Malabrigo Ultimate Sock + Mohair KAL.

We’re delighted to have a fresh supply of Malabrigo Ultimate Sock and Mohair, just in time for Malabrigo’s upcoming KAL!

Lora Marin designed this stunning lace shawl for Malabrigo Ultimate Sock and Mohair, using the yarns separately to highlight the difference in texture.

For this shawl, she used these yarns in the same colorway, Aniversario, though more contrast or variation in colors would also have a nice effect. Here are some color ideas!

Want to join the Malabrigo KAL, which starts in September? Head to their blog to register in order to receive the pattern, and come by our shop to pick out your yarn. You’ll need 2 skeins of Ultimate Sock ($21 each) and 3 skeins of Mohair ($15 each).

We’ve highlighted a few of these color combinations in a display here at the shop – look for it as you walk in.

You can also see our full selection of Malabrigo Ultimate Sock in the fingering weight section, and our full selection of Mohair in the lace weight section. We can’t wait to see your shawls take shape when the Knit-Along begins next month!

Hello, Malabrigo Mohair!

Brand new from Malabrigo, meet Mohair!

Malabrigo Mohair: 

  • lace weight
  • hand-dyed, variegated
  • 72% mohair, 28% silk
  • 229 yards/25g
  • $15 each

Malabrigo is a beloved Uruguayan yarn company known for vibrant hand-dyed color and soft, squishy merino wool. In Mohair, they’ve brought their signature colors to new fibers, an elegant blend of fuzzy mohair and shimmering silk.

Lace weight mohair is often carried along with other yarns, adding a soft halo to the knitted fabric – think Tin Can Knits’ “Love Note,” or PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” “Novice Slipover,” and “No Frills Sweater.” Malabrigo is also highlighting Mohair in their upcoming Knit-Along – read all about that on their blog, and stay tuned for more info from us!

Look for Malabrigo Mohair in the lace weight section here at HYS! We’re open 11-5:30, Tuesdays-Saturdays; masks required for entry. See you there!

Back in stock: Isager Japansk Bomuld.

Our most recent Isager order included a bundle of Japansk Bomuld, a lustrous lace weight cotton tape.

Isager Japansk Bomuld:

  • lace weight
  • flat tape
  • 100% cotton
  • 344 yards, 50 g
  • $15 each

Japansk Bomuld has been around for about five years, but remains one of the most unique plant fiber yarns in our shop. The knit fabric is crunchy and cool to the touch, ideal for spring and summer tops and accessories.

I used 3 shades of Japansk Bomuld to knit a Churchmouse “Alexandra’s Airplane Scarf” as a shop sample, a trio that made high contrast stripes towards the middle of the scarf, and low contrast at one end.

Though the Isager Japansk Bomuld palette is small, there are plenty of intriguing color trios available – here are a few to consider.

What else to knit with Japansk Bomuld? Hold it together with Silk Mohair for Midori Hirose’s “Ranunculus” or Ragnhild Vaaland’s “Blink” pullover, or hold 3 strands together for PetiteKnit’s “French Market Bag.”

Look for Isager Japansk Bomuld in the lace weight section here at HYS!

Weekend Hat.

Margaretta recently brought in a bit of show and tell that captivated us – here’s her “Weekend Hat,” another simple but clever pattern by PetiteKnit.

Margaretta knit her “Weekend Hat” with Isager Jensen and Silk Mohair held together throughout, a perfect balance of structure and softness. As in PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” there are 3 layers of fabric at the brim, making for a super cozy hat. The “Weekend Hat” also features a few rows of double knitting at the fold to keep it in place, a nice detail.

I couldn’t resist putting a few more “Weekend Hat” color combinations together in Jensen and Silk Mohair…

…and then the new shades of Kelbourne Woolens Scout caught my eye, and I found some beautiful Silk Mohair matches for that yarn, too!

If any of these combinations catch your eye, you can order them online for local pickup or shipping, or come by the shop to put your own colors together – we can’t wait to see what you dream up! Look for Isager Jensen and Kelbourne Woolens Scout in the DK weight section, and Isager Silk Mohair in the lace weight section. See you at the shop!

Oslo Hat, No-Mohair Edition.

I just finished up another new sample for the shop, PetiteKnit’s oh-so-popular “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” though mine doesn’t contain any mohair to speak of.

For this hat, I paired Kelbourne Woolens Perennial and Fyberspates Cumulus, a brushed alpaca that emulates mohair’s fuzzy halo. These two alpaca blends are each very soft in their own right, but together are impossibly cuddly – you must touch this hat for yourself!

My sample “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” blends Perennial in Raspberry with Cumulus in Plum – here are a few more color ideas.

The simplicity of PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” lends itself to variegated yarns, too, which are softened when held together with a fuzzy lace weight yarn – here are a few color ideas pairing Koigu KPPPM with Cumulus!

Look for Cumulus in our lace weight section and Perennial and KPPPM in our fingering weight section – we’re open 11am-5:30pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays. We do require masks for entry – thanks for your cooperation, see you at the shop!

“Simple Yet Effective” cowl.

If you’ve been to the shop in the past few weeks, you might have seen me working on this cowl, “Simple Yet Effective,” by Tin Can Knits. The pattern is aptly named, alternating sections of stockinette and reverse stockinette – a nearly blank canvas for showing off some special yarn. The pattern calls for DK weight, but I’ve held a fingering weight and a lace weight yarn together, Kelbourne Woolens Cricket and Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft, respectively.

It can be tricky to visualize how different colors and textures of yarn will look when knit together. Luckily, Tin Can Knits has a super helpful blog post about just that, “Layering With Mohair.” I was inspired after reading it, and learned that you can achieve a fascinating effect when you combine a darker mohair with a lighter yarn. As Tin Can Knits designer Emily Wessel puts it, “When you blend a darker or more saturated mohair with a lighter yarn, the paler colourway seems to glow underneath a deeper halo.” I tried out that strategy in this cowl and am so pleased with the result – each yarn seems to be enhanced by the other, and of course the fabric is fuzzy and soft!

Here are a few more color combinations pairing Cricket and Loft, which seem to me like they’d blend beautifully.

I couldn’t stop there, when there are so many shades of Isager Silk Mohair to play with – here are a few more!

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Cricket in the fingering weight section here at our shop, not far from the lace weight section, which holds Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft and Isager Silk Mohair. We can’t wait to see what other color combinations you come up with for your own “Simple Yet Effective” cowls!

Cumulus and friends.

Fyberspates Cumulus is the newest yarn here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, a soft and fluffy lace weight alpaca/silk blend. Though it’s lovely on its own, it plays well with others – here are some yarn and pattern ideas for holding Cumulus together with heavier yarns!

Cumulus + fingering weight:

Cumulus is shown here with Isager Alpaca 2 and Kelbourne Woolens Cricket (above) and Isager Merilin and Kelbourne Woolens Perennial (below).

Cumulus + DK weight:

Cumulus is shown here with Fibre Co. Acadia and Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (above), and Kelbourne Woolens Scout and Isager Jensen (below).

Cumulus + worsted weight:

Cumulus is shown here with Malabrigo Rios and Berroco Ultra Alpaca (above), and Brooklyn Tweed Tones and Shelter (below). 

We can’t wait to see what other color and yarn combinations you come up with – see you at the shop!

Hello, Fyberspates Cumulus!

Meet our newest addition, Fyberspates Cumulus!

Fyberspates Cumulus:

  • lace weight
  • 74% baby Suri alpaca, 26% mulberry silk
  • 164 yards/25g
  • $8.60 each

Cumulus is a soft and fuzzy lace weight yarn, a lovely alternative to mohair for those who find it itchy. Use a single strand of Cumulus for lightweight shawls and sweaters, or pair it with a heavier yarn for more substantial garments with that fluffy halo that’s become so popular of late. Check out our blog post about Isager Silk Mohair for pattern ideas to that end, and keep an eye out for an upcoming post showing color and yarn combinations in Cumulus!

Today, we’ll let Cumulus take center stage and feature patterns for a single strand of this irresistibly soft yarn.

What to knit with Cumulus? Here are some pattern ideas!

Look for Fyberspates Cumulus in the lace weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

NFC Loft + fingering weight.

There are so many popular patterns that call for a lace weight mohair paired with fingering weight wool – sometimes in a matching color, sometimes a contrasting one, always creating an enticing fuzzy fabric. Neighborhood Fibre Co. Loft is just the yarn for this, and we’ve got loads of options in the fingering weight section here at our shop – you’ll find a few ideas below, and keep scrolling for patterns!

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

Sweaters:

Accessories:

It can be tricky to visualize how different colors and textures of yarn will look when knit together – Tin Can Knits has a super helpful blog post about just that, “Layering With Mohair.” Read it and you are sure to be inspired – we can’t wait to see what yarn and color combinations you come up with!

Hello, Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft!

We’d like to introduce an exciting new arrival from Baltimore’s Neighborhood Fiber Co – meet Loft!

Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft:

  • lace weight
  • hand dyed in semisolid and variegated colorways
  • 70% kid mohair, 30% silk
  • 459 yards/1.75 oz
  • $28 each

Not to be confused with Brooklyn Tweed Loft, NFC Loft is a fuzzy and luminous blend of mohair and silk, hand dyed in Neighborhood’s unique colorways.

NFC Loft is soft and shiny, lightweight with a fluffy texture, and often used in tandem with heavier yarns. We’ve seen so many patterns calling for a lace weight mohair like this one, sometimes paired with a fingering weight yarn, sometimes a DK – think Tin Can Knits’ “Love Note,” or PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” “Novice Slipover,” and “September Sweater Junior.” We’ll share some yarn and color pairings here on the blog soon – stay tuned!

Look for Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft along with Studio Sock, Capital Luxury Sport, and Ombre Mini Bundles here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We’re open 11-5:30, Tuesdays-Saturdays; masks required for entry. See you there!