Tag Archives: silk

Shibui Sample of the Month: Stoa.

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March is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample until the end of the month.

This month’s sample is Anne Ginger’s “Stoa,” a flared ribbed scarf. The pattern is available for free when you buy Shibui Echo here at our shop.

“Stoa” is knit with Shibui Echo, a DK weight blend of 48% fine merino wool and 52% silk noil, where each ply is only one of those fibers. The two strands of silk noil stand out against the merino for a slightly marled look, just a bit of texture in the knit fabric.

Come by the shop to before March 26th to try on “Stoa” and get Shibui Echo at 10% off to make one of your own!

 

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, returns, or special orders. Thanks!

Back in stock: Fibre Company Acadia.

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We’re delighted to announce that Fibre Company Acadia is back in stock!

Acadia is a DK weight blend of merino, alpaca, and slubs of silk. The silk takes the dye differently than the other fibers, giving most colorways a rustic, tweedy appearance, which belies its luxuriously soft hand.

Our supply of this special yarn had dwindled, but happily, a shipment arrived earlier in the week to fill our shelves again.

Acadia has become a very well-loved yarn in the years we’ve stocked it here at the shop. One knitter that calls this yarn a favorite is Winnie, who recently knit this gorgeous “Dohne” shawl using Acadia.

Garments knit with Acadia have a mix of structure and drape. We have a couple of samples knit in Acadia at the shop so you can see and feel this in person; look for the Churchmouse “Easy Folded Poncho” and “Quaking Aspen” shawl next time you’re here. There are so many other wonderful projects we’ve seen made in Acadia over the years – check out our “DK weight” Pinterest board for more pattern ideas.

Come by to give Acadia a squeeze and plan your next project!

Hello, Shibui Echo.

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Shibui’s new yarn is here! Meet Echo.

Echo is a DK weight blend of 48% fine merino wool and 52% silk noil, where each ply is only one of those fibers. The two strands of silk noil stand out against the merino for a slightly marled look, just a bit of texture in the knit fabric.

Echo comes in 14 rich colors, ranging from delicate neutrals to bold jewel tones. Many of these colors will be familiar to those who have worked with Shibui yarns before, as these same colors appear in most of their yarns.

There are two brand new shades here, however – Deep Water and Dusk – and they are now available in many other favorite Shibui yarns, as well. More on that soon!

Like all Shibui yarns, Echo is designed to make beautiful fabric on its own, but also to play well with other yarns, making a unique fiber and color blend. Each Shibui yarn brings its signature characteristics to the table, and the Shibui design team has created some exciting new patterns with these pairings in mind. Echo and Silk Cloud makes for plush, fuzzy knits, as in “Didion,” while Lunar brings drape and shine in “Woolf,” and Cima brings elasticity and a bit of a halo in “Plath.”

Check out the full Fall/Winter 18 Collection on Ravelry, and look for Echo in the DK weight section here at the shop!

Dream in Color Pop Up! Club: September.

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We’re happy to announce that we’re once again participating in Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club! That means every month, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tuscon-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns.

September’s Pop Up! Club colorway is a rich variegated blend of violet, gold and rust, a combination that evokes Autumn.

It’s dyed on a brand new base for Dream in Color, a 50/50 blend of merino and silk. The silk content makes this yarn shimmer, and will give knitted or crocheted fabric an elegant drape.

This month, our Pop Up! Club shipment came with a few pattern recommendations from Veronica at Dream in Color:

Look for this limited edition colorway in the fingering weight section here at the shop!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Sunstone Cowl.

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Happy to report that we’ve just received a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We usually offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarns featured in our monthly sample, but during July, everything is 15% off – even better!

This month’s Shibui sample is the “Sunstone Cowl,” knit with just one skein of Shibui Lunar. This textured cowl is long and narrow, but knit in a slinky lace weight yarn like Lunar, it’s designed to slouch down around one’s neck rather than to cling.

We’ll have the “Sunstone Cowl” on display through August 12th, but come by the shop during July to get everything in stock at 15% off!

Just a reminder – all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges or returns. Thanks!

Shibui Sample of the Month: Dynamic Trio.

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May is here, and with it, a new Shibui Sample of the Month! We offer a 10% discount on Shibui yarn purchased for our featured sample til the end of the month.

This month’s sample is “Dynamic Trio,” by Joji Locatelli, an asymmetric triangular shawl in three colors, decorated with chevrons and garter stitch stripes.

This “Dynamic Trio” was knit with Shibui Lunar held double throughout. Lunar is a lace weight blend of merino and silk, soft and lustrous for an elegant fabric.

Come by the shop to before May 31st to see “Dynamic Trio” and get Shibui Lunar at 10% off to make one of your own!

Just a reminder–all sales are final on discounted items; there can be no exchanges, returns, or special orders. Thanks!

New colors in Fibre Company Tundra.

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Last week brought four new colors in the Fibre Company’s fluffy Tundra, a super soft blend of alpaca, merino, and silk.

Thusfar, all the glorious shades of Tundra have been solid, sometimes flickering with a bit of hand-dyed variation. We were surprised and excited to find two new speckled shades in last week’s box, each with its own related solid color.

Tundra is ideal for luxurious winter accessories, so keep it in mind as quick-to-make gifts begin to top your to-do list. Think “Arctic Circle,” “Tallin,” “Twin Leaf Loop,” for everyone loves a cozy cowl, no?

Look for Tundra in the bulky weight section here at the shop!

Back in stock: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

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Our big fall order from Fyberspates came in last week, and one of the yarns we restocked in a big way is Scrumptious 4ply/Sport.

Scrumptious 4ply/Sport is a soft, shimmering yarn, made of 55% superwash merino and 45% silk. It’s a bit heavy for a fingering, and a bit light for a sport, hence its fractured name. In our shop, you’ll find it in the sport weight section, but don’t rule it out if your pattern calls for fingering weight yarn; look carefully at the pattern gauge and check to see if it falls in the suggested gauge range of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport – between 24 and 28 stitches over 4 inches.

I recently completed a shop sample in Scrumptious 4ply/Sport, Purl Soho’s “Two-Color Cotton Cowl.” Though I knit it on the recommended needle size, I didn’t get the recommended gauge, so it’s a smaller circumference than the pattern intends. Still, it’s a fabric I like, and still long enough to wrap once or twice around one’s neck, so in this case, not getting gauge worked out perfectly. It was my first time doing two-color brioche, which was much less difficult than I imagined, and I’d definitely recommend it as an introduction to the technique.

With all these colors back on our shelves, there are lots of great color pairings to be had. Come by the shop to pick up a couple of skeins of Scrumptious 4ply/Sport for a cowl of your own!

Hello, Fibre Co. Arranmore Light.

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We’re excited to announce that the newest yarn from Fibre Company is here: meet Arranmore Light!

A thinner version of the popular Arranmore, Arranmore Light is a DK weight tweed, composed of 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% silk. Both Arranmore yarns are spun in a mill that traces its roots to the tweed industry of 19th century County Donegal in Ireland.

Like any classic tweed, Arranmore Light is dotted with flecks of fiber in contrasting colors, and like any Fibre Company yarn, its colorways and fiber content have been thoughtfully fashioned.

Where Arranmore was lofty for its bulky gauge, Arranmore Light has drape for all-seasons garments and precision for cable and colorwork accessories.

Anne knit one such accessory with sample skeins acquired in advance of our order, thanks to Kelbourne Woolens, our US distributor of Fibre Company yarns.

“Candy Darling” is a hat and mitten set in high contrast colors, with stripes in all directions and playful geometric motifs. It’s part of the Kelbourne Woolens Pop Collection for Arranmore Light, inspired by fashion, music, and youth culture of the 1960’s. The Fibre Company themselves have come out with a new pattern collection: Fell Garth II. Look there for more sweaters knit with Arranmore Light and other Fibre Company yarns, and yet more pattern inspiration on our “DK weight” Pinterest board!

Come by the shop to plan your next project, and head straight for the DK weight section to admire Arranmore Light. See you there!

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.