Tag Archives: wool

Shibui Sample of the Month: Tempo.

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November is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample until the end of the month.

This month’s sample is “Tempo,” a two-color cowl knit with Shibui Maai. Maai is a DK weight blend of alpaca and merino, soft and lofty due to its chainette construction. This yarn has tremendous elasticity, making it a pleasure to work with and to wear. The colorwork effect is achieved through slipped stitches, a technique that requires using only one color of yarn per row.

Come by the shop this month to see “Tempo” and get Shibui Maai at 10% off to make one of your own!

 

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

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Germantown.

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The inspiring women of Kelbourne Woolens have just released their fourth new yarn, one for each season of their 10th year in business. Meet Germantown!

Germantown is a North American sourced yarn with a story to tell, a recreation of a classic wool that had been produced in Germantown, Pennsylvania, under a few different brand names since the mid-to-late 19th century.

Courtney Kelley, one of the founders of Kelbourne Woolens, writes beautifully on the KW blog about her dream to remake Germantown, and what it took to realize that dream. Also on their blog, historian Nic Tenaglia writes more about the history of Germantown yarns, how they were produced and where they got their name – a very interesting read!

Germantown is made of 100% North American wool, Territorial wool, to be precise. On the KW blog, Kelley elaborates that Territorial wool is “a bit of an archaic name for wool that comes from the former US Territories, broadly anything west of the Missouri River, but in the case of Germantown, mostly from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. The most prevalent breeds are Rambouillet, Targhee, Columbia, and Polpay.” This makes for a worsted spun yarn with a smooth texture, soft hand, and nice elasticity.

With a suggested gauge of 16-20 stitches over 4″, Germantown is worsted weight, that versatile category in which most of us begin our knitting and crocheting. The Kelbourne Woolens team see this yarn as a classic basic wool for beginners as well as more advanced stitchers – easy to work with, with good stitch definition, but at a reasonable price for a domestically-produced yarn of this quality. With that in mind, they’ve created the KW Building Blocks collection.

This collection consists of three basic patterns: a hat, a scarf, and mittens. Each one has three variations, taking knitters from the simplest stitches to more complicated patterns, one step at a time. I can see one of these patterns as a great gift for a new knitter, along with a few skeins of Germantown. You can read more about KW Building Blocks on their blog, and buy the patterns on Ravelry or here at the shop as an in-store sale.

Looking for a bigger project to sink your teeth into? Consider Karen Templer’s “Anna Vest,” a textured waistcoat knit with Germantown. Plenty more worsted weight pattern inspiration can be found on our HYS Pinterest boards, too!

Look for Germantown in our worsted weight section here at the shop!

Dream in Color Sock-It Club, part four.

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Dream in Color’s Sock-It Club has arrived again! Every month from July to November, we’re getting sock yarn in a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tuscon-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns.

October’s special colorway was inspired by a trip to New Orleans’ French Quarter, a mix of purples, pinks, and chocolate brown, with sections of speckled ivory. It’s dyed on Smooshy, a soft, sturdy, and springy blend of superwash merino and nylon.

Colorful skeins like these are perfect for simple ribbed socks that let the yarn take center stage – try the Churchmouse “Basic Socks,” Glenna C.’s “A Nice Ribbed Sock,” or Erica Lueder’s “Hermione’s Everyday Socks.”

Look for this limited edition colorway in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

New colors from Ewe Ewe.

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Along with a brand new yarn came a new batch of colors from Ewe Ewe!

Ewe Ewe Yarns is a one-woman operation owned by Heather Walpole. When she first created Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted back in 2012, she started small, with just 7 colors. We’ve loved watching the Ewe Ewe yarn selection grow over the years, and with it, the expanding color palette – these new additions bring it up to 25 colors!

 

These shades are right at home among their cousins, and fill out the existing palette beautifully. Red Velvet, Midnight Blue, and Forest Fern give us more options on the darker end of the spectrum, Iris Blossom is the just right purple that sits between the lighter Lavender and darker Indigo, and Citrus Pop is exactly that – a fun, highlighter-bright pop of color.

Come by the shop to see and squeeze all of these Ewe Ewe Yarns and plan your next project!

Back in stock: Classy mini-skeins.

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Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins are back in stock, and how!

Dream in Color only occasionally produces these 50-yard mini-skeins of their worsted weight superwash wool, Classy, and the color selection is different every time. Our last restock back in June was our biggest yet, and it sold out so quickly that we requested an equally big batch as soon as they were available again. Happy to report that the time has come!

Some are highly variegated, some are semi-solid, some are speckled, and some are hybrids, but all are hand-dyed, so there’s some color variation in each skein.

Nancy Leuer’s “Technicolor Cowl” calls for 8 of these mini-skeins, and just as before, I’ve had fun creating color combinations and kits for this project. Because we have somewhat different colors in this group than last time, I’ve created six brand new colorways.

Don’t feel limited to these combinations, however – consider them a jumping off point for your own unique cowls.

Look for “Technicolor Cowl” kits and Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins in the worsted weight section!

Hello, Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering.

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Last week, we welcomed a brand new yarn to the shop: Fluffy Fingering, from Ewe Ewe!

Ewe Ewe specializes in soft and springy machine-washable merino wool yarns. Each one has its gauge or weight in its name, for easy yarn selection. First came Wooly Worsted, then Ewe So Sporty, then Baa Baa Bulky, and now Fluffy Fingering has arrived.

Like all Ewe Ewe yarns, Fluffy Fingering is tightly plied for excellent stitch definition, and comes in a range of solid colors from neutral to pastel to bright. Its machine-washability makes it suitable for socks, baby things, and frequently-worn accessories, but it’s just as happy in a shawl, perhaps paired with a hand-dyed yarn for contrast.

Looking to give Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering a try? Consider Meghan Schmaltz’s new “Stripe it to Me” socks, which I had in mind when I put together the color pairs above. What two shades would you pair up?

Look For Fluffy Fingering in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club: October.

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UPDATE: As of October 6, 2018, we are totally sold out of this limited edition colorway!

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

October’s Pop Up! Club colorway is dark and moody, a mix of eggplant, burgundy, and rusty brown.

It’s dyed on Dream in Color’s popular Smooshy with Cashmere base yarn, a luxurious blend of 70% superwash merino wool, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. It’s soft enough to make a cowl or shawl for next-to-skin wear, but sturdy enough for special socks.

Look for this limited edition colorway in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

New colors in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Loft.

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Brooklyn Tweed recently released three new shades in Shelter and Loft, and we’re delighted to have them here at the shop!

Iceberg is a pale, chilly blue; there’s truly nothing like it in the Shelter and Loft palette! It plays well with the existing blues, while also expanding the options for color combinations. In the photo below, Iceberg is on the left, with Faded Quilt in the middle and Flannel on the right.

Shelter and Loft are rich in neutral colors, but Pumice rounds out the spectrum, a new medium gray.

Below, Pumice is shown between Snowbound and Sweatshirt, for a gray gradient.

Yellowstone is the third new shade, a rusty blend of umber and dark gold.

In the photo above, it sits between Sap and Fauna, making a mossy, autumnal trio.

Look for Shelter in our worsted weight section and Loft in the fingering weight section here at our shop!

Dream in Color Sock-It Club, part three.

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Dream in Color’s Sock-It Club has arrived again! Every month from July to November, we’re getting sock yarn in a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tuscon-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns.

September’s limited edition Sock-It Club colorway is dyed on BFL Sock, a fingering weight blend of bluefaced leicester wool and nylon, with 420 yards on each 4 oz skein. BFL is naturally sturdy, but the addition of nylon makes it even more so: perfect for a special pair of socks.

Look for this limited edition colorway in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

Hello, Shibui Echo.

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Shibui’s new yarn is here! Meet Echo.

Echo is a DK weight blend of 48% fine merino wool and 52% silk noil, where each ply is only one of those fibers. The two strands of silk noil stand out against the merino for a slightly marled look, just a bit of texture in the knit fabric.

Echo comes in 14 rich colors, ranging from delicate neutrals to bold jewel tones. Many of these colors will be familiar to those who have worked with Shibui yarns before, as these same colors appear in most of their yarns.

There are two brand new shades here, however – Deep Water and Dusk – and they are now available in many other favorite Shibui yarns, as well. More on that soon!

Like all Shibui yarns, Echo is designed to make beautiful fabric on its own, but also to play well with other yarns, making a unique fiber and color blend. Each Shibui yarn brings its signature characteristics to the table, and the Shibui design team has created some exciting new patterns with these pairings in mind. Echo and Silk Cloud makes for plush, fuzzy knits, as in “Didion,” while Lunar brings drape and shine in “Woolf,” and Cima brings elasticity and a bit of a halo in “Plath.”

Check out the full Fall/Winter 18 Collection on Ravelry, and look for Echo in the DK weight section here at the shop!