Tag Archives: Harrisville Designs

Show and tell: Harrisville Designs.

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We’ve carried yarn from Harrisville Designs for just a year now, but they already feel like go-to skeins that I can’t imagine the shop without. As soon as I finished one sweater with Harrisville Highland, I cast on for another with Harrisville nightshades, and as I knit it, I’m daydreaming about a future sweater I’ll make with Harrisville Shetland. I’ll show and tell about one of those here, along with other finished knits from our community, all made with Harrisville yarn!

Bailey knit this cozy v-neck in worsted weight Harrisville Highland, the raglan “Sunday Brunch Sweater,” by Hiromi Nagasawa. Her mom has claimed it and wears it often!

My Harrisville Highland sweater is also a v-neck, Ozetta’s “Lakes V-Neck Pullover.”

This sweater is an instant classic that you have probably already seen me in at the shop – I wear it as often as the weather allows! The pattern by Ozetta, and I would gladly knit it again, possibly with a round neck.

Kristin added a strand of Isager Silk Mohair to Harrisville Highland for her “Karla Cardigan,” by Anne Ventzel.

This lightweight addition adds a bit of fuzz and so much drape. Here she and Bailey wear their “Karla Cardigans” together, which had me wanting one of my own.

Liz knit this “Bray” pullover in Harrisville nightshades, a DK weight Cormo wool that comes in 12 shades of black.

The cable, lace, and texture patterns of Jared Flood’s pattern are somewhat subtle in this dark shade, but they still come through.

Here’s Polly’s “Maple Vest,” knit with nightshades’ sunshine counterpart, daylights. This lighter shade shows off the twisted stitches in Yung Jeong’s design.

I hope this inspires you to knit with Harrisville yarns if you haven’t yet – these rustic woolen-spun yarns come in the most spectacular colors, and soften beautifully with wear. Look for them here at HYS!

Hello, Cascade Kid Seta Hand Paints.

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Our passion for mohair is still strong – here’s a brand new yarn from Cascade, Kit Seta Hand Paints! When Anne saw these subtle, painterly colorways, she knew they’d add something special to our lace weight section, which is already bursting with lovely fuzzy yarns.

Cascade Kid Seta Hand Paints:

  • lace weight
  • variegated
  • fuzzy
  • 74% super kid mohair, 26% silk
  • 232 yds/25 g
  • gauge: 18 – 25 sts = 4″ (10 cm)
  • needle size: US 3 – 8 (3.25 – 5.0 mm)
  • hand wash cold, lay flat to dry

Cascade Kid Seta Hand Paints combines the luxurious softness of super kid mohair and silk with hand-painted color variations for a truly unique finish. This lace-weight yarn has a delicate halo and feather-light feel, introducing depth and visual interest through subtle shifts of color. Use Kid Seta Hand Paints alone for a statement piece or blend it with a solid yarn to enhance texture and bring rich dimension to any design.

We have a great many yarns that pair well with mohair, in a wide range of gauges. Pairing fingering weight yarn with mohair is especially common, it seems, so I started my color combining there. I found lovely and intriguing shades to pair with Kid Seta Hand Paints in Harrisville Designs Shetland, Isager Alpaca 2, and Kelbourne Woolens Camper.

There are a few colors in each of these variegated shades of Kid Seta Hand Paints – emphasize one by finding it in a solid yarn.

We’ve shared pattern ideas for yarn combinations like these several times over the past few years – here’s a fresh batch of patterns that would shine in these yarns!

Garments:

Accessories: 

Look for Cascade Kid Seta Hand Paints here at HYS!

Color crush: pool blue.

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Knitters sometimes ask me which they should pick first: the pattern, or the yarn? There’s no right or wrong way to find your next project, of course, nor are these the only two ways. Often we are motivated by color, coming into the yarn shop picturing a particular shade, and searching the shelves for a skein that matches our mind’s eye. Here’s one such case.

For months, Bailey’s been searching for a certain shade of blue: a little turquoise, a little cerulean, a little arctic. She calls it pool blue, and points it out when we’re ordering new yarn or restocking our favorites. I’ve learned to look for it, too, and though we’ve never quite found the perfect pool blue, we’ve come up with a lot of close shades. Perhaps it takes all of these to make pool blue, the way sunlight, movement, and depth alter the color of water.

Here are some of our favorite pool blues, with pattern ideas for each!

Harrisville Shetland in Peacock and Seagreen

With its springiness and structure, Harrisville Shetland is well suited to Andrea Mowry’s “Moon Mint,” a textured slip-stitch pullover with a plaid like pattern.

Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in Cloud, Seabright, and Sapphire

Match up a few shades of pool blue for Gudrun Johnston’s “Riggies Cowl” & “Riggies Beanie,” two simple but clever garter stitch accessories.

Isager Soft in 10 and Silk Mohair in 66

Aegyoknit’s “busan sweater” features a large central cable, and at 16 stitches = 4″, it’s a perfect match for one of the fluffiest yarn combinations at the shop: Isager Soft and Silk Mohair.

Isager Tweed in Raw White + Silk Mohair in EO, Tvinni in 102, and Tweed in Turquoise + Silk Mohair in 66

The popular “Norma Sweater” still has our attention, a design by My Favourite Things for the Isager Archives collection last year. How about a creamy white “Norma” with pool blue colorwork stripes?

Sandnes Garn Sunday in 6315 + Hand Maiden Superkid Silk in Topaz

Hold a solid merino with a hand dyed mohair/silk for PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat,” a simple stockinette accessory that particularly shines in a bold bright color.

BC Garn Bio Balance in 12 + Sandnes Garn Tynn Line in 6044

Bailey is working on Susanne Müller’s “Sabai Top” using this same yarn combination in different colors, and the fabric is so soft and light. I like the idea of a marled pool blue for that pattern, the aqua and cornflower blue coming together to make a unique shade.

Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traiteé in Biarritz + Sandnes Garn Tynn Silk Mohair in 5824

Here’s another subtle marl, perfect for PetiteKnit’s “Monday Sweater.”

Malabrigo Mecha in Green Gray and Thereza

For instant gratification in pool blue, reach for bulky weight Mecha and make an“Arcade Cowl,” by Kristel Nieves.

 

What colors have you been infatuated with lately? Let us know in the comments, or come by the shop and we’ll help you find yarn to match!

2025 in review.

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It was another big year here at HYS – though we were sad to say goodbye to Brooklyn Tweed, we refilled the space they left on our shelves with no less than 12 new kinds of yarn. They’re a diverse group: solids, heathers, and variegated colorways, cool plant fibers and fuzzy animal fibers, and a variety of weights from lace to bulky. This year, I wrote a blog post about each one of them, with my impressions, insights, and pattern ideas for how to use them. Click the links below to review our year in new yarn!

Which of these new yarns have you worked with, and which is next on your wish list? Tell us in the comments, we love hearing about the things you make!

Hello, Harrisville Designs Shetland!

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Fall is a busy time here at HYS, rich with classes, events, and new yarns galore. This yarn in particular has been the subject of our eager anticipation for the past few months – meet Shetland, from Harrisville Designs!

Harrisville Designs Shetland:

  • fingering weight
  • 100% wool
  • 217 yards / 50 grams
  • needle size: 2-4 US (3.0-3.5mm)
  • gauge: 26 stitches = 4 inches (10 cm)
  • hand wash, lay flat to dry

First things first: though its name suggests otherwise, Shetland is not a Shetland wool. “Shetland,” in this case, refers to the size of the yarn and not the fiber content. This fingering weight yarn is a blend of an Australian fine wool and a hearty New Zealand wool, which gives Shetland a little luster. 

Shetland is a finer version of Harrisville Highland, so they have much in common. Woolen spun yet tightly plied, Shetland is lofty and sturdy, a classic yarn for sweaters and accessories alike.

Shetland is available in the same saturated palette of 64 tweedy, heathered colors as Highland, and we had fun picking some shades we hadn’t stocked before, curating a unique palette for this fingering weight yarn.

Shetland shines in cables, lace, texture patterns, and simple stockinette, but is especially well suited to colorwork. Anne has already cast on with Shetland for Isabell Kraemer’s “Heimathafen” pullover, with its subtle dip-stitch colorwork stripes. She’s teaching a class on it in the new year – head to our Classes page to read more about it.

Here are some more colorful pattern ideas for Shetland!

Look for Harrisville Designs Shetland in the fingering weight section here at HYS. We also have nightshades & daylights in our DK section, and Highland in worsted weight – more Harrisville than ever!

Hello, Harrisville nightshades & daylights!

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We’re excited to share something new and unique from Harrisville Designs – meet nightshades & daylights!

Harrisville Designs nightshades & daylights:

  • DK weight
  • 3 ply
  • heathered
  • American Cormo & wool
  • 250 yards / 100 grams
  • gauge: 18-22 sts = 4″
  • needle size: US 5-7 (3.75mm-4.5mm)

nightshades is a woolen-spun American Cormo & wool, dyed in twelve delicate shades of black. The palette is subtle and moody, each shade reading black from a distance, but up close, revealing a dusting of color.

daylights is Harrisville’s sunshine counterpart to nightshades, a smaller palette in shades of white, each with just a twinkle of color.

Both nightshades & daylights are dyed on lofty, Montana-grown Cormo and wool, which combine to form a soft and airy DK weight yarn. Cormo is known for its velvety soft hand and balance of loft and elasticity, qualities that make it a versatile fiber for garments and accessories.

Andrea Mowry’s “Night & Day Cowl” makes lovely use of both nightshades & daylights – above is the same combination she used in her sample, Caffeine (dusted with brown) and Static (marled with white). Below are a few of my own pairings…

What else to make with nightshades & daylights? Here are some pattern ideas!

Garments:

Accessories:

Look for Harrisville nightshades & daylights in the DK weight section here at HYS!

“Baa-ble Hat” in Harrisville Highland.

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Donna Smith’s “Baa-ble Hat” has been charming knitters since it was first published for Shetland Wool Week back in 2015. We’ve seen it knit up in many different yarns and colorways over the years – I’ve just knit my third “Baa-ble Hat,” myself! I used the wonderfully wooly Harrisville Highland, a great choice for this now-classic pattern.

I had fun picking colors for this one, and noticing the subtle variations in the heathered shades as I knit. Loden Blue has bright teal fibers mixed in with the darker ones, and Cornflower blends sky and lavender for a unique blue.

I picked out six more color combinations besides, and doodled them for a preview of the hats I hope they become!

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Inspired to make a “Baa-ble Hat” of your own? Come by the shop and see all the options in our worsted weight section, from Harrisville and others!

Hello, Harrisville Designs Highland!

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There’s something new and exciting in the worsted weight section, where Brooklyn Tweed Shelter used to live – meet Highland, from Harrisville Designs!

Highland is a quintessential New England yarn from Harrisville Designs, the very same mill that used to spin Brooklyn Tweed yarns. They’ve been spinning their own lovely yarns all along, so we knew just where to look for quality woolen spun yarn.

Photo © Harrisville Designs

For over 50 years, Harrisville Designs has been spinning 100% wool yarn in Harrisville, New Hampshire, a small village with a long and rich history of textile production.

Woolen spun yet tightly plied, Highland is lofty and sturdy, a classic yarn for sweaters and accessories alike. Available in a saturated palette of 64 tweedy, heathered colors, Highland shines in cables and texture patterns, colorwork, and simple stockinette.

Harrisville Designs Highland:

  • worsted weight
  • 2-ply, woolen spun
  • 100% wool
  • 200 yards / 100 grams (3.5 oz.)
  • needle size: US 5 – 8 (3.75 – 5mm)
  • gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches (10 cm)
  • hand wash, lay flat to dry

I’m especially excited about Highland, having swatched it up as soon as it landed here at HYS – it has all the qualities I love in a woolen spun yarn, but feels sturdier than others I’ve worked with, with a little more bounce. While I dream up a sweater for myself, here are some patterns well suited to Highland!

Accessories:

Garments:

Look for Harrisville Designs Highland in the worsted weight section here at HYS!