New colors from Baa Ram Ewe.

Posted by Julia on February 6, 2016

The folks at UK yarn company Baa Ram Ewe dreamed up two new colors for their Titus and Dovestone DK yarns, and I’m happy to report that we now have them on our shelves here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

The two yarns take the dye differently, coming out bright and clear in Titus, but deeper and heathered in Dovestone DK. “Lotherton” is a bright turquoise, and “Rhubarb” is a hot pink.

These new shades are definitely the boldest we’ve seen from Baa Ram Ewe, yet they fit nicely into the color palette, offering new opportunities for high-contrast color combinations.

Dovestone DK is a dk weight blend of 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, all sourced and spun in the UK. It’s a nice big 100 gram hank with 252 yards, plenty for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl. For pattern ideas, look to Carol Feller’s Dovestone Hills booklet, Kate Davies’ Buachaille, and our “DK weight” board on Pinterest.

Titus is a fingering weight blend of 50% wensleydale wool, 30% alpaca, and 20% bluefaced leicester wool. There’s plenty of pattern inspiration for Titus to be found on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, of course, and we’ve seen some beautiful Titus projects here on the blog over the years, but we wont turn our nose up at new patterns for Titus, either.

Titus Mini Knits is a collection of accessories knit and crocheted in Titus, from mitts and socks to hats and cowls. CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 2 is another round of accessories in Titus from designer Rachel Coopey, whose colorwork patterns look like such fun.

Come by the shop to see all the new goodies from Baa Ram Ewe, and consider Titus or Dovestone DK for your next project!

Hello, Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering.

Posted by Julia on February 1, 2016

We’re delighted to welcome a brand new yarn from the Fibre Company: meet Cumbria Fingering.

Like its big sister, Cumbria Worsted, Cumbria Fingering is a soft and sturdy blend of 60% merino wool, 30% masham wool, and 10% mohair. The soft white merino is blended with the dark gray masham, creating a natural heathered base color over which all the other colorways are dyed. Each 100 gram skein boasts 328 yards, enough for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl.

Cumbria Fingering is designed with longevity in mind, and as such, is constructed with 4 plies tightly twisted around one another. Sweaters and accessories knit in Cumbria Fingering should weather regular use and look great for years to come. This 4-ply construction also gives the yarn a very smooth texture, which suggests sharp stitch definition for cables and texture patterns.

Though I haven’t knit a stitch with it yet, I’m already daydreaming about a sweater in Cumbria Fingering. Kelbourne Woolens, designers and distributors for Fibre Company yarns, let us know that a small collection of sweater patterns by Bristol Ivy are forthcoming. In the meantime, I’m looking for pattern ideas in all the usual places: CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 1, Kate Davies’ Yokes and Colors of Shetland, Brooklyn Tweed patterns that call for Loft, and our own HYS “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest. I can’t wait to get my hands on this stuff!

Look for Cumbria Fingering in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and while you’re here, check out all the other lovely Fibre Company yarns we keep on hand: Meadow, Road to China Lace, Canopy Fingering, Savannah, Acadia, Knightsbridge, Canopy Worsted, and Cumbria Worsted. See you at the shop!

Hello, Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK.

Posted by Julia on September 8, 2015

Baa Ram Ewe’s new yarn has arrived! Meet Dovestone DK.

The masham is naturally dark brown, and just as in Fibre Company Cumbria and Swans Island All American Worsted, the light and dark fibers combine to create a gray base over which all the other colorways are dyed. It complicates the colors in a pleasing way, adding depth and a slight heathered quality.

Baa Ram Ewe has released some simple accessory patterns for Dovestone DK, showing how nicely it behaves in stripes and stranded colorwork, along with lace and crochet.

They also enlisted the help of designer Carol Feller, whose new booklet Dovestone Hills is named for the yarn used within.

Myself, I’ve been anxious to use Dovestone DK for an “Epistrophy” cardigan, from Kate Davies’ Yokes. We saw one hanging in the Baa Ram Ewe booth at market and I’ve been smitten ever since.

Check out our “DK weight” board on Pinterest for more pattern ideas, and come by the shop to see Dovestone DK for yourself!

Hello, Fibre Company Cumbria.

Posted by Julia on August 24, 2015

Another new Fall yarn has found a home here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! Meet Cumbria, from the Fibre Company.

Cumbria is a soft and sturdy worsted weight yarn, composed of 60% merino wool, 30% masham wool, and 10% mohair. The soft white merino is blended with the dark gray masham, creating a natural heathered base color over which all the other colorways are dyed.

Knitters at our recent Fibre Company Yarn Tasting got a sneak preview of Cumbria, and reported that it was lovely to work with. It’s somewhat toothier a yarn than we’ve come to expect from Fibre Company, with their buttery soft luxury fiber blends, but that’s because it’s designed with longevity in mind. A sweater knit in Cumbria should weather regular use and look great for years to come, which has become a more and more important quality to me the longer I knit.

Cumbria arrives with a fresh collection of patterns from the Kelbourne Woolens design team, who took their inspiration from the knitting tradition of the British Isles, from ganseys to stranded colorwork to cables.

The Cumbria Collection features a variety of sweaters and accessories that look fun and interesting to knit and comfortable to wear.

The yarn and the patterns both have me itching to cast on something cozy to wrap up in as soon as autumn arrives.

Come by the shop to see Cumbria for yourself, and peruse the Cumbria Collection in search of your next project. See you there!