Back in stock: needle-felting kits.

For a couple of years now, we’ve carried needle felting kits from Romney Ridge Farm in Maine. Each kit has the instructions and materials needed to create tiny woolen creatures, and we try to have a nice selection of animals to choose from. Not long ago, we found ourselves without a single sheep kit, a problem that now is remedied.

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Along with these sweet sheep, you’ll find kits for needle-felted bears, chickens, snowy owls, harbor seals, and others.

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Last weekend, Anne plucked one of the fox kits off the shelf, and quietly needle-felted in between phone calls and customers checking out.

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It wasn’t more than an hour and a half before this handsome fellow emerged.

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If this kind of creature-creating appeals to you, come by the shop to pick up a Romney Ridge Farms needle-felting kit of your own. As Anne can attest, it’s quick, easy, and intuitive, even if you’ve never needle-felted before. These qualities also make the kits ideal for holiday gift-giving, so remember them as you’re shopping for the fiber-loving crafty types in your life!

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See you at the shop!

Thanksgiving show and tell.

We have a lot to be thankful for, and the inspiring knitters, crocheters, and weavers who frequent our shop are at the top of our list. With you all in mind, here’s another bunch of show and tell! All of these projects started their lives as yarns here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

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Ruth recently came into the shop wearing a newly-finished sweater, “Aperture,” knit in Shibui Linen and Cima held together throughout. It looks just as nice hanging open as it does fastened at the neck!

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Margaretta is keen on Shibui yarns, too; here’s her “Rikke Hat,” knit with Shibui Silk Cloud and Baby Alpaca held together.

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Janet knit this hat with one skein of Fibre Company’s newest yarn, Cumbria. The pattern is “Greenrow,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn, and it’s decorated with twisted stitch cables. Janet reported that it was a challenge, but a rewarding one.

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Emily designed these socks herself, and knit them with String Theory Bluestocking, plucking the stitch pattern from one of Barbara Walker’s treasuries and modifying it to work in the round. I love this approach to sock-knitting, where the basic structure stays the same and the stitch pattern is varied from pair to pair. A good stitch dictionary can keep you busy for years this way!

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I’ve got a couple of finished projects to share, and they couldn’t be more different. Above is a wrap called “Motif,” a luxurious shop sample knit in Shibui’s newest yarn, Dune. Below is a stuffed chicken I knit for my niece’s sixth birthday, a colorful, huggable thing, knit in Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK.

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This pairing, while absurd, is a nice illustration of the many ways knitting can please the knitter. Sometimes a knitting project is an elegant indulgence, sometimes it’s a humorous amusement. Either way, there’s satisfaction in making, whether it’s a garment or a chicken.

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Anne completed her “Truss”sweater recently, and you’ll now find it hanging on the wall here at the shop.

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She used Shibui Maai and Pebble held together throughout, a soft and slightly tweedy combination, as appealing to the hand as to the eye. If you’d like guidance in making a “Truss” tunic of your own, consider Amy’s upcoming class on the subject!

 

A hearty thanks to all the fiber artists who start their projects here and share their work with us! We love to see our yarns grow up into finished garments, and are so inspired by the work you do. We’re closed on Thursday, November 26th, for the Thanksgiving holiday, but open again at our regular hours starting Friday, November 27th. See you at the shop!

Hello, Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK.

Rowan’s newest yarn has arrived at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! Meet Pure Wool Superwash DK.

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We’ve long been searching for a good quality superwash wool in DK weight, one that comes in loads of colors and at a reasonable price, and this yarn is it. Last fall, Rowan met a similar need with their Pure Wool Superwash Worsted, and this yarn is very much a thinner version of the same good stuff.

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Superwash DK weight wools like this one are good for all kinds of projects, from accessories to home goods to garments. One 145 yard ball would make a nice pair of mitts, like the Churchmouse “Welted Fingerless Gloves,” or for that matter, my own “Welting Fantastic Mitts.” Baby and children’s things are also a good fit for Pure Wool Superwash DK; I’ve made “Milo” a couple of times using Rowan Wool Cotton, and this yarn would make a nice wintry version of the same little vest.

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For adult sweaters, Martin Storey’s Easy DK Knits is a collection worth checking out. Rowan sent along a sample of the cover sweater, “Barbican,” a garter stitch pullover with drop stitch patterning at the bottom edge. Come by the shop to see it in person, and get a tangible sense of how this yarn works up. Easy DK Knits uses a variety of knitting techniques to make relatively simple sweaters, including texture patterns, cables, and beginner-level colorwork.

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In addition to these patterns, consider Rowan’s recently-announced Fall Knit-Along, featuring this very yarn, and hosted by designer Amy Herzog. Herzog is a prolific sweater-designer, and one who cares deeply about how those sweaters fit the knitters who make them. Her Options Knit-Along will guide you through the creation of a highly-customizable sweater knit in Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, from choosing a size to making modifications to finishing. There’s a textured pullover option and a striped cardigan option, and it looks like there’ll be other options within each of those. Read more about it on her website, where you can download the shopping list and get ready to start the Rowan Options Knit Along this Monday, October 19th!

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Look for Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK in the DK weight section of the shop, where we’re happy to help you plan your next project. See you there!

Berroco Portfolio, Vol. 1.

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This fall marks the 10th anniversary of Berroco’s now-classic Ultra Alpaca yarn, a soft and sturdy blend of wool and alpaca. To celebrate, they’ve published a beautiful pattern collection showcasing the full range of Ultra Alpaca, from the fingering weight Ultra Alpaca Fine to the bulky weight Ultra Alpaca Chunky. Take a peek inside Berroco Portfolio, Vol. 1.

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Berroco Portfolio, Vol. 1  features patterns from independent knitwear designers, the likes of Bristol Ivy, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Martina Behm, and Thea Colman. 
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Berroco sent along a sample of Thea Colman’s contribution, a seamless cardigan with texture panels called “Rye.” The pattern photo shows it in a heathered green shade of Ultra Alpaca, and our sample is in a no less fetching red. Come by the shop to take a closer look, or try it on for size.

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Ultra Alpaca is a rare blend of luxury and practicality, a quality yarn for a reasonable price. We’re celebrating its 10 year anniversary by putting bags and bags of it on our shelves, refilling favorite colors and adding some new ones, too.

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Our stash of Ultra Alpaca Chunky has also grown, just in time for cold weather stitching.

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Berroco Portfolio, Vol. 1 has a few great patterns for Ultra Alpaca Chunky, too.

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Come by the shop to plan some cozy fall and winter projects, and consider Ultra Alpaca when you do. See you there!

Hello, Berroco Artisan.

Here at the shop, we’ve spent a few afternoons unpacking a truly huge order from Berroco. They sent an exciting new book, bags and bags of two of our favorite Berroco yarns, sample garments, and a brand new yarn for fall. Let’s start there: meet Artisan.

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Berroco Artisan is a worsted weight blend of 80% merino wool and 20% silk, with 123 yards on each 50 gram skein. Artisan is dip-dyed for tonally variegated colors, which look as good in texture and lace patterns as they do in garter stitch or stockinette.

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Anne and I passed this swatch back and forth a few times before we ordered Artisan for the shop, seeing how it stood up to a variety of stitch patterns and enjoying its springy feel along the way.

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Berroco sent along this “Ceonothus” shawl, by Amy Christoffers, worked from the point up in an allover lace pattern. I’ve often admired Amy Christoffers’ designs, particularly for how she makes use of texture patterns, using them to cover entire garments and keeping the knitter interested along the way. “Ceonothus” looks like it would make a great pattern for a first-time lace knitter, and should work up relatively quickly in this worsted weight yarn.

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The pattern, like all of Berroco’s Artisan collection, is available as a Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sale. This means that you can buy them at the shop, have us print a copy for you, and also know that a digital copy is saved in your Ravelry pattern library or sent to your email. Head to Ravelry to check out the other sweaters and shawls that Amy Christoffers designed for Artisan, and head to the HYS “Worsted weight” board on Pinterest for lots of other ideas. In particular, don’t miss “Memphre,” a free hat pattern for Artisan.

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Look for Artisan in the worsted weight section at the shop, and look out for more new Berroco goodies on the blog soon!

Shibui Fall/Winter 2015 patterns and Trunk Show.

Shibui’s Fall/Winter 2015 Collection is here, in more than one sense. The patterns arrived with Dune and the new Shibui colors last week, and the trunk show arrived just yesterday. We’re offering a special 10% trunk show discount on Shibui yarns while the show is up, so don’t miss it!

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These garments are made with seven Shibui yarns in a variety of combinations.

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Shibui yarns are made to be mixed together, knitting with two or three strands of yarn at a time to create bespoke fiber and color blends.

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Each Shibui yarn brings its own characteristics to the mix, and though these patterns may be shown in a specific yarn combination, you should feel free to substitute within the limitations of gauge to create exactly the fabric you desire.

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For loft, add Maai. For lightweight springiness, add Cima. For a fuzzy halo, add Silk Cloud. For tweedy flecks of color, add Pebble. For drape, add Dune or Staccato.

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Anne has been knitting “Truss” as a sample for the shop, a simple, wearable tunic in a short or long length.

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It’s made with Maai and Pebble held together, for an impossibly soft fabric that’s lightweight in spite of it’s relatively big gauge. This means it knits up quickly and easily, but with a highly fashionable result–a winning combination. I can’t wait to see Anne’s “Truss” completed!

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The “Truss” that came with the trunk show is beautiful, too, and a great illustration of how two unexpected colors can blend when knit together.

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Come by the shop to peruse the Shibui Fall/Winter 2015 pattern collection, to admire the Shibui Trunk Show, and to get Shibui yarns at a 10% discount! We’ll have the show up until September 27th, 2015. Hope to see you there soon!

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

Hello, Shibui Dune.

We’re delighted to welcome Shibui’s newest yarn to the shop this week: meet Dune.

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Dune is a luxurious dk weight blend of 50% baby alpaca, 25% baby camel, and 25% silk. The alpaca and camel fibers give it a bit of a fuzzy halo, the silk gives it some lustre, and all three have great drape. To say Dune is soft is a bit of an understatement.

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Shibui kindly sent us a few advance skeins of Dune earlier this summer, and I’m the lucky so-and-so who gets to knit them up into a sample garment for the shop. I’m nearing the halfway point on the “Motif” wrap, a new Shibui pattern for Dune that’s free with the purchase of yarn for the project. It’s an easily memorizable stitch pattern, just little squares of reverse stockinette on a stockinette background, but entertaining nonetheless. Decadent yarn and simple pattern make for a soothing, satisfying project.

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Shibui is leading a Fall Knit-Along featuring “Motif” on their Ravelry group; come by soon to select a color and be ready to join the Motif Knit-Along by September 23rd! Look for more pattern ideas for Dune among Shibui’s Fall collection here at the shop, and check the “DK weight” board on our Pinterest page for more.

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Come by the shop to see Dune for yourself, and check back here soon for more new goodies from Shibui!

Swans Island All American Sport: patterns.

Swans Island has developed an outstanding yarn in All American Sport, and with it, an exciting collection of patterns.

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I’m so excited to see all this colorwork! From pullovers and cardigans to hats, mitts, and cowls, you’ll find many different applications of two-color knitting in this collection, many of which are suitable for first-time colorwork knitters.

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I had the opportunity to knit one of these patterns a few months ago, as Swans Island sent us a pair of sample skeins before the yarn was officially released. Here’s my “Paige Mitt,” a sample you’ll find on display here at the shop. I’m so pleased with how it came out, and loved the feel of the yarn in my hands along the way. All American Sport has lots of elasticity, one of my favorite qualities in a yarn.

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The colors in my sample are somewhat low-contrast, and though that’s something we often talk about avoiding when it comes to colorwork patterns, I like the effect.

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Selecting colors for colorwork projects can be intimidating. My strategy is to first identify the relationship between the colors used by the designer. How many light colors, how many medium, and how many dark? What color families do they belong to, where are they used, and how much contrast is there between them? From there, it’s easier to plug in other colors, so long as they relate to one another in a similar way. Since the “Paige Mitts” are shown in a low-contrast color combination, I came up with a few other such combinations, playing with the yarn as I unpacked it.

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The “Vivian Mitts,” on the other hand, are shown in a high-contrast color pair, edged with a third bright color.

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Here are a few possible colorways for the “Vivian Mitts” using that same color relationship.

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These couple of colorways are just the beginning; with 36 colors and a binder full of patterns to choose from, there’s no limit to what’s possible.

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Come by the shop to peruse the All American Sport pattern collection and play the color game as you plan your next project!

Baa-bles and pom-poms.

While we were at TNNA, in between swatching new yarns and meeting with vendors, I worked on a colorwork hat. In spite of the long, busy days, the hat was quickly completed, due to the thick, quick-knitting yarn, and the adorable, addictive nature of the pattern.

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Here’s my “Baa-ble Hat,” a free pattern designed by Donna Smith for Shetland Wool Week 2015. I knit it in four shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Heather Aran, which has all the wooly charms of its fingering weight cousin, the beloved Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

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I topped it with this delightfully oversized pom-pom, which I made using what looks to be the largest pom-pom maker available.

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I trimmed a good inch or so off of the pom-pom after removing it from this gadget, and still, it’s a rather significant pom-pom.

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Anne and I have been getting some serious pom-pom practice of late, making colorful pom-poms for our summer shop window display. We used all different gauges of yarn, from fingering weight to super bulky, sometimes working with two different colors or multiple strands of yarn in any given pom-pom.

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It’s a motley group of pom-poms, but now that they’re hanging neatly in the shop window, we’re really quite fond of them, and the whimsical atmosphere they’ve lent the place.

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Come by the shop to pick up a pom-pom maker or two–we just got the full range of sizes in stock!

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Show and tell: pastels.

As we head off to TNNA to see what’s new in knitting, crochet, and weaving for the Fall, we’ll close the shop from Thursday, May 28th – Monday, June 1st, reopening on Tuesday, June 2nd. I’ll be blogging a bit from the show, but til then, here’s some show-and-tell, all in soft, solid shades, projects that have recently been completed in HYS yarns.

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Here’s Amy’s “Kindling” shawl, knit in preparation for her upcoming class on the subject. The yarn is Fibre Company Savannah, a lofty sport weight blend of merino, cotton, soy, and linen. Amy enlarged her shawl by continuing the main body for one additional pattern repeat before working the lace edging. The patterning shows so clearly in this pale green shade, a wise choice for such intricate knitting.

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Speaking of upcoming classes, Marsha recently dropped off this adorable “Pleated Ballet Flat,” a sample for her upcoming class. She used the aran weight Plymouth Royal Llama Silk in a robin’s egg blue.

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For such a small piece of knitting, these slippers are packed with techniques, from picking up and knitting to short rows to working in the round on two circular needles. Check out all our upcoming classes on our website!

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Jodi brought her beautiful “Tier” scarf in for show-and-tell just before shipping it off to her sister-in-law. She knit it in Shibui Twig, a summery blend of linen, silk, and wool, and carefully blocked it to gently-draping perfection.

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Last week, Anne quickly worked up a textured baby hat in the luxurious Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere in a buttery yellow hue. The (free!) pattern is Christine Roy’s “That easy Guernsey hat,” and comes in toddler, child, and adult sizes, too.

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Margie has been busy knitting “Shaelyn” shawls in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool as gifts for good friends. Here’s the first one off her needles, in a rustic shade of beige.

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Thanks to the accomplished stitchers whose projects begin and grow here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We love to see what you’re making, and we’re looking forward to bringing in more inspiring materials for you to work with. I’ve got another round of many-colored show-and-tell projects coming up after our return… see you then!