Tag Archives: fingering weight

Two new colors in Titus.

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As soon as we learned that Yorkshire yarn company Baa Ram Ewe had begun producing new colors of their well-loved yarn, Titus, we ordered some for the shop. Say hello to Titus Light and Titus Dark.

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All three shades of Titus share a common gauge and fiber content: fingering weight, and comprised of 50% Grey Wensleydale, 20% Bluefaced Leicester, and 30% alpaca, all sourced in the UK. Baa Ram Ewe created Titus with the mission to revive the once-thriving British textile industry, and it seems they’re off to a good start, given the warm welcome Titus has received in the knitting world. We first learned of Titus through Clara Parkes’ glowing review, and recently saw another rave from Edinburgh designer and blogger Kate Davies. Even in a single undyed color, this yarn has wooed many. With three natural shades, Titus is even more tempting.

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How to make use of it? Some HYS knitters are using Titus as the main color in their Quill shawl. Anne wants to use all three in a Color Affection shawl. A set of tam and mitts calling for Titus can be found in Ann Kingstone’s Born and Bred, which are now available as single patterns as well as in kits with the yarn.

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On top of that, a recent Wooly Wormhead pattern calls for Titus, and the people at Baa Ram Ewe recommended this cabled cardigan pattern from Susan Crawford as a good match for Titus, as well.

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The longer Titus lives at the shop, the more pattern ideas come up, it seems. We are just loving this yarn. Come by the shop to see all three shades of Titus, and to plan your next project.

Volt.

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Next time you come by the shop, keep an eye out for a new knit sample: a completed Volt shawl, lent to us by Nancy, who just finished teaching a class on the subject.

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Volt is a chevron-striped shawl framed by attached i-cord. The pattern is from Grace Anna Farrow’s collection, The Fine Line, which is sadly out of print (but still available as an ebook!). The pattern calls for Isager Spinni, a lace weight single ply wool which creates a lightweight but sturdy fabric. Having already worked with Spinni, Nancy wanted to make her Volt in another Isager yarn, the ever popular Alpaca 2. A fingering weight blend of alpaca and merino, Alpaca 2 makes for a slightly heavier shawl with fabulous drape and indulgent softness.

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Look for it hanging by the sofa, and consider Volt when you’re seeking an unusual knit shawl pattern. The Fine Line is full of them, all making great use of the Isager color palette. See you at the shop!

A new color from Swans Island.

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Last month’s Swans Island Trunk Show inspired many knitters to create garments with Swans Island’s organic merino wool yarns, which put quite a dent in our supply of the stuff. Last week, we placed an order of Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering in some of the most-loved colorways to replenish our stash: Fig, Winterberry, Oatmeal, Beetroot, Early Thyme, and several other deliciously-named colors. We also got the last bag of Sugar Maple, a limited edition color for Fall, and a first bag of this winter’s Limited Edition Dyer’s Choice: Reindeer Moss.

Reindeer Moss is a lovely, muted sage, which puts it somewhere between Early Thyme and Tarragon in terms of color value.

We also restocked the patterns that were most popular during the Trunk Show, some of which call for Swans Island Worsted, and some of which call for the Fingering.

Come by the shop to see Reindeer Moss in person, and give the Swans Island yarns a good squeeze. See you there!

Hello, Titus.

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Back in October, Clara Parkes reviewed a new yarn out of the UK, a fingering weight blend of UK-sourced wools by the majestic name Titus. Anne was taken with the story of the yarn as much as Parkes’ positive review: Titus is an attempt to revive Britain’s diminishing textile industry by relying on UK-sourced wools and UK yarn manufacturers. Considering North Carolina’s own textile history, this story resonated, and Anne was quick to write to Baa Ram Ewe with a wholesale inquiry. A few weeks later we got a response, and I’m proud to announce that we’re the first US wholesaler of Baa Ram Ewe’s Titus.

Titus is every bit as wonderful as Clara Parkes suggests; soft and fuzzy from its alpaca content, shiny and drapey from its Wensleydale and Bluefaced Leicester wool content, and rustic in its natural color. These qualities make it appropriate for many projects, from shawls, scarves, and sweaters to hats, mitts, and other accessories.

It’s been such a hit here at the shop that we sold out of our first shipment in about two weeks, long enough for our weaver friend Victoria to weave an entire scarf out of it.

Now it’s safely back in stock, with ten skeins on the shelf and thirty more on their way from Leeds. Come by to see Titus for yourself!

Show and tell: blanket, shawl, and sweater.

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The last three show and tell photos I’ve collected at the shop have been large-scale projects, long haul knits whose completion is cause for excitement. That excitement made its way to the shop to be shared with us, and now I’ll pass it along to you.

Betsy has been working on a lace patterned blanket in Jitterbug for some time now; it’s warmed her knees as she knit it. Now it is complete–a feat in this colorful fingering weight yarn.

Ever since our Hanne Falkenberg trunk show, Frances has been knitting away on her Promenade, a shawl kit designed by Falkenberg. At times, she had hundreds of stitches on her needle, more than one circular alone could hold. You can see why she’s thrilled to be done with this incredible piece; it’s a real accomplishment.

Margaretta brought a completed sweater in for show and tell, a New Zealand Pullover made in Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering. The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knit One, Knit All, a collection of designs that make clever use of garter stitch. The New Zealand Pullover is no exception, a simple sweater full of smart details: short row shaping, underarm gussets, phony seams, etc.

Thanks to all for the impressive show and tell!

Back in stock: Jitterbug.

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A recent special order for Colinette Jitterbug yarn in the bright red “Vatican Pie” colorway gave us an excuse to restock some of the most popular colors of this springy superwash sock yarn.

These colorways are made memorable by their quirky names and vibrant hues: “Salted Caper,” “Lobster Pinch,” “Velvet Damask,” and the like. Anne and I recall our various Jitterbug projects by their colorways: her “Vatican Pie” Fan sweater, her “Bright Charcoal” vest, my “Vincent’s Apron” socks. We’re happy to have these colors back, tucked into their cubby with the other variegated and semi-solid shades of Jitterbug.

The shop is closed today, Thursday November 22nd, for Thanksgiving, but do come by sometime this weekend to peruse the Jitterbug selection and consider your next project. Have a happy holiday!

Northern Knits: Gifts.

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A new book arrived a couple of weeks ago that immediately caught Anne’s eye.

It’s no surprise–Northern Knits: Gifts is filled with three things that often catch her eye. Is there colorwork? Yes. Fine, lightweight yarns? Indeed. Something to knit for babies?

Oh, yes! Anne is making three of these little hats for her three little grandbabies, using an armful of colors in Cascade 220 Fingering.

It’s perfectly well-behaved in this stranded colorwork pattern, sturdy and warm, but softer after washing. As she knits, Anne keeps pausing to exclaim, “I’m having so much fun!” And she must be, because the first hat is done, and the second is nearly there, too.

Come by to flip through Northern Knits: Gifts and admire this sweet baby hat before it leaves the shop to be worn by a sweet baby. See you there!

Lascala.

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The Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Show has come and gone, but for the Falkenberg-curious, we still have one garment on loan. Behold: Lascala, a colorful scarf worked in garter and slip stitch patterns.

Lascala is generous in width and length, but lightweight, due to the fine shetland wool that comes in Falkenberg’s kits. It’s knit in two pieces, then sewn together with the color sequence inverted at the seam.

Intrigued? Come by the shop to admire the sample, and pick up a Lascala kit of your own.

Hello, Sincere Sheep.

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This past Wednesday, a box arrived at the shop that we’ve been eagerly anticipating since June. We’re proud to announce that we now carry three yarns from Sincere Sheep. Based in Northern California, Sincere Sheep produces naturally dyed yarns from U.S. sourced fibers. We met Brooke at TNNA in June and were blown away by the vivid colors she achieves with natural dyes.

I was the lucky knitter who got to play with a skein of Sincere Sheep Equity Sport while we deliberated at market. The Equity Sport is 100% Rambouillet wool, grown and spun in Buffalo, WY. I read up on Rambouillet wool in Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Wool, a favorite resource, and learned that Rambouillet is a breed of sheep, a relative of Merino known for its soft, springy fiber.

Where Merino stretches and drapes, Rambouillet has a surprising sturdiness, given its softness. I used the Equity Sport to knit a sample fingerless mitt for the shop, a garment it’s well suited to. I also think it would make lovely hats and sweaters.

When we saw that there was an Equity Fingering as well, we had to get both. I think it would be perfect for colorwork projects, or on a bigger needle for draping shawls and cowls.

On the last day of market, we came back to Sincere Sheep to order a third yarn: Luminous, a dk weight blend of Tussah Silk and Polwarth wool. Polwarth is another finewool, like Merino and Rambouillet, but one with a slight sheen and greater strength from longer fibers. Luminous comes in big, 330 yard skeins, enough to do a generous scarf, cowl, or small shawl. We got two patterns from designer Kira Dulaney that call for dk weight yarn with single skeins of Luminous in mind.

Come by the shop to see these gorgeous yarns from Sincere Sheep!

All You Knit is Love.

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Another new pattern booklet featuring Isager yarns has arrived–Susie Haumann’s All You Knit is Love has landed on the teacart at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

All You Knit is Love is filled with simple, classic designs for babies ages 0-18 months.

Some are made with Isager yarns held singly, and some have you hold two strands together to achieve a bigger gauge.

You can look forward to a Trunk Show featuring finished garments from Haumann’s collection in November. Until then, come by the shop to see the Amimono 3 and Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Shows as well as our growing collection of Isager pattern books. See you at the shop!