Tag Archives: sweaters

Scout + Halibut.

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We were delighted to receive a box full of Kelbourne Woolens Scout today, the soft and sturdy wool that’s become a staple in our DK weight section.

Kelbourne Woolens Scout

  • DK weight
  • 2ply, worsted spun
  • 100% wool
  • 274 yards/100 grams
  • $18 each

Caitlin Hunter’s recent “Halibut” sweater makes good use of Scout – as does the “Halibut Hat” and “Halibut Cowl,” a trio of colorwork patterns with a delightfully large fish motif.

“Halibut,” by Caitlin Hunter. Photo © Caitlin Hunter

You’ll need a high contrast color combination to show the pattern clearly – here are a few ideas!

In case halibut aren’t your cup of tea, here are a few other 2-color patterns suitable for Scout.

Look for Kelbourne Woolens Scout in the DK weight section here at our shop – we’re open from 11:00 am – 5:30 pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays. You can also order online for local pickup or shipping – just use our online order form!

Worsted: a Knitwear Collection Curated by Aimée Gille of La Bien Aimée.

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The latest book from Laine Publishing is here – let’s look at Worsted: a Knitwear Collection Curated by Aimée Gille of La Bien Aimée!

Aimée Gille is the dyer behind La Bien Aimée, and for this collection, she reached out to designers with a wide range of aesthetics, whose work differs from one another and speaks to all kinds of knitters.

Many of these designers are well known, and the others are worth getting to know – Nadia Crétin-Léchenne, Stephen West, Sylvia Watts-Cherry, Andrea Mowry, Tif Neilan, Saysha Greene, Norah Gaughan, Maxim Cyr, Nancy Marchant and Thien-Kieu Lam. She asked them to create sweaters and accessories in her new Corrie Worsted yarn, and what they’ve come up with is inspiring and varied, indeed!

While we don’t carry La Bien Aimée Corrie Worsted, we have so many lovely substitutes in our worsted weight section: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Tones, Kelbourne Woolens Germantown, Malabrigo Rios, Fibre Co. Cumbria Worsted, Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Plymouth Galway, Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted, and more.

 

Worsted: a Knitwear Collection Curated by Aimée Gille of La Bien Aimée is $40, and available here at the shop – we’re still taking online orders for local pickup or shipping, as well.

Show and tell: for Anne’s grandchildren.

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Earlier this year, Anne set a lofty goal: she would knit a sweater for each of her five grandchildren for Hanukkah. When she mentioned this in conversation at the shop, eyes would widen in disbelief – even child-sized sweaters represent an awful lot of knitting, after all. For her granddaughters, she picked Anna Johanna’s “Taimi,” pattern, a colorwork yoke pullover from Strands of Joy, and for her grandsons, “Fresko,” a cabled pullover. She spent every possible moment knitting these sweet sweaters, determined to complete them in time. Anne is a woman of her word, and a determined one – even with this year’s early Hanukkah, she completed the five sweaters in time. Quite a feat!

Here’s “Taimi” in Swans Island All American Sport, with Malabrigo Caprino as the contrast color.

Here’s “Taimi” in Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03, with Alchemy Sanctuary as the contrast color.

Here are a pair of “Freskos” in Malabrigo Mecha, for her twin grandsons.

Here’s the littlest sweater for the littlest grandchild, another “Fresko,” in Brooklyn Tweed Quarry.

Above is a close up on a heartfelt detail – Anne ordered custom tags on Etsy for these heirloom knits, reading “Made with love by Bubbie.”

Hope you’ve met your own holiday knitting goals this season!

Inkling, by Kate Davies.

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We’re excited to have two new books from designer Kate Davies! First, let’s take a look at Inkling.

Inkling is a colorful collection of designs for hand knitting and inkle weaving, a craft Davies picked up after an inspiring residency. She found that learning a new skill reinvigorated her creative practice, and this delightful book is the result.

All of the projects in this book are knit with Kate Davies’ own line of yarn, Milarrochy Tweed, a fingering weight wool and mohair blend. We don’t have it here at the shop, though we wish we could, but we have a great many excellent substitutes – Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, Tukuwool Fingering, Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Peerie, Kelbourne Woolens Camper, and more. We’re happy to help you come up with yarn and color substitutions!

The lace designs below caught Anne’s eye in particular – these look like such nice lightweight layering pieces, and interesting knits.

Come by the shop to browse this and other Kate Davies books – she’s a favorite of ours, so we do try to keep her books in good stock! Currently we have Yokes, West Highland Way, Milarrochy Heids, Warm Hands, Shore, and the brand new Bluestockings – keep an eye out, we’ll be featuring that on the blog soon!

Inkling is $30 – swing by the shop to get a copy, or order online for local pickup or shipping – hope to see you at the shop soon!

Show and tell: more sweaters!

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It’s been fun going back through show and tell photos from Instagram over the past year since our closure – there are so many incredible projects to share. Let’s take a look at some sweaters!

Like many of us, Linda spent much of the past year finishing lingering projects, and here she is modeling one of them – “Galloway,” a colorwork cardigan designed by Jared Flood for Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.

Above is Rosi’s “Cloudy Blouse,” an intricate embroidered pullover designed by Helga Isager for Isager Spinni.

Here’s Pat in her “Donner,” knit with Malabrigo Caprino and trimmed with Shibui Haven.

Linda knit this “Orime” top with Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, a smooth and springy yarn that’s perfect for showing off the subtle stitch pattern in Veronik Avery’s design.

Here’s Laura, showing off her beautiful “Zahavi,” designed by Emily Greene for Brooklyn Tweed Arbor – another yarn with superb stitch definition.

Above is Patricia’s “Peace Lily Blouse,” knit for her daughter using Kelbourne Woolens Mojave. She modified this cropped top by lengthening the ribbing, a clever and easy fix that changes the whole look of the garment.

Here’s Denise’s first ever steeked sweater, Caitlin Hunter’s “Ramblin Woman” cardigan, knit with Isager Jensen.

Thanks to Linda, Rosi, Pat, Linda, Laura, Patricia, and Denise for sharing their work with us! We can’t wait to see what you make next.

Yarn ideas for “Illuminate,” by Andrea Mowry.

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Andrea Mowry’s latest design has us playing the color game… here are some yarn ideas for “Illuminate,” a striking striped pullover with a colorwork yoke.

“Illuminate,” by Andrea Mowry. Photo © Andrea Mowry

Mowry uses a sport weight wool for the main color, and doubles up a lace weight mohair/silk blend for the contrast color. For the lace weight yarn, we love Shibui Silk Cloud – it’s soft and fuzzy and seems to glow with saturated color.

Shibui Silk Cloud:  lace weight, 60% mohair, 40% silk, 330 yards/25 g; $26.50 each ($28.50 for Julie Hoover colorways)

I looked through our sport weight yarns for main color options and found several that paired well with Shibui:

Brooklyn Tweed Ranch 03: sport weight, 100% merino wool, 170 yards/50g; $16.50 each

Mountain Meadow Wool Cody: sport weight, hand-dyed, 100% merino wool, 200 yards/50 g; $9.80 each

Kelbourne Woolens Andorra: sport weight, 60% merino wool, 20% highland wool, 20% mohair, 185 yards/50 g; $12 each

Swans Island All American Sport: sport weight, hand-dyed, 100% Rambouillet wool, 185 yards/40 g; $12.50 each

Reach out if any of these combinations catches your eye – we’re happy to help calculate yardage or answer any questions that come up as you plan an “Illuminate” sweater of your own!

Show and tell: little sweaters.

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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 sweet sweaters for babies and children.

Pam knit this “Ezra” cardigan with Brooklyn Tweed Dapple, a DK weight blend of merino and organic cotton. The skeins vary from light to dark, giving a special tonal look to each garment knit with Dapple.

Here’s Janese’s “Baby Surprise Jacket,” knit with Malabrigo Rios. Elizabeth Zimmermann’s classic pattern is knit all in one piece, then folded up and seamed at the shoulders. Instead of alternating skeins to blend the hand-dyed colors, Janese knit all the way through her first skein before switching to the second, letting the uniqueness of each one shine through – we love the result!

Emily knit the “Baby Colorwork Cardigan” above with Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, a favorite yarn she’s returned to for project after project. With so many kinds of yarn to choose from, this is high praise for Peerie!

Above is Rosi’s “Dog Star,” a beloved Tin Can Knits pattern that Anne and I have each made several times. Rosi used Berroco Ultra Wool DK for the main color and Malabrigo Arroyo for the contrast color and cuffs.

Here are two of Anne’s finished knits, from the last batch of sweaters she made for her grandchildren. Above is “Atlas (For Kids)” knit with Brooklyn Tweed Loft, and below is “Leaf Sweater for Kids,” knit with Malabrigo Sock.

She’s already three sweaters into the next round of knits for her grandchildren – looking forward to sharing them with you here as they emerge from her knitting bag!

Thanks to Pam, Janese, Emily, Rosi and Anne for letting me share these inspiring knits. We love to see what all of you are making, and sincerely thank anyone who starts a project with a trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

Merilin + Dingley Dell.

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In the heat of the summer, we see more and more knitters looking for lightweight tops and tees to knit, and Isabell Kraemer’s name often comes to mind. She’s a prolific sweater designer, and many of her patterns offer a short-sleeved option – think “Yume,” “Laia,” and “Ooh La La.”

“Dingley Dell,” by Isabell Kraemer. Photo © Isabell Kraemer

“Dingley Dell” is her latest, a color block tee made in a wool/linen blend, and I think Isager Merilin would be perfect for it.

Isager Merilin:

  • light fingering weight
  • 80% wool, 20% linen
  • 228 yards/50 g
  • $11 each

Depending on what size you make, you’ll need between 2-4 balls each in two colors – check the sizing on Ravelry, and know that we’re happy to help you calculate yardage! Here are a few more color ideas…

Make an in-store shopping appointment to select your own color combination, or pick from the options above and order online for local pickup or shipping!

Shelter + Otte.

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Brooklyn Tweed’s latest pattern collection is Form + Expression, five garments and accessories united by the theme of self-expression through color and texture.

Of this group, “Otte” leapt out at me, as colorwork pullovers often do. Knit with worsted weight, woolen-spun Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, Jared Flood’s unisex design invites playful color combinations.

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter: worsted weight, 100% Targhee-Columbia wool, 140 yards/50 g; $16.50 each. Sweater uses 9-22 skeins, depending upon size.

Below is the color combination shown in the pattern photo, with Amaranth as the main color and Tartan, Fossil, and Iceberg as contrast colors 1-3.

With this colorway in mind, and with inspiration from “Otte” projects on Ravelry, I came up with some more combinations – let’s take a look!

If any of these color combinations grabs you, order online for local pickup or shipping! We’re also happy to help put together a custom colorway just for you – just let us know what shades you love! You can see them all on the Brooklyn Tweed website, and know that we have almost every one here on our shelves, even some of the retired shades.

Strands of Joy, by Anna Johanna.

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Anna Johanna’s Strands of Joy is here!

This beautifully produced hardcover book boasts 20 fresh colorwork patterns, worked seamlessly from the top down.

Laine is the publisher, known for the lush photography of their popular knitting and lifestyle magazine, which we were thrilled to welcome back with a new issue in December.

Johanna uses a variety of yarns throughout this collection for different effects – from sturdy solids to subtle heathers, from painterly hand-dyes to self-stripers.

Anne fell in love with “Lehto” (below) long before Strands of Joy arrived, and by the time she could hold the book in her hands, she was already picking out yarn to make it – can’t wait to show you what she’s considering, but it’s not landing at our shop until mid-March… stay tuned!

Strands of Joy is $45 – Order online for local pickup here at the shop or USPS Priority Mail shipping.