Tag Archives: gudrun johnston

Simply Shetland Hapkerchief KAL!

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We are excited to announce that Gudrun Johnston and the Simply Shetland team are hosting their first ever Knit-Along!

Gudrun Johnston’s “Hapkerchief,” knit with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in Colorway 1

The Hapkerchief Knit-Along is open to knitters worldwide, starting on June 2 and running through June 30 only on Instagram – follow @simply_shetland on Instagram for details about prizes and how to participate.

Gudrun Johnston’s brand new “Hapkerchief” is the featured pattern, a quick, 4-color cowl knit with Jamieson’s of Shetland Spindrift that introduces Shetland-inspired techniques in a modern, approachable way. Perfect for the adventurous beginner and beyond!

Johnston’s pattern shows the “Hapkerchief” in three Jamieson’s of Shetland Spindrift colorways, all of which use a mix of light, medium, and dark shades for a balanced look.

Gudrun Johnston’s “Hapkerchief,” knit with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in Colorway 2

Gudrun Johnston’s “Hapkerchief,” knit with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in Colorway 3

I knit up a sample “Hapkerchief” myself, in a colorway Anne and I put together.

Gudrun Johnston’s “Hapkerchief,” knit with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in our own HYS palette

I learned a few things along the way – the German twisted cast-on, a wrap-and-turn technique for working garter stitch in the round without purling, and a purled i-cord bind-off. All of those techniques and more are shown clearly in Johnston’s video tutorials, so you’ll have plenty of support as you knit along!

Look for these “Hapkerchief” yarn bundles here at the shop, and purchase the pattern separately on Ravelry. We have over 150 shades of Spindrift on hand if you want to make your own color combination, of course – can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Back in stock: Brooklyn Tweed Arbor.

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We’re delighted to have a fresh batch of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor on our shelves!

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor:

  • DK weight
  • 100% Targhee wool
  • 145 yards/50 g
  • $14.50 each

This shipment brought us ten of the most popular shades of Arbor, from moody neutrals to saturated earth tones. You can see all of the colors Arbor comes in on the Brooklyn Tweed website – we have most of them here at the shop, and will happily check on any colors and quantities you’re seeking!

Arbor is known for its springy elasticity, soft hand, and stellar stitch definition. We’ve seen so many incredible garments made with Arbor over the years – here are some of the most popular patterns:

Look for Arbor in the DK weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, along with lots of other Brooklyn Tweed yarns – we have Tones and Tones Light, Dapple, Peerie, Loft, Shelter, Quarry, and more!

Loft and Spindrift + Kellister.

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As I was putting together pattern recommendations to go with our recent Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift restock, I took a shine to Gudrun Johnston’s “Kellister.”

“Kellister,” by Gudrun Johnston. Photo © Gudrun Johnston

The classic fair isle XO pattern, the perfectly subtle slouch, the combination of neutrals and warm autumn shades – it spoke to me, and got me thinking about combining Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift for a few more colorways.

You’ll need more yardage in the main color than the three contrast colors, but one skein of BT Loft is enough to cover it; the cost for 1 Loft and 3 Spindrift is $41.95.

We have 35+ shades of Loft on our shelves and 150+ shades of Shetland Spindrift – plenty to make your own unique “Kellister” color combinations! Come by the shop to see them all, or order online for local pickup or shipping if one of these colorways is right up your alley.

Peavine + Tukuwool Fingering.

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Gudrun Johnston’s “Peavine” is our featured hat pattern for September, the final month of the HYS Hat Club!

HYS Hat Club members received four skeins of Tukuwool Fingering for the project, enough to knit two or three “Peavine” hats with the colors in different arrangements. Here’s a trio in each of the HYS Hat Club color palettes – Warm, Cool, Neutral, and Surprise.

Warm 

Cool

Neutral

Surprise

For HYS Hat Club members, we also included a Knitter’s Graph Paper Journal, and we have some for sale at the shop, as well – knitter’s graph paper has squares that, like knitted stitches, are wider than they are tall. This makes them ideal for penciling in all manner of knitting charts, from cables and lace to intarsia, texture patterns, and – of course – colorwork.

  • Tukuwool Fingering: fingering weight, 100% Finnish wool, 220 yards/50 grams; $12.50 each or $50 for 4 skeins needed to make “Peavine”
  • Knitter’s Graph Paper Journal: $12 each

Order online if one of these colorways piques your interest – we’re also open for drop-in shopping, no appointment required, from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays. See you at the shop!

Laine Magazine, No. 11.

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Laine Magazine is back with their 11th issue!

Laine Magazine is a publication out of Finland, a knitting and lifestyle magazine with a love of natural fibers as its focus, and a reputation for beautiful designs and tantalizing photography.

Issue 11 features patterns from an amazing group of designers, the likes of Gudrun Johnston, Paula Pereira, Stephen West, Eri Shimizu, and more.

Beyond the patterns, there are seasonal recipes and plenty of good reading – I’m particularly excited to read Jeanette Sloan’s interview with Diane Ivey, the dyer behind Lady Dye Yarns. We’re proud to have her Superwash Fingering and SW Merino DK on our shelves here at the shop.

Laine No. 10 is $30 each – order online for local pickup or shipping! We also have Laine No. 8 and No. 10 in stock, and Laine’s most recent books, Fair Isle Weekend, Strands of Joy, and 52 Weeks of Shawls.

Back in stock: Brooklyn Tweed Arbor.

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We’re delighted to have a fresh batch of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor on our shelves!

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Klimt (left) and Butte (right).

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor:

  • DK weight
  • 100% Targhee wool
  • 145 yards/50 g
  • $14.50 each

This shipment brought us eight of the most popular shades of Arbor, a few pops of color and lots of neutrals. You can see all of the colors Arbor comes in on the Brooklyn Tweed website – we have most of them here at the shop, and will happily check on any colors and quantities you’re seeking! Just fill out our online order form.

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Rainier (left) and Norway (right).

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Heron (left) and Porter (right).

Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Driftwood (left) and Thaw (right).

Arbor is known for its springy elasticity, soft hand, and stellar stitch definition. We’ve seen so many incredible garments made with Arbor over the years – here are some of the most popular patterns:

  • “Kirigami,” by Gudrun Johnston – bottom-up seamless pullover with textured yoke
  • “Geiger,” by Norah Gaughan – tailored, intricately cabled cardigan, knit in pieces
  • “Soldotna Crop,” by Caitlin Hunter – top-down, short-sleeved, cropped colorwork pullover
  • “Dog Star,” by Tin Can Knits – bottom-up seamless pullover with colorwork yoke

We’re happy to help you plan your next project – order online, we can ship your order or hold it here at the shop for local pickup. Thanks for supporting our small business!

Join us for a Dapple KAL!

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Brooklyn Tweed’s newest yarn, Dapple, has captured our imagination.

Sample skeins acquired in advance of the launch allowed Anne to get it right on her needles, casting on for Gudrun Johnston’s “Kirigami” pullover in Honeycrisp.

Not wanting to miss out on this fun, I’ve decided to cast on with Dapple, too, and selected Anchor and Natural for a “Pātikitiki Hat,” by Francoise Danoy. I can’t wait to see how the striking geometric colorwork comes out in this simple, high contrast combination!

We’re excited to announce an informal Dapple knit-along! How to participate? Simply embark on a project of your choosing with Brooklyn Tweed Dapple, and stitch at your own pace. There will be no deadline, just the camaraderie of working with the same yarn at the same time. Anne and I are here to answer questions as you select your pattern, colors, and needles, and will post our progress along the way.

Anne has already made great strides on her “Kirigami,” and we are both having fun watching it come together. This is a bit of a departure for her in terms of color, which is to say, it’s bold and bright instead of subdued and neutral. She sorted the skeins by value before casting on, making a gradient from light to dark. “Kirigami” is worked in the round from the bottom up, so she cast on the sleeves and body with the darkest skeins, making the sweater lightest at the textured yoke.

What else to knit with Dapple? It substitutes well for BT Arbor, for which there are a great many patterns available, but we’ve come up with all kinds of other projects for Dapple besides. Here are some ideas!

Garments:

Accessories:

Cast on with us this week, or next week, or whenever suits you – knit along at your own pace, and use the hashtag #HYSDappleKAL to share your progress on Instagram!

On our needles.

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What’s in Anne’s Plystre Project Pouch, besides a Baby Baggu?

A grandson-sized “Atlas (For Kids),” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft!

I love the color combination she chose – Flannel for the main color, Snowbound and Old World for the contrast colors.

Many of you know that Anne never limits herself to one project at a time. So what else is on her needles right now? Let’s take a look!

Anne’s “Calla” tank is growing, stripe by stripe. You can see how Anne keeps unruly plant fiber yarns in check, by hand-winding them into tight balls and storing them in ziplock bags as she knits.

Designed by Shellie Anderson for Shibui Koan, this is shaping up to be a lovely, lightweight summer garment.

Anne is almost done with another Shellie Anderson design, “Cather,” an elegant pullover in Shibui Echo. As she set in the first sleeve the other afternoon, she remarked on cocoknits Claw Clips – “I don’t know how I ever seamed without them!”

Another work in progress from Anne’s collection is this “Rainy Day Hat,” designed by Melanie Berg for her Balayage yarn. It’s a super-soft fingering weight blend of merino and alpaca, a treat for the hands.

I confess, I’m not quite as prolific as Anne, and my projects are coming along more slowly! Above is my “Kirigami,” designed by Gudrun Johnston and knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor. I’ve been savoring this project for some months now, enjoying the simplicity of stockinette and the elasticity of Arbor, one of my very favorite yarns.

I’m about halfway through Churchmouse’s “Vineyard Cowl,” knit with one skein of Baa Ram Ewe Winterburn DK. It’s an easily-memorized stitch pattern, and a soothing knit in this wonderfully wooly yarn, shown here on another of my works-in-progress – a quilt I’ve been slowly stitching.

There’s a lot we miss about being “open” in the usual sense, but one of the main things is seeing what everyone is working on! What’s on your needles? Share in the comments, or post photos on Instagram, tagged #hillsboroughyarnshop – we can’t wait to hear from you!

Sale of the Week, Virtual Trunk Show: Brooklyn Tweed Fall 2019!

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Though we’re keeping our doors closed during May, we’re still virtually open for mail orders, and we want to offer something fun during this uncertain time. Throughout May, we’ll have a special sale each week – 15% off a featured yarn, our Sale of the Week!

Another trunk show has arrived from Brooklyn Tweed – the Fall 2019 collection is here! We are truly sorry that our doors can’t be open to walk-in traffic at this time, when it’s such fun to see and touch these garments for yourself. However, you don’t have to miss out on the 15% discount we’re offering on featured BT yarns until May 30 – if you see something here that you like, email us with questions or to place an order!

It’ll have to be a Virtual Trunk Show this time – let’s take a look at the Fall 2019 collection!

 

 

“Auna,” by Gudrun Johnston, geometric colorblock shawl knit with 4 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Vale ($15 each; 2 skeins Thaw, 1 skein each Morel and Vernal).

 

“Cilfor,” by Gudrun Johnston, circular yoke pullover with pockets, knit with 8 – 14 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter ($13.75 each, shown in Yellowstone).

“Collomia,” by Gudrun Johnston, colorwork pullover knit with 9 – 17 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter ($13.75 each, Woodsmoke (MC), Nest (C1) and Bale (C2)).

 

 

 

“Dominy,” by Gudrun Johnston, A-line pullover knit with 5 – 9 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie ($15.25 each, shown in Burnished).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Dovera,” by Veronik Avery, colorwork tam knit with 4 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Loft ($16.75 each, shown in Meteorite, Tent, Birdbook, and Sweatshirt).

“Graff,” by Jared Flood, cabled hat knit with 2 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie ($15.25 each, shown in Marigolds and Nori).

 

 

 

“Lowra,” by Veronik Avery, belted cardigan knit with 10 – 16 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Arbor ($14.50 each, shown in Carob).

“Maremma,” by Norah Gaughan, cabled scarf knit with 7 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Quarry ($21 each, shown in Citrine) or 8 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Arbor ($14.50 each, shown in Mesa).

“Rockcress,” by Norah Gaughan, cabled pullover knit with 9 – 14 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Shelter ($13.75 each, shown in Wool Socks).

“Sagemoor,” by Veronik Avery, v-neck colorwork pullover knit with 9 – 13 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Loft ($16.75 each, shown in Cast Iron (C1), Embers (C2), Tent (C3), Pumpernickel (C4), Sweatshirt (C5), Cinnabar (C6), Button Jar (C7), and Meteorite (C8)).

 

 

 

“Sethera,” by Norah Gaughan, colorwork cardigan knit with 11 – 30 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Shelter ($13.75 each, shown in Caribou (C1), Fauna (C2), Embers (C3) and Meteorite (C4)).

“Tillage,” by Jared Flood, cabled turtleneck knit with 11 – 18 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Arbor ($14.50 each, shown in Treehouse).

Most every Brooklyn Tweed yarn is featured in these designs: the lace weight Vale, fingering weight Peerie and Loft, DK weight Arbor, worsted weight Shelter, and bulky weight Quarry – all of which are 15% off during the Virtual Trunk Show. Email us with your order by May 30, and take care!

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Sale of the Week, Virtual Trunk Show: Brooklyn Tweed Holiday 2019!

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Though we have to keep our doors closed during April, we’re still virtually open for mail orders, and we want to offer something fun during this uncertain time. Throughout April, we’ll have a special sale each week – 15% off a featured yarn, our Sale of the Week!

Another trunk show has arrived from Brooklyn Tweed – the Holiday 2019 collection is here! We are truly sorry that our doors can’t be open to walk-in traffic at this time, when it’s such fun to see and touch these garments for yourself. However, you don’t have to miss out on the 15% discount we’re offering on featured BT yarns until April 21 – if you see something here that you like, email us with questions or to place an order!

It’ll have to be a Virtual Trunk Show this time – let’s take a look at these select pieces from the Holiday 2019 collection!

“Marquam,” by Veronik Avery, knit with 5 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor ($14.50 each; 2 skein main color Fleet, 1 skein each contrast colors Hammock, Tincture, Driftwood).

“Bybee,” by Gudrun Johnston, knit with 8 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie ($15.25 each; 4 skeins main color Thaw, 2 skeins each in contrast colors Gale and Norway).

“Gammans,” by Norah Gaughan. Short cowl knit with 5 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (3 in main color Degas, 1 skein each contrast colors Arabesque and Carob). Beanie knit with 3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (1 skein each in Vintner, Butte, and Ranier).

“Ardenwald,” by Jared Flood, knit with 2 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (shown at left in Tincture) or 2 skeins Brooklyn Tweed Shelter ($13.75 each, shown at right in Iceberg).

“Svenson (For Her),” by Jared Flood, knit with 10-17 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (shown in Hammock).

Some of our favorite Brooklyn Tweed yarns are featured in these designs: the fingering weight Peerie, DK weight Arbor, and worsted weight Shelter – all of which are 15% off during the Virtual Trunk Show. Email us with your order, and take care!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!