Back in stock: Isager Alpaca 2.

Isager Alpaca 2 has long been a favorite here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. There always seems to be a steady demand for this fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca, beloved for its soft hand and harmonious color palette. A very large box of the stuff arrived with the brand new Isager Sock Yarn, bringing some bestselling colors back into stock and adding a few new shades, too!

Isager Alpaca 2:

  • light fingering weight
  • 50% alpaca, 50% merino
  • 275 yards/50 g
  • $12 each

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 graceful results.

Here are some other pattern ideas for Alpaca 2!

Look for Alpaca 2 in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We love Isager yarns and carry a lot of them – Silk Mohair, Spinni, Alpaca 1, Alpaca 3, Tvinni, Highland Wool, Jensen, Sock Yarn, and more.

Hello, Isager Sock Yarn.

Isager’s newest yarn is here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – meet Sock Yarn!

Isager Sock Yarn:

  • fingering weight
  • 40% Easy Wash alpaca, 40% Easy Wash merino wool, 20% recycled nylon
  • 423 yards/100g
  • $20 each

Isager Sock Yarn is a soft and sturdy fingering weight yarn made primarily of Easy Wash alpaca and merino wool. An environmentally friendly alternative to superwash, Easy Wash is a treatment that makes animal fibers machine-washable without discharging hazardous chemicals in the process. Like Fibre Co. Amble, Isager Sock Yarn is fortified with recycled nylon for strength, making good use of an industrial byproduct that would otherwise be wasted.

Isager Sock Yarn is smooth and tightly plied, which is key for hard-wearing accessories like socks. I’m knitting a child-sized “Rye Light” sock as an Isager Sock Yarn sample for the shop, appreciating the stitch definition as I work.

Here are some sock patterns to consider, from basic beginner-level socks to intricate texture and color patterns.

Look for Isager Sock Yarn in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: May 2022.

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. May’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

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

May’s special colorway is a delicate pastel somewhere between seafoam and pale blue, with a few bright speckles livening up these otherwise subdued skeins.

We love how the May 2022 color pairs with these semisolid shades of Smooshy Cashmere – perhaps a low contrast “Touchstone” shawl, “Rosemount Shawl,” or “Garter Snake Cowl.”

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We are open between 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; you can still order online for local pickup or shipping, as well.

Koigu Collector’s Club: The Marsh.

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 The Marsh, a beachy colorway streaked with shades of aqua, cream, and gray.

Anne spotted the perfect pattern for this or any shade of Koigu KPPPM – Churchmouse’s “Linen Stitch Loop,” a two color cowl that pairs variegated and solid shades for a pixelated effect.

“Linen Stitch Loop,” by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, photo © Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

There are so many yarns in our fingering weight section here at the shop – here are a few that complement The Marsh!

  • Kelbourne Woolens Perennial: light fingering weight, 60% superwash merino, 25% suri alpaca, 15% nylon, 497 yards/100 g; $26 each
  • Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering: fingering weight, 100% superwash merino, 200 yards/50 g; $11 each

  • Punta del Este Mericash Solid: fingering weight, single ply, 80% merino, 20% cashmere, 264 yards/50 gm; $18 each
  • Isager Merilinlight fingering weight, 80% wool, 20% linen, 228 yards/50 g; $11 each

  • Baa Ram Ewe Titus: fingering weight, 70% wool, 30% alpaca, 350 yards/100 g, $29 each
  • Fibre Co. Amble: fingering weight, 70% Easy-wash merino wool, 20% Easy-wash alpaca, and 10% recycled nylon, 355 yards/100g; $23 each

 

Look for Koigu KPPPM in the fingering weight section here at the shop, along with Perennial, Fluffy Fingering, Mericash Solid, Merilin, Titus, Amble, and so much more – see you there!

Meadow, by Marie Wallin.

We often get requests for books by Marie Wallin, a British designer known for her colorwork patterns. They seem to sell out as fast as they come in, but we’re happy to report that Marie Wallin’s Meadow is back in stock!

Meadow is Wallin’s second collection of designs made with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. It’s one of our very favorite yarns, a classic Shetland wool that comes in over two hundred colors! You can’t miss the Spindrift display in our fingering weight sections, it seems to catch everyone’s eye.

In Meadow and much of her design work, Wallin is inspired by traditional fair isle knitting, but applies the technique to modern, wearable shapes and styles.

Meadow is $36; look for it on the teacart here at the shop, amidst piles of new books and magazines, full of inspiration for new projects. See you there!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Koigu Wall.

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 Koigu Wall, a variegated rainbow, like a box of crayons in a skein.

As we were unpacking these colorful skeins, Anne suggested using them in a kid’s colorwork sweater – with enough contrast in the background color, variegated skeins can really shine in stranded patterns. Wool & Pine’s “Criterion Mini” is a great candidate, a colorwork yoke pullover in sizes 0-6 months – 10-12 years. (There’s an adult “Criterion,” too – rainbow yokes aren’t just for kids!)

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

  • Kelbourne Woolens Camper: fingering weight, 100% wool, 200 yards/50g; $9 each

Want to use Koigu Wall on its own? These Wool & Pine patterns are great for highly variegated skeins like these:

Look for Koigu KPPPM in the fingering weight section here at the shop, along with Kelbourne Woolens Camper, Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, and more – see you there!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: April 2022.

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. April’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

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

April’s special colorway is predominantly pink, streaked with ivory and lightly speckled with purple, green, blue, and orange.

I think it would be perfect combined with a strand of Shibui Silk Cloud or Isager Silk Mohair – head to our Silk Mohair + fingering weight blog post for loads of pattern ideas!

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We are open between 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; you can still order online for local pickup or shipping, as well.

Loft + SSP (slip stitch party) shawl.

Isabell Kraemer’s latest design looks like so much fun, a slip stitch shawl in six shades of Brooklyn Tweed Loft!

“SSP (slip stitch party) shawl,” by Isabell Kraemer, photo © Isabell Kraemer

As soon as I saw “SSP (slip stitch party) shawl,” I went straight for our Loft display, intrigued by the play of low and high contrast combinations in Kraemer’s design.

Brooklyn Tweed Loft:

Here are a few more possibilities, though with 35+ shades in stock, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

We recently ordered a big bundle of Loft, anticipating upcoming shortages due to the permanent closure of the Philadelphia dyehouse Brooklyn Tweed has been working with since 2010. Unfortunately, this means that our most recent shipment of Loft may be our last of 2022. BT is working hard to find a new way to produce their beloved woolen spun yarns, but in the meantime, we’re well stocked in Loft and Shelter!

Come by the shop to plan a “SSP (slip stitch party) shawl” of your own, or order online for local pickup or shipping if one of these colorways is right up your alley.

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: March 2022.

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. March’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

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

March’s special colorway is a wild blend of neons and brights streaked with black and white.

It reminds me of February’s Pop-Up Club colorway, but darker, which had me wondering if they could be part of a fade; these three would make a striking “Temperance Shawl,” or a “Free Your Fade,” by Andrea Mowry!

Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We are open between 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; you can still order online for local pickup or shipping, as well.

Koigu Collector’s Club: Koigu Barn at Dawn.

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 Koigu Barn at Dawn, a variegated mix of peach, ivory, burgundy, and shades of gray.

This new colorway made me think of Andrea Mowry’s “Curio Socks,” a striped, slip-stitch pattern I’ve seen several knitters working on lately. The heathered CoopKnits Socks Yeah! makes a great Main Color, letting the variegated KPPPM take center stage as Contrast Color.

Look closely at Mowry’s sizing as you select your yarn and colors; some sizes will require two skeins of Socks Yeah! as shown here, while others will only need one.

CoopKnits Socks Yeah!: fingering weight, 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 231 yards/50 grams; $11.60 each

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