Tag Archives: shawls

Koigu Collector’s Club: April Showers and Snow Tulips.

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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. This month, we also got a special color in Koigu Othello, a super soft, super bulky yarn!

Koigu Othello:

  • super bulky weight
  • 100% merino wool
  • 95 yards/100g
  • $23.50 each

Othello is thick and squishy, sure to knit up quickly on US 10 or 11 needles. What to make with this special April Showers colorway, streaked with pastels and pale gray? Pick up one skein for a “Big Chunky Comfort Hat,” “An Unoriginal Hat,” or “Vanessa Headband.” Two skeins makes a “Painted Stones Cowl.”

We also got the classic fingering weight KPPPM in a special limited edition color – Snow Tulips (below) is a variegated mix of peach and cream, seafoam and blue, with dashes of burgundy and orange.

Koigu KPPPM:

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

One way to use highly variegated colorways like Snow Tulips is to pair them with a solid, drawing out one of the many shades that appears in the mix. Looking through our fingering weight yarns here at the shop, Anne and I found complementary solids in two yarns – Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering and Baa Ram Ewe Titus.

Since we’re offering two yarns, how about two patterns, too? Any of the yarn bundles pictured here can be used for either “Woods Haven” or “Leya,” two shawls by Tamy Gore that lend themselves to high contrast color pairings.

Koigu + Cumbria Fingering bundles are $53, and Koigu + Titus bundles are $60. Order online for local pickup or shipping!

52 Weeks of Shawls.

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We are delighted to announce that Laine’s new book is here, 52 Weeks of Shawls!

This 260+ page tome includes 52 patterns for knitting shawls, scarves, and cowls, an astonishingly large collection, and a lovely one. You can see them all on Ravelry, a virtual way to browse the book; the list of designers is impressive, including Tif Neilan, Jeanette Sloan, Paula Pereira, Fiona Alice, Stephen West, and Anna Johanna.

Like all of Laine’s publications, from their popular magazine to recent collections by Mary Jane Mucklestone and Anna Johanna, 52 Weeks of Shawls is heavy with inspiring patterns using a variety of techniques, but it is also a beautiful object unto itself.

I spotted some familiar yarns among these tantalizing pages – shawls in Tukuwool Fingering, BC Garn Bio Balance, Brooklyn Tweed Loft, and Isager Tvinni. We have all of these yarns on our shelves, and are happy to suggest substitutes for any others!

The book is $52, a dollar per pattern, and available for local pickup or USPS Priority Mail shipping – an additional $8 if the book ships alone. If you’d like to add any yarn or notions to your order, shipping will be $15 – thanks for helping us cover the cost of postage! Whether you pick up or have it shipped, we really appreciate your order and look forward to putting this inspiring book in your hands. Order online!

Courage Shawl.

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Shannon Cook’s “Courage Shawl” has been a popular one at our shop, and though we don’t carry exactly the marled, self-striping yarn it calls for, we’ve always come up with appealing substitutes. This pattern came to my mind again recently as I rediscovered Reynolds Odyssey, a marled, self-striping wool that’s been hiding in plain sight in our worsted weight section for years!

Reynolds Odyssey:

  • worsted weight
  • marled, self-striping
  • 100% merino wool
  • 104 yards/50 g
  • $10 each

The “Courage Shawl” is made with three colors: two solid shades, and one of these marled self-stripers. For the solids, I went with the hearty Kelbourne Woolens Germantown and the oh-so-soft Austermann Merino Silk.

Austermann Merino Silk:

  • worsted weight
  • 70% merino, 22% silk, 8% cashmere
  • 125 yards/50 g
  • $10 each

I had so much fun putting these “Courage Shawl” colorways together, and naming them after different kinds of courage – I hope you like them, too! Each of these bundles is $65, the pattern is an additional $7.

Order online to make a “Courage Shawl” of your own!

Custom Shawls.

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We welcomed a new book to our teacart this week – let’s take a peek inside Custom Shawls, by Kate Atherly and Kim McBrien Evans!

As the title suggests, Custom Shawls is a book about design, a resource that encourages knitters to create their own special shawls and gives them the tools to do so.

 

Custom Shawls introduces a variety of shawl shapes and stitch patterns, along with guidance on how to combine them for a finished piece that perfectly suits the yarn at hand.

Yarn itself is an important factor in shawl design, of course, and Atherly and McBrien Evans spend time discussing fiber, gauge, color, and yarn construction, showing how each of these variables affects the knit fabric.

Custom Shawls is $27.50; order online for local pickup or shipping via USPS Priority Mail!

Malabrigo Rios is here!

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Malabrigo Rios is back in stock! We recently received a big box of some of our favorite colors, along with a couple we hadn’t seen before. The photos below show every color we have on our shelf right now, but place your orders quickly if there’s something here you’re interested in – Rios is one of the most popular yarns at our shop, and it sells fast!

Malabrigo Rios:

  • worsted weight
  • hand-dyed in variegated and semi-solid colorways
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 210 yards/100g
  • $16 each

Lisa Hannes is an avid designer of shawls, and I noticed two in her portfolio that recommend Malabrigo Rios – “Interlude” and “Ice Cream Shawl.” I’ve put together some color combinations with these shawls in mind, though there are so many other possibilities!

Order online if one of these colorways sparks your curiosity, or if you’d like to see a special combination just for you! We’re happy to help you plan your next project, and can ship your order or hold it here at the shop for local pickup. Thanks for all your support through our temporary closure!

Spinni + Dawn.

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Here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, we’ve long been admirers and stockists of Isager yarns, out of Denmark.

Isager Spinni:

  • lace weight
  • single ply
  • solid and heathered colors
  • 100% Danish wool
  • 328 yards/50 g
  • $12.50 each

Spinni is one of the longest standing yarns made by Isager, a rustic single-ply lace weight wool. Initially developed by Ase Lund Jensen, who handed the company down to Marianne Isager in the 1970’s, the Spinni color palette is informed and inspired by natural, plant-based dyes. Some are dyed on a white base, and others are dyed on a gray base, for a heathered look.

Grace Anna Farrow designed a beautiful series of shawls for Isager Spinni back in 2009, a collection called The Fine Line. They’re striking and modern, full of bold stripes, chevrons, and elegant color combinations. Spinni is a rustic wool with lots of structure, so it holds up to the loose gauge of these patterns, making a lightweight, somewhat translucent fabric.

“Dawn” is a favorite among Farrow’s designs, and calls for four skeins of Spinni; here are some color ideas!

Order online if one of these colorways intrigues you, or if you’d like to see a special combination just for you! We’re happy to help you plan your next project, and can ship your order or hold it here at the shop for local pickup. Thanks for supporting our small business!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Rainbow Mountain.

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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.

Our most recent shipment from Koigu is Rainbow Mountain, another playful variegated colorway. These special skeins are predominantly pale yellow, streaked and spotted with whimsical pops of gold, orange, red, and lime green.

What to make with these pretty skeins? For a small project, try Dawn Henderson’s “Bonfire Socks” and “Block Party Socks,” or Laura Chau’s “Serviceberry Mitts.” For a larger project, Stephen West’s “Syncopation Adoration Shawl” came to mind, since Koigu plays so well with others. Here are a few ideas!

  • Koigu KPPPM: $15.50 each
  • Baa Ram Ewe Titus: $29 each
  • Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering: $10 each
  • The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering: $22 each

Get in touch if you’d like to place an order – we can ship these directly to you or hold your purchase here for pickup while our storefront is temporarily closed!

Sale of the Week: Shibui Vine and Silk Cloud!

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We’ve decided to keep our doors closed through the month of June, though we’re still virtually open for online orders. As we have done throughout April and May, we’ll have a special sale each week – 15% off a featured yarn, our Sale of the Week!

We have two yarns on sale this week – Shibui Vine and Silk Cloud are 15% off from June 15 – 20!

Vine is a unique combination of 41% paper, 31% cotton, and 28% silk. The texture is notable, too – a flat yarn wrapped in lustrous, overlapping threads.

Silk Cloud is a lace weight blend of 60% mohair and 40% silk, a fuzzy and luminous yarn.

 

They’re very different, Vine and Silk Cloud, but together they make an incredible fabric: Vine is cool to the touch and brings elegant drape, and Silk Cloud brings unmatched softness.

“Torrent” is a textured triangular shawlette knit on the bias, holding Vine and Silk Cloud together. The pattern is available for free when you buy Vine and Silk Cloud here at our shop.

The “Torrent” below was made by Maxine, one of the biggest Shibui fans we know!

 

Hold matching colors of Vine and Silk Cloud together for seamless blending.

Or combine two different colors for high or low contrast marls!

You’ll need 2 skeins of Vine and 1 skein of Silk Cloud to knit a “Torrent” of your own.

  • Vine: usually $20 each; $17 at 15% off
  • Silk Cloud: usually $26.50 each; $22.50 at 15% off
  • Special Julie Hoover shades of Silk Cloud: usually $28.50 each; $24.25 at 15% off

Head to our online order form if you’d like to place an order – it’ll be on sale through June 20. Thanks for all your support!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Loft.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love to see what you all are making with yarn from our shop, and when I’m able, I take pictures so that I can share those projects here on the blog. Looking over my current collection of show and tell photos, I spotted a handful in Brooklyn Tweed Loft, which has been featured in our BT Sample of the Month throughout March. With its heathered colors and rustic texture, Loft is worth celebrating – here are a few great ways to use it!

Kathryn designed and knit this “Bradshaw” cardigan for her son using Brooklyn Tweed Loft. This lightweight, woolen spun yarn beautifully shows the cables and gives this sweater a classic look. The pattern comes in a wide range of sizes, covering 0-6 months up to 10 years.

Above is Sidney’s “Perch,” designed by Gudrun Johnston, a triangular half hap featuring “old shale,” a classic lace pattern. I’m always pleased by the flecks of color that pop out of Loft when its knit up – in this case, they’re bright and festive against the overall dark brown color of the yarn.

Nancy knit Bristol Ivy’s “Bayard” hat with two shades of Loft, a high contrast color combination that blurs and blends a bit in one-row stripes and slipped stitches.

Thanks to Kathryn, Sidney, and Nancy for sharing their work with us, and thanks to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Show and tell: Brooklyn Tweed Peerie.

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Time for another round of show and tell! We love to see what you all are making with yarn from our shop, and when I’m able, I take pictures so that I can share those projects here on the blog. Looking over my current collection of show and tell photos, I spotted three in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, which is currently 10% off as it’s featured in our BT Sample of the Month. With its soft hand, bold colors, and superb stitch definition, Peerie is worth celebrating – here are a few great ways to use it!

Above is Pam’s “Butterfly / Papillon,” a striking shawl decorated with short rows, which she knit using six shades of Peerie.

Emily was in a mood for colorwork one day, and came by the shop to select an open-ended palette of Peerie for hat-making. She wound up knitting two “Lucerne” hats and a “Bousta Beanie,” two of our favorite fingering weight colorwork hat patterns. These are great fun, whether you’re trying stranded knitting for the first time or just in a colorwork mood, like Emily!

Margaretta has worked with Peerie several times now, coming back again and again for the smoothness, bounce, and stitch definition.

This is her “Ensata Scarf,” rich with twisted stitches, texture, and lace, all of which shine in this special yarn.

Thanks to Pam, Emily, and Margaretta for sharing their work with us, and thanks to everyone who starts their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next. If these talented knitters have inspired you, come by the shop during February to get Brooklyn Tweed Peerie at 10% off!

 

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted yarn. There can be no returns or exchanges. Thanks!