Show and tell!

Posted by Julia on October 24, 2021

Back with more show and tell! Here’s another batch of completed projects made with yarns from our shop. If you follow us on Instagram, some of these may look familiar – let’s take a closer look at these beautiful knits.

Pam has been busy making “Rainy Day Hats” with Pascuali Balayage – we love her modification to include more contrast colors, and more stripes! Pattern by Melanie Berg.

Here’s Hazel’s “Cloves Entwined Toque,” knit with Koigu KPPPM and Isager Alpaca 1 held together. Pattern by Tif Neilan.

Here’s another Koigu project – Linda in her “Solstice Sunset” shawl, knit with KPPPM and Shibui Silk Cloud held together throughout. Pattern by Andrea Hungerford.

Here’s Elizabeth with her “Slipstravaganza,” an impressive shawl knit with Malabrigo Sock during last year’s WestKnits MKAL. Pattern by Stephen West.

Michele came in wearing her lovely “Purl Strings,” a pullover she knit with Brooklyn Tweed Dapple. Pattern by Heidi Kirrmeier.

Thanks to Pam, Hazel, Linda, Elizabeth, and Michele for sharing their work with us! We love to see what you make with our yarns, and can’t wait to see what comes off your needles next.

Balayage + Rainy Day Hat.

Posted by Julia on June 10, 2021

Last year, when Pascuali Balayage was brand new, Anne knit Melanie Berg’s “Rainy Day Hat” in shades of purple.

We both loved the lightweight hat that resulted, and were especially pleased that Anne had enough yarn left over to make a matching pair of Berg’s “Rainy Day Mitts” with the color placement reversed.

Pascuali Balayage:

fingering weight
80% alpaca, 20% merino
190 yards/50 g
$13 each

When we decided to feature this yarn and pattern pairing in our HYS Hat Club for June, I created colorways for each of the color palettes our club members choose from: cool, warm, neutral, and surprise. Signups are still open for the fourth and final Quarter of the HYS Hat Club – read more here, and sign up by June 19 to join the fun!

With 18 colors in stock, I couldn’t stop at four combinations – here are a few more!

If any of these catch your eye, pick your favorite and order online for local pickup or shipping! We are also happy to announce that we now have in-store shopping appointments available, if you prefer to select your yarn and colors in person – click here to schedule an appointment!

On our needles.

Posted by Julia on June 24, 2020

What’s in Anne’s Plystre Project Pouch, besides a Baby Baggu?

A grandson-sized “Atlas (For Kids),” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft!

I love the color combination she chose – Flannel for the main color, Snowbound and Old World for the contrast colors.

Many of you know that Anne never limits herself to one project at a time. So what else is on her needles right now? Let’s take a look!

Anne’s “Calla” tank is growing, stripe by stripe. You can see how Anne keeps unruly plant fiber yarns in check, by hand-winding them into tight balls and storing them in ziplock bags as she knits.

Anne is almost done with another Shellie Anderson design, “Cather,” an elegant pullover in Shibui Echo. As she set in the first sleeve the other afternoon, she remarked on cocoknits Claw Clips – “I don’t know how I ever seamed without them!”

Another work in progress from Anne’s collection is this “Rainy Day Hat,” designed by Melanie Berg for her Balayage yarn. It’s a super-soft fingering weight blend of merino and alpaca, a treat for the hands.

I confess, I’m not quite as prolific as Anne, and my projects are coming along more slowly! Above is my “Kirigami,” designed by Gudrun Johnston and knit with Brooklyn Tweed Arbor. I’ve been savoring this project for some months now, enjoying the simplicity of stockinette and the elasticity of Arbor, one of my very favorite yarns.

I’m about halfway through Churchmouse’s “Vineyard Cowl,” knit with one skein of Baa Ram Ewe Winterburn DK. It’s an easily-memorized stitch pattern, and a soothing knit in this wonderfully wooly yarn, shown here on another of my works-in-progress – a quilt I’ve been slowly stitching.

There’s a lot we miss about being “open” in the usual sense, but one of the main things is seeing what everyone is working on! What’s on your needles? Share in the comments, or post photos on Instagram, tagged #hillsboroughyarnshop – we can’t wait to hear from you!

Hello, Balayage.

Posted by Julia on February 14, 2020

We’re pleased to announce the arrival of a brand new yarn – meet Pascuali Balayage!

Balayage is the result of a collaboration between knitwear designer Melanie Berg and German yarn company Pascuali. Balayage is a fingering weight blend of 80% alpaca and 20% organic merino wool. The resulting combination is incredibly soft in the hand, perfect for next-to-skin wear.

The color palette is a beautiful range of lights, mediums, and darks, neutral colors and brights, all designed to play well together for stripes and other kinds of colorwork. This harmonious palette was achieved in part before the yarn was even dyed; the alpaca fiber was naturally white and gray, while the merino was white, so all the shades of Balayage are dyed over this heathered gray base.

Melanie Berg has designed two shawls for Balayage so far, “Rock My Shawl” and “The Big Easy.” Both patterns use four shades, so that’s the number I played with as I created the color combinations below.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of color possibilities – we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

For more pattern ideas, consider Julia-Maria Hegenbart’s “Rough Sea” shawl, Victoria Maria’s “Viura” pullover, Ewelina Murach’s “Tucked Away” shawl, or Christelle Nihoul’s “Brise d’Automne” hat and cowl. Our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board has lots of pattern ideas, too!

Look for Pascuali Balayage in our fingering weight section here at the shop, where we hope to see you soon!