Tag Archives: petiteknit

Back in stock: Malabrigo Caprino.

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Our supply of Malabrigo Caprino dwindled to almost zero during our Annual Inventory Sale – we are so happy to have this yarn back in stock!

Malabrigo Caprino:

  • DK weight
  • hand-dyed, variegated, speckled, and semi-solid colorways
  • 80% merino, 20% cashmere
  • 159 yards/50 g
  • $18 each

Like all Malabrigo yarns, Caprino comes in a variety of vibrant, memorable hand-dyed colorways. What sets it apart is the extra softness of cashmere, which really makes Caprino a treat to work with and wear. Lately it’s been popular for PetiteKnit’s “Sophie Scarf,” a small garter stitch neckwarmer that many knitters have been making on repeat.

I knit Andrea Mowry’s “Nightshift” shawl with Malabrigo Caprino a couple of years ago, and it now hangs at the shop, inspiring knitters to make their own. It was fun to combine semisolid, variegated, and speckled colorways in this slip stitch pattern and see how they worked together.

What else to make with Caprino? Here are some ideas!

Look for Malabrigo Caprino in the DK weight section here at our shop!

Show and tell: sweaters.

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We’re closing the shop for a summer vacation from August 17 – 28, reopening at our usual hours on Tuesday, August 29. In the meantime, enjoy another round of show and tell, featuring the juiciest of knitting projects: sweaters!

Here’s April’s “Little Love,” by Ankestrick, a textured cardigan knit with Kelbourne Woolens Cricket. April has also made Ankestrick’s “Big Love,” a heavier version in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, and can vouch for the pleasure of knitting and wearing these designs!

Anne began this “Kirigami” years ago, when Brooklyn Tweed first launched Dapple, but then put it aside while she worked on other things. When the most recent new colors came out in Dapple, she returned to it and was delighted to discover it was nearly finished! Look for it hanging on the wall here at our shop.

Linda finished her “Kirigami” recently, too, using Brooklyn Tweed Arbor. I love how crisp Gudrun Johnston’s highly textured design is in this yarn!

In fact, I made a “Kirigami” in Arbor a few years ago, and though it never made an appearance on the blog, I wear it frequently and love it so.

Here’s a more recent project of mine, a PetiteKnit “Anker’s Summer Shirt” in Sandnes Garn Line. This one is up on display at the shop, and seems to have inspired many of you to pick up Line for an “Anker’s Summer Shirt” of your own – I can’t wait to see them take shape!

Connie knit this “Kaav” cardigan in a recent class here at our shop, where a small group of knitters all tackled Kate Davie’s lovely design, along with their very first steeks. Connie modified the pattern a bit, omitting the colorwork from the sleeves, and used the super soft Kelbourne Woolens Scout.

 

Thanks to April, Anne, Linda, and Connie for sharing your projects with us, and thank you all for letting me show and tell, too! Looking forward to seeing you and your projects after our summer break!

Show and tell: held together.

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It’s been too long since I shared show-and-tell here on the blog, though it’s an ongoing part of our daily Instagram posts – let’s see what folks have been making with yarn from our shop!

We have long extolled the magic of holding multiple yarns together, making unique color and fiber blends that delight and sometimes surprise us. All the projects in today’s show and tell post feature this technique, sometimes called marling. The shawl above is a great example, Pat’s “Duality.” She knit the larger wrap size using Isager Alpaca 2, a lovely substitution for the now-discontinued Shibui yarn that Jane Vanselous’s pattern calls for.

Joy recently completed this “Copenhagen Cardigan,” designed by PetiteKnit and made with Isager Alpaca 2 in a teal color and Silk Mohair in blue held together throughout. The result is so delightfully soft and fuzzy, she came back for more Silk Mohair to make a PetiteKnit “Cumulus Blouse O-neck.”

Here’s a more subtle marl, where the two yarns are similar in color – Kay’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” knit with Kelbourne Woolens Perennial and Fyberspates Cumulus held together throughout. Margaretta made one too, using the same two yarns in shades of teal.

Margaretta also knit a marled “Weekend Hat,” another PetiteKnit pattern, using Isager Alpaca 2 and Kelbourne Woolens Camper held together.

Thanks to Pat, Joy, Kay, and Margaretta for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Back in stock: Isager Bomulin.

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Warm weather calls for plant fiber and lightweight yarns, so we’ve stocked up on Isager Bomulin, a light fingering weight blend of cotton and linen.

Isager Bomulin:

  • light fingering weight
  • 65% cotton, 35% linen
  • 230 yards/50g
  • $11 each

Plant fibers like these have little elasticity and a lot of drape, making them perfect for spring shawls and scarves, or loose-fitting warm-weather garments.

I’m a little late to the party, but I’ve just knit a “Ranunculus” as a sample for the shop, Midori Hirose’s always-popular textured yoke pullover. I picked a salmon pink shade of Isager Bomulin, holding it together with slightly lighter pink Isager Highland Wool for a bit of added softness, structure, and variation in color.

I’m really pleased with how these close-but-not-matching shades blend together in this garment, looking solid from a distance but gently marled upon closer inspection. Here are some more color combinations in Bomulin and Highland Wool that should have a similar effect!

Isager Merilin, a merino/linen blend, would also play well with Bomulin; here are four more low contrast combinations to consider for a “Ranunculus” of your own, or perhaps a PetiteKnit “Breeze Bag,” which calls for a similar combination of yarns.

Here’s Margaretta’s recently completed “Breeze Bag,” knit with Bomulin and Merilin held together throughout – perfect for farmer’s market flowers!

What else to knit with Bomulin? Here are a few ideas!

Look for Isager Bomulin, Highland Wool, and Merilin in the fingering weight section here at HYS!

Marling with Sandnes Garn Sunday.

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A few months ago, a new PetiteKnit pattern caught my eye and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Melange Sweater” is simple enough, a marled stockinette drop shoulder pullover, but the high contrast combination of colors intrigued me, along with a few other design details.

 “Melange Sweater” by PetiteKnit, photo © PetiteKnit

I chose Sandnes Garn Sunday for a “Melange Sweater” of my own and have been happily stitching away ever since, enjoying the shoulder shaping at the yoke, the soft yarn, the bouncy fabric, and above all, watching the colors come together. There’s a pleasing randomness to it, a bit of blurring and pooling – it’s keeping me interested even though the stitching is simple!

I picked a high contrast color combination for my “Melange Sweater,” similar to the sweater in the pattern photo. There are so many possible combinations in our Sandnes Garn Sunday cubbies – here are some high contrast ideas!

Low contrast marls are subtle, but lovely – the resulting fabric looks more solid from a distance.

Here are some other PetiteKnit pattern ideas for Sandnes Garn Sunday held double:

“Weekend Hat” by PetiteKnit, knit with Sandnes Garn Sunday held double; photo © PetiteKnit

Look for Sandnes Garn Sunday in the fingering weight section here at HYS – we can’t wait to see what color combinations you come up with for your own marled knits!

Hello, Sandnes Garn Sunday!

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Meet our newest arrival, Sandnes Garn Sunday!

Sandnes Garn Sunday:

  • fingering weight
  • 100% merino wool
  • 257 yards/50g
  • hand wash, lay flat to dry

Anne has carried some things from Sandnes Garn since opening the Hillsborough Yarn Shop back in 2006, but PetiteKnit has brought this classic Norwegian yarn company back to our attention.

What to knit with Sunday? Anne just swatched for a “Friday Tee,” by PetiteKnit, a striped, broken rib top in 2 colors.

Here are some more pattern ideas for Sunday:

Look for Sunday in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We’re open from 11am-5:30pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays; masks required for entry.

Show and tell!

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It’s been far too long since I shared show-and-tell here on the blog, though it’s an ongoing part of our daily Instagram posts – let’s see what folks have been making with yarn from our shop!

First up – check out Linda’s Churchmouse “Double Split Color-Blocked Cowl,” knit with Malabrigo Noventa! She knit it up in no time on US 15 needles, an instant gratification kind of project.

Sherri made one, too! It’s always fun to see the same pattern transformed by different colors.

Debbie is a prolific knitter and weaver, among other things – here’s the latest project off her loom, an amazing deflected double weave scarf woven with Brooklyn Tweed Loft. We’re delighted that this springy woolen-spun yarn is back in production after a year of sourcing and supply chain issues!

Margaretta recently knit a pair of Andrea Mowry’s “Curio Socks” with Isager Sock Yarn and Koigu KPPPM – I love how the solid white highlights individual shades in the variegated contrast color!

Anne has been busy knitting samples for the shop – here are two of her recent creations! Above is an “Autopilot” cowl, by Dominique Trad, knit with 2 skeins of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Worsted. Below is her PetiteKnit “Novice Slipover,” knit with Kelbourne Woolens Lucky Tweed. The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn held together with laceweight mohair, but Anne substituted one strand of this tweedy aran weight yarn, with cozy results.

Thanks to Linda, Sherri, Debbie, Margaretta, and Anne for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Weekend Hat.

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Margaretta recently brought in a bit of show and tell that captivated us – here’s her “Weekend Hat,” another simple but clever pattern by PetiteKnit.

Margaretta knit her “Weekend Hat” with Isager Jensen and Silk Mohair held together throughout, a perfect balance of structure and softness. As in PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” there are 3 layers of fabric at the brim, making for a super cozy hat. The “Weekend Hat” also features a few rows of double knitting at the fold to keep it in place, a nice detail.

I couldn’t resist putting a few more “Weekend Hat” color combinations together in Jensen and Silk Mohair…

…and then the new shades of Kelbourne Woolens Scout caught my eye, and I found some beautiful Silk Mohair matches for that yarn, too!

If any of these combinations catch your eye, you can order them online for local pickup or shipping, or come by the shop to put your own colors together – we can’t wait to see what you dream up! Look for Isager Jensen and Kelbourne Woolens Scout in the DK weight section, and Isager Silk Mohair in the lace weight section. See you at the shop!

The Knitting Barber Cords.

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The Knitting Barber Cords are back in stock! These little tins hold colorful silicone stitch holders, perfect for putting sleeve or body stitches on hold as you’re knitting a seamless sweater.

These flexible tubes are designed to slip onto the point of your needles for easy transfer of live stitches from needles to Knitting Barber Cords and back again. Each tin has three cords, one measuring 60″ and two measuring 30″.

I’ve been using these Cords to hold the sleeve stitches on my “Anker’s Summer Shirt,” and can attest that it’s a much faster transfer than my usual method, slipping stitches onto waste yarn using a darning needle.

The Knitting Barber Cords are $18 and come in loads of colors – look for them here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

Hello, Sandnes Garn Line!

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Spring weather is here, which means it’s time for plant fibers – meet the newest addition here at our shop, Sandnes Garn Line!

Sandnes Garn Line:

  • light worsted weight
  • 53% cotton, 33% viscose, 14% linen
  • 120 yards/50g
  • $7.50 each

Line is a light worsted weight plant fiber blend that knits up at 5 stitches per inch on a US 6 needle.

It’s soft, cool, machine washable, and drapes beautifully, qualities that make it ideal for warm weather garments.

“Anker’s Summer Shirt,” by PetiteKnit, photo © PetiteKnit

I’ve cast on for a shop sample in Line, PetiteKnit’s “Anker’s Summer Shirt.” Like every PetiteKnit pattern I’ve tried so far, it’s approachable, practical, and appealing, both to knit and to wear.

Here are some other patterns that would be lovely in Line:

Look for Sandnes Garn Line in our worsted weight section!