Tag Archives: mohair

New from Plymouth.

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

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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!

Hello again, Brown Sheep.

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Many of you are already familiar with Brown Sheep, a yarn company out of Mitchell, Nebraska. For some years now, we’ve stocked their Lamb’s Pride yarn in Worsted and Bulky weights, along with Cotton Fleece, Serendipity Tweed, Wildfoote Luxury Sock, Top of the Lamb Sport, and Nature Spun Sport.

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Since 1980, this family business has been producing yarns right here in the U.S., doing most of the process in Nebraska, save for the scouring, carding, and combing, which takes place in South Carolina. A couple of years ago, they redesigned their yarn production so that 70-90% of their daily waste water is reused. Their products have always been a good value, and their practices are admirable, too. Over the holidays, our supply of Lamb’s Pride Bulky had grown low enough that a reorder was necessary. Since we were already ordering, we went ahead and filled up on Lamb’s Pride Worsted, too, and even selected a brand new Brown Sheep yarn for the shop: Lamb’s Pride Superwash Sport.

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Soft, machine-washable, and available in plenty of solid colors, Lamb’s Pride Superwash Sport was calling our name. It should be perfect for baby things and accessories that are likely to get a lot of wear, like hats, mittens, and socks. Looking over the colors as I unpacked the box, they said to me: colorwork. These bold colors just beg to be combined in high contrast stranded color patterns.

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The Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride yarns are a staple for many knitters and crocheters: fuzzy yet sturdy, quite suitable for felting projects, and available in a wide range of vivid colors.

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Lamb’s Pride Worsted knits up at about 4.5 or 5 stitches per inch, while Lamb’s Pride Bulky knits up rather more quickly at 3 stitches per inch, and both are comprised of 85% wool and 15% mohair. They are both single ply yarns, which, combined with the mohair content, makes for soft yarn with a bit of a wooly halo.

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Come by the shop to see these refilled cubbies of Brown Sheep yarns, and remember Lamb’s Pride Worsted, Bulky, and Superwash Sport when planning your next project. See you there!

Artyarns Mohair Splash and Rhapsody Glitter Light.

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Before we reorganized the shop last month, all of the sparkly, tempting skeins from ArtYarns lived together in one sparkly, tempting basket near the desk. Now that all our yarn is organized by weight and suggested gauge, those sparkly skeins have been divided up by type and moved into their new homes. Those whose labels suggest 5.5 stitches per inch, like the Regal Silk, were sent to the DK weight section, and those whose labels suggested 4.5 stitches per inch went to the Aran section, and so on. When our most recent ArtYarns shipment came in, I was pleased to see that both the Mohair Splash and Rhapsody Glitter Light suggest 5 stitches per inch–a Worsted weight gauge. Though many of the ArtYarns are separated, these two can still share a cubby.

Mohair Splash is composed of silk and mohair, and it gets its sparkle from splashes of beads and sequins that are strung intermittently along one ply of the yarn. We are often asked if the sequins interrupt the knitting, bothering ones hands, or catching on stray fibers, and the answer is, blissfully, no. Anne reports that the yarn is dreamy to work with, soft, smooth, and easy.

We selected only three new colors in Mohair Splash for Fall, but they really brighten up the spectrum.

Rhapsody Glitter Light is also a silk and mohair blend, but instead of beads and sequins, it sparkles with a shimmering strand of metallic Lurex. When you’re choosing between these yarns (which can be a difficult task, indeed), consider how much sparkle your project-to-be wants. Should the whole thing glimmer consistently, like the Rhapsody Glitter Light, or would you rather have a dash of shine here and there, as in Mohair Splash?

Come by the shop to ooh and ahh. See you there!

Be Sweet shawl kits.

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Many a visitor to the shop has been wooed by the Be Sweet shawl kits. The sample shawl and scarf that hang by the kits are feather-light and translucent, but made of a textured mohair yarn in thick, bold stripes–qualities that seem to contradict one another, and thus, entrance. It’s simplicity, too, is appealing, for after all, it’s just garter stitch.

Each kit comes with a pattern and five 25 gram balls of the lace-weight Be Sweet Extra Fine Mohair yarn, enough to make one striped shawl or two striped scarves. They’re neatly tucked into a Hillsborough Yarn Shop notions pouch, making them an ideal gift for a knitter.

This past week, many missing colorways were replenished, filling the basket with tempting options, making it harder to decide which one you’ll take home. Come by the shop to see them all.

Dream in Color.

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Two new yarns arrived at the shop this week from Dream In Color, a Chicago-based producer of hand-dyed yarns. We’ve had their Classy yarn, a washable worsted weight wool that I’ve written about here on the blog before, as well as their fingering- and lace-weight wools, which are named Smooshy and Baby, respectively. This week, we got a Smooshy upgrade: eight colors of Smooshy With Cashmere, which boasts 400 yards and 20% cashmere content. This yarn is a real treat for the hands, a smooshier Smooshy.

We also received six colors of a new lace-weight yarn from Dream in Color called It’s Native, so-called because the wool and mohair fiber it’s made of is grown, spun, and dyed in the United States. Anne makes sure that we offer yarns manufactured in the U.S. whenever possible, and it’s great to see more and more of them show up at the shop. It’s Native comes in generous skeins, too: 1000 yards can get you through a lace shawl, several scarves, or an entire Whisper Cardigan. 
Check out these two latest offerings from Dream in Color next time you’re seeking fingering-or lace-weight yarns. See you at the shop!

Hello, ArtYarns.

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Perhaps you recognize this basket of soft, shiny yarns.

That’s our stash of ArtYarns, some of the most indulgent skeins in the shop. The sheen of silk, the halo of mohair, and the sparkle of beads and sequins all conspire to create a glamorous yarn, a treat for the hands as well as the eyes. Although one skein is small, it’s enough to create a little kerchief, just as Anne knit up in white. When you’re considering treating yourself to a skein of ArtYarns Beaded Silk and Mohair, take a look at the sample to get a sense of how much fabric can come from one skein.

One of the new things Anne ordered for the shop this fall came from ArtYarns: kits with enough smooth, soft, and sparkly yarn to create a knit or crochet shawl.

You’ll find them just beneath the ArtYarns basket, by the desk. Come by the shop to take a closer look.

Hello, Bearfoot.

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Mountain Colors Bearfoot: here is a loveable sock yarn. It’s not a new arrival; rather, we’ve had it at the shop for quite some time. However, having recently reorganized the sock yarn display, I’ve only recently come to admire its depth of color and its unusual fiber content. Bearfoot is easily our only sock yarn with mohair.

Mohair socks may sound almost torturous in mid-July, but I’m betting that later in the year, they’ll sound cozy and comforting. Til then, perhaps Bearfoot wants to be a shawl. Come and admire these jewel-toned skeins 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.