; what a nice warm-weather layer that would make.

Look for Reed in our Fingering weight section here at the shop!

Marie Wallin’s Shetland.

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Happy to report that Marie Wallin’s Shetland is back in stock!

This exquisite book is full of intricate fair isle designs in a kaleidoscopic array of colors, all knit with the quintessential Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

Wallin is a British designer known for her rich colorwork designs, inspired by traditional fair isle knitting, but applied to modern, wearable shapes and styles.

We’ve actually sold out of this book twice now – each batch we’ve ordered has disappeared before I have a chance to snap a photo or write about it here on the blog. Our third batch is half gone as I write this, but fear not – another is on the way!

Look for Shetland on the teacart here at the shop, amidst piles of new books and magazines, full of inspiration for new projects. See you there!