Tag Archives: cowls

Show and tell: Shibui.

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Time for another round of show-and-tell! I’m always collecting photos of the beautiful finished pieces knitters and crocheters bring in to share with us, garments that started their lives as HYS yarns. With Shibui yarns featured and discounted for tomorrow’s Local Yarn Store Day, I thought I’d share a group of projects made with some of these special yarns.

Michele knit this “Nasreen” top with Shibui Staccato held double to get the gauge she needed with the yarn she loved. Always pushing herself to try different knitting techniques and a big fan of stripes, this pattern spoke to her, and she made good use of the Staccato she had stashed away.

Shibui has a lot of fans, and Cindy is among the most ardent admirers we know. Here she is in her “Quicksilver” shawl, knit with Shibui Echo.

Astrid designed this intricate lace shawl with Shibui Silk Cloud, a lace weight mohair and silk blend. Look for her pattern, “Blue Winter Flower,” on Ravelry!

Maria visited our shop from out of town last year, and picked up some Silk Cloud for a “Gradient” cowl. We were touched that she thought of us when she was in town again last month, bringing the finished piece to show us, no less!

Last but not least, our own Anne has finished a Shibui project this week, “Amos.”

This summer tee is knit with Shibui Vine and Fern, and is even more striking in person. Look for it hanging on the wall here at our shop!

Thanks to everyone who shares their projects with us, whether at the outset, after all the ends are woven in, or somewhere along the way. We can’t wait to see what you make next!

Come by tomorrow, Saturday, April 27th, to celebrate Local Yarn Store Day with 15% off all in-stock Shibui!

 

A reminder: all sales are final on discounted items; there will be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Half and Half Cowl.

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February is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample until the end of the month.

This month’s sample is the Churchmouse “Half and Half Cowl,” a simple ribbed cowl with a slit halfway up to create an opening over the shoulder.

“Half and Half Cowl” is knit with Shibui Drift, a worsted weight blend of 85% extra fine merino wool and 15% cashmere. It’s just as soft as that combination sounds, a perfect choice for a special accessory like this.

Come by the shop to before February 26th to try on the “Half and Half Cowl” and get Shibui Drift at 10% off to make one of your own!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, returns, or special orders. Thanks!

Back in stock, show and tell: Malabrigo.

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Over 60 pounds of Malabrigo yarn arrived this week!

This sizable order filled and brightened our cubbies of Rasta, Rios, Mecha, Caracol, and Mechita.

Malabrigo is a beloved Uruguayan yarn company known for vibrant hand-dyed color and soft, squishy merino wool.

These pleasing qualities make their yarns some of the most popular in our shop, so we’re always seeing incredible projects made out of Malabrigo yarn. Here are a few of the latest.

Amy knit this “Rondelay” shawl with Mechita, a single-ply superwash merino wool in fingering weight.

She used one of the coveted speckled colorways, which we can hardly keep in stock – happy to have a nice selection of speckled shades in this recent order!

Margie used one of those speckled skeins of Mechita to make the “Mesh Leaf Cowl” she’s modeling here.

Malabrigo yarns also play well with others, as Linda’s “Mindfulness” shawl demonstrates. She crocheted this beauty using a semi-solid shade in Malabrigo Sock and a highly-variegated skein from Dream in Color’s Pop-Up Skein Club.

Thanks to Amy, Margie, Linda, and countless others who start their projects here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – we love to see what you’re working on!

Come by the shop to see our full selection of Malabrigo yarn and get your fill of these soft and colorful skeins!

Back in stock, show and tell: Berroco Ultra Wool and Ultra Wool DK.

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This season, we seem to be constantly ordering and reordering Berroco Ultra Wool and Ultra Wool DK. Not long before we closed for our Thanksgiving break, I unpacked a bigger box than ever from Berroco, for it contained some new colors along with all our old favorites.

Ultra Wool and Ultra Wool DK are smooth and sturdy superwash wools, one of the few that suggests “tumble dry low” rather than “lay flat to dry.” They’re easy-care, practical, economical, and come in a wide range of solid and heathered colors; no wonder we’re selling so much of them!

The latest Berroco Portfolio collection features these yarns, and we were delighted when Berroco also sent us a sample of the cover sweater, Lori Versaci’s “Lane’s Island Pullover.” There’s nothing like a finished garment to give you a sense of how a particular yarn knits up, and this one has already compelled plenty of knitters to try Ultra Wool DK, many of whom return to it for other projects.

April was one of the first knitters we knew to complete an adult-sized sweater in Ultra Wool DK, and when she wore it in, singing the yarn’s praises, we were truly impressed. The cables of her “Bowery Tunic” show beautifully, and April didn’t report any of the out-of-control stretching that superwash wools can sometimes experience during blocking.

Margie has also been working with Ultra Wool DK of late, knitting not one, but two “Isabelline Cowls.” I never tire of seeing what an impact a change in color can have; this pair is a nice example of how low- and high-contrast color combinations can both work beautifully in stranded colorwork. And you might be surprised which of these has higher contrast – I was! Look at these photos through the black and white filter on your camera and you’ll see what I mean.

Ultra Wool DK is great for crochet projects, too! Check out Linda’s amazing blanket for proof positive.

Look for Ultra Wool and Ultra Wool DK here at the shop, and keep an eye out for something new from Berroco, too… more on that soon!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Tempo.

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November is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample until the end of the month.

This month’s sample is “Tempo,” a two-color cowl knit with Shibui Maai. Maai is a DK weight blend of alpaca and merino, soft and lofty due to its chainette construction. This yarn has tremendous elasticity, making it a pleasure to work with and to wear. The colorwork effect is achieved through slipped stitches, a technique that requires using only one color of yarn per row.

Come by the shop this month to see “Tempo” and get Shibui Maai at 10% off to make one of your own!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, returns, or special orders. Thanks!

Back in stock: Classy mini-skeins.

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Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins are back in stock, and how!

Dream in Color only occasionally produces these 50-yard mini-skeins of their worsted weight superwash wool, Classy, and the color selection is different every time. Our last restock back in June was our biggest yet, and it sold out so quickly that we requested an equally big batch as soon as they were available again. Happy to report that the time has come!

Some are highly variegated, some are semi-solid, some are speckled, and some are hybrids, but all are hand-dyed, so there’s some color variation in each skein.

Nancy Leuer’s “Technicolor Cowl” calls for 8 of these mini-skeins, and just as before, I’ve had fun creating color combinations and kits for this project. Because we have somewhat different colors in this group than last time, I’ve created six brand new colorways.

Don’t feel limited to these combinations, however – consider them a jumping off point for your own unique cowls.

Look for “Technicolor Cowl” kits and Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins in the worsted weight section!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Sunstone Cowl.

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Happy to report that we’ve just received a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We usually offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarns featured in our monthly sample, but during July, everything is 15% off – even better!

This month’s Shibui sample is the “Sunstone Cowl,” knit with just one skein of Shibui Lunar. This textured cowl is long and narrow, but knit in a slinky lace weight yarn like Lunar, it’s designed to slouch down around one’s neck rather than to cling.

We’ll have the “Sunstone Cowl” on display through August 12th, but come by the shop during July to get everything in stock at 15% off!

Just a reminder – all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Back in stock: Classy mini-skeins.

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Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins are back in stock, and how!

Dream in Color only occasionally produces these 50-yard mini-skeins of their worsted weight superwash wool, Classy, and the color selection is different every time. This order of mini-skeins is our biggest yet, boasting an astonishing 63 colors!

Melon & lime.

Some are highly variegated, some are semi-solid, some are speckled, and some are hybrids, but all are hand-dyed, so there’s some color variation in each skein.

Variegates & speckles.

Cherries & pastry.

I had a lot of fun arranging them in 8-skein combinations for “Technicolor Cowls.”

Denim & chambray.

Jewels & gems.

Nancy Leuer’s “Technicolor Cowl” is a simple but entertaining project with a focus on color.

It’s knit in the round, with stripes of stockinette and reverse stockinette that make a squishy, textured fabric from this springy superwash merino yarn. The pattern is free when you purchase eight Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins for the project.

Eggplant & pepper.

Moss & bark.

We’ve created kits in each of the colorways shown here, so if you’re struck by any of these combinations, it’s easy to pick up all the materials you need for the project.

A bundle of colorful mini-skeins and an easy pattern are the makings of a lovely gift, too!

Look for Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins in the worsted weight section, and have fun picking colors for a “Technicolor Cowl” of your own!

Back in stock: Tukuwool Fingering.

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We recently restocked a relatively new-to-us yarn, Tukuwool Fingering, which has quickly become a favorite. Anne and I were so excited when this enormous box arrived from Canada, especially because it held three brand new colors!

Tukuwool Fingering is a woolen-spun, fingering weight blend of Finnsheep and Finnsheep-Texel wool, sourced and produced entirely in Finland. It’s a little toothy, but soft enough for next-to-skin wear, depending upon one’s preferences; a springy and resilient yarn.

I knit two “Bousta Beanies” with this yarn and fell in love with it along the way. Its texture and color palette make it particularly well-suited to colorwork, I think, a quality that shines in local designer Kerry Bullock-Ozkan’s “Rionnag Cowl.”

Perhaps you saw this cowl on display during our recent HYS Colorwork Trunk Show – it’s home with Kerry again, but still on my mind. We have print copies of the pattern here at the shop, but it’s also available on Ravelry.

Unpacking that big box of Tukuwool, I contemplated quartets of color with this cowl in mind; here are a few I came up with.

Since I first wrote about Tukuwool Fingering back in September, a number of new designs have been published for this special yarn:

Look for Tukuwool Fingering here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop – come by to see and touch it for yourself, and plan your next project!

Back in stock: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

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Our big fall order from Fyberspates came in last week, and one of the yarns we restocked in a big way is Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

Scrumptious 4ply/Sport is a soft, shimmering yarn, made of 55% superwash merino and 45% silk. It’s a bit heavy for a fingering, and a bit light for a sport, hence its fractured name. In our shop, you’ll find it in the sport weight section, but don’t rule it out if your pattern calls for fingering weight yarn; look carefully at the pattern gauge and check to see if it falls in the suggested gauge range of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport – between 24 and 28 stitches over 4 inches.

I recently completed a shop sample in Scrumptious 4ply/Sport, Purl Soho’s “Two-Color Cotton Cowl.” Though I knit it on the recommended needle size, I didn’t get the recommended gauge, so it’s a smaller circumference than the pattern intends. Still, it’s a fabric I like, and still long enough to wrap once or twice around one’s neck, so in this case, not getting gauge worked out perfectly. It was my first time doing two-color brioche, which was much less difficult than I imagined, and I’d definitely recommend it as an introduction to the technique.

With all these colors back on our shelves, there are lots of great color pairings to be had. Come by the shop to pick up a couple of skeins of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport for a cowl of your own!