Tag Archives: fingering weight

The Stole.

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I mentioned a few posts ago that the Stole, with a capital “S,” might be a good way to take advantage of our Annual Inventory Sale. Nine skeins of Isager Alpaca 2 have a way of adding up, and the month-long 15% discount on everything in the shop will help take the edge off. The Stole has become a bit of a hit here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop since we first got the new book Wearwithall. As in, we had to restock nearly every color of Alpaca 2, and we may need to do it again soon. I thought the Stole deserved more than a mention; here is its very own post.

Having seen several beautiful Stoles-in-progress, Anne recently cast on for one of her own, using seven colors of Alpaca 2 whose first life was as a colorwork pullover. After two years on the needles with only a few inches done, Anne decided it was time to rip out the colorwork and give the yarn a second chance as a Stole.

As you can see by all the progress she’s made in only a handful of weeks, she made the right choice. Sometimes it seems painful to rip out a work in progress that you realize you’ll never finish, but this is one of the major joys of knitting: yarn can be reused. Your efforts are not wasted when you rip something out; a pile of ripped-out yarn is a sign that lessons have been learned and a new project can begin.

It’s been such a pleasure to watch knitters break from the colors shown in the pattern to create their own combinations–this one cool in blues and greens, that one warm in neutrals, another autumnal with a pop of chartreuse. The Isager color palette is welcoming in this way, the colors play well together in all kinds of variations.

Come by the shop to quench your thirst for Alpaca 2, and to see Anne’s Stole-in-progress. This is a project that needs to be touched to be understood; photos don’t do it justice. See you at the shop!

Noro Kureyon Sock.

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I know I already mentioned Noro Kureyon Sock when I introduced Week 3 of the Going-to-Market sale. But this morning, as I pulled every skein of Kureyon Sock out from back-room storage to display our whole supply in one big basket, I thought a bullet-point on a list might not have been enough. After all, this yarn has its devotees. 

I’ve seen many pairs of incredible socks made up in Kureyon Sock. Like most Noro yarns, Kureyon Sock is self-striping, making a simple vanilla sock exciting, and shining in entrelac and colorwork patterns. Kureyon Sock is also ideal for fine-gauge scarves, shawls, cowls, hats, and mitts. I haven’t worked with it myself, but again and again, I hear that it softens and blooms after washing.

Come by the shop this week to snag a skein or two of Kureyon Sock at 25% off. At less than fifteen dollars a skein, it’s a good time to stock up on a yarn you love or sample a yarn you’ve never tried. See you at the shop!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on sale items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Thanks!

Bluestocking. Again.

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Last week, we got another bunch of String Theory Bluestocking in another bunch of gorgeous colors.

This weekend, I finally cast on for a pair of Bluestocking socks, anxious to get my hands on a kind of wool I’d never tried before: bluefaced leicester. I chose a pattern from Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Socks, called Hickory, with a barklike ribbing down the leg and instep. The whole leg was done in three evenings, which is how I know I love both the yarn and the pattern.

Come by the shop to take a closer look at the Knitter’s Book of Socks, where there are 200+ pages of serious sock knitting inspiration, and to admire the String Theory Bluestocking. See you at the shop!

Wearwithall.

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A new book, recommended by a friend, has arrived at the shop.

Wearwithall is a collection of patterns by the people at The Yarnery, a yarn shop in Saint Paul, MN. The book has a nice range of projects, including hats, socks, sweaters for babies and children as well as adults, and an eye-catching striped stole.

This stole, designed by Theresa Gaffey, is made from the exquisite Isager Alpaca 2 yarn, a fingering weight blend of wool and alpaca. It’s construction is simple, letting the brightest colors from the muted Isager palette do the talking.

Take a closer look at Wearwithall next time you’re in the shop. Be sure to visit the Alpaca 2 as well, and as you do, just imagine curling up in a cozy Alpaca 2 stole. Hard to resist, no?

Hello, Bluestocking.

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Surprise, surprise: I have some new yarn from String Theory to share. Say hello (again) to Bluestocking, a soft, sturdy fingering weight yarn composed of 80% Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon.

If it seems like we’re ordering from String Theory weekly, it’s because we are. Anne and I love this yarn, and it’s clear you all do, too, at the rate it’s disappearing from our shelves! While Caper Sock has been ordered and reordered several times, we hadn’t shown the same love to Bluestocking until this past week.

Anne started a pair of Bluestocking socks, couldn’t keep her hands off them, and suddenly we were on the phone with the wonderful people at String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn, in Blue Hill, Maine. Much to Anne’s dismay, I suggested we start small, to the tune of six colors. When we sold half of them on the day they arrived, it was clear that I was wrong and Anne was right: Hillsborough Yarn Shoppers have enough love for both Caper Sock and Bluestocking. We ordered more.

I’ve got a skein of the stuff waiting for me at home, and it is torture not to cast on immediately. Care to torture yourself in a similar fashion? Come by the shop and witness the glory of all of String Theory’s yarns. See you there!

Hello, Caper Sock.

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As many of you already know, String Theory yarns move quickly around here. One week, we’re tearing into a box of their hand-dyed yarn, and the next, it seems, we’re studying an emptying cubby of Caper Sock, wondering how we sold out of so many colors so quickly. It gives us an excuse to give them a call and request more, of course, and with each order, we are tempted by the many colorways we haven’t stocked before. Our most recent order brought the biggest variety of Caper Sock we’ve seen yet.

What a spectrum! I find myself selecting colors I’d normally pass over. Suddenly, I like purple, and grass green.

Those of you who subscribe to our newsletter may already know that I recently self-published a pattern using Caper Sock.

North Arrow is a two-color garter stitch scarf with a short-row triangle and chevron stripes. My version is now hanging in the shop, so you can see and touch the scrumptious, soft fabric that Caper Sock creates. With our current selection of colors, choosing a pair for North Arrow makes for a fun diversion. I’d love to see a North Arrow in any of these combinations, for example:

Or you could follow Anne’s lead, and knit a North Arrow in Malabrigo Sock yarn.

We have even more Malabrigo Sock to choose from than we do Caper Sock, if you’ll recall, making the color-combining into a seemingly-endless game. Come to the shop and play!

And do take a look at North Arrow on Ravelry, if you’re interested. I’d love to hear what you think!

WollZauber Magazine.

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Several weeks ago, a new magazine arrived at the shop and I neglected to blog about it. WollZauber had the misfortune of making its grand entrance on the same day as the new Schulana yarns. I photographed WollZauber, promised to get back to it, and then we got a box from String Theory, followed by a most exciting shipment from Malabrigo. Suddenly a month had passed, and all the while, WollZauber has been patiently waiting for an introduction.

WollZauber provides pattern support for Schoppel-Wolle yarns: Zauberball, Crazy Zauberball, Zauberball Starke 6, and Lace Ball. All of the above are self-striping yarns that are unusually packaged in round balls. Many of them are great for socks, and all are fine choices for shawls and scarves. One of our customers made a Wingspan in Zauberball, in fact, and we have a beautiful Multidirectional Scarf made up in Crazy Zauberball, lent to us by another lovely knitter.

It never hurts to have more ideas for these most interesting yarns, though. Here’s a peek inside WollZauber.

Find WollZauber by the Zauberball basket.

Hello, Malabrigo Finito.

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A few months ago, I overheard Anne having a serious-sounding phone conversation with a representative from Malabrigo Yarns. I heard her request “a bag in every color” and knew it must be something good. Then a pause. Then, “better make it two bags in every color.” It must be very good indeed, I thought. How right I was!

Malabrigo has released another new yarn: Finito, a fingering weight superfine merino wool. Produced in limited quantities only once a year, Finito is made from the very finest of merino wool fiber, and beautifully hand-dyed in the usual Malabrigo fashion. The people at Malabrigo told us it was softer than their usual merino wool, which was hard to imagine, but I must say, they weren’t wrong. Each 50 gram skein is 200 yards long and deliciously soft to the touch.

Of course Anne has already selected enough for a sweater. I tried to exercise some restraint and only came home with three skeins to play with. What will become of these three skeins I don’t quite know, but I’m sure I will have a wonderful time finding out.

Come by the shop to see this newest Malabrigo yarn as well as the old favorites: Malabrigo Lace, Sock, Arroyo, Rios, Silky Merino, Worsted, and Twist. See you at the shop!

Two new colors from Swans Island.

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Just two.

We expanded our Swans Island spectrum a bit, but with some self control–a difficult task in the face of Swans Island’s soft, squishy, organic merino yarns. Upon reordering colors whose numbers were dwindling, we pulled out the colorcard to see if we’d missed any. That’s when we gave in. We have room for a few new colors, right? Well: just two.

I just finished a sweater in the Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering, and while it was blocking, I bought another skein to play with, so I speak from personal experience: this is very special yarn. The care that went into its production is evident in the skein as well as in the finished knitted garment. Perhaps these new colors will inspire you to give Swans Island a try, and perhaps their beautiful pattern support will do the same. Come by the shop to take a peek.

A few Kauni colors.

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We’ve been flush with Kauni inspiration of late. Anne’s Wingspan shawlette and Nancy’s Wiggle Wrap have gotten a lot of knitters thinking about Kauni, and the many uses for a self-striping yarn with a slow gradation of color. Now that you’re thinking about Kauni, here are a few colors we haven’t seen in a while, just in this week.

Interested in working with this colorful stuff? Check out the Kauni pattern binder for more ideas on how to make use of it.