Show and tell: lace.

Posted by Julia on July 18, 2017

We always love to see what you’re making with HYS yarns, and I love to take photos of your finished pieces to share here on the blog. Sifting through the many delightful show-and-tell photos I’ve accumulated, I noticed a group of projects with a technique in common: lace.

Margaretta has a fondness for lace-knitting, and has completed two lace shawls recently. The one above is “Arlington,” by Emily Ross, knit with Shibui Staccato.

The pattern is easy to modify for the stockinette-to-lace ratio of your choosing, and Margaretta opted for a lace-heavy version, with stunning results.

Above is Margaretta’s most recent finished piece, “Your Ice Cream Shawl,” knit with the new and exciting Brooklyn Tweed Vale.

Two of our teachers have been working with lace, too. Below is Amy’s “Stone Point” poncho, knit with the Fibre Company’s new yarn, Luma. She’s in the midst of teaching a class on the subject, so we expect to see more “Stone Point” ponchos in the coming months, knit by her students! In the meantime, look for this one on display here at the shop.

Robin has a lace class coming up this fall, featuring Lisa Hannes’ “Laurelie,” a two-color shawl with lace and mosaic motifs.

Her “Laurelie” is made with Plymouth Happy Feet and Isager Merilin, a marriage of two yarns alike in gauge, but different in fiber content. They play well together in the finished piece; look for it on the wall here at the shop, and head to our Classes page to sign up for the class!

Itching to start a lace project of your own? Brooklyn Tweed is hosting a Summer of Lace Knit-Along, and their blog is full of helpful hints and project ideas. I know some of you are participating, and look forward to seeing your finished pieces!

Thanks to the knitters who shared their work on the blog today. We love seeing what you’re working on, and can’t wait to see what you come up with next. See you at the shop!

New colors from Isager.

Posted by Julia on May 15, 2017

Some yarn companies create new colors for their existing lines each season, or each year. Isager has never done it that way, instead sticking with a tried-and-true color palette for each yarn that truly has a personality, a voice all its own. Every now and then, however, Isager surprises us with a few new shades, and I’m happy to report that they’ve just expanded both Alpaca 1 and Alpaca 2!

Alpaca 1 is a lace weight yarn made of 100% alpaca which is spun in Peru. Often, Isager patterns pair this yarn with Isager Spinni, Tvinni, Highland, or Alpaca 2, to make thicker fabrics and unique color or fiber blends. Think “Camomille,” “The Fan,” or the “Tokyo” shawl kit.

These 5 new shades are complex heathers, each one composed of several colors blended together before spinning. As such, they appear solid from a distance, but up close reveal a variety of colors – perfect for lace, texture patterns, or simple stripes. These new colors fit right into the existing Alpaca 1 palette, filling spaces we didn’t know were empty, and giving us new ideas for color combinations.

The same can be said for the 5 new shades of Alpaca 2, which seem to call out for inclusion in a “Stole.”

Alpaca 2 is a soft and fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca in a fingering weight, and as I’ve written here on the blog so many times, it’s a real favorite at our shop, year in and year out. If you’ve never used it before, come by the shop to see it in person, pet our “Stole” sample, and see if you’re not moved to cast one on. We’ve got plenty of Isager pattern books to peruse here, too, including the Helga Isager’s newest collection, The Artisan. Our first stack of these books sold out in a flash, but I’m happy to report that they’re now back in stock.

See you at the shop!

The Artisan.

Posted by Julia on April 7, 2017

Helga Isager’s newest book has arrived! Let’s take a peek inside The Artisan.

Helga Isager is a Danish knitwear designer who runs the Isager yarn company along with her accomplished mother, Marianne Isager.

Both Isagers design with Isager yarn in mind, of course, often blending two or three yarns together for heavier gauges or interesting fiber and color combinations. Sometimes, though, these fingering or lace weight yarns are used alone, making delicate fabrics that drape and flatter the wearer.

We picked up a couple new single patterns for our Isager pattern binder, too – come by the shop to peruse the whole thing, and see all our Isager yarns while you’re at it!

Tokyo Shawl.

Posted by Julia on March 27, 2017

A new knit sample appeared on our wall the other day, an eye-catching shawl that Rosi has been working on for quite some time: Marianne Isager’s “Tokyo Shawl.”

“Tokyo Shawl” is a geometric striped shawl knit with Isager Spinni and Alpaca 1 yarns. The Spinni colors change from stripe to stripe, but the Alpaca 1 remains the same, muting and complicating whatever shade of Spinni it’s held with.

Marianne Isager’s “Tokyo Shawl” comes exclusively in kits, in three colorways: “Light,” “Medium,” and “Dark.” Rosi’s sample, shown here, is the “Dark” colorway, an intriguing blend of heathered charcoal and deep jewel tones, with a pop of salmon orange and red.

Come by the shop to admire this shawl and get a tangible sense of what’s possible when you combine yarns and colors. We have all three shades of the “Tokyo Shawl” kit in stock now, too!

See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Isager Alpaca 2.

Posted by Julia on March 15, 2017

Isager Alpaca 2 is a staple here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Year in, year out, we aim to have every available color on the shelf in the fingering weight section, for there is a steady demand for this fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca. A big box of the stuff arrived yesterday, bringing some bestselling colors back into stock.

Our seasoned “Stole” sample has hung on the wall for years now, yet it regularly catches the eye of knitters seeking a soothing, repetitive project, one that’s easy to execute, but with elegant results.

We’ve seen all manner of Stole variations, and whether they’re knit in the original nine shades or a kaleidoscope of unique combinations, slimmed down into scarves or expanded into blankets, everything seems to work.

I still get a kick out of watching knitters select their colors, moving the skeins this way and that, stepping back and squinting for perspective.

I still get a kick out of playing that color game myself, some afternoons, especially quiet afternoons as I’m unpacking a box of Isager Alpaca 2.

If a ribbed rectangle isn’t your idea of a good time, check out these other colorful fingering weight patterns, where Isager Alpaca 2 would be equally at home:

Andrea Mowry’s “Find Your Fade”
Stephen West’s “Exploration Station”
Olga Buraya-Kefelian’s “Aranami Shawl”
Isabell Kraemer’s “Hanami”
Jill Zielinski’s “Summer Moon”

Look for more ideas on our Fingering weight Pinterest board, and come by the shop to play the color game and plan your next project!

What’s winding.

Posted by Julia on March 6, 2017

Back in December, we rearranged the front room at the shop a bit, moving the ballwinder from the teacart, shifting a few shelves, and adding a new table. That table houses the swift and ballwinder, a dedicated winding station right by the front window, which does double and triple duty as a window display and a naturally-lit spot for blog photography.

A rainbow of CoopKnits Socks Yeah! getting wound and ready for sock-knitting.

The table came from Anne’s mother’s apartment in New York, where it had been living for many decades before it moved south with Phyllis herself. It’s the perfect shape and size for our space, but it also came, importantly, with good memories for Anne of her mother cutting out patterns there to sew her clothes. Take a close look at its surface next time you’re here at the shop, and you can see dotted lines in the wood from her tracing wheel.

Just as Phyllis began sewing projects on this table, so do we begin knitting and crochet projects here, with that important first step: winding the yarn.

Getting wound up and ready to knit a shop sample in Brooklyn Tweed Arbor.

Yarns that come in twisted hanks need to be wound into a ball before use, a task that some knitters find pleasure in, but others consider a chore. We have a swift and ballwinder here at the shop to make quick work of that task, and we’re happy to do it for you. Now that the winding station is such a pleasing place to be, I often find myself photographing the yarns that pass through it, admiring the clever and sturdy design of Nancy’s Knit Knacks Heavy Duty Ballwinder. These photos are some of my personal favorites, and they’ll look familiar if you follow us on Instagram.

Winding Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, a “Hadley-Pullover”-to-be.

As I wind yarn at the shop, I’m frequently joined by customers and passers-by, looking on from the worsted weight section or the sidewalk, just enjoying the simple pleasure of the spinning swift and the growing ball of yarn.

Isager Alpaca 2 and Shibui Staccato getting wound and ready to become a “Find Your Fade” shawl.

Come by the shop to plan your next project, and leave with your yarn ready to use right away. See you there!

Show and tell: for grown-ups.

Posted by Julia on November 23, 2016

I’m back with another round of show-and-tell, this time for the grown-ups among us.

Kellie has been busy crocheting “Artfully Simple Infinity Scarves” with Noro Silk Garden Lite. She reports that the pattern is as easy as its title suggests, but that it’s endlessly entertaining, especially with colorful self-striping yarns like these.

They’re long enough to be worn doubled, as shown above, but short enough to hang around one’s neck simply, as shown below; either way makes an eye-catching accessory.

Margie’s needles are always busy, and she’s so prolific a knitter that these finished projects are already well behind her. Still, they bear sharing: above is her “Inverness Cape,” knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and below is her “Escher Poncho,” knit in Malabrigo Rios, with a bit of Fibre Company Cumbria Worsted around the edge.

And there’s more: here’s Margie’s third “ZickZack Scarf,” knit with Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball and Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace held doubled throughout.

Catherine knit this beautiful “On the Spice Market” with Shibui Staccato, a merino/silk blend that has the perfect drape and luster for this shawl.

She carefully chose colors inspired by those shown in the pattern photo, with a few adjustments to make it her own.

Here’s another Melanie Berg pattern, “Sunwalker,” knit by Emma with the brand new Isager Merilin. This is a shawl that the photo doesn’t do justice, as it’s the texture and hand of the fabric that stood out most to me; shawl-knitters, consider Merilin when fingering weight yarn is called for!

Below is Amy’s “Copenhagen Hood,” a quick cozy accessory knit in Fibre Company Tundra, living temporarily at the shop as a sample for her upcoming class on the subject. There are still spaces in her class, if you’d like to join and knit a hood of your own…sign up on our website!

Joanne knit this “Rise” hat with Shibui Drift and Silk Cloud held together, and was so pleased with it that she came back for more yarn to knit one for her husband. I understand the appeal, seeing how well this came out! I can hardly imagine a softer yarn combination, truly.

Nancy knit this “Flowers of Life” pullover for her husband, using a beautiful palette of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in an intricate all-over fair isle pattern. She’s graciously left it at the shop for a few weeks for all to see and admire; come in soon to see this knitted work of art!

Joanne also has some Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift show and tell: a “Beginner’s Fair Isle Cap,” her first-ever colorwork project. With guidance from Nancy, she selected this color combination and arranged the colors within the motif for a unique accesory.

Thanks again to the knitters and crocheters who share their work with us. We feel lucky to play a part in your creative pursuits, and look forward to seeing the projects you plan!

Pom Pom Quarterly: Winter 2016.

Posted by Julia on November 16, 2016

The Winter 2016 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly is here!

The theme of this issue is “reflections,” one that has been interpreted in a variety of ways by the magazine’s contributors. The shawl on the cover features a graphic stripe knit in Shibui Silk Cloud, one half sunny and bright, the other half dark. An article by designer Anna Maltz finds her reflecting on fit and body image in ready-to-wear clothing and handmade clothing – a thoughtful, interesting read.

Every issue of Pom Pom is beautifully produced by people that clearly understand the appeal of the magazine as physical object. The paper is soft, sturdy, and matte, the photographs beautifully-taken, the patterns compelling.

And, a cherry on top, each issue features a recipe. This issue, it’s a tempting pair of cocktails.

Look for Pom Pom Quarterly on the teacart here at the shop, and come quickly, for it has a tendency to sell out. Cheers!

Show and tell: Isager.

Posted by Julia on September 18, 2016

Time for more show and tell! Many of the knitters and crocheters who start their projects here at the shop bring them back when they’re done to show us their work, one of the most interesting and gratifying parts of our job as yarn-shopkeepers. When I’m able, I like to photograph those projects to share here on the blog, and I’ve amassed quite a collection of photos over the past month or so. Last week, I shared finished sweaters, but I confess, I was saving one for today’s post, because it overlaps with today’s theme: Isager.

Here’s Shelley’s incredible “Spring,” knit in Isager Spinni, a lace weight wool. Knit modularly, with each square building on the last, “Spring” features lace and intarsia, making this lightweight pullover a real labor of love. I admired Shelley’s color choice back when she first made her selection, but it’s even more impressive in the finished piece, those playful, colorful squares popping out against the larger neutral blocks.

Shelley was kind enough to lend us her sweater for a little while, so if you hurry in, you might catch it hanging on the wall.

Here’s another amazing piece knit in Isager Spinni: Annmarie’s “Rock Island.” She made this during a recent lace class here at the shop, and we were all blown away by how carefully she knit and blocked it. Well done, Annmarie!

Speaking of classes, this shawl is the subject of an upcoming crochet class. Katherine crocheted her “Transposition” with Isager Alpaca 2, a soft and fuzzy blend of merino and alpaca.

Join her class to learn the basics of triangular shawl construction, crochet pattern- and chart-reading, shell stitches, and blocking. Head to our Classes page to read all about it and sign up!

Sandra came in the other day to pick up some yarn she ordered at our recent Isager Yarn Tasting, and tucked in her bag was her “Stole,” knit in Isager Alpaca 2. She made an abbreviated version, in just 5 colors, but it’s the perfect size for carrying about in case of chilly air-conditioning.

Thanks to these knitters and crocheters for sharing their work with us, and for starting their projects here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We look forward to seeing your newest creations, and watching your ideas come to life on your needles.

Hello, Isager Merilin.

Posted by Julia on September 9, 2016

I’m delighted to introduce the newest yarn from Isager. Meet Merilin!

Merilin is a fingering weight blend of 80% merino wool and 20% linen. Those two fibers take the dye differently, giving the yarn a heathered quality which is more pronounced in the darker shades.

The Isager color palette is one of the more distinctive across all the yarn companies we work with. Pastels, neutrals, and muted jewel tones are at the forefront in every Isager yarn, but especially Merilin; the upside to a limited, curated color selection like this is that they all go well together.

For pattern ideas, consider Suvi Simola’s “Frosty Acorn” and “Qipican” pullovers, as well as her “Leap Year Cardigan.” All those sweaters were designed for Isager Merilin, though it would do just as well in any other fingering weight pattern–Joji Locatelli’s “Boxy” and “3 Color Cashmere Cowl and Shawl” come to mind, as does Theresa Gaffey’s now-classic “Stole.” Visit our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board for more ideas, and explore your own Ravelry favorites for that gauge.

Look for Merilin in the fingering weight section here at the shop, where you may well find your next project. See you there!