Tag Archives: jared flood

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Peerie.

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I’m back with more show and tell, focused this time on accessories and garments knit with Brooklyn Tweed Peerie. Peerie is one of the four yarns featured in our current BT Wool People 12 Trunk Show, so it seems fitting to share some of the projects folks are making with this special yarn.

Kathryn knit this “Lucerne” hat with Peerie, enlisting her young daughter’s help in selecting colors. I love what they came up with, as well as Kathryn’s description of Peerie – “supernaturally springy.”

Elsbeth knit this “Architexture” scarf with Peerie and came back for more to make another one, an excellent endorsement of yarn and pattern alike. Peerie’s smooth, round texture is perfect for showing off knit and purl texture patterns like those featured here.

Margaretta has also been charmed by Peerie, having used it to knit both the “Afton” scarf above and the “Hazelfern” socks below.

Both of these texture-rich patterns were thoughtfully designed by Jared Flood, and Margaretta appreciated the quality and clarity of the patterns as much as the yarn.

Jane knit this impressive “Butterfly / Papillon” shawl with six shades of Peerie during Nancy’s recent class here at the shop.

I’m particularly struck by Jane’s unique color combination, a balance of warm and cool colors, light and dark. Well done, Jane!

Here’s Ruth in her “Boardwalk,” knit with Peerie in a cheery pink shade. This pattern has been a popular one, whether knit in Peerie or in Loft, in part because of how wearable it is. The design is clever and flattering, a layer that manages to look both smart and casual.

Thanks to Kathryn, Elsbeth, Margaretta, Jane, and Ruth for sharing these knits with us, and to everyone whose projects begin with trips to our shop.

Come by before March 3rd to see the Wool People 12 Trunk Show and get 10% off Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, Loft, Vale, and Arbor. See you there!

 

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

 

Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show: Winter 18.

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We’re excited to have a new Trunk Show decorating our walls. Come by the shop before October 14 to see the Brooklyn Tweed Winter 18 collection!

The Brooklyn Tweed design team is prolific, and creates new pattern collections several times a year. Each one is met with excitement here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop; Anne and I often scroll through the lookbook together on launch day, pointing out sweaters we’d love to make.

We’ve been especially looking forward to seeing Norah Gaughan’s “Geiger” cardigan, shown on the right in Kettle black. It caught Amy’s eye as soon as the collection was published in January, and she’s cooking up a class on this intricate cabled cardigan for Spring 2019. Let us know if you’re interested in such a class, and we’ll be sure to notify you when more details are available!

For me, Gudrun Johnston’s “Kirigami” and Julie Hoover’s “Nolan” are the stars of this show, patterns I’ve been looking forward to seeing. Both of these, like “Geiger,” are knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, an ideal yarn for showing off texture patterns. Anne and I both took a shine to Jared Flood’s “Freja,” a quick short-sleeved knit in Quarry. Which are your favorites?

Seeing these garments close up and in person is one of the great joys of a Trunk Show. Another joy is trying them on for size, making sure you like the fit and feel before you invest in a big project. We like to add one more joy: a 10% discount on purchases of the featured BT yarns during the trunk show!

Come by the shop to see this breathtaking collection for yourself, and plan your next project in Brooklyn Tweed yarns at 10% off! See you there.

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges. Thanks! 

Show and tell: Isager.

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Time for another round of show and tell! Today I’m here to share some finished projects that started life as yarn on our shelves, and they all have one thing in common: they’re all knit with yarn from the Danish company Isager.

Above is Loretta’s “Girasole,” an intricate circular shawl designed by Jared Flood. She used two Isager yarns held together for this piece, both lace weight – Alpaca 1 and Spinni. The combination is perfectly balanced, with drape from the Peruvian alpaca yarn and structure from the Danish wool.

Hazel picked up Susie Haumann’s All You Knit is Love here at the shop and has been busy knitting from it, making dresses for her granddaughter.

She knit this “Smilla’s Dress” with Isager Highland, a light fingering weight wool sourced in Peru. The heathered color gives depth to the fabric of this piece, with its eyelets, cables, and panels of reverse stockinette.

Hazel went on to knit a second “Smilla’s Dress” in a different yarn – more on that in the next show-and-tell post!

Carribeth knit this Churchmouse “Alexandra’s Airplane Scarf” with Isager Japanesk Bomuld, a lace weight cotton tape. Knit up loosely like this, it’s somehow crisp and soft at once, a contradictory but delightful fabric for summer.

We love seeing what folks make with our yarns – thank you so much for sharing your projects with us. Look for more show and tell here soon!

Show and tell: colorwork hats.

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We love to see finished projects that started life as yarn on our shelves, and when I’m able, I love to photograph them and share them here on the blog. It’s been a busy spring so far, full of exciting new yarns, books, and magazines, all of which keep this blogger busy. Meanwhile, jaw-dropping projects keep coming through our doors, and it’s time to make time for show and tell. I have enough photos stockpiled for at least four blog posts – let’s begin with colorwork hats, on the heels of our HYS Colorwork Trunk Show.

Here’s Joanne’s “Seeds Hat,” designed by Jared Flood and knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft. The soft sage green with the bright teal is a surprising combination that works well, especially with a jaunty pom-pom on top.

Sandy made a “Seeds Hat,” too, also using Brooklyn Tweed Loft; I snapped a photo just as she was weaving in the ends on this, her first colorwork project.

I made a family of “Banff” hats for my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew for the holidays. I love Malabrigo Rios for its easy care, fun colors, and soft, squishy hand, and I love tincanknits’ straightforward pattern for its charming motif and huge range of sizes.

Marilyn knit this “Bousta Beanie” to practice her fair isle knitting technique before embarking on a larger colorwork garment; her even tension and excellent color choice show how ready she is for that exciting project. The yarn is Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, a classic choice for colorwork and a personal favorite of mine.

Kate has been knitting with Shetland Spindrift, too; this “Snawheid” was designed by Kate Davies, for whom Kate and I share a great admiration. This playful combination of bright blue and natural white suits the snowflake motif and shows the pattern so well!

Margaretta’s “Tincture” hat is colorwork of a different kind – mosaic knitting, where some stitches are slipped and others are knit, for a color pattern with a bit of texture, too. She used Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in a high contrast combination for a striking effect.

Thanks to the knitters, crocheters, and weavers who bring in their work to show us what they’ve made! You inspire and amaze us, and we can’t wait to see what you get into next. Keep an eye on this blog for more show-and-tell soon!

Laine Magazine, No. 4.

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Today we welcomed another beautiful new issue of Laine Magazine.

Laine Magazine is a relatively new publication out of Finland, a knitting and lifestyle magazine with a love of natural fibers and handicraft as its focus.

This issue is only the fourth, but already, it’s developed quite a following, such that we had a waitlist full of knitters to contact as soon as this issue arrived. By the end of the day, Anne was on the phone ordering another batch – our supply was already half gone!

Inside Laine, you’ll find a mix of knitting patterns, articles, recipes, profiles on Jared Flood and other fiber artists, and a travel guide to Paris.

Sarah Pope’s “Kennings Yoke” caught our eye as soon as the first previews of this issue came out earlier in the month. Knit with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, this sweater is decorated with texture at the yoke and at the bottom hem, an intriguing detail.

The hat on the cover of this issue is knit with Brooklyn Tweed, too – Quarry, for a quick and cozy knit. I spotted another familiar yarn among this group, too – Emily Greene’s “Rift” cowl is knit with Swans Island All American Worsted, a personal favorite of mine.

Come by the shop to page through Laine and our other books and magazines. We hope you find inspiration here!

Show and tell: Shelter sweaters.

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The extra cold weather we’ve had lately has brought out some incredible knitwear! Almost everyone who comes through our doors these days is bundled in handmade woolens. As a result, I have quite a pile of show and tell photos to share, and sifting through it, a few themes have emerged. For today’s post, that theme is sweaters knit with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, a yarn I consider perfectly suited to sweater-making.

Here’s Marcy in her “Grow” sweater by Norah Gaughan, from Hannah Thiessen’s recent book, Slow Knitting. Made with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in the playful Tartan colorway, Marcy calls it her January sweater, the warm-but-not-heavy garment that will see her through this chilly month. The construction of this sweater is more intriguing than this photo lets on, with diagonal side seams wrapping from the narrow back piece to the wider front – an interesting knit, no doubt!

Grace’s recently-completed “Tinder” is knit with Shelter in Almanac, a rich blue. This Jared Flood design features an all-over knit/purl texture pattern, straightforward to execute and satisfying to see.

She wore it into the shop just after finishing it, and kindly let me photograph it while our ballwinder prepared her next sweater’s worth – a knitter after my own heart, following one sweater directly with another.

Leslie is another serial sweater-knitter; above is her latest, Michele Wang’s “Bedford” pullover knit in Snowbound, Shelter’s lightest gray. Like “Tinder,” “Bedford” is all about a simple repeated texture pattern, though this one has a bit of a cable twist. It’s a cozy sweatshirt of a sweater, the kind of garment one wouldn’t mind wearing day after day.

This little tincanknits “Flax” was knit by Emily for a new baby in her family, and Shelter in Faded Quilt was the perfect shade of blue gray. I haven’t knit as many baby sweaters as some, but “Flax” is one I made for my nephew, and I often recommend it. I love the rustic look of Emily’s in Shelter!

 

I, too, have knit a sweater with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, and here I am wearing it. This is Bristol Ivy’s “Second Grace,” a pullover in my favorite sweater genre: bottom-up, colorwork, circular yoke. I labored over the selection of seven colors, wanting to branch out from my usual blue or gray and stymied by the abundance of amazing colors in the Shelter palette. Ultimately I landed on Cast Iron for the main color, and Long Johns, Cinnabar, Tallow, Almanac, Tartan, and Snowbound for contrast colors. I’m so pleased with this garment – you will likely see me wearing it a lot, and it may not be long before I knit another sweater in Shelter.

A warm thanks to all of you who bring your finished projects in to share with us, we are so inspired by what you make and we can’t wait to see what’s next!

Rib Magazine No. 3: Alchemy.

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We’re happy to report that the latest issue of Rib Magazine is here!

Rib is a magazine for men who knit and those who knit for them, one filled with patterns and articles of interest to male knitters, who so rarely see themselves reflected in craft magazines.

One of the recurring columns is “Why I knit,” authored this time by knitwear designer and Brooklyn Tweed founder Jared Flood.

Look for Rib on the teacart here at the shop, amidst piles of exciting new publications for all kinds of knitters!

Show and tell: lace.

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Our Thanksgiving break continues, and the shop will be closed until we reopen on Tuesday, Nov. 28th. Til then, I have more show-and-tell to share! The theme of this bunch is lace.

Betty knit this “Stone Point” poncho during Amy’s class here at the shop, her first-ever lace project! The yarn is Fibre Company Luma, a dk weight blend of wool, cotton, linen, and silk.

Sherri knit this beautiful blanket for her new daughter-in-law, Leah. The stitch pattern is good old feather and fan, a great introduction to lace knitting, and the yarn is a wide range of odds and ends from Sherri’s stash – this is a great way to use those bits and pieces and play with color along the way!

Here is a lace pattern on a somewhat smaller scale: Lois’s “Feather the Waves Socks,” knit with Malabrigo Sock. Lois has found a favorite in this vibrant hand-dyed yarn; this is the third pair she’s made with Malabrigo Sock!

Margaretta is an especially prolific lace-knitter, and lately her projects are made with Brooklyn Tweed yarns. After knitting a “Your Ice Cream Shawl” with Vale, she came back for another; this is her second project with Vale, Jared Flood’s now-classic “Girasole.”

After completing that, Margaretta took on Jared Flood’s “Lucca,” this time with Arbor. The heavier gauge of this yarn made a more substantial fabric and a larger piece, turning a circular shawl into a spectacular blanket.

Kellie has been knitting with Brooklyn Tweed, too – here she is modeling her “Hop Brook” shawl, knit with Loft. What a lovely match of yarn and pattern – a little rustic, a little delicate, and the light color lets the lace edging shine.

We love seeing what folks make with our yarns – thank you so much for sharing your projects with us. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday weekend, and we look forward to seeing you on or after the 28th!

Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show: Lounge collection.

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Another Brooklyn Tweed Trunk Show has made a temporary home here at the shop!

These garments were gathered from a few different BT pattern collections with “Lounge” as the unifying theme.

They’re made with Brooklyn Tweed’s three woolen-spun Targhee-Columbia wool yarns: fingering weight Loft, worsted weight Shelter, and bulky weight Quarry, our most recent acquisition. All three of these yarns are 10% off while the Trunk Show is on display – from now until Wednesday, November 15th.

We’re expecting print copies of these patterns to arrive any day now, and those of you who have purchased print copies of Brooklyn Tweed patterns know how lovely they are in that format – each one its own sturdy booklet. In the meantime, check them all out on Ravelry to see more pictures, study project notes from knitters, etc.

See you at the shop!

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

Show and tell: BT Arbor.

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We always love to see what you’re making with HYS yarns, and I love to take photos of your beautiful finished pieces to share here on the blog. I have a nice collection to share at the moment, enough for at least three blog posts. Today’s group all happen to be made in the same wonderful yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, a DK weight Targhee wool.

Above is Judy’s “Celtic Myths” shawl, a stockinette crescent with an intricate knitted-on cabled border. This delicious shade of gray is called “Heron,” and like nearly all colors, it’s tricky to photograph accurately, and far more beautiful in person.

One of Arbor’s distinguishing features is its crisp stitch definition, which makes cables, lace, and texture patterns shine. You can clearly see that quality in Judy’s beautifully-knit shawl, and you’ll also see it in each of the garments that follow.

Here’s my “Hirombe” hat in the color “Firebrush,” a shop sample which nicely illustrates another of Arbor’s special qualities: its tremendous elasticity. This is one of my favorite yarn characteristics, and one that suggests good long-term wear. Garments knit with Arbor should wear well and look sharp for years to come. I thoroughly enjoyed Jared Flood’s pattern, as well, especially because it taught me at least three new techniques: a cast-on, an increase, and a decrease I’d never tried before. The twisted stitch pattern is fully reversible; below is the “wrong-side” view, which I think I prefer.

Anne knit a little something with Arbor recently, too: this pair of Churchmouse “Welted Fingerless Gloves” was a Mother’s Day gift for Phyllis, Anne’s mom who recently turned 100. This quick-to-knit gift was well-received; Phyllis reportedly put them right on and said, “They fit like a glove!”

This soft, warm gray is called “Gale,” and one skein of Arbor was plenty for a pair, making this a great pattern for trying out this special yarn.

Above is Glen’s “Herringbone Hat,” knit with Arbor in the excellent high-contrast combination of “Black Fig” and “Hammock,” demonstrating that this yarn is perfect for stranded colorwork, too!

 

Barbara knit not one, but two “Byway” scarves during Marsha’s class on the subject. The purple one on the left is knit with Rowan Pure Wool Worsted, and the white one on the right is Arbor in the color “Hammock.” Though the pattern calls for bulky weight yarn, Barbara knit hers in a worsted and a DK, wanting a narrower finished product.

Thanks to everyone who starts their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, and to those who share their progress with us. Come by the shop to pick up some Brooklyn Tweed Arbor for your next project!