Tag Archives: fingering weight

Buggiflooer Beanie.

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We’re so excited about “Buggiflooer Beanie,” Shetland Wool Week’s featured pattern for 2023!

“Buggiflooer Beanie,” by Alison Rendall

This two-, three-, or six-color fair isle hat pattern is available to purchase from the Shetland Wool Week website. Though in the past the SWW featured hat pattern has been free, this year they’re charging a small sum to help ensure the future of the event. A new Shetland Wool Week hat pattern is something Anne and I look forward to every year, so we purchased it as soon as it was available, and then went straight to our Jamieson’s of Shetland Spindrift to play the color game. I spent some time putting together six-color combinations, inspired by those shown in the pattern.

“Buggiflooer Beanie,” by Alison Rendall, shown in Colourway 3

“Buggiflooer Beanie,” by Alison Rendall, shown in Colourway 4

“Buggiflooer Beanie,” by Alison Rendall, shown in Colourway 5

We also have kits in a special colorway developed by and named for designer Gudrun Johnston!

“Buggiflooer Beanie,” by Alison Rendall, shown in Gudrun’s palette

Yarn bundles for “Buggiflooer Beanie” are $56, and include 6 balls of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift – pattern is sold separately to support Shetland Wool Week. We’re also happy to help you put together two- or three-color combinations from our generous supply of Spindrift – we have over 150 colors in stock!

Come see us or get in touch if you’d like to order a “Buggiflooer Beanie” yarn bundle!

“Manzanita Sunset, February” + BT Peerie.

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Brooklyn Tweed Peerie has been a favorite yarn here at our shop since it debuted in 2018, a soft and bouncy fingering weight merino wool. We were sad to learn that production of Peerie has recently ceased; the folks at BT worked hard to keep it coming over the past few years, but limited domestic supply chain options have now spelled an end for Peerie. Luckily, we still have a nice supply on hand – read on for Peerie inspiration, and come by the shop to get it before it’s gone for good!

“Manzanita Sunset, February,” by Seth Richardson. Photo © Anna-Lisa Miller

Seth Richardson’s recent “Manzanita Sunset, February” cowl pattern caught our eye, a striking slipstitch design for Brooklyn Tweed Peerie.

“Manzanita Sunset, February,” by Seth Richardson. Photo © Anna-Lisa Miller

The pattern comes in two sizes, a smaller neck gaiter and a roomier cowl, and looks equally nice in low and high contrast color combinations. Here are the two colorways shown in Richardson’s pattern photos, followed by a few more I came up with!

Brooklyn Tweed Peerie: fingering weight, 100% American merino wool, 210 yards/50 grams; $17.25 each.

  • For neck gaiter: 1 skein each Main Color and Color 2
  • For cowl: 2 skeins Main Color, 1 skein Color 2

With its soft hand, bold colors, and superb stitch definition, Peerie is worth celebrating – here are a few more ways to use it!

Accessories:

Garments:

Look for Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in the fingering weight section here at HYS!

LYS Day 2023: Casapinka colorways from Dream in Color!

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Happy Local Yarn Store Day! Come by the shop tomorrow, Saturday, April 29, for 25% off featured yarns and 50% off select books – you can read all about those sales on our recent blog post.

Each year on Local Yarn Store Day, designer Casapinka releases a pattern to celebrate. This year, it’s “Kitation,” an asymmetrical triangular shawl in two colors. Get a coupon code for a free download when you buy two 400 yard skeins of any fingering weight yarn at our shop this Saturday!

“Kitation,” by Casapinka, photo © Casapinka

Dream in Color dyer Veronica has created new colorways especially for Casapinka’s LYS Day 2023 pattern, and we’re delighted to have them here at our shop!

Each bundle includes 2 skeins of Dream in Color’s signature luxury fingering weight yarn, Smooshy Cashmere.

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere: fingering weight, 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon, 400 yards in each 100g skein; $68 for LYS Day pair

These LYS Day pairs will also work well for Casapinka’s “Breathe and Hope,” “Ric Rac,” and “Albuquerque Sunset” shawls.

We only have two of each pair, so hurry in if you want to claim one! Thanks for supporting our shop on LYS Day and every day, we love being your local yarn store!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: assigned pooling, April 2023.

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Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. There’s a special theme this time: assigned pooling, a clever way of showing off hand-dyed yarns like these. Aprils new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

What is assigned pooling? As designer Dawn Barker describes on her blog, assigned pooling is a technique where “different stitches are assigned to the color changes within the skein. In other words, knit the background color of the yarn using one stitch and then stop and make a special texture stitch when the accent color occurs.”

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100g
  • $34 each

April’s special colorway is mostly terracotta, pink, and copper, with a bold streak of seafoam blue that pops up regularly as you knit through each skein. Dream in Color dyer Veronica is knitting a “Tangerine Twilight” shawl using this colorway – take a peek in the photo below!

Curious about what else you can do with assigned pooling? Check out these patterns!

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Oslo Hat, No-Mohair Edition.

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I just finished up another new sample for the shop, PetiteKnit’s oh-so-popular “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” though mine doesn’t contain any mohair to speak of.

For this hat, I paired Kelbourne Woolens Perennial and Fyberspates Cumulus, a brushed alpaca that emulates mohair’s fuzzy halo. These two alpaca blends are each very soft in their own right, but together are impossibly cuddly – you must touch this hat for yourself!

My sample “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” blends Perennial in Raspberry with Cumulus in Plum – here are a few more color ideas.

The simplicity of PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” lends itself to variegated yarns, too, which are softened when held together with a fuzzy lace weight yarn – here are a few color ideas pairing Koigu KPPPM with Cumulus!

Look for Cumulus in our lace weight section and Perennial and KPPPM in our fingering weight section – we’re open 11am-5:30pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays. We do require masks for entry – thanks for your cooperation, see you at the shop!

Back in stock with new colors: NFC Organic Studio Sock.

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Our most recent order from Neighborhood Fiber Co. was full of vibrant colors, speckles, and variegated shades, brightening our NFC Organic Studio Sock cubby considerably!

Anne and I had fun selecting colorways we’d never seen before, along with those that have become favorites.

Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Sock:

  • fingering weight
  • hand-dyed
  • machine washable
  • 100% organic merino wool
  • 400 yds/4 oz
  • $34 each

Organic Studio Sock is perfect for knitting socks, of course, but also great for sweaters and shawls – here’s one that Wendy made, Lesley Anne Robinson’s “Studio Sampler.”

Robinson’s design moves through garter stitch, stripes, and brioche, keeping things interesting with a variety of stitch patterns and color combinations. Pick three shades that excite you and have fun watching them interact as you knit – they can be high or low contrast, from the same color family or not. Here are a few combinations I came up with!

Look for Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Sock in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We’re open from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; masks are required for entry. Online ordering is still available for local pickup or shipping – thanks for shopping with us!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Patchwork.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu. KPPPM is a fingering weight superwash merino, hand-dyed in vibrant colors by mother/daughter team Maie and Taiu Landra on their farm outside of Toronto, Canada.

Koigu KPPPM:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, variegated
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 175 yards/50 g
  • $15.50 each

This month’s limited edition shade is Patchwork, a sweet mix of dusty pinks and purples.

I’ve been keeping an eye on Stephen West’s Year of Socks 2023, and his recent “Painting Triangles Socks” pattern brought Koigu to mind – how about using Fibre Co. Amble for a main color, and KPPPM for the contrast colors?

West’s socks are shown with 3 contrast colors, but the socks look just as good with 1 or 2 – here are a few color combinations!

Look for Koigu KPPPM in the fingering weight section here at the shop, along with Fibre Co. Amble and more – see you there! We’re also taking online orders for local pickup or shipping.

Assigned pooling colorways, new from Dream in Color Pop-Up Club!

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We’re excited to announce a new season of Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Club! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. There’s a special theme this time: assigned pooling, a clever way of showing off hand-dyed yarns like these. February’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

What is assigned pooling? As designer Dawn Barker describes on her blog, assigned pooling is a technique where “different stitches are assigned to the color changes within the skein. In other words, knit the background color of the yarn using one stitch and then stop and make a special texture stitch when the accent color occurs.”

Assigned pooling patterns by Dawn Barker, photo © Dawn Barker

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100g
  • $34 each

February’s special colorway is mostly turquoise and purple, with a bright streak of neon yellow that pops up regularly as you knit through each skein. Dream in Color dyer Veronica is developing a bandana cowl pattern specifically for this colorway – take a peek in the photo below, and keep an eye out for the pattern!

Curious about what else you can do with assigned pooling? Check out these patterns!

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Back in stock: Fibre Co. Amble!

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We’re delighted to have a fresh supply of Fibre Co. Amble here at the shop!

Fibre Co. Amble:

  • fingering weight
  • solid and heathered colors
  • 70% Easy-wash merino wool, 20% Easy-wash alpaca, and 10% recycled nylon
  • 355 yards/100g
  • $23 each

Amble is a unique and eco-friendly sock yarn. The thoughtful folks at Fibre Co. selected these Easy-wash fibers because they are processed without the use of hazardous chemicals, yet are still easy to care for and resist shrinking in the wash.

Kate Atherley’s “One Sock” was designed especially for Fibre Co. Amble, a classic top-down sock in all sizes, with lots of opportunities for customization. One skein of Amble is enough for most sizes, but check the pattern description on Ravelry for yardage requirements, as the two largest sizes require a second skein.

What else to make with Amble? Here are some ideas!

Look for Fibre Co. Amble in the fingering weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We’re open from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; masks are required for entry.

“Simple Yet Effective” cowl.

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If you’ve been to the shop in the past few weeks, you might have seen me working on this cowl, “Simple Yet Effective,” by Tin Can Knits. The pattern is aptly named, alternating sections of stockinette and reverse stockinette – a nearly blank canvas for showing off some special yarn. The pattern calls for DK weight, but I’ve held a fingering weight and a lace weight yarn together, Kelbourne Woolens Cricket and Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft, respectively.

It can be tricky to visualize how different colors and textures of yarn will look when knit together. Luckily, Tin Can Knits has a super helpful blog post about just that, “Layering With Mohair.” I was inspired after reading it, and learned that you can achieve a fascinating effect when you combine a darker mohair with a lighter yarn. As Tin Can Knits designer Emily Wessel puts it, “When you blend a darker or more saturated mohair with a lighter yarn, the paler colourway seems to glow underneath a deeper halo.” I tried out that strategy in this cowl and am so pleased with the result – each yarn seems to be enhanced by the other, and of course the fabric is fuzzy and soft!

Here are a few more color combinations pairing Cricket and Loft, which seem to me like they’d blend beautifully.

I couldn’t stop there, when there are so many shades of Isager Silk Mohair to play with – here are a few more!

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Cricket in the fingering weight section here at our shop, not far from the lace weight section, which holds Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft and Isager Silk Mohair. We can’t wait to see what other color combinations you come up with for your own “Simple Yet Effective” cowls!