Show and tell: scarves and cowls.

Posted by Julia on October 23, 2013

It’s time for more show and tell! Here are some finished pieces that began their lives as HYS yarns. They all happen to be neckwarmers of one kind of another: scarves and cowls.

Allison has been churning out Spectra scarves for a while now, and is particularly fond of Kauni Effektgarn in color EQ for this project. EQ is perhaps the most colorful Kauni colorway, a bright and sunny rainbow spectrum, shifting from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple.

Allison used EQ as both the main and contrast colors in this project, and recommends staggering it so that the main color is one or two shades ahead of the contrast color in the sequence. This keeps the colors from overlapping, so you wont find yourself with, say, orange as both the main and contrast color at any point in the knitting. This particular scarf weighed 115 grams, so it’s entirely possible to knit this from one skein of Kauni Effektgarn, with some winding and rewinding.

Margie recently finished these two scarves, knit in Malabrigo Sock and Prism Saki, respectively. The pattern is “Favorite Scarf Ever,” a free download from Ravelry, and its simple chevron pattern shows off variegated yarns to the fullest.

Speaking of chevron patterns: Cecilia came in last week wearing this beautiful cowl knit in Gina, a soft self-striping wool from Plymouth. She’d picked the colorway to match her new coat, and has since come back for a different yarn to make a coat-matching hat; I’m looking forward to seeing the whole get-up!

Mary’s needles have been busy lately, and she had three projects to show off since last I shared show-and-tell photos on the blog. Above are her two Twist scarves knit in Malabrigo Mecha, one completed, and one halfway there. She’s sailing through these one-skein scarves, planning to give them away as holiday gifts–an excellent plan for a quick knit like the Twist scarf.

Here’s Mary’s second Simple Shibori Cowl, knit in Alchemy Silken Straw and Sanctuary. It’s so satisfying to see this cowl made up in different colorways, and to see the transformation that occurs when they’re felted. This one is made with Silken Straw in color “Belladonna” and Sanctuary in “Ace of Spades,” a subtle, elegant combination.

Thanks to everyone who starts, works on, and shares their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! We love to see what’s coming off your needles and hooks.

New from Habu.

Posted by Julia on September 30, 2013

We always stop by the Habu Textiles booth at TNNA, and this year was no exception. We’d made a note before going to market that we could use a few new colors in their one-of-a-kind Silk Stainless yarn, which translated into Anne gathering an armful of colorful cones as Habu founder Takako Ueki jotted down color numbers. The new colors of Habu Silk Stainless arrived a week or so ago, settling in with the few colors we’d already had in stock. Our new selection is vibrant and tempting, and I thought they deserved a bit of fanfare here on the blog.

It’s Silk Stainless that makes the Kusha Kusha Scarf such an intriguing project. It’s knit on a variety of different needle sizes, sometimes holding a fine lace weight merino along with the Silk Stainless, and when the knitting is done, the piece is lightly felted in hot, soapy water.

Habu used to sell kits for the Kusha Kusha Scarf, but has since offered the pattern for free via the Purl Bee. This frees you up to choose your own color combinations, which sometimes feels like half the joy of knitting in the first place. We don’t stock the Habu Super Fine Merino that the pattern calls for, but we have so many other lace weight yarns to choose from that would be equally interesting in this project. They’ll all behave a little differently, I suspect, which should be fun to experiment with. I had fun putting these hypothetical combinations together.

Don’t limit yourself to Kusha Kusha scarves, however; Silk Stainless can also be put to good use in sweaters and knitted or crocheted jewelry. We’ve even had a weaver experiment with a few cones of the stuff on her loom. Come by the shop to see our sample Kusha Kusha Scarf and our new selection of Habu Silk Stainless. See you there!

Hello, Malabrigo Mecha.

Posted by Julia on September 18, 2013

A new Malabrigo yarn is always exciting. We know so many knitters and crocheters who turn to Malabrigo yarns again and again for their beautiful colorways, soft fibers, and good value. Meet the newest Malabrigo yarn: Mecha.

Mecha is made of superwash merino wool, a bulky weight yarn with 130 yards on each 100 gram skein. It’s a soft and fluffy single ply, which means it’s also a bit fuzzy. The superwash process helps the yarn to resist felting, but single ply yarns are still more likely to pill than plied yarns; not a problem with a gentle pill remover like the Lily Brush.

I’m the lucky knitter who got to make a shop sample with Mecha. I went hunting for a pattern in the Kira K Designs binder and found two great choices: a twisty knit scarf, and a rippled crochet cowl.

It was a tough choice, but I landed on the Twist Scarf, a pattern that called for exactly 130 yards of bulky weight yarn–a perfect match for Mecha.

I love the way it came out; the knitting was simple and fast, and the scarf is long enough to be worn a few different ways.

The pattern is available as a Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sale, which means that you buy it from us and we’ll print a copy for you, but a digital copy is also saved in your email or Ravelry pattern library.

Ashley, a crocheter with an affinity for Malabrigo yarns, picked up a few skeins of Mecha last week when it first arrived. After playing with it a bit, she discovered that two qualities make it perfect for children’s toys: Mecha is both super soft and superwash. Sitting at the shop, she whipped up a soft stuffed ball with a rattle inside in under 15 minutes. A set of these in different sizes would make a great baby gift, and a quick one. Ashley used the Ideal Crochet Sphere pattern, which is available as a free download on Ravelry. Lucky for us, she left this ball with us as a sample for the shop. Thanks, Ashley!

Come by the shop to check out Mecha and all our other Malabrigo favorites. See you there!

Three new knit samples.

Posted by Julia on June 19, 2013

Over the weekend, Amy dropped off three new knit samples, each one the subject of an upcoming class.

We’ve seen this Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf pattern made up in Zauberball Starke 6; here, it’s shown in Noro Silk Garden in shades of blue, green, and purple. The self-striping yarn really highlights the short-row construction of this garter stitch scarf, and the aran weight yarn knits up quickly, creating a cozy accessory.

The Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf class meets two Saturday afternoons in August; read more about it and sign up on our website.

This Inspira Cowl is knit with two different colors of Noro Kureyon in a simple stranded colorwork pattern. It’s a generously sized cowl that is shaped to hug the neck and accomodate the shoulders. The Inspira Cowl is an opportunity to learn to knit in the round, make decreases, and work a two-color stranded knitting pattern. Class meets two Saturday afternoons in September; head over to our website to sign up now.

This last sample, a fair isle tam, is made using one self-striping yarn, Noro Silk Garden, and one solid color yarn, Plymouth Galway. The solid color recedes into the background and the self-striping yarn pops out as the main pattern color, giving the look of a many-colored fair isle garment without having to weave in all those ends. I’m sorry to report that Amy’s Beginning Fair Isle Tam class is already full, but the pattern is free from Knitty.com, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions should you decide to tackle it on your own. And if you’re set on learning fair isle knitting, including weaving in all the ends, take a look at Anne’s Introduction to Fair Isle class, which meets Wednesday evenings in July. She’ll even teach you how to bravely cut your knitting, creating steeks!

Come by the shop to see all three samples, and the yarns used to create them. If you hurry in today, June 19th, you can even get the Noro yarns at 25% off, on this last day of our Going to Market Sale! See you at the shop.

Show and tell.

Posted by Julia on June 17, 2013

Time for another round of show and tell, where I get to show off all the incredible things folks are making with yarns from HYS. I’m always pleased by the variety of projects you all are working on, from skirts to scarves, from sweet knits for babies and children to sophisticated garments for adults.

Abby knit this three tier skirt for her daughter’s fifth birthday, then kindly brought her in to model it for us. The yarn is Cascade Ultra Pima, a dk weight cotton that is sure to stand up to all the twirling and playing and other five-year-old wear-and-tear that it’s meant for.

Robin sent us this photo to share a pair of baby blankets she made for a soon-to-be-born set of twins. The pink one was made with Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash, and the blue one was made with Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran. Both are soft, squishy, machine-washable wools that are perfect for cuddly blankets like these.

Margie saw the Argosy scarf hanging on the wall at the shop and decided she wanted to make one. Not two weeks later, she had finished two Argosy scarves, one in Noro Matsuri and one in Noro Silk Garden Light. Both dk weight yarns self-stripe in those signature Noro colorways, but Matsuri is mostly cotton, with a bit of wool, and Silk Garden Light is a blend of wool, silk, and mohair.

The results are slightly different in terms of stitch definition, but equally striking, with their diagonal stripes and geometric openwork. Want to make an Argosy scarf of your own? Amy is teaching a class on the subject in July, where you’ll learn chart-reading, lace, cable cast-on, and other skills. Read more about it and sign up on our website!

Pat fell in love with this color of Araucania Chacabuco, a textured bulky weight cotton yarn, but wasn’t quite sure what to make with it. She took it home, found a simple poncho pattern, knit it up, and then came back to show us what she’d come up with. Because of the boucle texture of this yarn, a simple stockinette stitch is all that’s needed to show it off; the yarn is interesting enough without a complicated stitch pattern. The resulting garment is soft and surprisingly lightweight for such a thick cotton–a success.

Thanks to all the knitters and crocheters who share their work with us! Over and over again, Anne and I are wowed by what you create. Keep the show and tell coming!

New colors in Zauberball Starke 6.

Posted by Julia on June 4, 2013

We recently replenished our supply of Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball Starke 6, a sport weight, self-striping yarn.

Tucked into the basket of Zauberball Starke 6 is a scarf, a knit sample that has gotten a lot of attention for as long as we’ve had it at the shop. The pattern is the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, a garter stitch scarf that uses short rows to create triangles within an otherwise simply shaped rectangle. It’s a technique that pairs well with self-striping yarns like Zauberball Starke 6; the color changes highlight the short row shaping, which in turn does interesting things to the color changes.

Intimidated by short rows? You needn’t be; Amy is teaching a class this summer that uses this very scarf as a lesson in short rows. Read more about the class on the website, where you can also sign up and prepay for classes to save your space. Come by the shop to admire the scarf and the yarn, and to plan your next project. See you there!

Argosy scarf.

Posted by Julia on May 29, 2013

A new knit scarf has arrived at the shop, knit by Amy as a sample for one of her upcoming classes. Here’s Argosy!

Argosy is a free pattern from Knitty, which Amy knit in Noro Silk Garden Lite, a self-striping DK weight blend of silk, mohair, and wool. Argosy is a great way to show off the kind of self-striping yarns that Noro is known for.

It’s knit on the bias, which results in diagonal stripes when using a self-striping yarn. It makes a gently draping, light fabric, in part because of the light-weight yarn and in part because of the lacy patterning.

Amy’s Argosy Scarf class focuses on a particular pattern, but our classes always teach any special techniques that are required for whatever pattern students will be knitting. These techniques will serve you well not only in making the pattern at hand, but also in future knitting endeavors. Sign up for the Argosy Scarf class and you can expect to learn how to do the cable cast-on, how to cast on stitches in-line, how to do yarnovers and decreases, and how to read a lace knitting chart.

Learn more about the Argosy Scarf class on our website’s “Classes, etc” page, where you can sign up and prepay to ensure your place in class. Come by the shop during our Going to Market Sale to pick up Noro Silk Garden Lite at a 25% discount, and to admire this scarf in person!

Rodekool brioche scarf.

Posted by Julia on May 8, 2013

Recently, one of our teachers dropped off a knit sample at the shop, a scarf to show what she’ll teach in her upcoming “Brioche Neck Scarf” class.

Amy’s class will show how to work brioche, a knitting technique that creates two interwoven layers of fabric at once. It can be worked in a single color or in two colors, which yields a reversible garment like this scarf, “Rodekool,” a free pattern by brioche mastermind Nancy Marchant.

Amy knit her Rodekool (“red cabbage” in Dutch) scarf using Isager Highland, a fingering weight wool. Marchant’s pattern recommends using one skein of Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, knitting from both ends of the self-striping yarn at once, but that can create confusion when learning a new technique. For ease of knitting and clarity of pattern, Amy recommends working the Rodekool in two solid colors, and reports that the Isager Highland was lovely to work with.

Come by the shop to see this incredible garment for yourself. Meanwhile, you can read more about the upcoming “Brioche Neck Scarf” class on our website, and sign up there to learn this fascinating technique with Amy. We also have copies of Nancy Marchant’s Knitting Brioche, a comprehensive compendium of all things brioche. See you at the shop!

Lascala.

Posted by Julia on October 5, 2012

The Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Show has come and gone, but for the Falkenberg-curious, we still have one garment on loan. Behold: Lascala, a colorful scarf worked in garter and slip stitch patterns.

Lascala is generous in width and length, but lightweight, due to the fine shetland wool that comes in Falkenberg’s kits. It’s knit in two pieces, then sewn together with the color sequence inverted at the seam.

Intrigued? Come by the shop to admire the sample, and pick up a Lascala kit of your own.

Be Sweet shawl kits.

Posted by Julia on May 18, 2012

Many a visitor to the shop has been wooed by the Be Sweet shawl kits. The sample shawl and scarf that hang by the kits are feather-light and translucent, but made of a textured mohair yarn in thick, bold stripes–qualities that seem to contradict one another, and thus, entrance. It’s simplicity, too, is appealing, for after all, it’s just garter stitch.

Each kit comes with a pattern and five 25 gram balls of the lace-weight Be Sweet Extra Fine Mohair yarn, enough to make one striped shawl or two striped scarves. They’re neatly tucked into a Hillsborough Yarn Shop notions pouch, making them an ideal gift for a knitter.

This past week, many missing colorways were replenished, filling the basket with tempting options, making it harder to decide which one you’ll take home. Come by the shop to see them all.