Tag Archives: colorwork

Meadow, by Marie Wallin.

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We often get requests for books by Marie Wallin, a British designer known for her colorwork patterns. They seem to sell out as fast as they come in, but we’re happy to report that Marie Wallin’s Meadow is back in stock!

Meadow is Wallin’s second collection of designs made with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. It’s one of our very favorite yarns, a classic Shetland wool that comes in over two hundred colors! You can’t miss the Spindrift display in our fingering weight sections, it seems to catch everyone’s eye.

In Meadow and much of her design work, Wallin is inspired by traditional fair isle knitting, but applies the technique to modern, wearable shapes and styles.

Meadow is $36; look for it on the teacart here at the shop, amidst piles of new books and magazines, full of inspiration for new projects. See you there!

Show and tell: sweaters!

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Back with more show and tell! Here’s another batch of completed projects made with yarns from our shop, focusing this time on sweaters. If you follow us on Instagram, some of these may look familiar – let’s take a closer look at these beautiful knits.

Anne recently knit this sweet little “Dog Star” sweater as a shop sample, showing off CoopKnits Socks Yeah! DK. This Tin Can Knits pattern is one we often make and recommend for baby and kid knits, though it comes in adult sizes, as well – have you made one yet?

Here’s Karin in her first ever sweater, Andrea Mowry’s “Vellichor.” She chose three shades of Brooklyn Tweed Loft for this project, a lightweight woolen-spun yarn with nice structure for garment-making.

Molly knit this “Thistle” sweater for her mom, who models it here. The pattern comes from Anna Johanna’s Strands of Joy, a beautiful collection of modern colorwork sweaters. Molly used Tukuwool Fingering for this garment, another woolen-spun fingering weight yarn.

Above is Gail’s “Divide” pullover, knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor, a smooth and springy yarn perfectly suited to this intricate texture. Pattern by Emily Greene.

April came in last week wearing her brand new “Trove” pullover, knit with Kelbourne Woolens Andorra. We love that joyful new-sweater feeling!

Pattern by Emma Ducher for Pom Pom Quarterly 30 – we still have copies of this issue in stock, if you’re tempted to follow April’s lead and make a “Trove” of your own!

Thanks to Anne, Karin, Molly, Gail, and April for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Scout + Halibut.

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We were delighted to receive a box full of Kelbourne Woolens Scout today, the soft and sturdy wool that’s become a staple in our DK weight section.

Kelbourne Woolens Scout

  • DK weight
  • 2ply, worsted spun
  • 100% wool
  • 274 yards/100 grams
  • $18 each

Caitlin Hunter’s recent “Halibut” sweater makes good use of Scout – as does the “Halibut Hat” and “Halibut Cowl,” a trio of colorwork patterns with a delightfully large fish motif.

“Halibut,” by Caitlin Hunter. Photo © Caitlin Hunter

You’ll need a high contrast color combination to show the pattern clearly – here are a few ideas!

In case halibut aren’t your cup of tea, here are a few other 2-color patterns suitable for Scout.

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Scout in the DK weight section here at our shop – we’re open from 11:00 am – 5:30 pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays. You can also order online for local pickup or shipping – just use our online order form!

Loft and Spindrift + Kellister.

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As I was putting together pattern recommendations to go with our recent Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift restock, I took a shine to Gudrun Johnston’s “Kellister.”

“Kellister,” by Gudrun Johnston. Photo © Gudrun Johnston

The classic fair isle XO pattern, the perfectly subtle slouch, the combination of neutrals and warm autumn shades – it spoke to me, and got me thinking about combining Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift for a few more colorways.

You’ll need more yardage in the main color than the three contrast colors, but one skein of BT Loft is enough to cover it; the cost for 1 Loft and 3 Spindrift is $46.35.

We have 35+ shades of Loft on our shelves and 150+ shades of Shetland Spindrift – plenty to make your own unique “Kellister” color combinations! Come by the shop to see them all, or order online for local pickup or shipping if one of these colorways is right up your alley.

Show and tell: colorwork.

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Time for another round of show and tell, this time featuring colorwork projects!

Susan knit this “Pātikitiki Hat” with Brooklyn Tweed Dapple, a mesmerizing colorwork pattern by Francoise Danoy.

Here’s another inspiring colorwork hat – Becki’s “Kasilof,” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Tones. Pattern by Caitlin Hunter.

Linda sent us this photo of her finished “Hinterland,” knit with Mountain Meadow Wool Cody for the main color and Malabrigo Arroyo for the contrast. Pattern by Jennifer Steingass.

Same pattern, same yarns, different Linda – another gorgeous “Hinterland” is underway! I always love seeing the same pattern in different colors.

Here’s Pam in her “Embers” pullover, knit with Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03; pattern by Tin Can Knits. Pam loves colorwork knitting, and came with two other sweaters for show and tell, too!

Here’s her “Illuminate” pullover, also knit with Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03. She omitted the stripes on the body and chose high contrast colors for a more graphic effect at the yoke, and it looks great in this smooth, solid yarn. Pattern by Andrea Mowry.

Here’s Pam’s third finished sweater, “Bean & Olive,” knit with Berroco Ultra Wool DK. Pattern by Andrea Mowry.

Thanks to Susan, Becki, Linda, Linda, and Pam for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Avena.

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Jennifer Steingass is a designer known for her colorwork yoke sweater patterns, and her latest has been popular here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

“Avena,” by Jennifer Steingass, photo © Jennifer Steingass

“Avena” calls for worsted weight yarn in three shades – one main color and two contrast colors that are similar in value – but we’ve already met several knitters who are planning intriguing variations. Some are holding two strands of fingering weight together to create their own marled shade for the contrast color, one picked out a Neighborhood Fiber Co. Ombré Mini Bundle for the contrast color, and others are working the sweater in just two solid shades. It got me thinking of another idea – why not pair a solid main color and a marled, self-striping contrast color, the likes of Malabrigo Rios Solidos and Reynolds Odyssey?

Reynolds Odyssey is a marled, self-striping wool in low-contrast color combinations, so it reads almost solid from a distance. Above is a swatch Anne knit with Odyssey, so you can get a sense of how the colors gently fluctuate. Here are some color combinations I came up with!

Malabrigo Rios Solidos: worsted weight, solid, industrially dyed colors (no need to alternate skeins!), 100% superwash merino wool, 210 yards/100g; $15.95 each – you’ll need  5-9 skeins for the main color, depending upon your size

Reynolds Odyssey: worsted weight, marled, self-striping, 100% merino wool, 104 yards/50 g; $10 each – you’ll need 2-3 balls for the contrast color, depending upon your size

Want to knit an “Avena” of your own? Look for these and many other options here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – we’re happy to help you calculate yardage and brainstorm color ideas!

HYS Color Club: Peerie + Dipyramitts.

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HYS Color Club members just got their very first project!

Inside the bag, there are 2 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie to knit a pair of “Dipyramitts,” by Emily Greene. We included a color wheel, too!

Greene’s clever colorwork hand warmer pattern includes options for fingerless mitts, mittens, or convertible mittens.

“Dipyramitts,” by Emily Green. Photo © Emily Greene.

Of course, you can make a pair even if you didn’t join the HYS Color Club – just pick a high contrast combination in Brooklyn Tweed’s soft and springy Peerie. Here are a few ideas!

If any of these catch your eye, pick your favorite and order online for local pickup or shipping! BT Peerie is $17.25 per skein, and we have 30+ colors in stock – come by the shop between 11 – 5:30 pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays to see them all.

Show and tell: for Anne’s grandchildren.

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Earlier this year, Anne set a lofty goal: she would knit a sweater for each of her five grandchildren for Hanukkah. When she mentioned this in conversation at the shop, eyes would widen in disbelief – even child-sized sweaters represent an awful lot of knitting, after all. For her granddaughters, she picked Anna Johanna’s “Taimi,” pattern, a colorwork yoke pullover from Strands of Joy, and for her grandsons, “Fresko,” a cabled pullover. She spent every possible moment knitting these sweet sweaters, determined to complete them in time. Anne is a woman of her word, and a determined one – even with this year’s early Hanukkah, she completed the five sweaters in time. Quite a feat!

Here’s “Taimi” in Swans Island All American Sport, with Malabrigo Caprino as the contrast color.

Here’s “Taimi” in Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03, with Alchemy Sanctuary as the contrast color.

Here are a pair of “Freskos” in Malabrigo Mecha, for her twin grandsons.

Here’s the littlest sweater for the littlest grandchild, another “Fresko,” in Brooklyn Tweed Quarry.

Above is a close up on a heartfelt detail – Anne ordered custom tags on Etsy for these heirloom knits, reading “Made with love by Bubbie.”

Hope you’ve met your own holiday knitting goals this season!

Thanksgiving break, colorwork show and tell.

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As you may have read in our most recent newsletter, the shop will be closed for our usual Thanksgiving break from November 24 – 29. Feel free to place online orders or email inquiries during that time, but know that we won’t be monitoring our inbox until we’re back in the shop on November 30! We wish you all a peaceful and safe holiday.

In the meantime, let’s enjoy more show and tell, this time featuring colorwork projects!

Anne knit this “Spooky Hat,” by RosiePosieKnitCo, using Malabrigo Rios – all the contrast colors were leftovers from other projects, a great way to use them up!

Pam loves to do colorwork with Malabrigo Rios, too – here’s her “Dog Star,” a favorite pattern designed for all ages by Tin Can Knits.

Molly knit this “Machrihanish” vest using Cascade 220 Fingering, selecting and ordering the colors from a distance during our long closure. We were thrilled to see how beautifully it came together – there’s nothing like seeing yarn and handknit garments in person! Pattern by Kate Davies.

Above is Victoria’s “Lehto,” a pattern from Anna Johanna’s book Strands of Joy. She used Briggs & Little Sport for the main color and Kelbourne Woolens Andorra for the contrast color, and I must mention that this is her very first sweater – bravo, Victoria!

Thanks to Anne, Pam, Molly, and Victoria for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Inkling, by Kate Davies.

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We’re excited to have two new books from designer Kate Davies! First, let’s take a look at Inkling.

Inkling is a colorful collection of designs for hand knitting and inkle weaving, a craft Davies picked up after an inspiring residency. She found that learning a new skill reinvigorated her creative practice, and this delightful book is the result.

All of the projects in this book are knit with Kate Davies’ own line of yarn, Milarrochy Tweed, a fingering weight wool and mohair blend. We don’t have it here at the shop, though we wish we could, but we have a great many excellent substitutes – Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, Tukuwool Fingering, Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Peerie, Kelbourne Woolens Camper, and more. We’re happy to help you come up with yarn and color substitutions!

The lace designs below caught Anne’s eye in particular – these look like such nice lightweight layering pieces, and interesting knits.

Come by the shop to browse this and other Kate Davies books – she’s a favorite of ours, so we do try to keep her books in good stock! Currently we have Yokes, West Highland Way, Milarrochy Heids, Warm Hands, Shore, and the brand new Bluestockings – keep an eye out, we’ll be featuring that on the blog soon!

Inkling is $30 – swing by the shop to get a copy, or order online for local pickup or shipping – hope to see you at the shop soon!