On our needles.

Posted by Julia on June 24, 2020

What’s in Anne’s Plystre Project Pouch, besides a Baby Baggu?

A grandson-sized “Atlas (For Kids),” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft!

I love the color combination she chose – Flannel for the main color, Snowbound and Old World for the contrast colors.

Many of you know that Anne never limits herself to one project at a time. So what else is on her needles right now? Let’s take a look!

Anne’s “Calla” tank is growing, stripe by stripe. You can see how Anne keeps unruly plant fiber yarns in check, by hand-winding them into tight balls and storing them in ziplock bags as she knits.

Anne is almost done with another Shellie Anderson design, “Cather,” an elegant pullover in Shibui Echo. As she set in the first sleeve the other afternoon, she remarked on cocoknits Claw Clips – “I don’t know how I ever seamed without them!”

Another work in progress from Anne’s collection is this “Rainy Day Hat,” designed by Melanie Berg for her Balayage yarn. It’s a super-soft fingering weight blend of merino and alpaca, a treat for the hands.

I confess, I’m not quite as prolific as Anne, and my projects are coming along more slowly! Above is my “Kirigami,” designed by Gudrun Johnston and knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor. I’ve been savoring this project for some months now, enjoying the simplicity of stockinette and the elasticity of Arbor, one of my very favorite yarns.

I’m about halfway through Churchmouse’s “Vineyard Cowl,” knit with one skein of Baa Ram Ewe Winterburn DK. It’s an easily-memorized stitch pattern, and a soothing knit in this wonderfully wooly yarn, shown here on another of my works-in-progress – a quilt I’ve been slowly stitching.

There’s a lot we miss about being “open” in the usual sense, but one of the main things is seeing what everyone is working on! What’s on your needles? Share in the comments, or post photos on Instagram, tagged #hillsboroughyarnshop – we can’t wait to hear from you!

Nancy’s Knit Knacks.

Posted by Julia on March 29, 2015

We recently ordered some knitterly notions from Nancy’s Knit Knacks, filling in where supplies had dwindled.

The WPI Tool Kit is a clever gadget for measuring the number of wraps-per-inch of any given yarn.

This is a handy way to estimate the gauge of an unlabeled yarn, or determine if one yarn may be substituted for another. In this way, it’s useful for spinners, knitters, and crocheters; for weavers, it can help determine the sett of a woven fabric.

Each WPI Tool comes with a Wraps Per Inch Knit-Kard, explaining how to use the tool and how to interpret the WPI you measure.

We also replenished our supply of DP WIP Tubes, for secure storage of works-in-progress on double-pointed needles.

This Perfect Notion Case is new for the Hillsborough Yarn Shop; it has 6 compartments to hold your stitch markers, point protectors, cable needles, and other small notions.

Come by the shop for all the notions you need to get organized and make the most of your projects. See you there!

New year’s eve.

Posted by Julia on December 31, 2014

New year’s eve is a time to look back, and I often spend part of it scrolling through the past year in blog posts, remembering projects I’ve started, completed, and witnessed here at the shop. I also spend part of it knitting, as I do every evening.

Here’s my perch at home in my living room, where my “Puffin Sweater” is well under way. The pattern is from Kate Davies’ Colours of Shetland, and I’m knitting it in a favorite yarn: Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.

New year’s eve is also a time for looking ahead, and there’s some knitterly looking-ahead in this pile of recently-acquired books. I’m looking forward to learning more about weaving in 2015, too.

What are you stitching this new year’s eve, and what projects are you itching to start in the new year?

Thank you so much for continuing to support the shop, and for reading this blog, as well. It’s so much fun taking pictures and writing about all that goes on here, and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings. Happy new year, everyone!

On needle-felting.

Posted by Julia on May 13, 2014

Last week, as she prepared for a trip to New York for her granddaughter’s birthday, Anne began a new project.

Our sweet Romney Ridge Farm needle-felting kits caught her eye, and thinking of her granddaughter, Anne began crafting these little woolen critters.

The kits come with roving, felting needles, and detailed instructions to make the animals pictured.

In just one afternoon, Anne transformed these little puffs of wool roving into one songbird, then another, and finally a sheep.

If this kind of creature-creating appeals to you, come by the shop to pick up a needle-felting kit of your own. As Anne can attest, it’s quick, easy, and intuitive, even if you’ve never needle-felted before. See you at the shop!