New colors in Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted.

Posted by Julia on August 25, 2013

We’ve haven’t been carrying Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted for much more than a year, but already it feels like a staple at the shop. This worsted weight, machine-washable merino is good for so many things, and it’s one of the softest and well-behaved yarns of its kind that we’ve found. In fact, Clara Parkes called it “the Charmin of yarns” in her Knitter’s Review.

This fall, like last fall, Ewe Ewe has introduced new colors, rounding out their palette with a true black, a pale gray, pastel hues, and a vivid orange and blue.

As a designer and the owner of Ewe Ewe Yarns, Heather Walpole is always coming up with new ways for knitters and crocheters to use Wooly Worsted, so it’s no surprise that we also have a handful of new Ewe Ewe patterns to share. Its softness and easy-care make Wooly Worsted perfect for baby things and accessories for all ages, or any kind of garment that will get a lot of wear.

I started crocheting a sample Wearever Wrap for the shop when the new Ewe Ewe colors and patterns arrived; a few afternoons later, it’s done, and ready for blocking and tassels. Crochet is speedy, indeed. Here’s a peek.

Look for these and other patterns in the Ewe Ewe binder, and come by to see the latest shades of Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted!

Hello, Frolicking Feet.

Posted by Julia on August 16, 2013

Along with all the favorite sock yarns we’ve reordered, we also picked up a brand new sock yarn: Frolicking Feet, from a small yarn company out of Maine called Done Roving.

Done Roving is a family-run business based on a farm, and they make a point of sourcing their fiber domestically when possible, and processing it in a safe and thoughtful way. Frolicking Feet is their 100% superwash merino sock yarn, a fingering weight yarn with a tight twist to create a sturdy fabric. Some skeins are hand-painted, for vibrant variegated colorways, and some are kettle-dyed, for monochromatic colorways that show the full range of a single hue, from light to dark.

Frolicking Feet, like many variegated yarns, will not stripe, but may pool in unexpected ways, depending upon how many stitches are cast on. Letting the colors fall where they may is one of the pleasures of variegated yarn, but if you’d rather have a tangible sense of what that beautiful skein might look like in a finished garment, you might search on Ravelry for projects made in Done Roving’s Frolicking Feet. You’ll find all manner of garments there, from socks and shawls to sweet baby sweaters, and see how the colorways can play out in knit and crochet projects.

Come by the shop to greet our newest sock yarn, and see these vivid colors in person–my camera just can’t capture the depth and intensity of the Indigo Purple colorway, it must be seen with one’s own eyes. See you at the shop!

Crystal Palace Merino 5: now on sale!

Posted by Julia on August 14, 2013

UPDATE: As of 11/19/2014, we are totally sold out of Crystal Palace Merino 5!

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We have many machine-washable, worsted weight wools at the shop because they’re good for so many things. Knitters and crocheters alike often turn to machine-washable, worsted weight wools for blankets, baby things, sweaters for children and adults, toys, and accessories that get lots of wear, like hats, scarves and mitts. One of the many machine-washable, worsted weight wools we carry is now on sale at a 25% discount: Crystal Palace Merino 5.

Merino 5 is a springy superwash merino wool that suggests a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch, and comes in both solid and variegatd colorways. The yarn is plump and round due to its many-plied structure, which gives it excellent stitch definition for texture and cable patterning. Crystal Palace offers a variety of free patterns for Merino 5 on their website–click here to see a list, then scroll down to the Merino 5 section. Myself, I’m eyeing this basket of yarn with colorful crocheted blankets in mind. A simple granny square or even hexagons, maybe a ripple stitch… Come by the shop to snag some Merino 5 at this great price while it’s still in stock!

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges, nor special orders–the discount applies only to what we currently have in stock. Thanks!

Back in stock: Smooshy with Cashmere.

Posted by Julia on August 10, 2013

Another luscious fingering weight yarn arrived this week: Dream in Color’s Smooshy with Cashmere.

Smooshy with Cashmere is an aptly-named blend of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. It’s hand-dyed in variegated and semi-solid colorways, deliciously soft and squishy, perfect for next-to-skin wear.

We first ordered Smooshy with Cashmere about a year and a half ago, and it quickly found its following. Some knitters have used Smooshy with Cashmere for socks, for which it’s plenty hearty, but many more have used it for openwork shawls and scarves–a Multnomah or Holden Shawlette would be perfect, and both of those patterns are available as free downloads from Ravelry.

It would be equally an lovely yarn for a special baby gift–think Purl Soho’s Little Baby Sweater or one of the sweet, simple garments from Susie Haumann’s booklet All You Knit is Love.

Come by the shop to pet the Smooshy with Cashmere and plan your next project. See you there!

Back in stock: String Theory sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on August 6, 2013

We’re pleased to announce the arrival of an armful (or two) of String Theory sock yarns. Our supply of Caper Sock and Bluestocking sadly diminished, we placed an order with the lovely Karen and Tanis, who dye these vibrant yarns in Blue Hill, Maine. We picked some new colors and some old favorites, and the result is a very tempting cubby full of colorful yarns.

Bluestocking is a lustrous sock yarn, composed of 80% superwash Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon, for durability. Because of it, Bluestocking makes a great pair of socks, but it is equally at home in a scarf or shawl, at a slightly larger gauge.

Caper Sock is a plump and springy sock yarn, composed of 80% superwash merino wool, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. The tight twist and the nylon content ensures that Caper Sock is sturdy enough to withstand the kind of wear that socks put up with, but, like Bluestocking, it’s great for other garments, as well. I’ve used Caper Sock to make a scarf, my North Arrow, because it’s so soft, I wanted it wrapped around my neck all winter.

Come by the shop to check out both of String Theory’s excellent sock yarns, as well as their Selku and Merino DK, which we also stock. See you there!

New from Mountain Meadow Wool.

Posted by Julia on May 10, 2013

Last week, two enormous boxes arrived at the shop from Mountain Meadow Wool in Wyoming. Inside, there were new colors in Cody, along with four new yarns from MMW: Lilura, Dubois, Powder River, and Mountain Fusion Teton. At the Mountain Meadow Wool Yarn Tasting, we invited attendees to swatch with four MMW yarns and also to flip through color cards to see the many other yarns they produce. Some were drawn to delicate fingering weight yarns, some favored brilliantly colored bulky weights, and others were wooed by Cody, the first MMW yarn we’ve stocked here at the shop. We made a slew of special orders that reflected our yarn tasters’ desires and preferences, which meant bringing all these new yarns to the shop in just a few colors. Those of you who couldn’t make it to the yarn tasting can now get a sense of which MMW yarns our HYS knitters loved best, and see them in person at the shop.

Lilura is a fingering weight blend of US-sourced merino wool and North American alpaca, a round, smooth, 3-ply yarn with fabulous stitch definition and a lovely soft hand. The base yarn is a pale, heathered oatmeal color (pictured above on the right), and any hand-dyed colorways are dyed on top of that natural color. The result is a warmer, more subdued color than could be achieved by dyeing stark white fiber. We had a spare skein in the natural color hanging around after the yarn tasting, which I used to knit up the Rustling Leaves Beret from Coastal Knits.

Each stitch was a delight; I’ll surely be coming back to this yarn for a bigger project. The Rustling Leaves Beret lives at the shop now with all the newest MMW yarns; come by and take a look.

Dubois is also fingering weight, a pebbly 2-ply merino wool. One knitter at the yarn tasting ordered this to make a slouchy cabled hat, a perfect fit for this soft and springy yarn, but it’s equally well-suited to lace shawls, scarves, or perhaps a light-weight sweater.

Powder River, a dk weight blend of merino wool and alpaca, caught the eye of two knitters who plan to use it for a set of Welting Fantastic Cowl + Mitts. I’m flattered by their pattern selection, and can’t wait to see how this gorgeous yarn makes up in my design. Like Lilura, the base yarn is a light beige color, giving this blue shade extra depth and interest.

Mountain Fusion Teton is the result of collaboration between Mountain Meadow Wool and Mountain Colors, a bulky weight merino wool yarn. We have two colors in stock, both of which fall comfortably into the red category. One has orange and fuschia highlights, while the other leans towards burgundy and plum, but both are 2 ply, where one ply is thick and the other is thin. This gives a pretty consistent texture with plenty of color interest, not to mention enough yarn in one skein to create a hat in an afternoon.

Anne knit this up as soon as it arrived, working from a hat pattern provided on the yarn’s label. The only change she made to the pattern was to switch from ribbing to stockinette after an inch or two; the pattern as written makes a fully ribbed hat. Come by the shop to see it, and remember Mountain Fusion Teton when winter gift-giving is upon us and a hat in an afternoon sounds like a lifesaver.

Last but certainly not least, we did get four new colors in Cody, a bouncy sport weight 2-ply merino wool. This brings our current color selection to 16, a wide range of natural and hand-dyed colorways.

Come by the shop to see all these new yarns from Mountain Meadow Wool, and to admire the many colors and textures that this incredible US yarn company creates. See you at the shop!

New from Plymouth.

Posted by Julia on May 5, 2013

We recently unloaded a big box from Plymouth, full of new yarns, patterns, and notions.

Gina is a new yarn for us here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, a soft, self-striping, worsted weight wool. We got eight colorways and a handful of patterns to give you ideas for how to use this yarn.

Sakkie is another new yarn, a lustrous, sturdy sock yarn composed of 40% merino wool, 40% mohair, and 20% nylon. Anne picked a few solid colors and a few variegated colors.

Sakkie is intended for socks, what with its tight twist and strong fibers, but a quick glance at Ravelry reveals that knitters are also using it for shawls, scarves, hats, and mitts. How would you use this fingering weight yarn?

We also got a few new patterns for good old Galway, a worsted weight wool that comes in all kinds of colors. Look for these in the binder marked “Men’s Sweaters and Vests,” and come by to see all the new goodies from Plymouth. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Rios.

Posted by Julia on April 14, 2013

We’ve been lucky this week: not one, but two boxes came to us from Malabrigo! On Friday I shared the contents of the first box, and today, I’ll share the second, which contained bag after bag of Rios.

Rios is Malabrigo’s worsted weight, superwash merino wool. It seems to be always in demand, whether for hats, sweaters, shawls, or blankets. It’s soft, beautifully hand-dyed, easy to care for, and well-priced for its 210 yard skeins. All of those qualities make it somewhat irresistible; come by to see it in person and see if you’re not tempted.

We’re especially happy to have the Azul Profundo colorway back in stock–the one I used to make Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Chambered Nautilus Tam, a sample that hangs out in the Rios cubby.

This cleverly-constructed hat is always attracting attention, for the gorgeous semisolid color as much as for the design.

Look for Malabrigo Rios in the worsted weight section next time you’re in the shop, and remember it when you’re seeking soft, washable wool. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Finito and Arroyo.

Posted by Julia on April 12, 2013

Last week, we were delighted to receive a 45 pound box from Malabrigo, stuffed with their Finito and Arroyo yarns.

Malabrigo Finito is a fingering weight yarn composed of the finest merino wool fiber, produced just once a year in limited quantities. Anne has frequently called it “the poor man’s cashmere” because of its incredible softness, but to my fingertips, it feels even softer than some cashmere yarns. We ordered two bags of whatever colorways were in stock, which filled out our Finito selection nicely. I’ve seen it made up into cowls and heard whispers about sweaters; next time you’re in the shop, be sure to ask Anne to pull out the beginning of her cowl-neck sweater in Finito so you can feel the lovely fabric it creates.

The pattern is from Hannah Fettig’s lovely Knitbot Essentials, a great source for simple, wearable sweater and accessory patterns.

Meanwhile, the Arroyo part of this shipment is even more tempting, with new colorways and greater quantity than we’ve seen in a long time. I managed to squeeze 30 bags of the stuff into our inventory room with the mantra, “There’s always room for more yarn.”

Arroyo is a sport weight superwash merino wool, soft and sturdy. I made a pair of socks with it, as well as the Drop Stitch Scarf that hangs in the shop. Arroyo’s easy machine-washability makes it ideal for baby or children’s things, hats, mitts, or larger garments. A knitter came by during the Spring Triangle Yarn Crawl wearing a poncho made in Arroyo that we all admired; she reported that in spite of its delicate softness, it wears tremendously well, holds its shape and shows no signs of pilling.

Come by the shop to see our newly abundant collection of Malabrigo yarns, and stay tuned for the next blog post, featuring even more Malabrigo!

Hello, String Theory Merino DK.

Posted by Julia on March 27, 2013

The recent publication of my Welting Fantastic Cowl + Mitts led to an increased interest in String Theory Merino DK, specifically, in the Garnet colorway. When it vanished from the yarn tree in the DK weight corner, Anne and I did a quick inventory and talked ourselves into a Merino DK order. “We’ll have to get more Garnet,” we told one another, “and wouldn’t it be nice to have Merino DK in Charcoal? And Pewter?” It doesn’t take much for us to call String Theory; we love everything about their yarn, from ordering to unpacking to photographing to knitting to wearing it.

The box arrived yesterday, and it was a pleasure to unpack. This squishy, soft, superwash merino wool is perfect for so many projects–hats, mitts, scarves, shawls and other accessories, and sweaters for adults and children alike. I enjoyed every stitch of my Welting Fantastic Cowl and Mitts, and I’m sure I’ll use the Merino DK again when my next project wants between 5 + 6 stitches per inch from a yarn that holds its shape and has great stitch definition.

We couldn’t resist ordering just a few more colors of String Theory Caper Sock. Here are a few lighter colors, to brighten up the String Theory sock yarn cubby. From left to right: Pewter, Atlantis, Light Teal, and Mead. If you haven’t yet tried this soft-and-sturdy blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon, consider Caper Sock for your next fingering weight project.

Come by the shop to see all the String Theory yarns. See you there!