Tag Archives: wool

New colors in Malabrigo Rasta!

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Malabrigo recently released a bunch of new colors in their super bulky Rasta yarn, and with our cooling weather, we’re especially excited to have them in stock!

Malabrigo Rasta:

  • super bulky weight
  • single ply
  • hand-dyed
  • 100% merino wool
  • 90 yards/150 g
  • $22 each

Rasta is plush and squishy, perfectly suited to cold-weather accessories, and one skein makes a hat or cowl in a hurry!

Here are a few hat pattern ideas for Rasta:

And a few cowls:

Along with the Pintada collection, we also have Malabrigo Rasta in the semisolid and variegated colorways pictured below.

Order online for local pickup or shipping!

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!

Dream in Color Sock-It Club: September.

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The Dream in Color Sock-It Club is back! This time around, each limited edition skein of Smooshy comes with a 100-yard mini skein for coordinating heels and toes. $36 each, order while supplies last!

September’s colorway is autumn in a skein, a variegated mix of plummy brown, golden yellow, and silver gray, with a semisolid burgundy mini skein that beautifully sets off the main colors. Dyer Veronica was inspired by a bit of wanderlust, imagining what it would be like to see the leaves change in Paris.

Smooshy is a tightly-plied fingering weight yarn that’s ideal for sock knitting, composed of 85% superwash merino and 15% nylon for strength. There are so many wonderful sock patterns out there, but sometimes something simple is best, especially with such a highly variegated colorway – Madeline Gannon’s “Afterthought Heel Socks” are just the ticket.

We still have a handful of older Sock-It Club skein sets on hand, all at $36 each – order online for local pickup or shipping!

Shibui Haven + Malabrigo Caprino.

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As soon as we saw Shibui Haven, another DK weight merino/cashmere blend came to mind – Malabrigo Caprino. Though these yarns have gauge, fiber content, yardage, and texture in common, they have such different looks simply because of how they’re dyed.

Malabrigo Caprino:

  • DK weight
  • hand-dyed, variegated, speckled, and semi-solid colorways
  • 80% merino, 20% cashmere
  • 159 yards/50 g
  • $18 each

I’m intrigued by the contrast between Shibui’s austere solids and Malabrigo’s wild hand-dyed shades, and I think they’d play beautifully together.

Here are a few pattern ideas for Haven and Caprino:

Eager to get these squishy cashmere yarns into your hands and onto your needles? Order online for local pickup or shipping!

Soldotna Crop + Isager Jensen.

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Caitlin Hunter’s “Soldotna Crop” hasn’t faded in popularity since it first came out last year. With over 5,000 projects on Ravelry, it’s no wonder we get frequent requests for “Soldotna” yarn ideas! Here’s one – the delightfully toothy Isager Jensen.

Isager Jensen:

  • DK weight
  • solid and heathered colors
  • 100% Danish wool
  • 275 yards/100 g
  • $28 each

Isager Jensen is perfectly suited to stranded colorwork. Like Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, another favorite colorwork yarn of mine, Jensen is not the softest fiber in our shop, but it’s sturdy and full of character, sure to wear well for years to come. A couple of years ago, I used Jensen to make Lori Versaci’s “Summer Fog” vest and loved every stitch – it left me wanting to work with this yarn again!

Jensen’s color palette was initially developed back in the 1970’s by Danish designer Ase Lund Jensen, who was inspired by the rich and complex shades of natural dyes. I named these “Soldotna Crop” colorways for natural dye plants, though none were used to dye this particular yarn.

Jensen’s generous yardage means that only 4-6 skeins are needed for Hunter’s “Soldotna Crop,” depending on what size you’re making. 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.

Hello, Shibui Haven.

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We’re delighted to announce that Shibui’s new yarn has arrived! Meet Haven.

Shibui Haven:

  • DK weight
  • 80% merino, 20% cashmere
  • 160 yards/50 grams
  • $25 each

Shibui Haven is just as soft as its fiber content suggests, a treat for the hands. With its unique 7 ply structure, Haven boasts excellent stitch definition for showing off texture, cables, and lace.

What to make with Haven? Shibui’s new pattern collection is full of ideas that perfectly suit this luxurious yarn!

“Repose,” a striped garter stitch cowl. Pattern is free when you buy 7 skeins of Haven.

“Beacon,” a batwing pullover knit with Haven and Tweed Silk Cloud held together throughout.

“Peak,” a twisted rib shawl. Pattern is free when you purchase 8 skeins of Haven.

“Harbor,” a ribbed capelet knit with Haven and Cima held together throughout.

Use our online order form to get some Haven of your own, whether for local pickup or USPS Priority Mail shipping!

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!

Soulful Slouchy Hat + Peerie.

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A recent Brooklyn Tweed restock brought some of the best-loved shades of Peerie back to our shelves. This got me thinking about Tif Neilan’s “Soulful Slouchy Hat,” just the kind of small colorwork project I love. It comes in a wide range of sizes, from toddler to adult large.

© Tif Neilan – tif handknits –

Brooklyn Tweed Peerie:

  • fingering weight
  • 100% American merino wool
  • 210 yards/50 grams
  • $17.25 each

One skein in each color gives you enough for at least two hats, if you rearrange the color placement. Below are the four shades Neilan used in her own “Soulful Slouchy Hat,” pictured at the top of this post, an intriguing mix of classic navy and white and a couple of unusual earth tones.

Here are a few more color combinations I came up with for Tif Neilan’s “Soulful Slouchy Hat.”

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!

Hello again, Isager Highland Wool.

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A recent special order brought in a couple of new shades of Isager Highland Wool, reminding us of just how much we love this yarn.

Isager Highland:

  • light fingering weight
  • solid and heathered colors
  • 100% Highland wool
  • 301 yards/50 g
  • $10 each

Some years ago, I made Carol Feller’s “Carpino” holding Highland Wool together with Shibui Silk Cloud, which brought a lustrous, fuzzy luxury to the fabric. It left me wanting to work with Highland Wool again, in a context where its rustic simplicity could shine.

With that in mind, here are a few two-color patterns that make beautiful use of Highland Wool, and some color combinations to get you started!

  • “Pinwheel Mitts,” by Ella Austin – fingerless mitts in stranded colorwork
  • “Sento,” by Olga Buraya-Kefelian – triangular shawl in two-color brioche
  • “Alula,” by Clare Lakewood – triangular shawl in stripes/slip stitch pattern

If any of these patterns or colorways capture your imagination, order online for local pickup or shipping! We’re also happy to answer questions, to be your eyes and hands as you create other color combinations – we know it’s tricky to select colors without being able to come into the shop yourself, and they can look so different in photos than they do in person. Thanks for working with us during our temporary closure!

Dream in Color Sock-It Club: August.

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The Dream in Color Sock-It Club is back! This time around, each limited edition skein of Smooshy comes with a 100-yard mini skein for coordinating heels and toes.

Dyer Veronica was inspired by shimmering red and teal Betta fish when she developed August’s colorway.

Smooshy is a tightly-plied fingering weight yarn that’s ideal for sock knitting, composed of 85% superwash merino and 15% nylon for strength.

There are so many wonderful sock patterns out there, but sometimes something simple is best, especially with such a highly variegated colorway – Madeline Gannon’s “Afterthought Heel Socks” are just the ticket.

We still have a handful of last year’s Sock-It Club skein sets on hand, all at $36 each – order online for local pickup or shipping!