Show and tell: hats and scarves.

Posted by Julia on January 29, 2015

Time for another round of show and tell! Here are some of the finished projects our knitters have shared with us recently.

Annmarie has been busy knitting colorwork tams with Jamieson Shetland Spindrift. First she made Sandy Blue’s “Autumn Tam,” while taking Nancy’s class here at the shop.

Next, she used some of her leftover bits of Shetland Spindrift along with a few new shades to knit Sandy Blue’s “Midnight Sun Tam.”

Smitten with tam-knitting, Annmarie then selected nine undyed shades in Shetland Spindrift to knit Kate Davies’ “Sheep Heid.”

Bravo, Annmarie!

Linda came in recently to share her “Reach,” a cabled colorwork hat knit in two shades of Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

Rarely do we see colorwork and cables combined like this; the resulting fabric is thick and squishy, from the ribbed brim all the way to the cleverly constructed crown.

On a chilly day last week, Ruth came into the shop wearing her “Wrapped in Leaves” shawl, a pattern from Alana Dakos’ Botanical Knits.

Ruth knit hers in Fibre Company Acadia, a soft, tweedy dk weight yarn in a glorious shade of red they call “Poppy.”

I was flattered when Kathy came in working on her second “North Arrow,” a scarf I designed a couple of years ago. She knit them both in String Theory Caper Sock, the first in the colors shown in the pattern, and the second in this beautiful teal and gray combination. I love the result!

Thanks to the many knitters, crocheters, weavers, and other fiber artists who use yarns from our shop in their creations; we love seeing what you make!

Yokes.

Posted by Julia on December 13, 2014

Yokes is here!

Yokes is writer and designer Kate Davies’ newest book, and one that we’ve been eagerly anticipating since October, when she started posting previews on her blog.

I’ve been reading her blog for years now, admiring her patterns and appreciating her written voice.

An historian as well as a knitwear designer, Davies approaches her subject with academic rigor, and because of this, Yokes is so much more than a collection of inspiring sweaters.

Pick up this book, and you’ll learn about Swedish Bohus yokes, the Icelandic lopapeysa, classic Shetland motifs, Elizabeth Zimmermann’s seamless innovations, and the connections between all of the above.

As a lover of circular yoke sweaters, particularly those adorned with colorwork, I was quick to add Yokes to my own knitting library. I’ve been reading it before bed this week, savoring the text and photos. Davies speaks my mind when she writes, “I am happy spending days working away on acres of plain stockinette, if, at the end of it, there is the yoke’s delicious promise.”

I am knitting one such sweater right now, in fact: “Puffin Sweater,” a design from Davies’ Colors of Shetland. I’ve knit the body and one and a half sleeves, looking forward all the while to the colorful chevron yoke. (Almost there!)

Anne has fallen for a sweater from Yokes, “Frost at Midnight.” This beaded yoke is knit in a delicate lace-weight yarn called Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace, a shimmering blend of merino and silk, which, oh by the way, we now stock at the shop.

We have only a few shades in stock, but will happily order whichever color you’d like. Come by to see the colorcard!

Look for Kate Davies’ Yokes on the teacart in the front room. It will make a perfect holiday gift for the history-loving knitter in your life, and if that knitter happens to be you, send your nearest and dearest in for a copy. See you there!

Show and tell: anniversary edition, part 1.

Posted by Julia on October 15, 2014

This week, as we celebrate the shop’s anniversary, we also celebrate the community of knitters and crocheters who have supported us over the years. We always love to see what you’re making with HYS yarns, and I love to take photos of your beautiful finished pieces to share here on the blog. I’ve amassed a big stack of them over the past couple of months, enough for three blog posts! Here’s the first batch.

Karen knit this “Yipes Stripes Cowl” in a class here at the shop, using five colors of Plymouth Galway in shades of orange, brown, and green. Then she used her leftovers to knit another. And another! With each cowl, Karen rearranged the color placement, showing just how different the same five colors can look depending upon how they’re laid out.

One of the great things about being in a class is that you can see up close how the same project looks in different colors and yarns. Sherri was in the same “Yipes Stripes” class with Karen, and knit this cowl with five shades of Mirasol Qina, a soft blend of alpaca and bamboo.

This next project also came out of a class here at the shop, one that focused on knitting fair isle tams. Check out Judy’s beautiful “Midnight Sun Tam,” knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift!

Katherine is a gifted knitter, crocheter, and teacher here at the shop. She recently brought in a new sample for an upcoming class, the “Summer Dawn” cowl, crocheted in Fibre Company Meadow and Savannah.

Perfect for beginning crocheters looking for a next step, Katherine’s upcoming “Summer Dawn Crochet Cowl” class will teach how to crochet in the round and read crochet symbols and charts. Read all about it on our “Classes” page, where you can sign up if you like!

Thanks to everyone who starts and shares their projects here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop; we feel so honored to be a part of your creative process!

New colors in Titus Shades.

Posted by Julia on September 16, 2014

We’re delighted to announce the recent arrival of three new colors in Titus Shades!

Titus Shades is a fingering weight blend of alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wools, sourced and spun entirely in the UK.

We’re proud to have been the first US stockist of the stuff, back in 2012 when it came in just one color. Since then, Titus has been warmly embraced by knitters, crocheters, and weavers all over the world, and now comes in no less than 11 glorious shades.

With new colors comes a new pattern collection: Coop Knits Toasty Vol. 1, by Rachel Coopey, featuring accessories of all kinds knit in Titus Shades.

Coopey’s designs use a variety of techniques that show how versatile Titus is. It shines in cables, lace, texture patterns, and stranded colorwork, behaves nicely at a range of gauges.

Rosi has been knitting a sample “Northallerton” hat from this collection, using all three new shades together.

Come by the shop to flip through Toasty, see Rosi’s hat-in-progress and my “Color Affection”–also knit with three shades of Titus. Consider this special yarn for your next project!

Back in stock: Isager Alpaca 2.

Posted by Julia on August 26, 2014

The July sale carved a deep hole in our stash of Isager Alpaca 2, a soft and fuzzy fingering weight blend of alpaca and merino. Knitters and crocheters were planning sweaters, shawls, and stoles left and right, and Anne and I looked on nervously as our supply dwindled.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I unpacked a giant box of the stuff earlier this month; it just feels right when all the available colors of Alpaca 2 are nestled together in their basket.

We’ve seen numerous amazing projects in Alpaca 2 over the years. I’ve shared some here on the blog, colorwork sweaters like Michelle’s “Stasis” and Shelley’s “Summer in Tokyo,” stoles by Catherine, Kathie, Paula, Kristin, and Anne, and most recently, Betty’s lacy “Sonetto Shawl.” Check our “Inspiring Stitches” board on Pinterest for even more ideas. There are so many beautiful uses for this soft, special yarn; have you worked with it yet? If so, what have you made, or what are you itching to make?

Show and tell: colorwork and more.

Posted by Julia on July 23, 2014

It’s time for more show and tell! Here are some finished pieces that began their lives as HYS yarns.

Emily has gone crazy for stranded colorwork, and brought in two amazing projects to show us this past week. Above is her “Tracery” vest, from last year’s Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, knit in Plymouth Happy Feet.

The stained-glass look of this garment is achieved by using colorful variegated yarn against solid black, a neat effect.

Emily’s next colorwork project was the “Sweetheart Bag,” a pattern from the Fall 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits. The yarn is one of our favorites, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, a fingering weight shetland wool that is perfectly suited to stranded colorwork like this.

Anne has also been busy with a colorwork project; here is a tam she recently knit for her mother from Mary Rowe’s book, Knitting Tams: Charted Fair Isle Designs.

Worked in three shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, this tam came together quickly, thanks to the addictive quality of stranded color patterns. It was off Anne’s needles and on Phyllis’s head in no time.

Judy came in wearing her “Ship to Shore” shawl, knit with one skein of Shibui Linen.

Knit into a loose openwork pattern, Linen is cool to the touch and drapes elegantly, making a lightweight summer accessory that is sure to get a lot of wear.

Margie wore a new shawl in this week, too–here she is in her “Nymphalidea,” a free shawl pattern that’s been catching many a knitter’s eye this summer.

“Nymphalidea” sets a self-striping yarn against a solid in an asymmetric shawl. Margie chose Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball as her self-striping yarn and Fibre Company Meadow as her solid, a surprising choice that works perfectly.

Thanks to the knitters, crocheters, and other fiber artists who start their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, and who share their work with us! We’re lucky to be surrounded by inspiring stitches every day.

Upcoming classes.

Posted by Julia on June 17, 2014

Our wonderful teachers have been busy preparing for upcoming classes, stitching samples and planning their knitterly curriculum.

Amy recently brought a batch of her self-published “Knitting Basic Socks” booklets to the shop, the textbook for her upcoming class by the same name. The booklet and class will guide you through the construction of a simple pair of socks knit on double-pointed needles from cuff to toe. She hand-bound each booklet with one of my favorite sock yarns, Colinette Jitterbug.

Come by the shop to take a closer look at Amy’s sock-knitting booklet, and sign up for her upcoming “Knitting Basic Socks” class for hands-on, in-person instruction.

I recently finished knitting this “Yipes Stripes Cowl,” by Ann Weaver, the subject of Katherine’s newest class. I used five shades of Plymouth Suri Merino, and knit the motifs out of order just because I could. During the 3-color braid, I worked with all three yarns flung across the room, giving them plenty of room to twist around one another, as they naturally do, and then untwist stitch by stitch on the following row.

You may recall that Anne knit one, too; they’re both on display at the shop now, illustrating how the same pattern can yield such different results just by changing the yarn and colors used. I can’t wait to see what Katherine’s looks like, and everyone else who’s taking the class! Sign up now to learn all the techniques you’ll encounter in a “Yipes Stripes Cowl” and get started on one of your own.

Marsha’s newest class will teach how to make a pair of “Podster Gloves,” a convertible glove/mitten with a peek-a-boo thumb, allowing you to keep your hands warm but free your fingers quickly to navigate a smartphone, should the need arise.

Marsha knit this “Podster Glove” in Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette, a sport weight blend of merino, alpaca, and silk. Worked up at a gauge of 8 stitches per inch, these are cozy gloves indeed. Come by the shop to see Marsha’s sample glove, and sign up for her class to have support in knitting some for yourself!

Amy finished her “Mix No. 28” vest in record time, working with two strands throughout: Shibui Linen and Pebble. Together, these two yarns make a unique fabric, combining the cool drape of the linen and the soft tweedy texture of Pebble’s wool, cashmere, and silk.

It’s a perfect fabric for an open vest like this one, with its clever integrated scarf. Amy has kindly left her “Mix No. 28” vest with us as a temporary shop sample–come by to see it for yourself, and join Amy’s “Mix No. 28” class to have guidance in making one of your own!

Thanks to all our teachers for continuing to dream up exciting new classes! You can read more about all of them on the “Classes” page, and sign up online via Paypal if you like. See you at the shop!

Fair isle tams.

Posted by Julia on May 31, 2014

If you’ve visited the shop in the past month or two, you may have noticed our stash of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift front-and-center in the second room. We’ve recently replenished our supply of the stuff, inspiring us to plan some colorwork projects.

I finished knitting the “Autumn Tam” just before we left for TNNA, where we serendipitously encountered its designer, Sandy Blue. I had so much fun knitting it, not only because of the clear, engaging pattern and well-reasoned color combination, but also because I just love this yarn. I’ve already picked out enough for a sweater: “Puffin,” by Kate Davies.

I’m happy to announce that Nancy Cavender is offering a class at the shop on knitting fair isle tams, giving students the choice of Sandy Blue’s “Autumn” or “Midnight Sun” tam patterns. Head to the “Classes” page on our website to sign up now!

We also got a new book on the subject, Mary Rowe’s Knitting Tams: Charted Fair Isle Designs, published by one of our favorites–Schoolhouse Press.

Most of these patterns, like the “Autumn Tam,” are knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, though a couple of them call for heavier yarns. Anne snapped up a copy of this book the day it arrived, and I can’t blame her; these are exciting patterns for lovers of colorwork.

I’m equally excited about our newly-acquired Jamieson’s color-card, which shows all 200+ shades of Shetland Spindrift. We can’t stock them all here at the shop, but if you’re looking for any colors in particular, do let us know and we’ll be happy to order them for you.

Come by the shop to see our sample “Autumn Tam” and plan a fair isle tam of your own!

Show and tell.

Posted by Julia on May 20, 2014

It’s time again for show-and-tell! We’re fortunate to see many knit and crochet projects come through the shop, and when I’m able, I like to photograph them and share them here on the blog.

René brought in her “Celeste,” a beautiful beaded lace shawl knit in Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering.

René designed, named, and knit this shawl for her sister, and the pattern can be found in Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders.

Jane fell in love with Grace Anna Farrow’s “Twinleaf” shawl at last year’s Fibre Company Trunk Show and recently completed one of her own.

Knit in Fibre Company Meadow, this two-color garter stitch shawl is elegant in its simplicity, decorated with thin stripes and shaped with short-rows. I love Jane’s color-combination: ”Fennel” and “Cornflower.”

Rosi finished her “One-Skein Zigzag Cowl” in Mirasol Nuna, as part of our informal “Zigzag Cowl” Knit-Along. Look for it at the shop in the sport-weight section, alongside my cowl in Ewe So Sporty.

I have a little show and tell, too. A few months ago, I designed and knit this little sweater for my niece, using three shades of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport.

I gathered some of my favorite books to guide me, using Elizabeth Zimmermann’s updated Knitting Workshop for seamless sweater construction, Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters for sizing, and Mary Jane Mucklestone’s 200 Fair Isle Motifs for some of the patterning. I had so much fun making this thing that it almost didn’t matter if it fit her or not–but I am so delighted that it does, and that she likes wearing it!

Thanks to everyone who starts and completes their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We feel so lucky to be part of your creative process.

Cliff hat colorways.

Posted by Julia on May 11, 2014

Our recent Shibui Mix Party resulted in a large Shibui order, which brought not only a new Shibui yarn, but plenty of new colors in Cima, Pebble, and Silk Cloud.

As I put out the new colors, I often arrange them in a spectrum, play with color combinations, and generally admire the stuff.

Thinking of the “Cliff Hat,” I began to group harmonious Pebble colorways in fives.

The “Cliff Hat” is a free pattern from Shibui knit using two strands of Pebble held together throughout, making a plush fabric that’s warm but lightweight.

The simple, graphic motif makes a great introduction to stranded colorwork, where two colors of yarn are in use on any given row.

If this is a project that interests you, consider signing up for Amy’s “Cliff Hat” class, beginning May 17th! We have a sample “Cliff Hat” on display at the shop, so you can try it on for size. Come on in to put together a “Cliff Hat” colorway of your own!