Tag Archives: merino

Pagewood Farm.

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Hand-dyed sock yarn addicts, take note: our Pagewood Farm sock yarn collection is still growing. The other day a box arrived full of Glacier Bay, a 100% superwash merino wool. The yarn is soft but strong, and the colors are vibrant.

We’re down to only a few skeins of Pagewood Alyeska, a superwash merino sock yarn with a bit of cashmere mixed in, but never fear–we’ve already placed our replacement order. 
See you at the shop!

From Plymouth.

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A 48 pound box of yarn arrived from Plymouth this week, with three kinds in many different colors. Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash is not a new yarn to us, but its easy care and bright color palette have made it popular at the shop, so we were in need of refilling. Composed of soft, springy merino, this yarn also boasts excellent stitch definition. There are many reasons to recommend it, but I’m particularly likely to point it out to someone knitting for babies or children, as it can be thrown in the washer and dryer with no problem.

We also received the new Kettle Dyed version of the same yarn, which is tonally variegated. There’s only one color in each colorway, but that color is darker in some spots and brighter in others, giving it some texture. While the solid Worsted Merino Superwash yarn comes in 218 yard skeins, its Kettle Dyed cousin offers a whopping 436 yards per skein.

We also replenished our supply of Plymouth’s Trabajos Del Peru, an aran weight single ply yarn which comes in semi-solid and multi-color variegated colorways. It’s made to be hand-washed rather than machine-washed, but don’t let that intimidate you if soft, fuzzy, slightly thick-and-thin yarn is right up your alley.

A little out of the way, in that bottom cubby, but worth finding. As for the Worsted Merino Superwash, it can be found on the right hand side of the door to the shop, with fellow washable wools from Dream in Color and the Unique Sheep. Come and find them!

Getting our sock yarn fix.

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It’s been a big week for sock yarn here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. First, our dwindling collection of hand-dyed sock yarn from Pagewood Farm was replenished. We carry both Denali, which is a sturdy combination of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon, and Alyeska, a soft blend of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Here they are snuggled up together in their basket.



        
I had just arranged the Pagewood Farm sock yarn, it seemed, when the next box of sock yarn arrived. From Crystal Palace, a brand new yarn named Sausalito. It’s an extremely soft blend of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon. Sausalito also self-stripes, much like Crystal Palace’s Mini Mochi, but with a slightly different effect because Sausalito is 2-ply while Mini Mochi is a single ply. Where one color begins to fade into the next, the two plies are different colors for a stretch, looking rather marled.
We were also pleased to receive a box from The Alpaca Yarn Company, filled with their Paca-Peds sock yarn as well as Paca-Paints, a worsted weight yarn. These yarns aren’t new to us, but like the Pagewood Farm yarn, we had been running really low on them until this week. In fact, we were down to one lonesome skein of Paca-Peds. Those days are gone now. Welcome back, Paca-Paints and -Peds!
All this is to say: if you’re looking for your sock yarn fix, it’s probably here. See you at the shop!

What we’ve made room for, part 1.

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Give a warm welcome to the newest yarns at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.
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As I previously mentioned, Sawya is the latest from Mirasol: a worsted weight blend of pima cotton, alpaca, and silk in a bright bunch of colors. Just right for warm-weather knitting.
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Pictured below, hanging in two tiny baskets are two more warm-weather yarns: Haze and Mia, from the Queensland Collection and Takhi Yarns, respectively. Haze is a blend of corn viscose and cotton in a dk weight. Mia is a fluffy, thick-and-thin cotton, unusually textured for its fiber content, making it a nice substitute for wool where wool allergies are concerned.

Of course, we have plenty of new wooly yarns as well. From Cascade: Sitka, a bulky merino and mohair blend. We have three neutral colors, making the decision-making process simpler. Charcoal gray, brown, or beige?

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Also from the department of wooly wools: Kauni 8/2 Effektgarn, a self-striping fingering weight yarn with long color repeats, making a subtle gradation from one shade to the next. I find it particularly striking in fair isle patterns like this one. Or you might put it to use with a brioche pattern from Nancy Marchant’s book, which we just got in last week. Much of our first order of Kauni has already escaped in the shopping bags of customers who fell completely in love with it on sight. A dangerous situation, indeed.

     

This should do for one post. Tomorrow: the rest of the newest. For now.

Cascade 220 Superwash Sport.

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********* As of December 15th, 2015, we no longer have any Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in stock. *********
Allow me to introduce you to my favorite yarn of the moment. Simple, sturdy, yet soft, and suitable for most any project: Cascade 220 Superwash Sport. A few weeks ago, we had only a handful of colors. I’d just begun a pair of socks in a light heathered gray when I overheard Anne on the phone, saying, “Yes, I’d like a bag of every color. Except gray.” Every color?
Oh yes. Every color. To me, this yarn suggests complicated fair isle sweaters, striped socks, many-colored hats and mittens… first, though, I had to finish my gray socks.

 

The completion of these socks brings mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s a success to have finished a pair of socks, where before I’ve been plagued by second sock syndrome. On the other hand, it’s impossible to ignore that they are simply too big. Looks are deceiving: the socks appear to be the right size, yet they lack the negative ease that makes socks fit snugly, and so they feel oddly loose. I thought I’d try to shrink them in the wash, because, hey, it’s machine washable yarn, but it’s probably not machine dry-able. Bad news for my socks, good news for consumers of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport: the socks emerged from the dryer in exactly the same state they had entered it. This yarn is superwash, indeed.
Back to daydreaming about colorwork, then. Also, trying my hand at fingering-weight socks, which I’ll show off here soon…



Katia Fabula.

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A lot of days at the yarn shop begin with a box. 
 
This one arrived last Tuesday. Our UPS guy dropped it off in the back room where we could spread out its contents and find space to store them. 
Inside, I found a few replacement bags of Noro Silk Garden Sock in colors whose numbers have been dwindling, and beneath that, something new: three bags of Fabula, a superwash, super-bulky merino yarn by Katia. Fabula is not entirely new to us. Indeed, it first showed up several weeks ago but never made it out of the back room before it was sold out; the first few people that saw it simply had to have it, and so Anne reordered it the same day it arrived. 

This time, Fabula has lasted long enough to find its way into a display, sitting atop the sock books.
The thickness and softness of this washable yarn makes it perfect for accessories, as many knitters have shown–Fabula’s Ravelry page is full of cozy-looking hats, cowls, and mittens. Our own Jodie has already begun a ruffly scarf in a rich red and purple colorway and is making quick progress.
Come by the shop to admire this new addition, and consider Fabula the next time you need to knit a hat in a hurry.