Tag Archives: merino

Hello, Malabrigo Torzal.

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Brand new from one of our most loved yarn companies, Malabrigo – meet Torzal!

Malabrigo Torzal:

  • sport weight
  • 2-ply, marled and variegated – we recommend alternating skeins to blend in a larger project
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 160 yards / 50 grams
  • gauge: 23-26 stitches = 4″
  • needle size: US 3-7

Malabrigo’s classic colorways look fresh in Torzal, whose two plies randomly change color throughout the skein.

It’s marled and variegated, evoking handspun yarn, and creates fabric with subtle shifts of color – neither stripy nor streaky.

Along with this lovely new yarn, Malabrigo sent us some patterns to give away with each purchase of Torzal, while supplies last.

Though it’s not self-striping, this soft and colorful sport weight yarn reminds me of Spincycle, and knits up at a similar range of gauges. With that in mind, here are some pattern ideas for Torzal!

Accessories:

Garments:

Look for Torzal and many other Malabrigo yarns here at HYS!

Hello, De Rerum Natura Gilliatt.

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We’re loving the warm reception you’ve given De Rerum Natura yarns so far! Folks have been coming through with inspiring projects planned for these yarns, and we’ve sold so much that we already placed a reorder – keep an eye out for more colors soon.

I shared pattern ideas for sport weight Ulysse a few weeks ago, so now let’s look at its worsted weight cousin, Gilliatt.

De Rerum Natura Gilliatt:

  • worsted weight
  • 3ply
  • woolen spun
  • 100% merino wool
  • 270 yards/100 grams
  • gauge (for 4 x 4″ in stockinette)
    • 19 st x 27 rows, 4 mm needles / US 6
    • 18 st x 26 rows, 4.5 mm needles / US 7
    • 17 st x 25 rows, 5 mm needles / US 8
  • recommended care:
    • hand wash cool, lay flat to dry
    • please note that very dark or saturated colors such as “émeraude” are more likely to bleed during blocking. If you plan to mix colours, we recommend that you test a swatch first. If you find excess dye in the first wash, we recommend that you repeat the rinse bath until it is clear before drying your work

Anne was the first to get her hands on Gilliatt when it came in – she knit the swatch above, which you’ll find tucked into the Gilliatt basket here at the shop. “I’m in heaven,” she says when asked how she’s liking it, and I suspect I’ll feel the same way when I get around to the sweaters I’m dreaming up. A worsted weight, woolen spun merino, Gilliatt is soft, lofty, and springy in the hands, exactly the kind of yarn I love best. It shares all these qualities with Ulysse, but has a third ply, for extra sharp stitch definition.

What to knit with De Rerum Natura Gilliatt? Settle in for a long list of pattern ideas…

Garments:

Accessories:

Look for De Rerum Natura Gilliatt and Ulysse here at HYS!

Hello, De Rerum Natura Ulysse.

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Here’s an announcement a year and a half in the making: we now carry De Rerum Natura here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

Inspired by a love of knitting with farm yarns and a passion for color, Solenn Couix-Loarer founded De Rerum Natura in 2012.

Her company is based in France, where all their fibers are sourced, spun, and dyed with careful attention to detail. They are best known for their woolen spun yarns, which are soft, unbleached and non-superwash, grown by Arlés merino sheep that graze peacefully in the southeast of France.

Because they are conscientious about their ecological impact, as well as the quality of every skein, De Rerum Natura’s yarns are produced in small batches. This small scale is why we had to wait so long to become stockists – there’s only so much of this special wool, which, like the sweaters we spend untold hours knitting, is truly worth the wait.

De Rerum Natura Ulysse:

  • sport weight
  • 2ply
  • woolen spun
  • 100% merino wool
  • 202 yards/50 grams
  • gauge: 22-24 stitches/34-38 rows = 4″
    • 24 st x 38 rows, 3 mm needles / US 2
    • 22 st x 34 rows, 3.5 mm needles / US 4
  • recommended care:
      • hand wash cool, lay flat to dry
      • please note that very dark or saturated colors are more likely to bleed during blocking. If you plan to mix colours, we recommend that you test a swatch first. If you find excess dye in the first wash, we recommend that you repeat the rinse bath until it is clear before drying your work.

Ulysse has one of my absolute favorite qualities in a wool: springiness galore. This elasticity makes for a delightful knitting experience, and for lofty garments that hold their shape. What to make with this wonderfully wooly sport weight yarn? I have so many ideas!

De Rerum Natura has philosophical roots, and shares its name with a poem by Lucretius, On the Nature of Things. Couix-Loarer writes, “When I sought to understand where the yarn I was knitting came from and what impact it had on the world, I realized that, as Lucretius invited us to do, I was seeking to perceive this yarn as ‘a thing of nature’ and not as a product, anonymous, inert and falsely inconsequential.” The yarns we knit with do make an impact on the world, which is why we feel so good knitting with yarns made as thoughtfully as these. Look for Ulysse and Gilliatt here at HYS!

Three (3!) new shades from Dream in Color.

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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

April brought Playing in Puddles, a silvery gray with blue and gold speckles.

Shopkeeper’s Choice was a special colorway for LYS Day on April 25, streaked with butter yellow, pink, lavender, and aqua.

Now that it’s May, we’re enjoying Harborlight, a tonal teal with blue/gray highlights.

Look for them all in the fingering weight section here at HYS!

Hello, Knitting for Olive Cotton Merino.

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Thank you all for the warm welcome you’ve given Knitting for Olive! We’re thrilled to bring yarn into the shop that you’re as excited to see in person as you are to work with. Last week I wrote about Pure Silk on the blog – now it’s time to put Cotton Merino in the spotlight!

Knitting for Olive Cotton Merino:

  • light fingering weight
  • 70% organic OCS certified cotton, 30% RWS certified Merino wool
  • 273 yards (250 meters) / 50 grams
  • hand wash in cool water, lay flat to dry
  • gauge: 28 stitches = 4″
  • neeedles: US 2.5 (3 mm)

Cotton Merino is a soft and smooth yarn named simply for its fiber content – organic cotton and fine merino wool. The cotton is cool and breathable, while the wool brings a little elasticity, making a balanced blend that’s light enough for summertime wear.

As with all of their yarns, Knitting for Olive is mindful about the sustainability of Cotton Merino, using OCS certified organic cotton and RWS certified wool. RWS is short for Responsible Wool Standard and the certification ensures that animals, farmers and the environment are all treated respectfully. Along with protecting soil health, biodiversity, and safe working conditions, RWS certification protects the Five Freedoms of animal welfare: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear and distress. In other words, happy and healthy sheep!

Bailey knit the swatch above with Cotton Merino on US 2.5 needles, and we all admired the fine fabric. Then she held Cotton Merino and Pure Silk together on US 6 needles, and we loved the colorful marl even more!

Last week’s blog post has plenty of pattern ideas for a single strand of these yarns – today, let’s look at patterns for two strands held together.

Look for Knitting for Olive in the fingering weight section here at HYS – we can’t wait to see what you make with it!

Malabrigo Aura Collection + Orienta shawl KAL.

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We’re delighted to have a new color palette in Malabrigo Sock, just in time for Malabrigo’s upcoming KAL!

This Malabrigo KAL features “Orienta,” by Cory Boberg, a shawl full of movement, texture, and color play. “Orienta” combines graceful shaping with engaging stitchwork, making it ideal for knitters who love seeing texture and color interact on their needles.

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 in the colors Fulgor and Three Little Pigs, a bold mix of variegated and solid shades. We’ve paired Sock in Fulgor and Elegancia for a similar look.

Here are a few more “Orienta” color ideas, mixing Sock and Ultimate Sock!

Want to join the Malabrigo KAL, which starts on April 3? Head to their blog to sign up, and come by our shop to pick out your yarn. You’ll need 2 skeins of Sock or Ultimate Sock in your main color and 1 skein in your contrast color.

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

Back in stock: Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Non Traitée.

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We have new shades in Julie Asselin’s elegant Leizu Fingering Non Traitée!

We’re so happy to have these skeins at the shop at last – shipping and sourcing delays made our wait a little longer than usual, but this subtle hand dyed merino/silk blend is worth the wait.

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

Our friend and teacher Katherine fell especially hard for this smooth and springy yarn when it first landed at our shop a year ago.

She crocheted Saskia Paulich’s “Crochet Shawl CLEO” with Leizu Fingering Non Traitée, and came back for a sweater quantity.

Above is Katherine’s “Plain Yoke Tee 20” in progress, using a strand of fuzzy Isager Silk Mohair to bring Leizu Fingering Non Traitée up to gauge. The combination is delicious – soft and smooth, drapey but substantial, with a little flicker of contrast between the colors.

She loved this yarn blend so much that she cast on with it again – here’s her “Eloïse Shawl” in progress, rich with cables and illustrating the stellar stitch definition of Leizu Fingering Non Traitée.

Katherine’s “Crochet Shawl CLEO” is on display here at the shop, and it’s a good example of why we have so many samples – the finished shawl is so much softer than the yarn in the skein! In part this is because the skein is tightly twisted, putting a little tension on the yarn that relaxes beautifully when it’s wound and stitched into fabric. Come by and give it a squeeze to see what I mean.

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

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!