Tag Archives: merino

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Peerie.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love to see what you all are making with yarn from our shop, and when I’m able, I take pictures so that I can share those projects here on the blog. Looking over my current collection of show and tell photos, I spotted three in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, which is currently 10% off as it’s featured in our BT Sample of the Month. With its soft hand, bold colors, and superb stitch definition, Peerie is worth celebrating – here are a few great ways to use it!

Above is Pam’s “Butterfly / Papillon,” a striking shawl decorated with short rows, which she knit using six shades of Peerie.

Emily was in a mood for colorwork one day, and came by the shop to select an open-ended palette of Peerie for hat-making. She wound up knitting two “Lucerne” hats and a “Bousta Beanie,” two of our favorite fingering weight colorwork hat patterns. These are great fun, whether you’re trying stranded knitting for the first time or just in a colorwork mood, like Emily!

Margaretta has worked with Peerie several times now, coming back again and again for the smoothness, bounce, and stitch definition.

This is her “Ensata Scarf,” rich with twisted stitches, texture, and lace, all of which shine in this special yarn.

Thanks to Pam, Emily, and Margaretta for sharing their work with us, and thanks to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next. If these talented knitters have inspired you, come by the shop during February to get Brooklyn Tweed Peerie at 10% off!

 

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

Koigu Collector’s Club: Refuge.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu.

January’s colorway is a little late, but still so welcome – a variegated bouquet of pastel shades with streaks of turquoise, pink, and ivory. This whimsical colorway is dyed on Koigu’s classic KPPPM, a fingering weight superwash merino.

We have an abundance of special Koigu colors right now.

Pick three to make Churchmouse’s “Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf” pattern, which blends disparate variegated shades into a harmonious fabric that almost looks woven.

Look for Koigu KPPPM in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

Hello, Balayage.

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We’re pleased to announce the arrival of a brand new yarn – meet Pascuali Balayage!

Balayage is the result of a collaboration between knitwear designer Melanie Berg and German yarn company Pascuali. Balayage is a fingering weight blend of 80% alpaca and 20% organic merino wool. The resulting combination is incredibly soft in the hand, perfect for next-to-skin wear.

The color palette is a beautiful range of lights, mediums, and darks, neutral colors and brights, all designed to play well together for stripes and other kinds of colorwork. This harmonious palette was achieved in part before the yarn was even dyed; the alpaca fiber was naturally white and gray, while the merino was white, so all the shades of Balayage are dyed over this heathered gray base.

Melanie Berg has designed two shawls for Balayage so far, “Rock My Shawl” and “The Big Easy.” Both patterns use four shades, so that’s the number I played with as I created the color combinations below.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of color possibilities – we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

For more pattern ideas, consider Julia-Maria Hegenbart’s “Rough Sea” shawl, Victoria Maria’s “Viura” pullover, Ewelina Murach’s “Tucked Away” shawl, or Christelle Nihoul’s “Brise d’Automne” hat and cowl. Our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board has lots of pattern ideas, too!

Look for Pascuali Balayage in our fingering weight section here at the shop, where we hope to see you soon!

Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month: Orime.

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Our Brooklyn Tweed Sample of the Month for February is here! Come by this month to see “Orime.”

“Orime” is a short sleeved top designed by Veronik Avery for BT Early Fall 2018. It features knit stitches arranged diagonally on a background of reverse stockinette, a folded collar and neckline facing for structure and a professional look.

Amy is offering a class on it, to guide you through the fit, construction, and finishing details – read all about it on our Classes page!

“Orime” is knit with Peerie, Brooklyn Tweed’s fingering weight merino. It comes in 45 colors, so there’s plenty to choose from. Even better, we’re offering them at 10% off during February – come by soon to take advantage of this discount!

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

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club: February.

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Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. February’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

This peaceful beige Smooshy Cashmere is flecked with streaks of rose and an occasional dash of green.

Use this yarn on its own for a special pair of socks, fingerless mitts, or a shawl, or combine it with a lace weight mohair for a fuzzy halo and slightly thicker fabric.

Shibui Silk Cloud and Tweed Silk Cloud pair well with this yarn – think Isabell Kraemer’s “Leni” hat, Tin Can Knits’ “Love Note” pullover, or Midori Hirose’s “Ranunculus” pullover.

Look for this special colorway in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

Hello, Isager Alpaca 3.

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This week we welcomed a brand new yarn from Isager – meet Alpaca 3!

Alpaca 3 is a bulky weight blend of alpaca and wool, soft and lofty due to its chainette construction. This yarn has tremendous elasticity, making it a pleasure to work with and surely a pleasure to wear.

Alpaca 3 is one in a series of alpaca yarns from Danish yarn company Isager. We also carry the lace weight Alpaca 1 and fingering weight Alpaca 2.

The label doesn’t have any recommendation for needle size or gauge, so Anne got out a pair of US 10 needles and started swatching. She did a little garter stitch, a little stockinette, a few other texture patterns, and still wanted to keep knitting – a good sign!

A photograph can’t do this yarn justice; you must come in and touch. See you at the shop!

Hello, Malabrigo Caprino.

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This week, we welcome a brand new yarn from Malabrigo – meet Caprino!

Caprino is a DK weight blend of 80% merino wool and 20% cashmere, and just as you’d expect from those fibers, it’s soft as can be. Each 50 gram skein has 159 yards, enough for a pair of mitts or small hat; 2 skeins makes a larger hat or cowl.

Like many Malabrigo yarns, Caprino comes in a familiar selection of semi-solid, variegated, and speckled colorways.

We think of them as old friends, these colorways – it’s always nice to see the purplish gray of “Plomo,” or the deep navy of “Paris Night,” but equally nice to meet newer shades, like the spotty “Galaxy.” All three of those wound up in my latest project, Andrea Mowry’s “Nightshift” shawl.

I’m having such fun with this simple slip stitch pattern, watching the colors come together, the background shade seeming to shift as the contrast colors change.

I’ve seen lots of knitters make “Nightshift” and “The Shift” cowl, sometimes more than once, and now I totally understand the appeal of the project. We’re pleased to have print copies of these patterns in stock now!

Come by the shop to see and touch Caprino for yourself! You’ll find it in our DK weight section.

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club: January.

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Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. January’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

January’s special colorway is a variegated mix of purples, from light lavender to deep plum.

It’s dyed on Smooshy with Cashmere, a super soft fingering weight yarn that’s great for shawls, cowls, or special socks.

“Reyna,” “Close to You,” and “Rosewater” are all lace shawls that can be knit with one skein of Smooshy with Cashmere – look for more pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, and look for this special colorway in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

See you there!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Utopia.

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The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll 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.

This superwash merino yarn is speckled and streaked with shades of peach and plum, a sweet combination that Koigu calls Utopia.

Look for this limited edition colorway of Koigu KPPPM in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Sandoval Hat.

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November is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample until the end of the month.

Our current Shibui Sample of the Month was knit by one of our very own teachers – Marsha made this “Sandoval Hat” as a sample for a recent class on the subject. It takes 2 skeins of Shibui Drift, a luscious blend of merino and cashmere.

Below is a bit of show and tell – one of Marsha’s students, Jill, completed her “Sandoval Hat” and immediately cast on for another.

Drift is a treat to work with, and we’re offering it at 10% off all month long. Look for Drift in our worsted weight section here at the shop!

We’ll be closed for a Thanksgiving break from Wednesday, November 27 – Monday, December 2, reopening at our regular business hours on Tuesday, December 3, so if you’re anxious to get Drift at a discount, plan your visit accordingly. We hope to see you soon!

 

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