Tag Archives: organic

Back in stock: Swans Island.

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Along with the brand new Swans Island Organic Washable DK, we also recently stocked up on our supply of Swans Island Organic Merino in both fingering and worsted weights. At market, Melissa from Swans Island showed us these two Dyer’s Choice Limited Edition colors, Orchid and Plum, and Anne, with a slight swoon, immediately ordered them in fingering weight.

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They fit nicely into the now somewhat amazing palette of rosy pinks and reds that we currently have in stock in this yarn.

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Aside from those two, the other colors we ordered were familiar ones, favorites that find their way into HYS shopping bags again and again, destined for lacy shawls and scarves, cozy cowls, and special sweaters.

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Meanwhile, we also doubled our stock of Swans Island Organic Merino Worsted, filling in missing colors and making sure we had enough for the Fall season.

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Swans Island Organic Merino are some of the squishiest, softest merino yarns around, and the natural dyes make for truly unique and beautiful colorways. Each skein is a thing of beauty, and the result of loving, hard work by the skilled craftspeople of Swans Island Blankets. If you haven’t treated yourself to a skein of it yet, consider doing yourself the kindness. One 525 yard skein in fingering weight is enough for a scarf or shawlette, and one 250 yard skein in worsted weight is plenty for a hat and mitts, or decent-sized cowl or scarf. Look to the Swans Island pattern binder for ideas and inspiration for how to use that special skein. See you at the shop!

Lana Grossa Linea Pura Taglia: now on sale!

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UPDATE: As of 11/19/2014, we are totally sold out of Lana Grossa Linea Pura Taglia!

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We’ve just discounted Lana Grossa Linea Pura Taglia, a yarn with many names.

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Taglia is a bulky weight yarn made of 100% organic Mako cotton, but its unusual construction keeps it remarkably lightweight. Many yarns are composed of strands of fiber twisted together, but Taglia is essentially a knitted tube, which gives the usually-inelastic cotton fiber extra stretchiness. Taglia suggests a US size 10 needle to obtain a gauge of 3.5 stitches per inch, and yet the fabric it creates is much lighter in weight than more traditionally-constructed bulky weight yarns.

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A quick visit to Ravelry reveals that many have used Taglia for sweaters, which makes sense, given that it knits up quickly but creates a light fabric–a rare combination. Taglia is also well-suited to accessories and baby things, since it happens to be machine-washable. Come by the shop to get Taglia at 25% off!

(A reminder: all discounted yarns are final sale, so we can’t offer exchanges or refunds. Thanks!)

A new color from Swans Island.

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Last month’s Swans Island Trunk Show inspired many knitters to create garments with Swans Island’s organic merino wool yarns, which put quite a dent in our supply of the stuff. Last week, we placed an order of Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering in some of the most-loved colorways to replenish our stash: Fig, Winterberry, Oatmeal, Beetroot, Early Thyme, and several other deliciously-named colors. We also got the last bag of Sugar Maple, a limited edition color for Fall, and a first bag of this winter’s Limited Edition Dyer’s Choice: Reindeer Moss.

Reindeer Moss is a lovely, muted sage, which puts it somewhere between Early Thyme and Tarragon in terms of color value.

We also restocked the patterns that were most popular during the Trunk Show, some of which call for Swans Island Worsted, and some of which call for the Fingering.

Come by the shop to see Reindeer Moss in person, and give the Swans Island yarns a good squeeze. See you there!

Hello, Green Mountain Spinnery.

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We’re so excited to announce that we now carry two yarns from Green Mountain Spinnery, a Vermont company that makes yarn exclusively from U.S. grown natural fibers. They process those fibers without the use of harsh chemicals, which is better for the world as well as the yarn. Green Mountain Spinnery is also known for its commitment to sustainability and to supporting regional sheep farmers and organic practices, and, oh yes–they are also well known for their beautiful yarns.

When we first saw Green Mountain Spinnery at TNNA in June, we were taken by the cozy-looking display of all their yarns.

It was hard to pick just two to bring into the shop, but there’s only so much room for new inventory, so we settled on Sylvan Spirit and New Mexico Organic, two dk weight yarns with distinct personalities.

Sylvan Spirit is a single ply yarn composed of 50% fine wool and 50% Tencel, which gives it a slight sheen. Clara Parkes gave Sylvan Spirit a glowing review back in 2004, noting in particular that this blend of fibers makes it a particularly good choice for those who live in warm climates. It has the elasticity of wool and the breathability of plant fibers: a perfect pairing for North Carolina, and one of our reasons for choosing it.

Anne quickly knit up a sample fingerless mitt in Sylvan Spirit, and we were both impressed by the crisp stitch definition in spite of the tweedy quality of the color. The pattern is Cafe Au Lait Mitts, available as a free download on Ravelry.

New Mexico Organic is undyed, and thus comes in only two colors: white and gray. These two colors don’t disappoint, though; to my eye, they are perfect in their simplicity. (Clara Parkes, who reviewed the yarn in 2007, seems to agree.) The yarn is hearty and wholesome to knit with, sturdy yet bouncy. Anne has kindly saved the sample skein for me to knit, and though I’m anxious to get my hands on it, I haven’t decided how best to show it off yet. Another pair of mitts? Mittens? A cabled hat?

These yarns truly excite and inspire us, and we hope you feel the same way. Come by the shop to meet these two yarns from Green Mountain Spinnery!

Two new colors from Swans Island.

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Just two.

We expanded our Swans Island spectrum a bit, but with some self control–a difficult task in the face of Swans Island’s soft, squishy, organic merino yarns. Upon reordering colors whose numbers were dwindling, we pulled out the colorcard to see if we’d missed any. That’s when we gave in. We have room for a few new colors, right? Well: just two.

I just finished a sweater in the Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering, and while it was blocking, I bought another skein to play with, so I speak from personal experience: this is very special yarn. The care that went into its production is evident in the skein as well as in the finished knitted garment. Perhaps these new colors will inspire you to give Swans Island a try, and perhaps their beautiful pattern support will do the same. Come by the shop to take a peek.

Hello, Swans Island.

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I could not possibly be more excited to introduce you all to this thrilling new yarn, an organic, hand-dyed merino from the Maine-based company Swans Island.

If you’ve been in the shop in the past two days, then you know that our excitement for this yarn has been obvious, reflected not only in our squeals of delight and our ear-to-ear grins, but also in its placement: front and center on the teacart.

Swans Island Organic Merino is spun and dyed in Maine, and comes in two weights, a worsted and a fingering. The worsted is put up in 100 gram skeins with 250 yards each, while the fingering boasts 525 yards to the skein. These details blur into the background, however, when you touch this yarn. Immediately, the yarn’s main feature is obvious: it is incredibly, amazingly soft. The secret to this softness is in the gentle, minimal processing that comes with ecologically-friendly natural dyes, which you can read more about on the Swans Island website. My new hero, Clara Parkes, author of the Knitter’s Book of Wool, wrote a characteristically in-depth review of the Swans Island Worsted on her blog, Knitter’s Review–a great resource if you’re thinking of giving this yarn a try. And if you’re thinking of giving it a try but don’t know what to knit, check out the first wave of Swans Island patterns, which can be found in a binder between the two Swans Island baskets.

Myself, I’m the lucky girl who gets to knit up a shop sample with this wondrous stuff, a hat, which I’ve just cast on for. Only four rows in, I can already tell you that this yarn is a dream. I have several Swans Island sweater daydreams floating around in my head, competing with one another. I’m so excited, I have no idea which to cast on for!