Araucania Toconao: now on sale!

Posted by Julia on November 4, 2015

UPDATE: As of 4/22/2016, we are totally sold out of Araucania Toconao!

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Another discontinued yarn has moved to the Sale Trunk here at the shop: Araucania Toconao. It’s a lovely springy yarn, but since it’s no longer manufactured, we’re now offering it at a deep discount of about 30% off the original price!

Toconao is an aran weight merino wool, soft and smooth, with sharp stitch definition. It’s hand-dyed in mostly semi-solid colorways, so alternating skeins is a good idea if your project requires more than one skein.

One 139 yard skein makes a hat or a pair of “Fetching” mitts, two makes a small “Oats” or “Honey Cowl;” pick up a third skein for a generous cowl or scarf. Look for more pattern ideas on our “Aran weight” board over on Pinterest!

Though we’re sad to see good yarns go, we love sharing them with you at a discounted price. Come by to pick up some Toconao at a great price before it disappears!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges, nor special orders–the discount applies only to what we currently have in stock. Thanks!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Rios.

Posted by Julia on August 17, 2015

The July sale put a big dent in our inventory of Malabrigo Rios. It’s no surprise so many knitters took the opportunity to stock up at a discount; Rios is beautifully hand-dyed in rich, memorable colors, soft and springy in the hand, and machine-washable, no less. We’re delighted to have bunches more of the stuff on our shelves after a big reorder.

A superwash worsted weight wool is a versatile kind of yarn, good for garments and accessories alike. We’ve noticed that Rios is particularly beloved for baby blankets, and it was Purl Soho’s generous collection of free baby blanket patterns that came to mind as I unpacked this shipment.

The Purl Soho “Super Easy Crib Blanket” calls for seven colors, and I had fun putting a few colorways together in Rios. There’s a “Crochet Super Easy Baby Blanket,” too!

The classic colors in their “Hudson Bay Inspired Crib Blanket” pattern are easy to approximate in Rios.

I also like the “Shadow Stripe Baby Blanket,” which looks like a good, easy project for learning intarsia. It’s shown in three colors, a white background with two-tone stripes.

Also consider the Purl Soho “Flying Geese Knit Baby Blanket,” “Mosaic Blanket,” and “Forever Baby Blanket,” all of which would look great in Malabrigo Rios.

We also replenished our supply of Malabrigo Sock, for those that prefer a smaller gauge yarn. Come by the shop to plan your next project, and remember Rios next time a baby blanket appears on your to-do list!

Hello, Habu XS-45 20/3 Bamboo.

Posted by Julia on July 4, 2015

Habu’s bamboo lace weight yarn arrived at the shop this week, just in time for summer stitching and weaving. XS-45 20/3 Bamboo may not be a romantic name, but the yarn itself is lovely, a lace weight 100% bamboo with elegant drape and lustre.

A Ravelry search reveals that this yarn is often used held together with other yarns to make unique fiber blends or thicker fabric. Just as often, it’s used on its own in delicate lace shawls, like Elizabeth Freeman’s “Laminaria” and “Aeolian Shawl,” or Evelyn A. Clark’s “Swallowtail Shawl;” free patterns, all, by the way.

Take a peek at this new Habu yarn next time you’re at the shop, and remember to come by during July for our Annual Inventory Sale! In the meantime, enjoy the holiday weekend; we’ll be closed July 4th and 5th, reopening at our regular business hours on Tuesday, July 7th. See you then!

Baa-bles and pom-poms.

Posted by Julia on June 18, 2015

While we were at TNNA, in between swatching new yarns and meeting with vendors, I worked on a colorwork hat. In spite of the long, busy days, the hat was quickly completed, due to the thick, quick-knitting yarn, and the adorable, addictive nature of the pattern.

Here’s my “Baa-ble Hat,” a free pattern designed by Donna Smith for Shetland Wool Week 2015. I knit it in four shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Heather Aran, which has all the wooly charms of its fingering weight cousin, the beloved Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

I topped it with this delightfully oversized pom-pom, which I made using what looks to be the largest pom-pom maker available.

I trimmed a good inch or so off of the pom-pom after removing it from this gadget, and still, it’s a rather significant pom-pom.

Anne and I have been getting some serious pom-pom practice of late, making colorful pom-poms for our summer shop window display. We used all different gauges of yarn, from fingering weight to super bulky, sometimes working with two different colors or multiple strands of yarn in any given pom-pom.

It’s a motley group of pom-poms, but now that they’re hanging neatly in the shop window, we’re really quite fond of them, and the whimsical atmosphere they’ve lent the place.

Come by the shop to pick up a pom-pom maker or two–we just got the full range of sizes in stock!

Hello, MJ Opulent Fingering.

Posted by Julia on March 31, 2015

Another new yarn has found its way to the shop this Spring: meet MJ Opulent Fingering.

Based in Lafayette, Colorado, MJ Yarns specializes in variegated and semi-solid colorways, with short color runs to minimize pooling.

Opulent Fingering is a tightly-plied blend of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon, with 416 yards on each 100 gram skein. It’s perfect for a special pair of socks, a cowl, shawl, or pair of mitts.

MJ Yarns offers a selection of free patterns on their website; consider also the “Willow Cowl,” “Starshower” cowl, and “Multnomah” shawlette, all of which are well-suited to variegated fingering weight yarns. Look for more pattern inspiration on the “Fingering weight” board on the HYS Pinterest page. See you at the shop!

Rowan Pure Wool: new colors, booklets.

Posted by Julia on March 15, 2015

Rowan has added six new shades to their Pure Wool Worsted line, and we’re happy to have them on our shelves.

All six are heathered, each shade composed of a few solid shades that are blended together to look solid from a distance. They fill out our existing selection nicely to make a well-rounded palette.

What to make with Rowan Pure Wool Worsted? Martin Storey has answered this question with two pattern collections in Pure Wool Worsted.

Pure Wool Worsted makes a great sweater yarn, especially for casual everyday sweaters.

It’s smooth and predictable on the needles, sturdy and easy to care for, renders stitch patterns crisply, and happens to be the most economical superwash worsted weight wool we’ve found.

Superwash wool at this gauge is tremendously versatile, and has many uses beyond adult-sized sweaters: use it for baby blankets, children’s sweaters, slipper socks, cold weather accessories, home goods, and the like. It’s also a good candidate for toy-making, as it happens.

I used Rowan Pure Wool recently to knit this pair of bunnies from a pair of free patterns. The bigger one, “Henry’s Rabbit,” is for my niece, and the smaller one, “Henry’s Bunny,” is for her sibling-to-be, due at the end of the month. One skein of Rowan Pure Wool was enough to make the pair. Stuffed animals are definitely not my typical knitting project, but I must say, this was a truly delightful diversion, and this yarn was a perfect fit!

Come by the shop to peruse the Martin Storey booklets, see the new colors, and plan your next project. See you there!

Araucania Coliumo: now on sale!

Posted by Julia on January 8, 2015

UPDATE: As of 4/22/2016, we are totally sold out of Araucania Coliumo!

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Another discontinued yarn has found its way to the sale trunk. We’re now offering Araucania Coliumo at over 35% off!

Coliumo is a single-ply, super-bulky wool and silk blend, with 95 yards on each 100 gram skein, and a suggested gauge of 3 stitches per inch on a US #11 needle. One skein is enough for “An Unoriginal Hat” or “Anthro-tastic Headband,” while three or four skeins would make a cozy “GAP-tastic Cowl.” Come by soon to pick up some Coliumo before it disappears!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges, nor special orders–the discount applies only to what we currently have in stock. Thanks!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Lace.

Posted by Julia on June 25, 2014

The Malabrigo booth is always a must-see at TNNA, and this year, we went there to restock. We filled in some shades of Arroyo we were missing, and picked out a new palette in Lace, our supply having dwindled.

Malabrigo Lace is a single-ply merino, soft as can be, and boasts an impressive 470 yards on each 50 gram hank. That’s enough for a scarf, cowl, or shawlette; just two or three more skeins and you’ve enough to knit Hannah Fettig’s “Wispy Cardi.”

Here at the shop, we have a swatch of Malabrigo Lace, the start of Liz Abinante’s “Saroyan,” a popular free pattern for a triangular stockinette scarf with a leaf edging. This little bit of fabric gives a good sense of how Malabrigo Lace knits up. Come by the shop to take a closer look, and pick up a few skeins for yourself!

New colors in Shibui Linen.

Posted by Julia on June 20, 2014

Linen is the newest Shibui yarn in our collection, a chain-plied yarn in a light fingering weight. We’ve stocked it for just over a month, and already we’ve had to reorder many of the six colors we started out with. Thrilled that knitters and crocheters are as intrigued by the stuff as we are, we ordered a few new colors, too.

We now have Shibui Linen in “Ivory,” “Poppy,” and “Suit,” and they make nice additions to our color selection. I got to arranging them in groups of fours as I photographed them, thinking of Shibui’s free pattern, “L.1.”

“L.1” is a simple striped wrap shown in two main colors, neutrals, and two contrasting colors, one bright and one dark. With that composition in mind, I came up with these colorways, though of course there are many different color strategies to play with.

Come by the shop to see Shibui Linen for yourself, and while you’re here, be sure to admire Amy’s “Mix No. 28,” a vest made with Shibui Linen and Pebble held together. See you there!

Post-Market Sale spotlight: Sublime Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK.

Posted by Julia on May 25, 2014

From Friday May 23rd through June 29th, we will have select yarns discounted during our Post-Market Sale: single skeins will be reduced by 30% and full bags of 10 will be 40% off! Throughout the sale, I’ll be highlighting some of these yarns and giving ideas for what to make with them. Today: spotlight on Sublime Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK.

Sublime’s Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK is a springy, many-plied dk weight yarn composed of all the fibers it’s named for. Cashmere makes it oh-so-soft, merino wool brings a pleasant bouncy quality, and silk gives this yarn a slight lustre.

It’s well-behaved on the needles or hook, machine-washable, and comes in a huge range of colors, from pastels to jewel tones to crayon-brights to neutrals.

All of these qualities make it perfectly suited to a range of projects, garments and accessories alike, for babies, children, and adults.

Sublime Cashmere/Merino Silk DK is also a great choice for blanket-making. Consider the “Honeycomb Stroller Blanket,” “Neat Ripple Pattern,” “Missoni Inspired Chevron Blanket,” and “Granny Stripes”–all free blanket patterns that encourage freewheeling color-mixing, one of the major joys of blankets, I think.

The pattern I keep thinking of, however, requires only 7 skeins–Purl Soho’s “Super Easy Baby Blanket,” a simple color-block garter stitch crib blanket. That’s why each of the photos today show groups of 7 colors. Once I started playing the “Super Easy Baby Blanket” colorway game, I had a hard time stopping.

Look for more pattern ideas for Sublime Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK on our “Post-Market Sale” Pinterest board, and come by the shop soon to have the best selection of this gorgeous yarn at this nice price. Here at the beginning of the sale, we have full bags available in many colors, but they may not last long–hope to see you at the shop soon!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges, nor special orders–the discount applies only to what we currently have in stock. Thanks!