Oslo Hat, No-Mohair Edition.

I just finished up another new sample for the shop, PetiteKnit’s oh-so-popular “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition,” though mine doesn’t contain any mohair to speak of.

For this hat, I paired Kelbourne Woolens Perennial and Fyberspates Cumulus, a brushed alpaca that emulates mohair’s fuzzy halo. These two alpaca blends are each very soft in their own right, but together are impossibly cuddly – you must touch this hat for yourself!

My sample “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” blends Perennial in Raspberry with Cumulus in Plum – here are a few more color ideas.

The simplicity of PetiteKnit’s “Oslo Hat – Mohair Edition” lends itself to variegated yarns, too, which are softened when held together with a fuzzy lace weight yarn – here are a few color ideas pairing Koigu KPPPM with Cumulus!

Look for Cumulus in our lace weight section and Perennial and KPPPM in our fingering weight section – we’re open 11am-5:30pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays. We do require masks for entry – thanks for your cooperation, see you at the shop!

Back in stock: Isager Alpaca 3.

Once again, PetiteKnit has made Isager yarn popular enough to clear our shelves. Having nearly sold out of Alpaca 3 in the past month or so, we are relieved to announce that we now have a fresh supply!

Isager Alpaca 3:

  • bulky weight
  • chainette
  • 50% alpaca, 50% wool
  • 137 yards/50 grams
  • $10 each

Due to it’s chainette construction, Alpaca 3 is soft, lofty, and highly elastic – a pleasure to work with, all told.

“Novice Cardigan – Chunky Edition,” by PetiteKnit, photo © PetiteKnit.

Though it’s lovely on its own, it’s irresistibly soft when paired with Isager Silk Mohair, as PetiteKnit knows well.

“Sunday Sweater,” by PetiteKnit, photo © PetiteKnit.

Here are a few color combinations to consider when planning a “Sunday Sweater,” “Novice Sweater – Chunky Edition,” “Novice Cardigan – Chunky Edition,” or “Holiday Slipover.”

If mohair isn’t your thing, you can substitute Isager Alpaca 1, a lace weight 100% alpaca yarn. It will add a little weight to the Alpaca 3, and can alter the color if you like, but won’t be as fuzzy as Silk Mohair.

Come by the shop to see and touch these yarns for yourself, and plan your next project! Look for Silk Mohair and Alpaca 1 in the lace weight section, and Alpaca 3 in the bulky weight section.

Show and tell: PetiteKnit patterns.

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!

PetiteKnit has become one of the most-mentioned knitwear designers here at our shop. Almost every day, at least one knitter comes in shopping for, working on, or wearing a PetiteKnit design. Here are some of the PetiteKnit projects I’ve captured lately!

Margaretta is a fan of PetiteKnit – here are her two most recent sweaters, “Ingrid Sweater Baby” in Berroco Ultra Wool above, and “Moby Sweater” in Isager Jensen and Silk Mohair below.

Morgan knit this “No Frills Sweater” with Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Isager Silk Mohair held together throughout – the result is lovely, a perfect balance of structure and softness.

Michele came in wearing her first PetiteKnit sweater, “Sycamore Sweater,” and reports that the pattern was detailed and well written – she used Isager Jensen, Spinni, and Shibui Tweed Silk Cloud in this striking garment.

I knit my first PetiteKnit pattern recently, too, though it’s a far simpler design – here’s the “Sophie Shawl” I knit as a shop sample in Fibre Co. & Make Aran. The size small makes a such a nice scarf, wrapped around and tied like a kerchief, that I decided to make one for myself, too!

Thanks to Margaretta, Morgan, and Michele 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.

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Cricket!

Kelbourne Woolens is the source of some of our most popular yarns, beloved for the variety of high quality fibers they produce and the accessible price. Their latest is here at our shop – meet Cricket!

Kelbourne Woolens Cricket:

  • fingering weight
  • single ply
  • tweed
  • 100% merino wool
  • 415 yards/100g
  • $24 each

Cricket is a lighter weight version of KW’s popular Lucky Tweed, and comes in all the same colors.

Like Lucky Tweed, Cricket is manufactured in Donegal, Ireland, for an authentic tweed look and soft hand.

A few months ago, the folks at Kelbourne Woolens sent us a small ball of Cricket for swatching. I was the lucky knitter who got that job, and gave it a go in simple stockinette, first on a US 4, and then on a US 6 with a strand of Isager Silk Mohair in a contrasting color.

We’re expecting a Cricket pattern collection from Kelbourne Woolens early in the new year, but in the meantime, here are some pattern ideas that are a good fit for this new yarn!

For a single strand of Cricket:

For Cricket held together with Silk Mohair:

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Cricket in the fingering weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We’re open from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; masks required for entry.

Back in stock: Malabrigo Caprino!

It feels like we unpack at least one Malabrigo order each week – everyone loves their memorable colorways and soft fibers. This week’s Malabrigo box held a sizable restock of Caprino, a super soft merino/cashmere blend.

Malabrigo Caprino:

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

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, and pick up a free copy of Breean Elyse Miller’s “Ikigai Cowl” pattern with your purchase!

Koigu Collector’s Club: The Pond.

The Koigu Collector’s Club continues! Each month, we’ll receive 21 skeins of KPPPM in a limited edition color dyed especially for a select group of local yarn stores that carry Koigu.

Koigu KPPPM:

  • fingering weight
  • hand dyed, variegated
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 175 yards/50 g
  • $15.50 each

This month’s special colorway is The Pond, a vibrant mix of blues and greens.

As I unpacked this new bundle of Koigu, I thought of the “Oslo Hat – mohair edition,” by PetiteKnit, a super cozy cuffed beanie knit with lace weight mohair and fingering weight wool held together throughout. Here are a few ideas with Isager Silk Mohair!

Koigu KPPPM is also a great yarn for Wool & Pine’s “Sea Glass Tee,” a kaleidoscopic colorwork tee designed to be knit with leftover bits and pieces of fingering weight yarn. I found loads of color inspiration in our fingering weight section, and put together this palette based on the many shades that flow through The Pond.

Bring your leftover yarns in to build a color palette for your own “Sea Glass Tee,” and look for Koigu KPPPM and Isager Silk Mohair here at the shop!

PetiteKnit pairings.

We recently restocked Isager Silk Mohair, a soft and shiny lace weight blend of mohair and silk, often used in tandem with heavier yarns. Fingering weight yarn seems to be a particularly popular playmate for Silk Mohair – here are some color combinations pairing it up with Isager Sock Yarn and Alpaca 2, and PetiteKnit pattern ideas below!

  • Isager Silk Mohair: lace weight, 70% kid mohair, 30% silk, 233 yards/25 g; $16 each
  • Isager Sock Yarn: fingering weight, 40% Easy Wash alpaca, 40% Easy Wash merino wool, 20% recycled nylon, 423 yards/100g; $20 each

  • Isager Alpaca 2: light fingering weight, 50% alpaca, 50% wool, 275 yards/50 g; $12 each

What to knit with these yarn pairings? You’ll find more ideas on a blog post of mine from November, but for today, let’s focus on PetiteKnit, who seems to especially favor this combination of lace + fingering weight yarns:

Accessories:

Sweaters:

Here’s a bit of show and tell, a close up on Margaretta’s own “Jenny Sweater,” knit with Isager Silk Mohair and Alpaca 2 held together throughout. The combination is deliciously soft, with elegant drape, and I love the ever-so-slightly-different shades of light green Margaretta chose, they blended together beautifully!

Look for these and other Isager yarns in our lace and fingering weight sections here at the shop!

Back in stock: Modern Cotton!

Berroco Modern Cotton is a staple around here, an economical, machine-washable blend of cotton and rayon in that versatile gauge, worsted weight. It was time for a restock and restock we did, filling our Modern Cotton bins and brightening up our selection.

Berroco Modern Cotton:

  • worsted weight
  • solid colors
  • 50% cotton, 50% rayon
  • 209 yards/100 grams
  • $10 each

Modern Cotton is perfect for warm-weather knits, or year-round for those allergic to wool. It’s also a favorite for baby things – here are some pattern ideas for all of the above!

Look for Modern Cotton in the worsted weight section here at our shop!

Back in stock: Bamboo Pop!

Just in time for spring, we’ve got a fresh supply of Universal Bamboo Pop!

Universal Bamboo Pop:

  • DK weight
  • solid and variegated shades
  • 50% cotton, 50% bamboo
  • 292 yds/100g
  • $10 each 

We chose a mix of solid and variegated shades, designed to stand alone in one-color projects or pair up for high and low contrast combinations.

Bamboo Pop is made of equal parts cotton and bamboo, plant fibers that are lustrous and have beautiful drape. These qualities make Bamboo Pop ideal for summer tops and accessories. Here are some pattern ideas!

Tees and tanks:

Accessories:

Come by the shop to plan your warm-weather knitting! We look forward to seeing you there.

Show and tell!

Back with more show and tell! Here’s another batch of completed projects made with yarns from our shop. If you follow us on Instagram, some of these may look familiar – let’s take a closer look at these beautiful knits.

Here’s Peggy’s “Kith,” a striped shawl knit with Tukuwool Fingering. Her bold choice of contrast color really makes the short row sections pop out! Pattern by Justyna Lorkowska.

Wendy brought in her “Nightshift” shawl for us to admire, knit with Malabrigo Rios – a popular yarn choice for a very popular pattern by Andrea Mowry.

Margaretta knit this sweet baby “Festival Sweater” with Berroco Ultra Wool DK – love the playful contrast colors! Pattern by PetiteKnit.

We were delighted when Rosi sent us photos of her recently completed “River Otter” – she knit this cute critter with Berroco Ultra Wool, then made the fish with Fibre Co. Acadia. Pattern by Sara Elizabeth Kellner.

Anne has been busy knitting hats! In an attempt to clean up her leftover bits and bobs, she made the first three hats holding two to five strands of yarn together for a super bulky gauge and fun marled colors.

The gray hat above is “Wister,” by Courtney Kelley, knit with Ewe Ewe Baa Baa Bulky, and the striped hat is made with leftover Malabrigo Caracol. Earth Guild’s “Super Simple Circular Hat Calculator” is her go-to pattern, making it easy to knit any size at any gauge.

Thanks to Peggy, Wendy, Margaretta, Rosi 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.