Back in stock: Malabrigo Mechita.

Posted by Julia on February 22, 2016

Anne and I breathed a sigh of relief when we opened a box from Malabrigo last week, full of Malabrigo Mechita.

Malabrigo Mechita is a single-ply superwash merino wool in fingering weight, and though it’s only been in production for about a year, it’s become a kind of staple here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. A busy winter season left us with a dwindling supply of the stuff, and we just didn’t feel right til the Mechita cubby was full again.

Suitable for shawls, scarves, and cowls, socks and mitts, baby things and lightweight hats, a skein or two of Mechita has great potential. If you’re itching to cast on with Malabrigo Mechita, consider “Danzig,” “Emiliana,” “Starshower,” “Jewel Dragon,” and “Autumn Rain.”

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!

Hello, Cutthroat Yarn Gradient Cotton.

Posted by Julia on February 15, 2016

Last week, we got another shipment from Cutthroat Yarn in Leesburg, Virginia. Meet the newest of our yarns, Gradient Cotton.

Like Cutthroat Yarn Gradient BFL, Gradient Cotton is a hand-dyed fingering weight self-striping yarn, where each shade is many yards long, for wide stripes. The big difference between these two yarns is in fiber content. The mercerized cotton in Gradient Cotton is grown right here in North Carolina, and like all plant fibers, it makes inelastic, drapey fabric that is cool to the touch, perfect for a lightweight spring or summer accessory.

All of the patterns I mentioned in my recent Gradient BFL post are suitable for Gradient Cotton, too. Consider also Tina Whitmore’s “Radiance Shawlette,” Mindy Ross’s “Reverse Psychology,” and Kateryna Golovanova’s “Spearmint Tea.”

Look for Cutthroat Yarn Gradient Cotton in the fingering weight section here at the shop, on a shelf just beneath Gradient BFL. See you there!

New colors from Baa Ram Ewe.

Posted by Julia on February 6, 2016

The folks at UK yarn company Baa Ram Ewe dreamed up two 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!

The two yarns take the dye differently, coming out bright and clear in Titus, but deeper and heathered in Dovestone DK. “Lotherton” is a bright turquoise, and “Rhubarb” is a hot pink.

These new shades are definitely the boldest we’ve seen from Baa Ram Ewe, yet they fit nicely into the color palette, offering new opportunities for high-contrast color combinations.

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.

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, but we wont turn our nose up at new patterns for Titus, either.

Titus Mini Knits is a collection of accessories knit and crocheted in Titus, from mitts and socks to hats and cowls. CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 2 is another round of accessories in Titus from designer Rachel Coopey, whose colorwork patterns look like such fun.

Come by the shop to see all the new goodies from Baa Ram Ewe, and consider Titus or Dovestone DK for your next project!

Hello, Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering.

Posted by Julia on February 1, 2016

We’re delighted to welcome a brand new yarn from the Fibre Company: meet Cumbria Fingering.

Like its big sister, Cumbria Worsted, Cumbria Fingering is a soft and sturdy blend of 60% merino wool, 30% masham wool, and 10% mohair. The soft white merino is blended with the dark gray masham, creating a natural heathered base color over which all the other colorways are dyed. Each 100 gram skein boasts 328 yards, enough for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl.

Cumbria Fingering is designed with longevity in mind, and as such, is constructed with 4 plies tightly twisted around one another. Sweaters and accessories knit in Cumbria Fingering should weather regular use and look great for years to come. This 4-ply construction also gives the yarn a very smooth texture, which suggests sharp stitch definition for cables and texture patterns.

Though I haven’t knit a stitch with it yet, I’m already daydreaming about a sweater in Cumbria Fingering. Kelbourne Woolens, designers and distributors for Fibre Company yarns, let us know that a small collection of sweater patterns by Bristol Ivy are forthcoming. In the meantime, I’m looking for pattern ideas in all the usual places: CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 1, Kate Davies’ Yokes and Colors of Shetland, Brooklyn Tweed patterns that call for Loft, and our own HYS “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest. I can’t wait to get my hands on this stuff!

Look for Cumbria Fingering in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and while you’re here, check out all the other lovely Fibre Company yarns we keep on hand: Meadow, Road to China Lace, Canopy Fingering, Savannah, Acadia, Knightsbridge, Canopy Worsted, and Cumbria Worsted. See you at the shop!

Hello, Cutthroat Yarn Gradient BFL.

Posted by Julia on January 27, 2016

We’re delighted to announce that we now carry Gradient BFL from Cutthroat Yarn!

Gradient BFL is a 100% superwash bluefaced leicester wool in a fingering weight, and it’s hand-dyed by Cutthroat Yarn founder Jeanette Ward in Leesburg, Virginia. We’re always on the lookout for locally-sourced yarns, and plied self-stiping yarns, too; Gradient BFL fills both of these needs nicely.

Each 100 gram skein has 443 yards, enough for a shawlette, hat, cowl, pair of mitts or socks. Use Gradient BFL anywhere self-striping yarn is called for, like Stephen West’s “Spectra” or “Daybreak,” Melinda VerMeer’s “Nymphalidea,” or Melissa La Barre’s “September Circle.” Some patterns that don’t call for self-striping yarn look equally lovely in gradient yarns like these; consider Hilary Smith Callis’s “Starshower,” Martina Behm’s “Hitchhiker,” or Kelly McClure’s “Sockhead Slouch Hat.”

Instead of choosing from a set selection of colorways, we asked that Jeanette dye a few of her favorites for us, and we love what she came up with. The colors have no names or numbers, and may never be duplicated, so be sure you get enough for your project! Look for Cutthroat Yarn Gradient BFL in the fingering weight section here at the shop.

Hello, Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering.

Posted by Julia on December 7, 2015

Another new yarn has made a home here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Say hello to Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering!

Based in Northern California, Sincere Sheep produces naturally dyed yarns from U.S. sourced fibers. Cormo Fingering is a 2-ply yarn made of 100% Cormo wool, a cross-breed of Corriedale and Merino sheep originating in Australia. The Cormo sheep whose fleece made this yarn live in Kaycee, WY.

Cormo is a finewool, much like its Merino ancestors, and makes a highly elastic yarn that’s velvety soft to the touch. The 2-ply structure of Cormo Fingering gives the yarn a pebbly texture, and gives the knitted fabric a lot of character.

I’m using a skein of Cormo Fingering to knit “Starshower,” a shawl-cowl hybrid by Hilary Smith Callis. It starts off like a traditional top-down shawl, with a garter tab cast-on, grows for a bit with regular increases, then is joined to work in the round. The end result is a shaped cowl, like a shawl with no dangling ends to worry about.

Each 4 oz skein has 500 yards, plenty for a cowl, shawlette, scarf, or hat and mitt set. A versatile skein like this makes a great gift, too, so consider it if there’s a knitter on your holiday gift list this year. Look for pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, and look for this special yarn in the fingering weight section here at the shop. See you there!

Hello, CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

Posted by Julia on December 2, 2015

We’re excited to announce the arrival of a brand new sock yarn: meet CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

Socks Yeah! is the inaugural yarn from designer Rachel Coopey, also known as CoopKnits. We first discovered Rachel Coopey through CoopKnits Toasty Volume 1, a collection of accessories she designed using Baa Ram Ewe Titus. A closer look at her body of design work reveals a sock-knitting devotee, just the sort of person who ought to be dreaming up sock yarns.

CoopKnits Socks Yeah! is a hard-wearing, machine-washable blend of superwash merino wool and nylon, and it’s put up in 50 gram, 231 yard hanks. It comes in 10 solid colors, many of which are light in value, and both of those features make it ideal for showing off texture patterns, cables, and lace.

Solid colors are also ideal for stripes and stranded colorwork, so I’ve been considering the possible color combinations, in pairs and in trios.

If you’re wondering just what to knit with a couple of hanks of Socks Yeah!, there are lots of good places to look for sock patterns. We have cubbies full of sock books and binders full of sock patterns, and Ravelry is bursting with many more. To begin with, check out Rachel Coopey, if you haven’t yet.

We have copies of her CoopKnits Socks Volume 2 here at the shop, which is certainly worth flipping through. “Phloem” and “Echevaria” are intriguing free patterns, and for a few dollars, I like the look of “Arkin,” “Emlyn,” and “Crenate,” among others.

Look for CoopKnits Socks Yeah! in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and look closely, for the heathered colorways that look solid from a distance are far more complicated up close.

See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Vivacious 4ply.

Posted by Julia on November 27, 2015

Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply has only been on our shelves since February, and already we’re due for a second big reorder. Over and over again, knitters are drawn to our cubby full of Vivacious 4ply by the rich, hand-dyed colorways and the softness of the yarn.

I’m happy to report that a big box of Vivacious 4ply landed here at the shop last week. Our cubby is stuffed with more colors than ever, and there’s plenty to go around!

Vivacious 4ply is a high twist, superwash merino wool in a fingering weight. Each 100 gram skein has 399 yards, enough for a pair of socks or mitts, a hat, scarf, or shawlette. Check our “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest for pattern ideas!

Vivacious 4ply is hand-dyed, so each skein is unique, even from the same dye-lot; remember you can alternate skeins to blend hand-dyed yarns in larger projects.

We carry lots of hand-dyed yarns, but each one has their own color personality. Vivacious 4ply seems to excel in low-contrast, painterly colorways, the kind that I’d expect to knit up looking well-blended rather than streaky. Their brightest shades are rich and eye-catching, but their muted browns and grays are not to be overlooked.

Look for Vivacious 4ply in the fingering weight section at the shop. See you there!

Back in stock: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere.

Posted by Julia on November 16, 2015

Every year at TNNA, we visit the Dream in Color booth and pick out a new palette of Smooshy with Cashmere. Their selection of colors is overwhelming, ever-expanding, and cannot be contained by a color-card, so we wait to order until we can see them all in person.

Anne and I were delighted when a box arrived last week from Dream in Color, bursting with ten new shades of Smooshy with Cashmere and another special something that I’ll save for a later blog post.

Smooshy with Cashmere is an aptly-named blend of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. It’s hand-dyed in variegated and semi-solid colorways, deliciously soft and squishy, perfect for next-to-skin wear. It makes an amazing pair of socks or a special scarf, shawl, or cowl. Look for pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” board over on Pinterest.

Look for Smooshy with Cashmere in the fingering weight section, and keep it in mind when an especially luxurious pair of socks is needed. See you at the shop!

Hello, Regia sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on October 12, 2015

We’re happy to announce that we now carry self-patterning sock yarns from Schachenmayr Regia!

These colorful skeins are dyed in such a way that the yarn creates a color pattern when you knit it in a small width or circumference, such as a scarf, pair of socks or mitts. No matter what stitch pattern you use, stripes or faux fair-isle colorwork come out as you knit, entertaining you as you knit even the simplest of projects.

The fiber content is a sturdy blend of 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, to ensure that garments made in these yarns can hold up to the hard wear that socks typically endure.

Some of these colorways are from the Design Line by Arne & Carlos, and some are Pairfect. The Pairfect yarns are designed to make an identical pair of socks, and do so by marking the beginning of the color repeat with a yellow starter thread.

Look for Regia sock yarns in the fingering weight section of the shop!