Interweave Crochet.

Posted by Julia on March 21, 2014

The latest issue of Interweave Crochet has arrived!

This Spring 2014 issue is full of crochet accessories and garments, many of them in fine, lightweight yarns and stitched in openwork patterns for warm-weather wear. I was particularly impressed by the garments in this issue, for adults and children alike, and spotted some familiar yarns, too–an elegant sweater in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine, and another in Fibre Company Acadia.

Look for this issue of Interweave Crochet on the teacart among the latest publications!

Zigzag Cowl Knit-Along.

Posted by Julia on March 19, 2014

Last Spring, we had two Knit-Alongs at the shop: first we knit up the summery “Gemini” tee, and then we made “Hexagonal Market Bags.” Halfway through March, sick of freezing rain and snow, we’ve decided we’re ready for another warm-weather Knit-Along. Inspired by the latest new yarn at the shop, Anne, Rosi and I have both cast on for the “1-Skein Zigzag Cowl,” a pattern by Heather Walpole for Ewe Ewe.

I’m knitting one in Ewe So Sporty, the sport weight superwash merino for which the pattern was written. The yarn is tightly-plied and full of elasticity, well-behaved on my Addi Turbo needles and resulting in a pleasing stretchy fabric.

Thinking Spring, Anne chose Tahki Cotton Classic for her Zigzag Cowl, a dk weight mercerized cotton. Like Ewe So Sporty, Cotton Classic has sharp stitch definition, but like all plant fibers, it lacks elasticity, which will make a lightweight, gently draping fabric. Just the thing for decorating and warming your neck on a moderately chilly day.

Rosi’s cowl is made in Mirasol Nuna, a sport weight blend of merino wool, silk, and bamboo. These fibers combine to be quite soft, a little fuzzy, and a little shiny, and make a relaxed, luxurious fabric.

I’m excited to see how these three different yarns behave in the same pattern. Want to make a “1-Skein Zigzag Cowl” of your own? Join us in this informal Knit-Along. The pattern is available at the shop in print or as a Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sale, where we’ll print a copy for you and save a digital copy to your email or Ravelry pattern library. Any sport or dk weight yarn should do; we have a nice selection of colors in Ewe So Sporty, Tahki Cotton Classic, and Mirasol Nuna, along with all manner of other yarns in those gauges. I’d love to see Zigzag Cowls in Malabrigo Arroyo, Fibre Company Savannah, Mountain Meadow Wool Cody, or String Theory Selku, to name a few. Come by the shop to see all the choices, and to see how Anne, Rosi, and I are progressing on our cowls. We’ll also be posting on the Ravelry HYS group with any lessons learned along the way, just as we did while we were making our Gemini sweaters and market bags. See you at the shop!

Hello, Ewe So Sporty.

Posted by Julia on March 17, 2014

This past week, we welcomed a brand new yarn to the shop: Ewe So Sporty, from Ewe Ewe!

Ewe So Sporty is a sport-weight version of the popular Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted, and both are soft and springy machine-washable merino wools with excellent stitch definition.

Along with this new sport weight yarn came a batch of new patterns written just for Ewe So Sporty. It’s a small but varied collection, showing the breadth of uses for this versatile yarn, from baby things to shawls, socks, and other accessories.

Come by the shop to see Ewe So Sporty for yourself!

New from Schoppel-Wolle.

Posted by Julia on March 14, 2014

Last week, we unpacked a very large box of yarn from Schoppel-Wolle, a German company perhaps best known for their self-striping sock yarn, Zauberball.

Zauberball is a fingering weight yarn that slowly changes from one color to the next several yards at a time, so that whatever you’re knitting or crocheting with it comes out striped.

It’s sturdy for a single-ply yarn, thanks to its fiber content: a blend of superwash wool and nylon that is perfect for making socks. A quick Ravelry search for Zauberball reveals that it’s good for more than socks, though–so many Zauberballs have grown up into shawls and scarves like “Wingspan,” “Citron,” “Spectra,” and “Elise.”

Crazy Zauberball is a 2-ply version of the same thing, giving the finished fabric a marled look.

Zauberball Starke 6 is a thicker version of Crazy Zauberball–same superwash fiber content, same stripes, but in sport weight. You may have seen our “Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf” made up in Zauberball Starke 6, and that short-row shaped scarf is a great way to show off the yarn’s stripes; also consider Elizabeth Zimmermann’s “Baby Surprise Jacket,” or “Wurm,” a cute (and free) hat pattern.

We also got a brand new yarn from Schoppel-Wolle, another patterning sock yarn called Das Paar. Das Paar solves one of the problems of self-patterning or self-striping yarn, which is that it has kind of a mind of its own. One can’t easily have perfectly matched stripes on a pair of socks, fingerless mitts, or sleeves, without winding and rewinding the yarn to get to just the right point in the color sequence. Many knitters don’t find this problematic at all, and make peace with fraternal twin socks. For those who want a perfectly matched pair, Das Paar is wound into two 50 g skeins that start at the same point in the color sequence. Come by the shop to check it out, along with all the other Zauberball yarns!

Triangle Yarn Crawl.

Posted by Julia on March 12, 2014

The Triangle Yarn Crawl is a self-guided tour of local yarn shops, where knitters and crocheters get together and hop from one shop to the next, shopping, entering raffles, and seeing the full breadth of available fibers. They happen twice a year, and the time has come again: the Spring 2014 crawl is coming up soon on March 22nd and 23rd!

Each local yarn shop has something special to offer, and we’re no exception: all of the books we currently have in stock will be 25% off during the weekend of the Triangle Yarn Crawl! Indulge in some of the latest publications, or pick up a handy resource you’ve been needing. If you’re looking for recommendations, Anne and I are more than happy to oblige–we love our books almost as much as we love our yarns.

There’s a Carolina Fiber Fest tote like this at each of the participating shops, a raffle prize filled with goodies. String Theory generously donated a skein of Caper Sock for the event, and we’ve tucked a few extra prizes in the bag, too: a couple of skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, a Mountain Colors headband kit, a HYS needle gauge, and more.

We’re lucky to live in such a fiber-friendly part of the world, with so many choices available to us, and the Triangle Yarn Crawl is a great time to see all of those choices. Come see us as you’re crawling along!

A reminder: all sales are final on sale items; there can be no exchanges, no returns, nor will we special order. Discount applies only to in-store purchases. Thanks!

New from Shibui.

Posted by Julia on March 10, 2014

Shibui has just released their Spring/Summer 2014 pattern collection, six new Mix patterns that combine Shibui yarns two or three strands at a time to make unique fiber blends. We’re also excited to announce that in April, we’ll host a trunk show featuring these very garments. We can’t wait to see them in person!

“Mix No. 25” is a long, lightweight cardigan, knit with two strands of Shibui Pebble held together throughout–the same yarn combination used to make the “Cliff” hat that we have on display here at the shop. The handsome “Mix No. 26” scarf is also knit with Pebble, two shades in a chevron colorwork pattern. We got a few new shades of Pebble in this past week, making it even more fun to come up with “Mix No. 26” color combinations.

I find “Mix No. 29” perhaps the most tempting of the bunch, in part because I’ve had my double-knit “Mix No. 23” cowl wrapped around my neck all winter, and find another Shibui cowl hard to resist.

“Mix No. 29” is knit with the springy Cima and tweedy Pebble held together, a combination that makes a light and lovely fabric. It can be hard to imagine how two different yarns will behave when knit together, which is why we have swatches in each possible combination of the three Shibui yarns we currently carry. Look for a stack of them in the Shibui Mix Box, where you’ll also find the Shibui lookbooks, color-cards, and pattern binder.

Another way to take the guesswork out of yarn-combining is to swatch these yarns yourself before you buy them, which is exactly what happens at a Shibui Mix Party. We had one here at HYS in January, where knitters and crocheters sampled Cima, Pebble, and Silk Cloud. I’m delighted to announce that we’ve got another Shibui Mix Party on the schedule, and this time, we’re offering samples of all nine Shibui yarns! Because of our small space, we’re limiting this special event to 15 participants, so sign up now if you’d like to attend!

Come by the shop to see the latest from Shibui and plan your next project. (Maybe Stephen West’s new “Pebble Parallelograms,” a colorful scarf knit in five shades of Pebble and one of Silk Cloud, all of which are in stock at the shop right now, and pictured above? Just sayin’.) See you there!

Vogue Knitting.

Posted by Julia on March 8, 2014

The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Vogue Knitting is here!

Inside, you’ll find patterns for a mix of garments and accessories for warm-weather knitting: openwork tops for layering in transitional seasons, lightweight scarves and shawls, bright color-block sweaters, and a series of three-season hoodies.

I noticed a favorite yarn in this issue, too–one skein of the delightful Fibre Company Meadow, knit up into a floral lace scarf.

We always like to see what Meg Swansen is writing about in her Vogue column–this time, it’s tips and tricks for lace-knitting, a topic well-suited to the projects in this issue.

Look for Vogue Knitting on the teacart among the latest books and magazines. See you at the shop!

Even more Rockets.

Posted by Julia on March 6, 2014

A couple of months ago, we ordered a few sizes and lengths of Addi’s newest circular needle, Addi Turbo Rockets.

Lovers of metal knitting needles have always had at least two choices at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop: Addi Turbos, with their slippery finish and blunt tip, or Addi Lace, with their resin-sealed finish and sharp point. Some knitters swear by the Turbos, while others swear by the Lace, and each is appropriate for different fibers and techniques, but the Addi Turbo Rockets meet a need neither of those needles can meet: the slippery Turbo material with the sharp Lace point. When Clara Parkes described them in Knitter’s Review as “the best needles Addi has made to date,” we knew we had to try them. Anne and I have both worked with them now and loved the process, and we’re hearing rave reviews from other knitters, too. So, we ordered some more.

Yep, that’s a box just bursting with Addi Turbo Rockets in 16″, 24″ and 32″ lengths, along with the good old Turbo and Lace needles and a selection of Addi crochet hooks. Needles and hooks may not be the most photogenic new item in the shop, but we are serious about keeping all kinds of knitting and crochet tools in stock as best we can. Have you tried the Addi Turbo Rockets yet? Let us know what you think! And if you haven’t, come by the shop and we’ll show you all the Addi varieties and help you choose the best one for your particular project or preferences. See you there!

Even more Malabrigo.

Posted by Julia on March 4, 2014

A few weeks ago, Anne and I were thrilled to unpack two giant boxes from Malabrigo, stuffed with Rios and Mecha, two super-soft superwash merino wool yarns in worsted and bulky weight, respectively. We had written to Malabrigo some months ago with a dream list of all the colors we’d love to have in each yarn, knowing that they wouldn’t all be available at once. These are well-loved yarns, and as such, we often have to wait a while for our orders to be fulfilled. Imagine our surprise and delight when a second mammoth Malabrigo order was shipped our way last week!

We have better stock in Rios and Mecha right now than we have ever had to my memory, so if these are yarns you love, come by the shop and enjoy the full cubbies. They’re already going fast, though, due to that particular Malabrigo combination of beauty, softness, easy-care, and good value. If you’re hoping to put your hands on specific colorways, feel free to call ahead and check that we still have them in your desired quantity.

For pattern ideas, check out the “Inspiring Stitches” board on our Pinterest page, where you’ll find patterns for all kinds of HYS yarns, including Malabrigo Rios and Mecha. See you at the shop!

Sonetto shawl.

Posted by Julia on March 2, 2014

Last week, Amy brought in this new shop sample: the “Sonetto” shawl, knit in two shades of Fibre Company Meadow.

“Sonetto” is an asymmetric triangular shawl pattern suitable for new lace knitters, and one whose size is easy to adjust depending upon preference, or amount of yarn.

It’s cast on at one point of the triangle, increasing in width every row, and finished with a neat picot bind-off.

Amy altered the pattern a bit to knit it in two colors, using the intarsia technique of twisting one color of yarn around the other at a certain point in every row. She wrote a bit about how to make this change on her Ravelry project page, if you’d like to make the same modification to a “Sonetto” shawl of your own.

“Sonetto” calls for between 375 – 575 yards of fingering weight yarn, though this is somewhat flexible–we’ve seen one made up in Selku, a sport weight wool, and the Meadow used in Amy’s shawl is more a lace-weight than a fingering-weight yarn. Inspired by Amy’s “Sonetto,” several knitters have embarked on “Sonetto”s of their own in yarns like Malabrigo Finito, Isager Plant Fibre and Alpaca 2–I can’t wait to see how they come out!

Judy Marples’ “Sonetto” pattern is available as a Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sale here at the shop; we’ll print a copy for you and save a digital copy to your email or Ravelry Library. Come by the shop to see Amy’s “Sonetto” shawl and plan your next project. See you there!