Tag Archives: merino

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: Ruby Dusk & Fire Kissed.

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Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Club is back! Each month, we get a small batch of Smooshy Cashmere in a limited edition colorway, hand-dyed in Texas. They’re always popular for Ysolda Teague’s “Musselburgh” hat, Andrea Mowry’s “Free Your Fade” shawl, or a special pair of socks.

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, each skein is unique; we recommend alternating skeins to blend in a larger project
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100 grams
  • machine wash cool on gentle/hand wash setting, lay flat to dry

Ruby Dusk arrived in December, a high-contrast variegated colorway with streaks of poppy red, maroon, and ivory. One skein makes a “Caldera Cowl or Hat” – grab 2 skeins to make the set!

Fire Kissed just arrived earlier this month, in shades of steely gray with flickers of deep orange.

One skein makes the “Kindling Fingerless Mitts,” a cozy accessory that shows off this moody colorway.

Inspired to cast on? Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and in our online store!

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Cozy!

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New yarn from Kelbourne Woolens is always cause for excitement. Founders Kate and Courtney focus on quality and affordability as they dream up new yarns, and make sure that each one fills a missing gap in their collection. Comfort and ease were the inspiration behind Cozy, a yarn they called “cashmere sweatpants” during the design process. 

Kelbourne Woolens Cozy:

  • worsted weight
  • 70% superwash merino wool, 30% easy wash® alpaca
  • 201 yards/100 grams
  • 19–21 sts = 4″ (10 cm)
  • US 5–7 (3.75–4.5 mm)
  • machine or hand wash cool, lay flat to dry

Cozy is low-maintenance, but luxuriously soft, made with a dreamy blend of fine superwash merino wool and sustainable Easy Wash® alpaca. That means it’s machine washable and soft as can be, making Cozy ideal for baby sweaters, blankets, and other accessories.

What to make with Cozy? Here are some ideas!

Look for Cozy here at HYS, along with many other Kelbourne Woolens yarns!

Hello, Malabrigo Vientos!

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Brand new from Malabrigo!

Meet Vientos, a bulky yarn to defy the winds. In terms of length, weight and gauge, it’s just like Mecha, but plied, creating an expressive texture.

Two plies bring depth to the colors and a unique personality to the knit or crocheted fabric, a celebratory symbol of Malabrigo’s two decades.

Malabrigo Vientos:

  • bulky weight
  • 2ply
  • hand-dyed (each skein is unique; we recommending alternating skeins to blend in a larger project)
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 130 yards/100 grams
  • machine wash cold, lay flat to dry
  • gauge: 12-15 stitches = 4”
  • needles: US 9-11 (5.5-8mm)

Malabrigo is well known for their vibrant variegated colorways as well as their tonal semi-solids, and we made sure our Vientos basket had plenty of each.

Use Vientos anywhere you’d use Mecha – cozy cowls and hats are always popular for soft bulky weight yarns like these. Here are some pattern ideas!

Look for Vientos here at HYS, along with many other Malabrigo yarns!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: Midnight Carnival & Sugar Rush.

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Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Club is back! Each month, we get 9 skeins of Smooshy Cashmere in a limited edition colorway, hand-dyed in Texas. They’re always popular for Ysolda Teague’s “Musselburgh” hat, Andrea Mowry’s “Free Your Fade” shawl, or a special pair of socks.

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, each skein is unique; we recommend alternating skeins to blend in a larger project
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100 grams
  • machine wash cool on gentle/hand wash setting, lay flat to dry

Midnight Carnival arrived in September, a saturated, high-contrast variegated colorway with streaks of cobalt, burgundy, aqua, and eggplant. One skein makes a “Wishbeam Hat,” whose textured lace pattern breaks up the color pooling in an intriguing way.

Sugar Rush just arrived last week, a lower contrast colorway with just as much impact – hot pink with dashes of lavender, cantaloupe, and bright blue.

One skein makes the “Robbie Scarf,” which shows how these bright shades can blend subtly together.

Inspired to cast on? Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and in our online store!

New colors from Ewe Ewe!

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We’re excited to have new colors from Ewe Ewe! Wooly Worsted and Baa Baa Bulky just got three new shades each.

Ewe Ewe Yarns is a one-woman operation owned by Heather Walpole. When she first created Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted back in 2012, she started small, with just 7 colors. We’ve loved watching the Ewe Ewe yarn selection grow over the years, and with it, the expanding color palette – these new additions bring it up to 28 colors!

Ewe Ewe specializes in soft and springy machine-washable merino wool yarns. Each one has its gauge or weight in its name, for easy yarn selection.

These 3 new shades are right at home among their cousins, and fill out the existing palette beautifully. Sunshine is the perfect bright yellow, Persimmon is an autumnal orangey red that sits between Red Poppy and Orange Peel, and Mocha bridges the gap between light Wheat and dark Chocolate.

What to make with Ewe Ewe yarns? We love all of them for baby and children’s things, cozy accessories, and blankets. Browse patterns on Ewe Ewe’s website – Heather has lots of fun designs available as free downloads!

“Softly Striped Baby Blanket”

Come by the shop to see and squeeze Ewe Ewe Yarns and plan your next project!

Malabrigo Seis Cabos KAL.

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We’re delighted to have a few new colors in Malabrigo Seis Cabos, just in time for Malabrigo’s upcoming KAL!

This Malabrigo KAL features “Barnstable,” by Lisa Hannes, a shawl that mixes contrasting colors in a beginner-friendly mosaic pattern.

Because the mosaic motif relies on color contrast to shine, we recommend pairing high-contrast shades to really make the pattern pop. The shawl is shown here in Vicenial and Natural, a bold mix of variegated and solid shades.

Here are a few more “Barnstable” color ideas!

Want to join the Malabrigo KAL, which starts on September 1? Head to their blog to sign up, and come by our shop to pick out your yarn. You’ll need 2 skeins of Seis Cabos in your main color and 1 skein in your contrast color.

Look for Seis Cabos and other Malabrigo yarns here at HYS – we can’t wait to see your shawls take shape when the Knit-Along begins next month!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Folk Festival and Dolled Up.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu. KPPPM is a fingering weight superwash merino, hand-dyed in vibrant colors by mother/daughter team Maie and Taiu Landra on their farm outside of Toronto, Canada.

Koigu KPPPM:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, variegated
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 175 yards/50 grams

Folk Festival and Dolled Up are the two most recent Collector’s Club shades, both variegated and bright. They made me think of Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering right away, a springy superwash merino that favors Koigu KPPPM in structure, but comes in clear solid colors.

What to knit with these playful pairs? Here are a few ideas!

Fuzzy lace weight yarn is another irresistible pairing for variegated wool – some of our newest shades of Fyberspates Cumulus matched these Koigu colorways perfectly. Here are a few patterns to try:

Look for Koigu KPPPM and Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and check out the lace weight section to see Fyberspates Cumulus!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: Montauk & Acrid.

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Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Club is back! Each month, we get 10 skeins of Smooshy Cashmere in a limited edition colorway, hand-dyed in Texas. They’re always popular for Ysolda Teague’s “Musselburgh” hat, Andrea Mowry’s “Free Your Fade” shawl, or a special pair of socks.

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, each skein is unique; we recommend alternating skeins to blend in a larger project
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100 grams
  • machine wash cool on gentle/hand wash setting, lay flat to dry

Montauk arrived in April, a soft variegated mix of cream, lavender, peach, and dove gray.

Two skeins of Montauk makes Lena Skvagerson’s “Shoreline Shawl,” a shallow crescent shaped shawl with lace and stockinette.

Acrid popped up earlier this month, a sunny aqua colorway streaked with marigold.

Jenny Noto designed her “Garden Shawl” for two skeins of Acrid, a half circle shawl with eyelets and slip stitches.

Our friend Margaretta recently knit this lovely pair of “Avena” socks with Smooshy Cashmere in Fen.

It’s great to see variegated skeins like this one knit up – this intricate twisted stitch pattern breaks up the color pooling in a lovely and intriguing way. Pattern by Natalia Vasilieva.

Inspired to cast on? Look for Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and in our online store!

Show and tell: stripes.

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Time for another round of show and tell! Today’s projects all feature stripes, whether high-contrast or low, many-colored or few.

First up, Margaretta’s “Chevron Cloud,” knit with Hand Maiden Superkid Silk and Isager Alpaca 2. Pattern by Espace Tricot.

The color and yarn combination here is subtle, but exquisite – variegated mohair creates painterly stripes, and Margaretta picked a shade of sage green Alpaca 2 that matches without blending in or disappearing.

Karin came by the shop wearing her “DRK Everyday Cowl,” by Andrea Mowry, knit with Malabrigo Arroyo. The solid Natural is a perfect complement to the wildly variegated Aniversario.

Here’s the “Versa Cowl” I knit as a shop sample with Malabrigo Seis Cabos. Pattern by Aimee Pelletier.

People often ask how hard the slip stitch pattern is, and I’m happy to say that it’s neither hard nor a slip stitch pattern – just knits, purls, and stripes!

Last but not least, here’s Kristin’s “Stole” in Isager Merilin. Like Anne, she used just five colors to make a narrower wrap that’s just right for spring.

Many thanks to the knitters who shared their stripes with us today, and to everyone who starts their project with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. We are inspired by your stitches and can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Hello, Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée!

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For years now, Anne has been on the lookout for her ideal merino and silk blend. She hoped it would be fingering weight, tightly plied for strength, and non-superwash for elasticity. I’m delighted to report that she’s found it: meet Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée, a brand new yarn to HYS!

Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée:

  • fingering weight
  • 3 ply
  • hand dyed; we recommend alternating skeins to blend in larger projects
  • 90% non-superwash merino wool, 10% silk
  • 420 yards/115 grams (4oz)
  • hand wash cold, lay flat to dry

Julie and Jean-François are the craftspeople behind Julie Asselin Yarns, hand dyers based in Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada). Ethical sourcing is important to them, and they keep the process as close to home as possible by working exclusively with yarn mills in Canada and the US.

Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée is smooth and soft, as its fiber content suggests, but also springy and sturdy. In the knitted fabric, this means sharp stitch definition for showing off texture patterns, and a balance of drape and structure. Leizu Fingering Non Traitée looks like a lovely choice for sweater- and accessory-making alike. Here are some pattern ideas!

  • “Mara,” by Audrey Borrego – sideways-knit ribbed scarf/shawl with eyelets
  • “Rose Petals,” by Janina Kallio – triangular lace shawl
  • “Go Go Dynamo,” by Stephen West – a “geometric adventure” with modular sections, brioche, stripes, and more
  • “Pampas Tee,” by Samantha Guerin – circular yoke tee with lace motif
  • “Moon Mint,” by Andrea Mowry – 2-color slip stitch pullover
  • “Alden,” by Jennifer Steingass – colorwork yoke pullover

Look for Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée in the fingering weight section here at HYS, and in our online store!