Tag Archives: show and tell

“Baa-ble Hats” in Brooklyn Tweed.

Posted by on

Donna Smith’s “Baa-ble Hat” has been charming knitters since it was first published for Shetland Wool Week back in 2015. We’ve seen it knit up in many different yarns over the years, but lately, our favorite recommendation is Brooklyn Tweed.

Nancy knit this “Baa-ble Hat” with Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Worsted, a soft and smooth merino wool.

Above are the colors Nancy chose, and below are a few more ideas I came up with.

Brooklyn Tweed Tones is a great choice for a “Baa-ble Hat,” too, a columbia wool whose colorways are overdyed in vibrant, playful colors, starting with two baseline shades of undyed natural gray.

I love the subtle colors Nancy’s student, Haleh, chose for hers!

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter has more colors to choose from than either Tones or Imbue Worsted – here are a few more “Baa-ble Hat” color combinations in Shelter!

Inspired to make a “Baa-ble Hat” of your own? Come by the shop and see all the options in our worsted weight section, from Brooklyn Tweed and others!

Show and tell: openwork.

Posted by on

As you may have read in our most recent newsletter, the shop will be closed for our usual Thanksgiving break from November 22 – 27. Feel free to place online orders or email inquiries during that time, but know that we won’t be monitoring our inbox until we’re back in the shop on November 28! We wish you all a peaceful and safe holiday.

In the meantime, let’s enjoy some show and tell!

As I was going through recent photos, I spotted a theme: openwork! Here are some beautiful projects adorned with eyelets.

Above is Edie’s “Holden” shawl, knit with Koigu KPPPM. It’s great to see lace knit up with variegated yarn! Pattern by Mindy Wilkes.

Teresa knit this delicate “Salty Air Tee” with Isager Bomulin, a good example of how lace looks in plant fiber yarns – in a word, lovely! Pattern by Samantha Guerin.

Anne jumped on the “Ranunculus” bandwagon, and knit the sweater above as a gift for a lifelong friend. She held Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03 together with Fibre Co. Meadow, a low contrast combination that gave just a little dimension to the color and texture of the knitted fabric. Pattern by Midori Hirose.

Lace looks great in thicker yarns, too, showing off the stitch patterns at a larger scale and proving that openwork can be cozy. Above is Ruth in her “Elah” cardigan, knit with worsted weight Kelbourne Woolens Germantown. Pattern by Isabell Kraemer.

Margaretta is a prolific lace knitter – I’ve lost track of how many “Umaro” blankets she’s made! The one above is a baby blanket, knit with worsted weight Berroco Ultra Wool. Pattern by Jared Flood.

The shawl below is also one of Margaretta’s, “Sakura,” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft. Pattern by Leila Raven.

Thanks to Edie, Teresa, Anne, Ruth, 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: Malabrigo Noventa!

Posted by on

We’re pleased to have a cubby full of Malabrigo Noventa again!

Malabrigo Noventa:

  • super bulky weight
  • single ply
  • hand-dyed
  • 100% superwash merino wool
  • 90 yards/125 g
  • $24 each

Noventa is plush and squishy, perfectly suited to cold-weather accessories, and one skein makes a hat or cowl in a hurry. Think Alice Dunn Smith’s “Winter Harbor Cowl,” Kristel Nieve’s “Sierra Beanie,” or Andrea Riddle & Lora Marin’s “Noventa Cabled Hat.”

Two skeins makes Churchmouse’s popular “Double Split Color-Blocked Cowl,” a cute and cozy accessory; the two pictured here were knit by Sherri and Linda, respectively.

Below are a few more two-color combinations for “Double Split Color-Blocked Cowl” – can’t wait to see what else folks come up with!

Look for Malabrigo Noventa in the super bulky weight section here at HYS! Visit us between 11am-5:30pm, Tuesdays-Saturdays; masks required for entry.

Show and tell: texture and color.

Posted by on

Need some inspiration for your next project? Here’s another round of show and tell, featuring projects that make interesting use of color and texture.

Carribeth designed and knit this shawl using Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere in one of their special applied pooling shades – she did stockinette stitch wherever the yarn was peach, pink, or terra-cotta, but did a mesh lace whenever the aqua blue streak came along. Look for similar patterns on our latest Pop-Up Club blog post!

Above is Wendy’s “SSP (slip stitch party) shawl,” an Isabell Kraemer pattern that combines slip stitch colorwork and texture.

Wendy picked colors in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie and Isager Alpaca 2, so there are slight textural differences in the yarn due to fiber content, as well – a lovely detail!

Margaretta’s “Aloe” socks also combine color and texture using a stitch pattern that was new to her, Anne, and myself – two-colored dip stitch.

The pattern is from Laine’s recent 52 Weeks of Socks, Vol. II, and Margaretta used Kelbourne Woolens Perennial, a soft and squishy merino/alpaca blend.

Anne knit this “Ardelle Hat” using Malabrigo Mecha, a sample for her recent class on the subject. The cabled band is worked flat, then grafted, then stitches are picked up from one edge to complete the body and crown of the hat – a clever construction!

Here is Ruth’s “Wild Flowers” shawl, a floral field rendered in intricate texture patterns using Brooklyn Tweed Arbor. For sharp stitch definition, there’s no better yarn!

Thanks to Carribeth, Wendy, Margaretta, Anne, and Ruth for sharing their projects with us! We love seeing what folks make with yarn from our shop, and always look forward to show and tell.

Show and tell: held together.

Posted by on

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.

Posted by on

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!

Show and tell!

Posted by on

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.

Posted by on

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!

Back in stock with new colors: NFC Organic Studio Sock.

Posted by on

Our most recent order from Neighborhood Fiber Co. was full of vibrant colors, speckles, and variegated shades, brightening our NFC Organic Studio Sock cubby considerably!

Anne and I had fun selecting colorways we’d never seen before, along with those that have become favorites.

Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Sock:

  • fingering weight
  • hand-dyed
  • machine washable
  • 100% organic merino wool
  • 400 yds/4 oz
  • $34 each

Organic Studio Sock is perfect for knitting socks, of course, but also great for sweaters and shawls – here’s one that Wendy made, Lesley Anne Robinson’s “Studio Sampler.”

Robinson’s design moves through garter stitch, stripes, and brioche, keeping things interesting with a variety of stitch patterns and color combinations. Pick three shades that excite you and have fun watching them interact as you knit – they can be high or low contrast, from the same color family or not. Here are a few combinations I came up with!

Look for Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Sock in the fingering weight section here at our shop! We’re open from 11am – 5:30pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays; masks are required for entry. Online ordering is still available for local pickup or shipping – thanks for shopping with us!

“Simple Yet Effective” cowl.

Posted by on

If you’ve been to the shop in the past few weeks, you might have seen me working on this cowl, “Simple Yet Effective,” by Tin Can Knits. The pattern is aptly named, alternating sections of stockinette and reverse stockinette – a nearly blank canvas for showing off some special yarn. The pattern calls for DK weight, but I’ve held a fingering weight and a lace weight yarn together, Kelbourne Woolens Cricket and Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft, respectively.

It can be tricky to visualize how different colors and textures of yarn will look when knit together. Luckily, Tin Can Knits has a super helpful blog post about just that, “Layering With Mohair.” I was inspired after reading it, and learned that you can achieve a fascinating effect when you combine a darker mohair with a lighter yarn. As Tin Can Knits designer Emily Wessel puts it, “When you blend a darker or more saturated mohair with a lighter yarn, the paler colourway seems to glow underneath a deeper halo.” I tried out that strategy in this cowl and am so pleased with the result – each yarn seems to be enhanced by the other, and of course the fabric is fuzzy and soft!

Here are a few more color combinations pairing Cricket and Loft, which seem to me like they’d blend beautifully.

I couldn’t stop there, when there are so many shades of Isager Silk Mohair to play with – here are a few more!

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Cricket in the fingering weight section here at our shop, not far from the lace weight section, which holds Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft and Isager Silk Mohair. We can’t wait to see what other color combinations you come up with for your own “Simple Yet Effective” cowls!