Koigu Collector’s Club: Macaroons.

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 limited edition color is Macaroons, a variegated mix of bright yellow, purple, pink, and green against a creamy vanilla backdrop.

We have a whole rainbow of Collector’s Club colorways in stock, and Macaroons fits right in.

I think it particularly plays well with Vintage Valentine, a more saturated colorway that picks up some of the same shades. From there, I wandered over to our Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, and came up with three color combinations for Tamy Gore’s “Shades of Peony” shawl.

Yarn bundles for “Shades of Peony” are normally $92.50, or $78.63 during our Annual Inventory Sale – order online for local pickup or shipping, or make an appointment to shop our July sale in person!

 

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

Spindrift + Brilliant Corners.

July’s selection for the HYS Hat Club is “Brilliant Corners,” by Kate Davies, and 3 shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

HYS Hat Club, July 2021: “Brilliant Corners,” by Kate Davies, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, and highlighter tape.

This textured colorwork design was inspired by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, whose song “Brilliant Corners” is marked by regularity as well as unpredictability – traits Davies incorporated into this three-color hat.

“Brilliant Corners,” by Kate Davies. Photo © Kate Davies Designs

Spindrift is one of my very favorite yarns in the shop, a classic Shetland wool that comes in over two hundred colors, so I had great fun selecting HYS Hat Club colorways. Here’s a trio in each of the color palettes – Warm, Cool, Neutral, and Surprise.

  • Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift: fingering weight, 100% shetland wool, 115 yards/25 g; $6.90 each, or $20.70 for 3 needed to make “Brilliant Corners”

Here’s our Spindrift display from above, a special spot here at our shop. Happy to help you put together a custom colorway, just order online and tell us what you like. In-store shopping appointments are also available – click here to schedule an appointment!

Koigu Collector’s Club: Reef.

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 soothing blend of blues and greens fits nicely into our existing selection of Koigu KPPPM and the metallic Sparkle. It got me thinking about Churchmouse’s “Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf” pattern, which blends disparate variegated shades into a harmonious fabric that almost looks woven.

Another pattern idea, this time from Anne – consider Casapinka’s “Breathe and Hope” shawl, which pairs a variegated and a solid for some low-contrast brioche.

We’ve found subtle solid shades in Marion Foale 3 ply. Each of these bundles is $64.50 – order online for local pickup or shipping!

Shelter + First Colorwork Cowl.

BT by Brooklyn Tweed is a collection of short, accessible knitting patterns designed for learning new skills. The latest in this series is “First Colorwork Cowl,” by Jared Flood, knit with the worsted weight, woolen spun Shelter.

“First Colorwork Cowl” is shown here in 3 colors, but Flood has come up with 4- and 5-color options, too! We’ve put together bundles for this pattern in BT’s color combinations along with a few of our own.

 

 

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter: worsted weight, 100% Targhee-Columbia wool, 140 yards/50 g; $16.50 each

3-color options (4 skeins): $66

4-color options (5 skeins): $82.50

5-color options (6 skeins): $99

 

 

 

The “First Colorwork Cowl” pattern is free when you purchase at least 4 skeins of Shelter from us; it includes a link to a companion PDF with information on knitting the cowl with 4 or 5 colors.

 

If any of these color combinations grabs you, order online for local pickup or shipping! We’re also happy to help put together a custom colorway just for you – just let us know what shades you love. You can see them all on the Brooklyn Tweed website, and know that we have almost every one here on our shelves, even some of the retired shades.

Da Crofters Kep.

We’re so excited about “Da Crofters Kep,” Shetland Wool Week’s featured pattern for 2021!

“Da Crofters Kep,” by Wilma Malcolmson, shown in Colourway 1.

This six-color fair isle hat is currently available as a free pattern download from the Shetland Wool Week website. A new Shetland Wool Week hat pattern is something I look forward to every year, so I downloaded it as soon as it was available, and then went straight to our Jamieson’s of Shetland Spindrift to play the color game. I spent some time putting together five color combinations, inspired by the five colorways shown in the pattern.

“Da Crofters Kep,” by Wilma Malcolmson, shown in Colourway 2. © shetland wool week

“Da Crofters Kep,” by Wilma Malcolmson, shown in Colourway 3. © shetland wool week

“Da Crofters Kep,” by Wilma Malcolmson, shown in Colourway 4. © shetland wool week

“Da Crofters Kep,” by Wilma Malcolmson, shown in Colourway 5. © shetland wool week

Yarn bundles for “Da Crofters Kep” are $48.30 – 7 balls of Shetland Spindrift (2 in the main color, and 1 each in 5 contrast colors) at $6.90 per ball. We just got a fresh delivery of Shetland Spindrift with this project in mind, so all five colourways are currently in stock – get in touch if you’d like to order yarn for a “Da Crofters Kep” of your own!

Dream in Color Pop-Up Club: May 2021.

Dream in Color’s Pop Up Club is back! Every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tucson-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns. May’s new limited edition colorway is here while supplies last!

Dream in Color Smooshy Cashmere:

  • fingering weight
  • 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon
  • 400 yards/100g
  • $34 each

This month, dyer Veronica was inspired by photos of ocean kelp forests, and those vibrant colors are beautifully reflected in these skeins – saturated aqua with streaks of cobalt and olive green.

As I was unpacking these vibrant skeins, I noticed how well they played with these skeins of Lady Dye Superwash Fingering and Malabrigo Sock – these three would make a striking “Temperance Shawl,” or a “Free Your Fade,” by Andrea Mowry!

Get in touch if you’d like to place an order – we can ship these pretty skeins directly to you or hold your purchase here for pickup while our storefront remains closed to walk-ins!

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

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!

Reed and Pebble, Grass and Stone.

“Grass and Stone” is a brand new pattern by Elizabeth Elliott, a bias-knit scarf with subtle part-row stripes of single and doubled yarn at each end.

The yarns are Shibui Reed and Pebble, the first a linen chainette and the second a tweedy blend of recycled silk, merino, and cashmere. Reed brings drape and Pebble brings softness, creating a unique fiber blend that’s just right for a warm-weather accessory.

“Grass and Stone” is 8″ wide, and available in two lengths – 72″ or 90″. The 72″ scarf requires 2 Reed and 3 Pebble, while the 90″ scarf requires 3 of each.

Shibui Reed: fingering weight, chainette, 100% linen, 246 yards/50g; $20 each

Shibui Pebble: lace weight, 48% recycled silk, 36% merino wool, 16% cashmere, 224 yards/25g; $21.50 each

Reed and Pebble make an intriguing combination, even in matching colors – these fibers each take the dye a little differently.

Combining different colors can be good fun, of course – here’s a low-contrast pair that should blend together in a gentle marl.

The pattern is free when you buy Reed and Pebble for the project – we’ll print a copy and include it in your order. Pick your favorite color combination and order online for local pickup or shipping!

New colors in Brooklyn Tweed Dapple!

Dapple is Brooklyn Tweed’s first departure from wool, a DK weight blend of organic cotton and merino that’s been a hit here at our shop. We’re delighted to report that two new colors just arrived!

Brooklyn Tweed Dapple:

  • DK weight
  • woolen-spun, tonally dyed
  • 60% merino wool, 40% organic cotton
  • 165 yards/50 g
  • $15.25 each

Dapple is tonally dyed, meaning skeins in the same colorway differ from one another even in the same dye lot. Some are lighter, some are darker, some almost look marled! This isn’t immediately apparent when looking at one skein of Dapple at a time, so I’ve laid out big groups in a few colorways to give a better sense of the variety. You can see each color laid out this way on our first Dapple blog post, and lots of pattern ideas on our second.

 

Here’s a new pattern idea for Dapple – Susanna Kaartinen’s “Saurel,” a brioche shawl in 3 colors.

To knit “Saurel” with Dapple, you’ll need 3 skeins of Main Color (MC), 1 skein of Color 1 (C1), and 2 skeins of Color 2 (C2).

I had fun putting together the combinations pictured below, but there are so many more possibilities!

 

 

These bundles of 6 are $76.50; the pattern is sold separately for $8.

Order Dapple online for local pickup or USPS Priority Mail Shipping – thanks again for your support and understanding as we remain closed to walk-ins!

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Camper!

We’re excited to announce that Kelbourne Woolens has a brand new yarn, and we’ve got it right here at our shop – meet Camper!

Kelbourne Woolens Camper:

  • fingering weight
  • 100% wool
  • 200 yards/50 g
  • $9.50 each

Camper is a lighter weight version of KW’s popular Scout, and comes in all the same solid and heathered colors. The fine weight, soft but sturdy fiber content, and smaller 50g skeins make it perfect for stranded colorwork, which is illustrated beautifully in the new Camper Collection!

“Laurel Hill,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn – colorwork hat

The design team at Kelbourne Woolens has dreamed up seven colorwork patterns for Camper, including hats, mittens, a scarf, and stunning sweaters for adults and children.

“Presque Isle,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn – colorwork pullover

“Moreau Lake,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn – colorwork mittens

“Cumberland Falls,” by Courtney Kelley – colorwork cardigan

“Selbu Modern 2.0,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn – colorwork hat

“Baxter Peak,” by Kate Gagnon Osborn – colorwork pullover, ages 6 months – 10 years

“Ridley Creek,” by Courtney Kelley – colorwork hat and scarf

To sweeten the deal, the first purchases of Camper from our shop will come with a download code for a free Kelbourne Woolens pattern. Head to our online order form to place your requests!

 

Camper Collection pattern photos by Linette Kielinski / Team Kielinski.