Tag Archives: fingering weight

Bousta Beanies.

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Lately I am enamored of Gudrun Johnston’s “Bousta Beanie,” the official hat pattern of Shetland Wool Week 2017. I downloaded it from Ravelry as soon as it was published back in March, but it zoomed to the top of my queue when a knitter brought one in for show and tell.

This is Kerry’s first “Bousta Beanie,” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft. Her bold color choice perfectly complements the graphic motif of the pattern, an eye-catching combination. While I snapped pictures, muttering about how badly I wanted to knit one of my own, Kerry selected a second colorway in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. Now that I’ve cast on for a “Bousta Beanie,” I can understand how this might happen. It’s downright exhilarating to watch the colors come together, to see how one affects another depending upon the placement, and it gives you ideas for the next hat.

I’m knitting mine in the brand new Tukuwool Fingering, a Finnish wool that is as well-suited to stranded colorwork as Shetland wool. I have little to no interest in wearing hats, but I still like to make them now and again, usually to audition a yarn that intrigues me. I chose colors I’m somewhat inexplicably drawn to, though they’re nowhere to be seen in my wardrobe. Simply put: knitting this “Bousta Beanie” has been somewhat impulsive, and deliciously fun.

Anne is starting a “Bousta Beanie” in Tukuwool Fingering, too, a playful combination of mustard yellow, red, and natural gray. Here are a few more “Bousta Beanie” color ideas, since I can hardly keep my hands out of the Tukuwool basket.

Consider these a jumping-off point as you dream up your own colorway, which I can’t wait to see!

Don’t stop at Tukuwool, however – we have many lovely fingering weight yarns that are well-suited to this pattern. Consider Baa Ram Ewe Titus, Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering, and Isager Alpaca 2 along with Loft and Shetland Spindrift. See you at the shop!

Hello, Tukuwool Fingering.

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We are especially excited to announce our newest yarn: meet Tukuwool Fingering!

Anne and I have been particularly excited about this one. So far this fall, we’ve brought in new yarns from companies we already work with, companies who have become like old friends over the years. Tukuwool is not only a new yarn but a new brand for us, and we’re delighted to have found them!

Tukuwool is based in Finland, just like Laine Magazine, where we first read about them, and their yarns are sourced and produced entirely in Finland.

Tukuwool Fingering is, as its name suggests, a fingering weight blend of Finnsheep and Finnsheep-Texel wool. I looked up these sheep breeds in my precious copy of Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Wool, and learned that Finnsheep are found in the mediumwool category, where each fiber is a notch thicker than familiar finewools like Merino, Targhee, and Cormo. Still, Finnsheep fiber is soft enough for next-to-skin wear, depending upon one’s preferences, and makes a springy and resilient yarn.

Tukuwool Fingering is woolen-spun, like Brooklyn Tweed Loft, a process which makes both yarns lofty and especially warm for their weight. Tukuwool Fingering is a great substitute for Loft, which opens up a world of patterns for this relatively young yarn. First things first, however – check out the smattering of patterns that have been written expressly for the special yarn at hand, Tukuwool Fingering:

Look for more pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board. I’ve got something in mind for this yarn, which I’m anxious to get on my needles – but more on that later. Look for Tukuwool Fingering here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, where we hope you find inspiration for your next project! See you there.

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club.

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We’re happy to announce that we’re participating in Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club 2017-18! That means that every two months from August to February, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tuscon-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns.

Our August shipment features Jilly, a fingering weight superwash merino wool with 440 yards on each 100 gram skein. This tightly spun single-ply yarn is soft and smooth, painted with streaks and speckles.

One skein would make an excellent pair of socks, a small cowl or shawlette. Buy two for a generous shawl, or get here soon and scoop up a sweater’s-worth. Jilly should play well with a variety of fingering weight yarns, and could be worked into a “Find Your Fade” shawl or “Confetti” sweater, to name just a few recent patterns that showcase speckled yarns.

Look for this limited edition Pop Up! Club colorway in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

Back in stock: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

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Our big fall order from Fyberspates came in last week, and one of the yarns we restocked in a big way is Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

Scrumptious 4ply/Sport is a soft, shimmering yarn, made of 55% superwash merino and 45% silk. It’s a bit heavy for a fingering, and a bit light for a sport, hence its fractured name. In our shop, you’ll find it in the sport weight section, but don’t rule it out if your pattern calls for fingering weight yarn; look carefully at the pattern gauge and check to see if it falls in the suggested gauge range of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport – between 24 and 28 stitches over 4 inches.

I recently completed a shop sample in Scrumptious 4ply/Sport, Purl Soho’s “Two-Color Cotton Cowl.” Though I knit it on the recommended needle size, I didn’t get the recommended gauge, so it’s a smaller circumference than the pattern intends. Still, it’s a fabric I like, and still long enough to wrap once or twice around one’s neck, so in this case, not getting gauge worked out perfectly. It was my first time doing two-color brioche, which was much less difficult than I imagined, and I’d definitely recommend it as an introduction to the technique.

With all these colors back on our shelves, there are lots of great color pairings to be had. Come by the shop to pick up a couple of skeins of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport for a cowl of your own!

CoopKnits Socks Yeah! Trunk Show.

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Yet a third trunk show has arrived this month: eleven socks from Rachel Coopey’s CoopKnits Socks Yeah! Volume One.

This collection features patterns for Coopey’s own yarn, CoopKnits Socks Yeah!, a hard-wearing, machine-washable blend of superwash merino wool and nylon. The book is sure to keep any sock-knitter interested, with techniques from lace and cables to colorwork and stripes.

Socks Yeah! is particularly well-suited to showing off these techniques, with its smooth texture, high twist, and solid colors. The Trunk Show is a great opportunity to see these socks in person and get a tangible sense of how the yarn behaves in a variety of patterns and colors.

We’re offering a 10% discount on CoopKnits Socks Yeah! during the show, which will be decorating our walls until September 15th. Come by to see it for yourself and plan your next project!

 

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

New colors from Isager.

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Some yarn companies create new colors for their existing lines each season, or each year. Isager has never done it that way, instead sticking with a tried-and-true color palette for each yarn that truly has a personality, a voice all its own. Every now and then, however, Isager surprises us with a few new shades, and I’m happy to report that they’ve just expanded both Alpaca 1 and Alpaca 2!

Alpaca 1 is a lace weight yarn made of 100% alpaca which is spun in Peru. Often, Isager patterns pair this yarn with Isager Spinni, Tvinni, Highland, or Alpaca 2, to make thicker fabrics and unique color or fiber blends. Think “Camomille,” “The Fan,” or the “Tokyo” shawl kit.

These 5 new shades are complex heathers, each one composed of several colors blended together before spinning. As such, they appear solid from a distance, but up close reveal a variety of colors – perfect for lace, texture patterns, or simple stripes. These new colors fit right into the existing Alpaca 1 palette, filling spaces we didn’t know were empty, and giving us new ideas for color combinations.

The same can be said for the 5 new shades of Alpaca 2, which seem to call out for inclusion in a “Stole.”

Alpaca 2 is a soft and fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca in a fingering weight, and as I’ve written here on the blog so many times, it’s a real favorite at our shop, year in and year out. If you’ve never used it before, come by the shop to see it in person, pet our “Stole” sample, and see if you’re not moved to cast one on. We’ve got plenty of Isager pattern books to peruse here, too, including the Helga Isager’s newest collection, The Artisan. Our first stack of these books sold out in a flash, but I’m happy to report that they’re now back in stock.

See you at the shop!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Ship to Shore.

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May 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 featured sample is “Ship to Shore Shawl,” by Katie Rempe, a summery lace shawl knit with one skein of Shibui Linen.

Shibui Linen is a light fingering weight yarn composed of 100% linen, with a unique chain ply structure and 246 yards on each 50 gram skein. It has that somewhat crunchy texture that many linen yarns have, but like all linen, it will soften with washing and wearing.

Shibui Linen is cool to the touch and makes up into a lightweight, gently draping fabric – just right for a warm-weather accessory like this one.

We’re offering a 10% discount on Linen purchased for this project til the end of the month. Come by the shop to start a “Ship to Shore Shawl” of your own before May 31st!

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

Back in stock: Isager Alpaca 2.

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Isager Alpaca 2 is a staple here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Year in, year out, we aim to have every available color on the shelf in the fingering weight section, for there is a steady demand for this fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca. A big box of the stuff arrived yesterday, bringing some bestselling colors back into stock.

Our seasoned “Stole” sample has hung on the wall for years now, yet it regularly catches the eye of knitters seeking a soothing, repetitive project, one that’s easy to execute, but with elegant results.

We’ve seen all manner of Stole variations, and whether they’re knit in the original nine shades or a kaleidoscope of unique combinations, slimmed down into scarves or expanded into blankets, everything seems to work.

I still get a kick out of watching knitters select their colors, moving the skeins this way and that, stepping back and squinting for perspective.

I still get a kick out of playing that color game myself, some afternoons, especially quiet afternoons as I’m unpacking a box of Isager Alpaca 2.

If a ribbed rectangle isn’t your idea of a good time, check out these other colorful fingering weight patterns, where Isager Alpaca 2 would be equally at home:

Look for more ideas on our Fingering weight Pinterest board, and come by the shop to play the color game and plan your next project!

New colors in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

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We’ve stocked Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/Sport for a while now in a limited number of colors. As interest grew in this a shimmering blend of merino and silk, we decided it was time to expand our selection.

We got in a nice bunch of brights and jewel tones to complement our neutrals and pastels, and were pleased to find that they play well together.

Scrumptious 4ply/Sport is a soft, shimmering yarn, made of 55% superwash merino and 45% silk. It’s a bit heavy for a fingering, and a bit light for a sport, hence its fractured name. In our shop, you’ll find it in the sport weight section, but don’t rule it out if your pattern calls for fingering weight yarn; look carefully at the pattern gauge and check to see if it falls in the suggested gauge range of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport–between 24 and 28 stitches over 4 inches.

Look for pattern ideas on our Fingering and Sport weight Pinterest boards, and come by the shop to see this pretty stuff in person!

New colors from Baa Ram Ewe.

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The folks at UK yarn company Baa Ram Ewe dreamed up three new colors for their Titus and Dovestone DK yarns, and I’m happy to report that we now have them on our shelves here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

Dovestone DK is a dk weight blend of 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, all sourced and spun in the UK. It’s a nice big 100 gram hank with 252 yards, plenty for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl.

For pattern ideas, look to Carol Feller’s Dovestone Hills booklet, Kate Davies’ Buachaille, and our “DK weight” board on Pinterest. I think Dovestone DK is a particularly good sweater yarn; I made an “Epistrophy” cardigan with it absolutely loved the combination of pattern and yarn. Also consider Isabel Kraemer’s “Ready for fall” pullover, Churchmouse’s “Library Vest,” and tincanknits’ “Clayoquot” pullover.

The two yarns take the dye differently, coming out heathered in Dovestone DK, but bright and clear in Titus.

Titus is a fingering weight blend of 50% wensleydale wool, 30% alpaca, and 20% bluefaced leicester wool.

There’s plenty of pattern inspiration for Titus to be found on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, of course, and we’ve seen some beautiful Titus projects here on the blog over the years.

Come by the shop to see the full range of colors in Baa Ram Ewe Titus, Dovestone DK, and Dovestone Natural Aran. See you there!