New Arne & Carlos sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on April 2, 2019

We have not one, but two new sock yarns designed by Arne & Carlos!

Both are sturdy superwash wool and nylon blends from Schachenmayr Regia, self-patterning yarns just perfect for sock-making.

These colorful skeins are dyed in such a way that the yarn creates a color pattern when you knit it in a small width or circumference, such as a scarf, pair of socks or mitts. No matter what stitch pattern you use, stripes or faux fair-isle colorwork come out as you knit, entertaining you as you knit even the simplest of projects.

The Mountains & Fjords colorways come in 100 gram balls, each with 459 yards, enough for an average adult pair of socks.

The Pairfect Kids Color, however, comes in 60 gram balls, with only 276 yards – perfectly sized for children’s feet.

Furthermore, Pairfect yarns are designed to make an identical pair of socks, and do so by marking the beginning of the color repeat with a yellow starter thread.

Look for these Arne & Carlos colorways in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and check out our upcoming Churchmouse Basic Socks class if you’re not yet a sock-knitter!

Hello, Pairfect Cotton.

Posted by Julia on March 5, 2016

Our latest acquisition here at the shop is one for sock-knitters: meet Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect Cotton.

Pairfect Cotton is a self-patterning fingering weight blend of 72% cotton, 18% nylon, and 10% polyester. You wont usually find fibers like these on our shelves, but for some sock yarns we make an exception to our all-natural-fibers rule. Small percentages of nylon or polyester are often blended into sock yarns for strength, and in this case, also for elasticity.

Occasionally we get requests for a non-wool sock yarn, but we’ve rarely found one that seems to have enough elasticity for sock-making. Though we haven’t knit with it yet, we can feel the elasticity of Pairfect Cotton just by tugging on it a bit; it bounces back in a way 100% cotton never could.

Just like the original woolen version of Pairfect, Pairfect Cotton is designed to make an identical pair of socks, and does so by marking the beginning of the color repeat with a yellow starter thread. Simply cut off the yellow thread at the beginning, cast on and knit a sock, unwind the yarn til you see another stretch of yellow, and repeat.

Look for Pairfect Cotton and other self-patterning Regia sock yarns here at the shop! See you there.

Triangle Yarn Crawl.

Posted by Julia on October 23, 2015

The Triangle Yarn Crawl is a self-guided tour of local yarn shops, where knitters and crocheters get together and hop from one shop to the next, shopping, entering raffles, and seeing the full breadth of available fibers. They happen twice a year, and the time has come again: the Autumn 2015 crawl is coming up this weekend on October 24th and 25th!

Each local yarn shop has something special to offer, and we’re no exception: all in-stock kits are 10% off during the yarn crawl!

The yarn crawl also coincides with our Swans Island Trunk Show, another special something to see when you visit the Hillsborough Yarn Shop this weekend. We’re offering a 10% discount on all in-stock Swans Island yarns during the trunk show, so be sure to check out our full selection, from fingering weight to sport weight to dk weight to worsted weight!

There’s a bag of goodies at each of the participating shops, a raffle prize full of yarn, patterns, and more. Some of its contents are donated by TYC sponsors, and others come from our own collection here at the shop. Here’s some of what we tucked into the raffle prize.

We’ve included one skein of Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect self-patterning sock yarn, another of Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, and a bundle of notions and yarn samples from Fibre Company. Think of it as your own private yarn tasting, allowing you to try all of the delightful yarns Fibre Company has to offer before investing in a project’s-worth of yarn.

We’re lucky to live in such a fiber-friendly part of the world, with so many choices available to us, and the Triangle Yarn Crawl is a great time to see all of those choices. Come see us as you’re crawling along!

A reminder: all sales are final on sale items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Discount applies only to in-store purchases. Thanks!

Hello, Regia sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on October 12, 2015

We’re happy to announce that we now carry self-patterning sock yarns from Schachenmayr Regia!

The fiber content is a sturdy blend of 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, to ensure that garments made in these yarns can hold up to the hard wear that socks typically endure.

Some of these colorways are from the Design Line by Arne & Carlos, and some are Pairfect. The Pairfect yarns are designed to make an identical pair of socks, and do so by marking the beginning of the color repeat with a yellow starter thread.

Look for Regia sock yarns in the fingering weight section of the shop!