Tag Archives: gift ideas

Cocoknits Maker’s Keep.

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This week, an eagerly-anticipated shipment arrived from cocoknits – a box full of Maker’s Keeps!

Cocoknits has reimagined their signature Knitter’s Keep as the Maker’s Keep: a silicone slap bracelet with a magnetic face, designed to keep your tools close at hand as you knit.

It used to come at a higher price, with a variety of notions; now it’s sold separately, so you can use the notions you have and prefer. The Maker’s Keep works well with metal darning needles and cable needles, cocoknits’ stitch markers and row counter, T-pins, and more – any steel accessories will cling to your Keep.

One new detail in this iteration of the Maker’s Keep is a set of measuring lines for inches and centimeters on the underside of the bracelet – a clever addition.

Look for Maker’s Keeps in our notions section here at the shop, and consider it a gift for the crafter who has (almost) everything this holiday season!

Making 2018 Wall Calendar.

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The Making 2018 wall calendar is here, and so lovely!

Each month has a beautiful drawing of a particular breed of sheep alongside a plant used for natural dyeing.

Many of these sheep breeds are unfamiliar to us – how we wish we could represent them all in yarns on our shelves! We did see a few friends, though, like the Finnsheep whose fleece make Tukuwool Fingering, and the Rambouillet whose fleece make Brooklyn Tweed Vale.

This would be a welcome gift for any knitter, spinner, dyer, or sheep-lover this holiday season. Come by the shop to pick one up!

Back in stock: Harmony Farm Candles.

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As the weather finally starts to cool down and the leaves change color, we are now truly feeling that fall is underway. It’s a time for stitching, to be sure, and evenings with yarn in our hands are often accompanied by flickering candles in scents that evoke the season. Our friend Erin is the maker behind Harmony Farm Candles in nearby Mebane, NC, and we’ve just had a visit with her this week, which means – more candles!

Lately, I’ve been burning her Rosemary scent at home in the evenings, sometimes simultaneously with Fall Foliage. The combination is woodsy and green, a cozy scent that doesn’t overwhelm my small space; lighting candles is a small indulgence I relish, a nice accompaniment to a spot of knitting.

Mulled Cider and Fall Foliage have been big sellers this season – this is our third batch, in fact! Hurry in if you’re a fan of these scents, as this is the last we’ll get in until next year. We also have a big stack of Wintergreen on our shelves, a perfect pine scent that many of you have been clamoring for since last winter.

We also added a new scent this week, the bright and sweet Grapefruit.

As gifts, these candles are always warmly-received; keep them in mind for holiday and host gifts, birthdays, and the odd just-thinking-of-you occasion. Look for Harmony Farm Candles in our gifts section!

New fall scents from Harmony Farm Candles.

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Each season brings a new selection of tempting scents from Harmony Farm Candles, and three just arrived at the shop to ease us into fall.

Harmony Farm Candles is run by our friend Erin in nearby Mebane, North Carolina. She hand-pours her candles in small batches using 100% US-sourced soy wax, with no added dyes. Their scents are fresh and bright, but not overwhelming – “delightfully fragranced,” as she puts it.

Smelling of spices and apple, Mulled Cider is a sweet, warm scent.

Fall Foliage is a unique woodsy scent, which Erin describes as having “citrus accents, touches of balsam, patchouli and oakmoss.” It’s the one I’m burning at home these days, and for me, it perfectly conjures my favorite season.

While Rosemary is one of Erin’s year-round scents, it’s a new one for us and seems to suit the season. Made with essential oil, it smells precisely like the herb it’s named for. Anne took one whiff and exclaimed, “Focaccia!”

Whenever Erin comes by with a delivery, Anne and I pick up some new candles for ourselves. We find Harmony Farm Candles a perfect companion to an evening of knitting, and we hope you do, too! As gifts, they are always warmly-received; keep them in mind for holiday and host gifts, birthdays, and the odd just-thinking-of-you occasion. Look for Harmony Farm Candles in our gifts section!

Akerworks Swatch Gauge.

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We’re delighted to announce the arrival of an exciting new knitting gadget: the Akerworks Swatch Gauge is now in stock here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

The Swatch Gauge is a new tool for measuring gauge, a heavy plastic one with cut-outs for counting how many stitches or rows make four inches, horizontally and vertically.

When we read about it on Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Review, we immediately reached out to Akerworks with a wholesale request. Her rave review caused them to be inundated with such requests, great news for a small company, so while we had to wait, we’re so happy for them that we can hardly complain!

The defining feature of the Akerworks Swatch Gauge is what Clara Parkes refers to as “honesty teeth.” These little teeth hold your fabric flat as you measure, simultaneously discouraging you from tugging or smoothing it this way or that to get gauge under false pretenses. We’ve all done it – you really want to get gauge, after all! – and knitted fabric is stretchy enough to accommodate our wishful thinking. This Swatch Gauge allows you to count stitches and rows hands-free for the least-biased gauge measurement possible. What a brilliant design!

Look for the Akerworks Swatch Gauge in our notions department. Pick up one for yourself, of course, but also remember them as clever gifts for the knitters in your life. See you at the shop!

New buttons from Late Bloomer Pottery.

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Frumet of Late Bloomer Pottery came for a visit this week, and brought along a fresh supply of buttons.

Frumet is a local potter who makes beautiful functional pieces here in the Triangle. We keep a supply of her yarn bowls in our Gifts section here at the shop, along with a little basket of ceramic buttons.

Late Bloomer buttons are a little different each time, varying in color, texture, and shape. Some are one of a kind, while others come in sets of two, three, or four.

Come by the shop to see what’s new from Late Bloomer Pottery, and check out our other locally-sourced goods while you’re here!

Mother’s Day gift ideas.

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Mother’s Day fast approaches, a good time to remind you of our Gift section here at the shop. We’ve sought out makers in our local community as well as our wider community of suppliers and assembled a collection of items that make excellent gifts for knitters and non-knitters alike.

Harmony Farm Candles are always a welcome gift, hand-poured by Erin in nearby Mebane. We’re lucky enough to have a custom scent, Lavender Eucalyptus, on our shelves, along with a rotating selection of other Harmony Farm Candles, changing with the seasons and our moods.

We just got a new batch of ceramic yarn bowls, handmade in Durham by Frumet of Late Bloomer Pottery.

We also stock hand-painted silk scarves by Gina Wilde, the artist and creative mind behind Alchemy Yarns. Gina has been working with a fair trade collective in Cambodia to produce these silk scarves, and to develop work there centered in indigenous textiles. You can read more about what Gina described to us as her “heart project” on the Alchemy website. Gina herself paints the scarves, just as she paints Alchemy yarns, and the result is vibrant, elegant, and unusual.

We also have gift certificates available in any denomination, of course, and we so appreciate you thinking of us as a gift source. Thank you for supporting small businesses like ours, and shopping local for mothers and others! See you at the shop.

New from Harmony Farm Candles.

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We are delighted to announce the newest addition to our gifts section here at the shop: a brand new scent from Harmony Farm Candles, custom made for the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

Harmony Farm Candles is run by our friend Erin in nearby Mebane, North Carolina. She hand-pours her candles in small batches using 100% US-sourced soy wax and essential oils, with no added dyes. Their scents are fresh and bright, but not overwhelming – “delightfully fragranced,” as she puts it. We asked her to concoct a custom scent for our shop, one that evokes woolens but would be pleasing year-round, and after a thoroughly enjoyable period of testing, she delivered to us the scent you see here: Lavender Eucalyptus.

It’s everything we hoped it would be, herbaceous and calming, smelling exactly of its namesake. Come by the shop and give it a sniff!

We offer a rotating selection of other Harmony Farm Candles, as well, changing with the seasons and our moods. Here’s a snapshot of our current selection: Spring Meadow smells of fresh cut grass, a favorite of Anne’s; Wintergreen evokes fir trees; Sweet Orange is a clementine doppelganger; and Rose smells of roses, just so.

We find Erin’s candles a perfect companion to an evening of knitting, and we hope you do, too! As gifts, they are always warmly-received; keep them in mind for Mother’s and Father’s days, birthdays, and the odd just-thinking-of-you occasion. Look for Harmony Farm Candles in our gifts section!

Hello, Harmony Farm Candles.

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One of the new products in our Gifts section is a small sampling of candles from Harmony Farm Candles, a one-woman operation out of nearby Mebane, North Carolina.

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That one woman happens to be a friend of mine, the charming and conscientious Erin Hils. Her candles are hand-poured in small batches using 100% US-sourced soy wax and essential oils, with no added dyes. Their scents are fresh and bright, but not overwhelming – “delightfully fragranced,” as she puts it.

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Anne and I chose three scents to bring into the shop, not an easy task with so many tempting fragrances on the menu. You’ll find Green Tea, Wintergreen, and French Lavender on the shelf here at the shop, in 8 oz travel tins as well as gift sets of three 4 oz travel tins.

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I find Erin’s candles a perfect companion to an evening of knitting, so I’ve wound up with one or two in each of my habitual knitting spots in my home.

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I have an 8 oz French Lavender tin in my living room, where most of my knitting tools live, and a 4 oz Wintergreen tin in my bedroom, where I often hunker down for a few rows of knitting before bed.

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Look for Harmony Farm Candles in the Gifts section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, and give them a sniff. Pick some up for holiday gift-giving and give one to yourself while you’re at it!

Hello, Alchemy Silk Scarves.

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Many of you know Alchemy as a yarn company, makers of Silken Straw, Sanctuary, Sparky, and Lust. They are all that and more, and we’re delighted to share something new from Alchemy in our Gifts section: hand-painted silk scarves.

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Gina Wilde, the artist and creative mind behind Alchemy, has been working with a fair trade collective in Cambodia to produce these silk scarves, and to develop work there centered in indigenous textiles. You can read more about what Gina described to us as her “heart project” on the Alchemy website.

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Gina herself paints the scarves, just as she paints Alchemy yarns, and the result is vibrant, elegant, and unusual.

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She also creates unique tags for each scarf out of tarot cards, an eye-catching detail that lends an aura of mystery to these special scarves.

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If you’re looking for a special handmade gift this holiday season, come check out our new Gifts section, which is where you’ll find these beautiful lightweight scarves. See you there!

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