Tag Archives: cowls

Back in stock: Classy mini-skeins.

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Dream in Color Classy mini-skeins are back in stock!

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.

It’s fun to see a mix of new colors and old favorites with each shipment, and even more fun to arrange them in 8-skein combinations for “Technicolor Cowls.”

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.

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!

Triangle Yarn Crawl.

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The Triangle Yarn Crawl is a self-guided tour of local yarn shops, where yarn-lovers get together and hop from one shop to the next, shopping, entering raffles, and seeing the full breadth of available fibers. They happen just once a year, and the time has come again: the Spring 2017 crawl is coming up this weekend on April 22nd and 23rd! 

Each local yarn shop has something special to offer, and we’re no exception: we have two Trunk Shows on display, one from Baa Ram Ewe and one from The Fibre Company. Each show features four garments in the newest yarns from those companies, Dovestone Natural Aran and Luma, respectively, and we’re offering a 10% discount on those yarns during the show. We’re putting another of our favorite yarns on an even deeper discount this weekend… follow us on Instagram for more about that later in the week!

One exciting new feature of the TYC this year is that every shop is presenting a new free pattern especially for the Yarn Crawl. Each of the eight participating shops in the Triangle has something unique to offer our local fiber-loving community, and I expect their patterns will reflect that. Ours is a moebius cowl Rosi designed using one of our favorite yarns, Shibui Staccato. Don’t miss seeing the sample when you’re here this weekend!

There’s a bag of goodies at each of the participating shops, a raffle prize full of yarn, patterns, and more. Some of its contents are donated by TYC sponsors like Berroco, Cascade, Malabrigo, Mountain Colors, and Classic Elite, and others come from our own collection here at the shop.

Some of our prizes include a project bag, skein of Knightsbridge, and measuring tape from Kelbourne Woolens, a pack of Cormo Fingering mini-skeins from Sincere Sheep, and a Lilly Brush for removing pills. It’s all packed up in one of our sturdy canvas Hillsborough Yarn Shop totes, along with a few other surprises!

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! 

Shibui Sample of the Month: Stanza.

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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 til the end of the month.

This month’s featured sample is “Stanza,” by Shellie Anderson, a stylishly simple cowl knit with 2 skeins of Shibui Drift.

Drift is a worsted weight blend of 85% extra fine merino wool and 15% cashmere, and it’s as soft as its fiber content suggests. It’s just the kind of yarn you’d want wrapped around your neck in a cozy cowl.

The pattern is free when you purchase Shibui Drift from us, and we’re offering a 10% discount on Drift purchased for this project til the end of the month. Come by the shop to start a “Stanza” of your own before February 28th!

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

Shibui Sample of the Month: Mix No. 23 colorways.

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Our January Shibui Sample of the Month is one of our own, that’s always on display here at the shop. While it’s the featured sample, we’re offering Shibui Cima for this project at 10% off!

This “Mix No. 23” is knit in a relatively low-contrast combination of Ivory and Ash, though it still shows well due to the thickness of the stripes.

When I made one a few years ago, I chose a higher-contrast pair, Caffeine and Suit.

Here are a couple of other colorways that would make a nice “Mix No. 23.”

Above is Pollen and Ash; below is Brownstone and Graphite.

Above is Brick and Grounds; below is Fjord and Cove.

Come by the shop to create your own “Mix No. 23” color combination, and get Shibui Cima for this project at 10% off during January!

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

Snow day show and tell.

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The shop was closed today for inclement weather, and as the snow quietly fell this morning, Anne texted me some knitterly show-and-tell from her friend Sherri. A snow day is a good one for show-and-tell; let’s take a peek at some of the recently-completed projects that started their lives as yarns here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

Above, Sherri’s daughter in law models the Churchmouse “Easy Folded Poncho” Sherri knit for her with Shibui Dune, a soft and lustrous blend of alpaca, camel, and silk.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a bundle of colorwork projects here on the blog, only to have Judie walk through our door the next day wearing this beautiful sweater. Consider this an addendum! The pattern is Courtney Kelley’s “St. Brendan,” and the yarn is the rustic yet luxurious Fibre Company Arranmore. Judie changed the color palette just slightly from the pattern photo, switching the ribbing color from dark gray to a warm camel – a small adjustment that makes a big difference and looks great.

Above is the first of Margaretta’s “January Mitts,” knit with Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering. I have a special fondness for this yarn, as I’ve shared before, and it’s especially nice to see its sharp stitch definition in this lace and bobble pattern.

Speaking of Fibre Company yarns and of sharp stitch definition, here’s Leah’s exquisitely textured “Arctic Circle” cowl, knit with Fibre Company Tundra. This was her first project after completing a Beginning Knitting class here at the shop, and it’s clear it wont be her last – well done, Leah!

Loretta knit this “Arrowhead Shawl” with Swans Island All American Worsted, a soft yet sturdy blend of US-sourced Rambouillet wool and alpaca. The traditional guernsey stitch patterns are placed on a stockinette background for a subtle effect, one that’s harder to capture on camera than it is to perceive in person.

Thanks to all who begin their projects with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, and thanks especially for bringing them back to share your work with us! Hope everyone stayed safe and warm this snowy weekend, and spent some time stitching. We’ll be open again at our regular hours on Tuesday, January 10th.

Shibui Sample of the Month: Mix No. 23.

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

This month’s featured sample is one of our own, a “Mix No. 23” cowl that Amy knit. This reversible double-knit cowl was designed by Lidia Tsymbal, and knit with Shibui Cima held double throughout.

I knit a “Mix No. 23” for myself a couple of years ago, and it served as my introduction to Shibui and to double knitting. It’s by far my favorite handknit accessory, I wear it every day of the winter and most of the fall and spring. Knitters often ask me if it’s difficult to do, and though “difficult” is in the eye of the beholder, I’d consider this a bit of a challenge, but a rewarding one. The double-knit chart took a bit of getting used to, and it was a few long rows before I realized how I was making two pieces of fabric at once. Since both colors are in use on every row, I found it really useful to hold one color in my right hand and one in my left as I worked.

We’re offering a 10% discount on Cima purchased for this project til the end of the month, so come by the shop to start a “Mix No. 23” of your own before January 31st!

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

Show and tell: colorwork.

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We love to see finished projects that started life as yarn on our shelves, and when I’m able, I love to photograph them and share them here on the blog. I noticed a theme running through my current stash of show-and-tell photos: colorwork. I’m defining that term broadly to include stripes, colorblocks, stranded knitting and intarsia – all the myriad methods for changing colors as you knit.

We’ll begin with Margie, who brought two special pieces in for us to see, both designed by Kieran Foley. Above is “Lotus Crescent,” a unique shawl bursting with techniques from lace to stranded knitting to intarsia – sometimes all three in the space of one row! Margie used Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift for this one, eager to play with the large color palette.

Kieran Foley’s patterns are not for the faint of heart, but Margie persevered. Below is her “Zanzibar” scarf, knit with Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball and a variety of fingering weight scraps.

Loretta knit Melanie Berg’s “Drachenfels” shawl with three shades of Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering, a yarn she’s since used for mittens and has come to love.

This adorable “Pandamonium” hat was Wanda’s first attempt at stranded knitting, and she did a great job! The yarn is Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, and she came back for more to make another colorwork hat, encouraged by the success of this one.

Margaretta knit this “3 Color Cashmere Cowl” with Fibre Company Canopy Fingering in a most appealing trio of colors: two greens and a dark charcoal. It was a beautiful combination when I first saw it as three skeins of yarn, only to grow more beautiful as Margaretta stitched them into a cozy cowl.

Ruth knit the “Dreambird” shawl below using Schoppel-Wolle Starke 6 and Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Fingering, with help from a class on the subject here at the shop. The pairing of a self-striping yarn with a semi-solid hand-dyed yarn is a striking one for this pattern, perfect for showing off the short-row shaping.

Thanks to the knitters, crocheters, and weavers who bring in their work to show us what they’ve made! You inspire and amaze us, and we can’t wait to see what you get into next. Hope to see you at the shop soon, but do note our holiday hours, which are always posted on the main page of our website:

Saturday, Dec. 24: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Sunday, Dec. 25: closed

Saturday, Dec. 31st: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Sunday, Jan. 1st, 2017: closed

Shibui Sample of the Month: Breton Cowl colorways.

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Our November Shibui Sample of the Month is on display at the shop til November 30th, and we’re offering the Shibui yarns for this project at 10% off throughout the month!

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This particular “Breton Cowl” is knit with a relatively high-contrast combination of colors, namely Drift in “Graphite” and Silk Cloud in “Suit.” There’s an argument to be made that high-contrast colorways are better suited to this pattern than subtle ones, and here are a few such colorways.

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Above: Drift in “Tar” and Silk Cloud in “Apple.” Below: Drift in “Velvet” and Silk Cloud in “Raspberry.”

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Ginny recently brought her finished “Breton Cowl” in for show-and-tell, and it’s this very combination that she used. I love the bright pop of “Raspberry” against the deeply saturated “Velvet.”

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For those who favor subtlety, here are a couple of low-contrast color combinations that I find just as exciting.

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Above: Drift in “Suit” and Silk Cloud in “Blueprint.” Below: Drift in “Pollen” and Silk Cloud in “Mineral.”

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Come by the shop to create your own “Breton Cowl” color combination, and get the Shibui yarns for this project at 10% off during November!

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

Shibui Sample of the Month: Breton Cowl.

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

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Our current Shibui Sample of the Month is the “Breton Cowl,” by Antonia Shankland, from Mason-Dixon Knitting Field Guide No. 1: Stripes. 

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This luxurious cowl is knit with thick garter stitch stripes of smooth Shibui Drift, punctuated by stockinette welts in fuzzy Silk Cloud.

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We’re offering a 10% discount on Drift and Silk Cloud purchased for this project til the end of the month, so come by the shop to see it before November 30th!

 

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

New colors in Canopy Fingering.

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Back in June, we selected new shades in Fibre Company Canopy Fingering, a luxurious fingering weight blend of alpaca, merino, and bamboo. One or two of those colors arrived shortly thereafter, but the rest were on backorder, so our small basket of Canopy Fingering remained nearly-empty. Then just last week, a box arrived from Kelbourne Woolens, packed up tight with our Canopy Fingering order, and this small basket looks so much happier!

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Earlier this year, I knit a “3 Color Cashmere Cowl” with Canopy Fingering, and though it contains no cashmere, it’s perfectly suited to the pattern due to its drapey nature and soft hand.

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My first impulse upon unpacking these new shades of Canopy Fingering was to make trios with this cowl in mind. Here’s a combination very close to what I used for the cowl above, brightened with a pop of blue: Macaw, Manatee, and Chiclet Tree.

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Below are Obsidian, Crocus, and Purple Passion, for those who love purple.

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For the next trio, I kept Obsidion for contrast but swapped out the purples for warmer, brighter shades, Red Ginger and Mango.

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What colors would you pull from this candy-colored basket? Come by the shop to play the color game as you plan your next project!

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