Tag Archives: wool

Hello, Malabrigo.

Posted by on

Here is a yarn with a fanbase.

Malabrigo Silky Merino and Malabrigo Rios are back in stock! It’s been a long wait, and as we waited, our Malabrigo stash dwindled into a sad little stack of mismatching skeins. “Is the Malabrigo here yet?” became a common inquiry, always met with a sad shake of the head. Now that the full range of colors are back together, those sad skeins are looking much happier.

Above, you’ll see a slice of the Rios spectrum, a washable worsted weight wool. Below: Silky Merino, a dk weight single ply blend of, as the name suggests, silk and merino wool.

Come by the shop to take a look!

Marion Foale.

Posted by on

Something new has just settled in on the teacart.

Marion Foale, a British fashion designer, has just released a book of knitting patterns and a line of 3-ply wool yarn to go with it. The patterns are exquisite, finely tailored, and classic-looking. The yarn is soft and fine, a light fingering weight which Foale sometimes uses doubled or tripled in her patterns for different gauges. Take a peek inside:

Even if the patterns don’t move you, the yarn has plenty of potential. It’s the right gauge to substitute for many Marianne Isager designs, so if you’ve been poring over Japanese Inspired Knits, this gives you yet another option to consider where colors and textures are concerned. Meanwhile, I’ve been daydreaming about a sleeveless top, with red and white stripes, and this may well be the yarn for the job. You could even make socks with this yarn, as it’s machine washable.

Come by the shop to check it out!

Pagewood Farm.

Posted by on

Hand-dyed sock yarn addicts, take note: our Pagewood Farm sock yarn collection is still growing. The other day a box arrived full of Glacier Bay, a 100% superwash merino wool. The yarn is soft but strong, and the colors are vibrant.

We’re down to only a few skeins of Pagewood Alyeska, a superwash merino sock yarn with a bit of cashmere mixed in, but never fear–we’ve already placed our replacement order. 
See you at the shop!

Schaefer.

Posted by on

We’ve been waiting quite a while for a box from Schaefer Yarns. We’d long ago sold out of their textured worsted weight wool, Nancy, whose colorways are named for memorable women throughout history, the likes of Julia Child, Clara Barton, Renata Tebaldi, and Clare Booth Luce, among many others. On Thursday, the box from Schaefer came at last, so the Hillsborough Yarn Shop is home to Nancy once more.

Schaefer Nancy comes in very large hanks of about 600 yards, enough for a shawl, shrug, or vest. We also received a selection of patterns for Nancy that are free with purchase of the yarn, if you’re looking for project ideas. 
For lace-knitters and silk-lovers, the real excitement in the Schaefer box was five shiny new skeins of Andrea. This 100% silk lace-weight yarn is truly exquisite. Behold!

There’s a limited amount of Andrea in stock, so if silk and lace are your weakness, don’t hesitate. See you at the shop!

Hello, Coast.

Posted by on
There are a lot of things to look at in the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. We have a small space and a large inventory, with many yarns, projects, and books fighting for attention. One of my hopes for this blog is to highlight some of those yarns, projects, and books, one at a time, so that they can get the attention they deserve. So far, I’ve been writing mostly about the newest yarns we’ve received, but the yarn that was here before the blog is equally blog-worthy. To that end, I’ll be profiling those yarns with a series of introductory-type posts which I’ll tag as “Hello” posts.
Today: Coast.
Coast is a worsted weight blend of cotton and wool from Takhi Yarns. Because of the fiber content, the colors have a heathered quality, making even the brighter colors look subtle and sophisticated without losing stitch definition. The advantages of cotton and wool blends are many: with cotton comes lightness, perfect for our climate, and with wool comes elasticity, making this yarn a bit easier on the knitter’s hands. The wool content of this yarn also gives it some memory, meaning that sweaters knit in Coast shouldn’t stretch out the way 100% cotton sweaters sometimes do. 
What to knit with Coast? Any pattern that calls for a worsted weight yarn should work well with Coast, which gives you a lot of options. It looks to me like it wants to be a cardigan, the kind you bring to restaurants in case it’s cold in there. A spring cardigan, for overcast days or aggressive air-conditioning. My own knitting hunches aside, Takhi put out some pattern support for Coast, which is worth browsing if you’re looking to knit with it.
As always, Ravelry is a wonderful resource for exploring the possibilities of a yarn you’ve not yet tried. Check there to see what other knitters have done with Coast. 

From Plymouth.

Posted by on

A 48 pound box of yarn arrived from Plymouth this week, with three kinds in many different colors. Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash is not a new yarn to us, but its easy care and bright color palette have made it popular at the shop, so we were in need of refilling. Composed of soft, springy merino, this yarn also boasts excellent stitch definition. There are many reasons to recommend it, but I’m particularly likely to point it out to someone knitting for babies or children, as it can be thrown in the washer and dryer with no problem.

We also received the new Kettle Dyed version of the same yarn, which is tonally variegated. There’s only one color in each colorway, but that color is darker in some spots and brighter in others, giving it some texture. While the solid Worsted Merino Superwash yarn comes in 218 yard skeins, its Kettle Dyed cousin offers a whopping 436 yards per skein.

We also replenished our supply of Plymouth’s Trabajos Del Peru, an aran weight single ply yarn which comes in semi-solid and multi-color variegated colorways. It’s made to be hand-washed rather than machine-washed, but don’t let that intimidate you if soft, fuzzy, slightly thick-and-thin yarn is right up your alley.

A little out of the way, in that bottom cubby, but worth finding. As for the Worsted Merino Superwash, it can be found on the right hand side of the door to the shop, with fellow washable wools from Dream in Color and the Unique Sheep. Come and find them!

Getting our sock yarn fix.

Posted by on

It’s been a big week for sock yarn here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. First, our dwindling collection of hand-dyed sock yarn from Pagewood Farm was replenished. We carry both Denali, which is a sturdy combination of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon, and Alyeska, a soft blend of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Here they are snuggled up together in their basket.



        
I had just arranged the Pagewood Farm sock yarn, it seemed, when the next box of sock yarn arrived. From Crystal Palace, a brand new yarn named Sausalito. It’s an extremely soft blend of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon. Sausalito also self-stripes, much like Crystal Palace’s Mini Mochi, but with a slightly different effect because Sausalito is 2-ply while Mini Mochi is a single ply. Where one color begins to fade into the next, the two plies are different colors for a stretch, looking rather marled.
We were also pleased to receive a box from The Alpaca Yarn Company, filled with their Paca-Peds sock yarn as well as Paca-Paints, a worsted weight yarn. These yarns aren’t new to us, but like the Pagewood Farm yarn, we had been running really low on them until this week. In fact, we were down to one lonesome skein of Paca-Peds. Those days are gone now. Welcome back, Paca-Paints and -Peds!
All this is to say: if you’re looking for your sock yarn fix, it’s probably here. See you at the shop!

What we’ve made room for, part 2.

Posted by on

 Another day, another bunch of new yarns to report on…

: : : : : : :

A box arrived from Great Adirondack Yarn Co. recently, and tucked inside it were these four shiny colors of Sea Breeze, a dk weight blend of cotton, rayon, and linen. Also: a shimmery, summery shawl pattern to go with it.

: : : : : : :

Great Adirondack is also responsible for our modest new collection of rainbow-colored roving. If roving is your thing, come in and take a look at these. If roving is not your thing, come in and take a look at these and wonder if roving should be your thing.

From Tedman & Kvist: Colina, a textured blend of cotton and linen. From Anne’s knitting basket: two balls of Colina, soon to be two baby-sweaters-in-the-works for two particular babies-in-the-works.

      
New from Elsebeth Lavold, we have ViSilk, a dk weight blend of viscose and silk, soft, shiny, and light. 
That wraps up our introductions for the moment. See you at the shop!


What we’ve made room for, part 1.

Posted by on
Give a warm welcome to the newest yarns at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.
: : : : : : :
As I previously mentioned, Sawya is the latest from Mirasol: a worsted weight blend of pima cotton, alpaca, and silk in a bright bunch of colors. Just right for warm-weather knitting.
: : : : : : :
Pictured below, hanging in two tiny baskets are two more warm-weather yarns: Haze and Mia, from the Queensland Collection and Takhi Yarns, respectively. Haze is a blend of corn viscose and cotton in a dk weight. Mia is a fluffy, thick-and-thin cotton, unusually textured for its fiber content, making it a nice substitute for wool where wool allergies are concerned.

Of course, we have plenty of new wooly yarns as well. From Cascade: Sitka, a bulky merino and mohair blend. We have three neutral colors, making the decision-making process simpler. Charcoal gray, brown, or beige?

: : : : : : :

Also from the department of wooly wools: Kauni 8/2 Effektgarn, a self-striping fingering weight yarn with long color repeats, making a subtle gradation from one shade to the next. I find it particularly striking in fair isle patterns like this one. Or you might put it to use with a brioche pattern from Nancy Marchant’s book, which we just got in last week. Much of our first order of Kauni has already escaped in the shopping bags of customers who fell completely in love with it on sight. A dangerous situation, indeed.

     

This should do for one post. Tomorrow: the rest of the newest. For now.