Back in stock: Smooshy with Cashmere.

Posted by Julia on August 10, 2013

Another luscious fingering weight yarn arrived this week: Dream in Color’s Smooshy with Cashmere.

Smooshy with Cashmere is an aptly-named blend of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. It’s hand-dyed in variegated and semi-solid colorways, deliciously soft and squishy, perfect for next-to-skin wear.

We first ordered Smooshy with Cashmere about a year and a half ago, and it quickly found its following. Some knitters have used Smooshy with Cashmere for socks, for which it’s plenty hearty, but many more have used it for openwork shawls and scarves–a Multnomah or Holden Shawlette would be perfect, and both of those patterns are available as free downloads from Ravelry.

It would be equally an lovely yarn for a special baby gift–think Purl Soho’s Little Baby Sweater or one of the sweet, simple garments from Susie Haumann’s booklet All You Knit is Love.

Come by the shop to pet the Smooshy with Cashmere and plan your next project. See you there!

Hello again, Bearfoot.

Posted by Julia on August 8, 2013

Mountain Colors is a small yarn company in Montana that has been hand-dyeing yarn for almost twenty years. We’ve stocked their sock yarn, Bearfoot, in the past; in fact, I’ve written about it here on the blog before. Recently we found ourselves with only four skeins in stock, which seemed a sad and lonesome number–time to reorder.

Bearfoot is a sturdy, fuzzy combination of 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon, hand-dyed in vivid colorways that are sometimes semi-solid, sometimes variegated. There are 400 yards on each 100 gram skein, enough for a pair of socks or fingerless mitts, a hat, scarf or shawlette.

The label recommends machine washing finished projects in Bearfoot with vinegar to prevent the bleeding that sometimes comes with richly saturated colors like these. That little bit of special treatment is not too much to ask, I think, for a handknit garment that has already had hours of needlework poured into it before it’s washed.

By all accounts, Bearfoot is worth it, especially for socks; designer Cat Bordhi highly recommended Bearfoot in a sock-design class I took from her at last year’s TNNA. I have a skein in my stash that I’ll likely pull out for my next pair of socks, enticed as I am by the combination of fibers in the yarn, which promise a warm and wooly fabric.

Come by the shop to see our new selection of Mountain Colors Bearfoot, and consider it for your next pair of socks!

Back in stock: String Theory sock yarns.

Posted by Julia on August 6, 2013

We’re pleased to announce the arrival of an armful (or two) of String Theory sock yarns. Our supply of Caper Sock and Bluestocking sadly diminished, we placed an order with the lovely Karen and Tanis, who dye these vibrant yarns in Blue Hill, Maine. We picked some new colors and some old favorites, and the result is a very tempting cubby full of colorful yarns.

Bluestocking is a lustrous sock yarn, composed of 80% superwash Bluefaced Leicester wool and 20% nylon, for durability. Because of it, Bluestocking makes a great pair of socks, but it is equally at home in a scarf or shawl, at a slightly larger gauge.

Caper Sock is a plump and springy sock yarn, composed of 80% superwash merino wool, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. The tight twist and the nylon content ensures that Caper Sock is sturdy enough to withstand the kind of wear that socks put up with, but, like Bluestocking, it’s great for other garments, as well. I’ve used Caper Sock to make a scarf, my North Arrow, because it’s so soft, I wanted it wrapped around my neck all winter.

Come by the shop to check out both of String Theory’s excellent sock yarns, as well as their Selku and Merino DK, which we also stock. See you there!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Rios.

Posted by Julia on April 14, 2013

We’ve been lucky this week: not one, but two boxes came to us from Malabrigo! On Friday I shared the contents of the first box, and today, I’ll share the second, which contained bag after bag of Rios.

Rios is Malabrigo’s worsted weight, superwash merino wool. It seems to be always in demand, whether for hats, sweaters, shawls, or blankets. It’s soft, beautifully hand-dyed, easy to care for, and well-priced for its 210 yard skeins. All of those qualities make it somewhat irresistible; come by to see it in person and see if you’re not tempted.

We’re especially happy to have the Azul Profundo colorway back in stock–the one I used to make Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Chambered Nautilus Tam, a sample that hangs out in the Rios cubby.

This cleverly-constructed hat is always attracting attention, for the gorgeous semisolid color as much as for the design.

Look for Malabrigo Rios in the worsted weight section next time you’re in the shop, and remember it when you’re seeking soft, washable wool. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Finito and Arroyo.

Posted by Julia on April 12, 2013

Last week, we were delighted to receive a 45 pound box from Malabrigo, stuffed with their Finito and Arroyo yarns.

Malabrigo Finito is a fingering weight yarn composed of the finest merino wool fiber, produced just once a year in limited quantities. Anne has frequently called it “the poor man’s cashmere” because of its incredible softness, but to my fingertips, it feels even softer than some cashmere yarns. We ordered two bags of whatever colorways were in stock, which filled out our Finito selection nicely. I’ve seen it made up into cowls and heard whispers about sweaters; next time you’re in the shop, be sure to ask Anne to pull out the beginning of her cowl-neck sweater in Finito so you can feel the lovely fabric it creates.

The pattern is from Hannah Fettig’s lovely Knitbot Essentials, a great source for simple, wearable sweater and accessory patterns.

Meanwhile, the Arroyo part of this shipment is even more tempting, with new colorways and greater quantity than we’ve seen in a long time. I managed to squeeze 30 bags of the stuff into our inventory room with the mantra, “There’s always room for more yarn.”

Arroyo is a sport weight superwash merino wool, soft and sturdy. I made a pair of socks with it, as well as the Drop Stitch Scarf that hangs in the shop. Arroyo’s easy machine-washability makes it ideal for baby or children’s things, hats, mitts, or larger garments. A knitter came by during the Spring Triangle Yarn Crawl wearing a poncho made in Arroyo that we all admired; she reported that in spite of its delicate softness, it wears tremendously well, holds its shape and shows no signs of pilling.

Come by the shop to see our newly abundant collection of Malabrigo yarns, and stay tuned for the next blog post, featuring even more Malabrigo!

Hello, String Theory Merino DK.

Posted by Julia on March 27, 2013

The recent publication of my Welting Fantastic Cowl + Mitts led to an increased interest in String Theory Merino DK, specifically, in the Garnet colorway. When it vanished from the yarn tree in the DK weight corner, Anne and I did a quick inventory and talked ourselves into a Merino DK order. “We’ll have to get more Garnet,” we told one another, “and wouldn’t it be nice to have Merino DK in Charcoal? And Pewter?” It doesn’t take much for us to call String Theory; we love everything about their yarn, from ordering to unpacking to photographing to knitting to wearing it.

The box arrived yesterday, and it was a pleasure to unpack. This squishy, soft, superwash merino wool is perfect for so many projects–hats, mitts, scarves, shawls and other accessories, and sweaters for adults and children alike. I enjoyed every stitch of my Welting Fantastic Cowl and Mitts, and I’m sure I’ll use the Merino DK again when my next project wants between 5 + 6 stitches per inch from a yarn that holds its shape and has great stitch definition.

We couldn’t resist ordering just a few more colors of String Theory Caper Sock. Here are a few lighter colors, to brighten up the String Theory sock yarn cubby. From left to right: Pewter, Atlantis, Light Teal, and Mead. If you haven’t yet tried this soft-and-sturdy blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon, consider Caper Sock for your next fingering weight project.

Come by the shop to see all the String Theory yarns. See you there!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Sock.

Posted by Julia on March 12, 2013

We were recently able to widen our selection of Malabrigo Sock with a few bright new colors.

Malabrigo Sock is a favorite with which many of you are likely well-acquainted: a soft, machine-washable merino wool in a light fingering weight, dyed in the vivid multicolor and semisolid colorways we’ve come to expect from Malabrigo yarns. Perfect not only for socks, but also shawls, scarves, lightweight sweaters, and baby things.

We’re happy to see familiar, but long-absent colorways like Lettuce, Impressionist Sky, Ochre, Ravelry Red, and Light of Love. Come by the shop to visit the Malabrigo Sock yarn cubby in the Fingering Weight section!

New colors in Caper Sock and Bluestocking.

Posted by Julia on March 6, 2013

String Theory yarns are a favorite here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Hand-dyed in Blue Hill, Maine, vivid in color, soft as can be–we’re always delighted to open a box from String Theory. Yesterday I got to do just that.

We got two kinds of String Theory sock yarns: four colors in Caper Sock, a cashmere-spiked merino wool, and six in Bluestocking, a sturdy, lustrous yarn made of Bluefaced Leicester wool. A modest order; just enough to plump up a sad, empty cubby in the Fingering Weight section. Both Caper Sock and Bluestocking are excellent for socks, but they are equally well-suited to scarves, shawls, hats, or fingerless mitts. Come by the shop to see these new colors, and grab a coveted skein or two while they last!

Hello again, Brown Sheep.

Posted by Julia on February 9, 2013

Many of you are already familiar with Brown Sheep, a yarn company out of Mitchell, Nebraska. For some years now, we’ve stocked their Lamb’s Pride yarn in Worsted and Bulky weights, along with Cotton Fleece, Serendipity Tweed, Wildfoote Luxury Sock, Top of the Lamb Sport, and Nature Spun Sport.

Since 1980, this family business has been producing yarns right here in the U.S., doing most of the process in Nebraska, save for the scouring, carding, and combing, which takes place in South Carolina. A couple of years ago, they redesigned their yarn production so that 70-90% of their daily waste water is reused. Their products have always been a good value, and their practices are admirable, too. Over the holidays, our supply of Lamb’s Pride Bulky had grown low enough that a reorder was necessary. Since we were already ordering, we went ahead and filled up on Lamb’s Pride Worsted, too, and even selected a brand new Brown Sheep yarn for the shop: Lamb’s Pride Superwash Sport.

Soft, machine-washable, and available in plenty of solid colors, Lamb’s Pride Superwash Sport was calling our name. It should be perfect for baby things and accessories that are likely to get a lot of wear, like hats, mittens, and socks. Looking over the colors as I unpacked the box, they said to me: colorwork. These bold colors just beg to be combined in high contrast stranded color patterns.

The Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride yarns are a staple for many knitters and crocheters: fuzzy yet sturdy, quite suitable for felting projects, and available in a wide range of vivid colors.

Lamb’s Pride Worsted knits up at about 4.5 or 5 stitches per inch, while Lamb’s Pride Bulky knits up rather more quickly at 3 stitches per inch, and both are comprised of 85% wool and 15% mohair. They are both single ply yarns, which, combined with the mohair content, makes for soft yarn with a bit of a wooly halo.

Come by the shop to see these refilled cubbies of Brown Sheep yarns, and remember Lamb’s Pride Worsted, Bulky, and Superwash Sport when planning your next project. See you there!

Back in stock: Jitterbug.

Posted by Julia on November 22, 2012

A recent special order for Colinette Jitterbug yarn in the bright red “Vatican Pie” colorway gave us an excuse to restock some of the most popular colors of this springy superwash sock yarn.

These colorways are made memorable by their quirky names and vibrant hues: “Salted Caper,” “Lobster Pinch,” “Velvet Damask,” and the like. Anne and I recall our various Jitterbug projects by their colorways: her “Vatican Pie” Fan sweater, her “Bright Charcoal” vest, my “Vincent’s Apron” socks. We’re happy to have these colors back, tucked into their cubby with the other variegated and semi-solid shades of Jitterbug.

The shop is closed today, Thursday November 22nd, for Thanksgiving, but do come by sometime this weekend to peruse the Jitterbug selection and consider your next project. Have a happy holiday!