New colors in Acadia.

Posted by Julia on January 23, 2015

Fibre Company recently introduced new colors in Acadia, a luxurious blend of merino wool, silk, and alpaca.

We’ve carried Acadia for a few years now, and always delight in adding a new color or two. It’s amazing how just a few new shades deepen the color palette. Suddenly instead of one gray, we have a warm gray and a cool gray, and where we thought we were rich in purples, a deep eggplant shade emerges, expanding the spectrum.

Anne and I have both been working with Acadia of late. Anne has an “Easy Folded Poncho” on the needles in Acadia’s warm gray, “Driftwood.”

Last year, Fibre Company’s Courtney Kelley lent us an Acadia poncho that we missed after we sent it back; Anne’s poncho-in-progress will replace it on our walls. It’s nothing but stockinette, but the simplicity of the fabric lets Acadia shine, its silk slubs peeping out every now and then.

I took three shades of Acadia home to weave a scarf on my Cricket loom, and I’m thrilled with how it turned out.

Using a 10-dent reed, I warped with Acadia in asymmetric color blocks, creating vertical stripes. I used one shade of blue-green for the better part of the weft, delighting in the way it interacted with the two other colors. There are horizontal stripes of those colors at the beginning and end of the scarf, as well, making a kind of plaid.

Working from Betty Linn Davenport’s Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving, I paid more careful attention to the tension of the warp, tried hemstitching for the first time, and finished the scarf with twisted fringe.

Check out the HYS Pinterest page for more Acadia pattern ideas. Come by the shop to see these new colors and plan your next project!

Downton Abbey and Jane Austen Knits.

Posted by Julia on October 25, 2014

Two more new magazines are here, each inspired by stories of and about the past.

The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits is full of knitting patterns inspired by the television series Downton Abbey, which is, for those who have somehow escaped seeing it, a period drama taking place in a British country estate during the early 20th century.

The garments in this issue suggest the era as well as the class of the show’s inhabitants, from the aristocrats upstairs to the servants downstairs.

This garter stitch beret is knit in three shades of Isager Alpaca 2, a favorite yarn around here.

This issue of Jane Austen Knits is the fifth such collection of knitting patterns inspired by the novels of Jane Austen. I found lots of familiar yarns within its pages: Swans Island Organic Washable DK in the cover mitts, Fibre Company Meadow in the “Dashwood Lace Stole,” Malabrigo Sock in the “Second Chance for Mr. Rushworth” socks, and more!

Come by the shop to pick up a copy of The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits and Jane Austen Knits, and don’t forget to check out the Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Show while you’re here!

Show and tell: anniversary edition, part 3.

Posted by Julia on October 19, 2014

This week, as we celebrate the shop’s anniversary, we also celebrate the community of knitters and crocheters who have supported us over the years. We always love to see what you’re making with HYS yarns, and I love to take photos of your beautiful finished pieces to share here on the blog. I’ve amassed a big stack of them over the past couple of months, enough for three blog posts! Here’s the third batch.

Maria divides her time between Puerto Rico and North Carolina, and when she’s here, she comes to visit the shop. On her last visit, she brought in two shawls to share. Above is her “Quaking Aspen,” knit in Fibre Company Acadia, and below is her “Stole,” knit in Isager Alpaca 2.

Here, Margie models her recently-completed “Handsome Triangle,” another elegant shawl from Victorian Lace Today. She knit it with Marion Foale 3 ply Wool, a smooth fingering weight yarn, and added beads to the crochet edging to give it a bit of weight and sparkle.

Denise came by the shop recently to share her “Elder Tree Shawl,” knit with one (big!) skein of Great Adirondack Bamboo Cotton. Her daughter helped her model it; aren’t they a sweet pair?

Thanks to the knitters, crocheters, and other fiber artists who start their projects at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, and who share their work with us! We’re lucky to be surrounded by inspiring stitches every day.

Brioche and lace: two new books.

Posted by Julia on September 20, 2014

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for new books! Here are two of the latest publications from Interweave, each one focused on a single technique.

Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark’s Brioche Chic offers 22 garment and accessory patterns for men and women, all of which include brioche knitting.

Brioche is a lofty, stretchy fabric that can look like plush ribbing in its simplest form, and like twisting, multicolored cables or lace when modified or combined with other techniques.

My favorite in this collection: “Chevron Deep-V Pullover,” knit in Fibre Company Acadia.

If you’ve never tried brioche, this book is a great place to start, and its sure to keep you interested long after you’ve mastered the basics of the technique.

Everyday Lace, by Heather Zoppetti, is all about incorporating lace patterns into wearable, non-fussy garments. Inside, you’ll find patterns for sweaters of all shapes: tunics, vests, shrugs, pullovers, cardigans, and some accessories, too.

I spotted a few garments in familiar yarns. The “Kirkwood Vest” above is knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino, and the “Bellemont Cardigan” below is knit in Swans Island Organic Merino Worsted.

Come by the shop to find inspiration in a book or two, and plan your next project!

Interweave Knits Gifts.

Posted by Julia on September 10, 2014

The latest Gifts issue from Interweave Knits is here, which means it’s time to start planning holiday gift-knitting if you haven’t already.

This issue of Gifts is packed full of projects, and a wide variety at that. Knitted ornaments, cold-weather accessories and garments for children and adults, cozies for smartphones, tablets, and wine bottles… look to this issue for all kinds of gift-knitting inspiration.

I spotted some of our favorite yarns in this issue, too: here’s a cowl in Fibre Company Acadia, and a cozy scarf in Shibui Pebble.

Come by the shop to snag a copy of Interweave Knits Gifts and plan your holiday gift-knitting, whatever form it takes!

New colors in Canopy Worsted.

Posted by Julia on August 22, 2014

Along with a brand new yarn from Fibre Company, we’ve also received new colors in their Canopy Worsted, a blend of merino, alpaca, and bamboo. Just one 200 yard skein makes a hat or cowl, as the Kelbourne Woolens Weekenders collection taught us. I see knitters treat themselves to a skein of Canopy Worsted now and then, and many of them come back for more. We’ve come back for more Canopy Worsted, too, unable to resist five new shades in this tempting yarn.

I love seeing how these new colors fit into our existing color palette, looking at home among their brothers and sisters.

Anne’s “Cumberland” cowl is here at the shop, another one-skein project in Canopy Worsted. Come by to try it on, and get a good sense of how the yarn knits up in a texture pattern.

For other Canopy Worsted pattern ideas, consider the new Knightsbridge Collection; any of those garments and accessories would look just as incredible in Canopy Worsted. Follow us on Pinterest for even more pattern inspiration! See you at the shop.

Hello, Knightsbridge.

Posted by Julia on August 20, 2014

Fibre Company’s newest yarn is here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop! Meet Knightsbridge.

Knightsbridge is a soft and fuzzy blend of llama, merino, and silk, a light worsted weight yarn that knits up comfortably between 5 and 5.5 stitches per inch.

The colors are heathered, the fibers dyed and lightly blended before spinning.

The sweaters, vests, and accessories that make up the Knightsbridge pattern collection were some of the more memorable garments we saw at TNNA.

I love classic-looking sweaters like these, and they look entertaining to knit, too.

Knightsbridge renders cables and other texture patterns surprisingly well for such a soft yarn; I’m really impressed with how it behaves on the needles as well as in knitted fabric.

Come by the shop to meet Knightsbridge and plan your next project!

Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection.

Posted by Julia on August 11, 2014

We were recently visited by the delightful Courtney Kelley, designer and distributor of Fibre Company yarns. We showed her around the shop, placed an order for more Meadow, Savannah, and Canopy Worsted, and picked up a few of these sweet little booklets.

The patterns in the Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection use a variety of Fibre Company yarns to create heirloom knits for babies and children.

Fibre Company yarns are set apart by their unique fiber combinations, subtle color palette, and soft hand. They all require hand-washing rather than machine-washing, but for special hand-crafted garments, a little extra care is worth it, and helps keep those garments in the best possible shape.

The cap, booties, and mitts above are all knit in Canopy Worsted, a plush blend of merino wool, alpaca, and bamboo. The mitts come in the collection’s widest range of sizes, up to 4-6 years; other patterns are sized from newborn up to 2 or 4.

If baby-knitting is in your present or future, be sure to check out the Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection next time you’re at the shop. While you’re here, don’t miss this new knit sample that Courtney kindly lent to us: the Churchmouse “Easy Folded Poncho,” knit in Acadia.

It’s great to see a large garment like this in Acadia, especially in stockinette, which shows the yarn’s distinctive texture. Come by to see it in person!

CrochetScene.

Posted by Julia on August 2, 2014

We’ve been anxiously awaiting our new Fall yarns, which should start arriving any minute now, but the deliveries this week have been small–one magazine after another, it seems!

Our third new magazine this week is CrochetScene, a special issue packed with crochet projects: bags, shawls, vests, lace tops, skirts, pillows, baskets, and more.

The lacy poncho above was crocheted with Fibre Company Meadow, making a lightweight openwork fabric.

For new crocheters, there’s a tutorial showing how to make one of the most fundamental crochet motifs, the granny square, followed by a series of patterns that riff on this simple shape.

Crocheters and crocheters-to-be, come take a look at this new magazine for project ideas!

If you’re inspired to learn to crochet but don’t know where to start, look no further than our class schedule; we’ve got a Beginning Crochet class coming up in September. See you at the shop!

Show and tell: colorwork and more.

Posted by Julia on July 23, 2014

It’s time for more show and tell! Here are some finished pieces that began their lives as HYS yarns.

Emily has gone crazy for stranded colorwork, and brought in two amazing projects to show us this past week. Above is her “Tracery” vest, from last year’s Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, knit in Plymouth Happy Feet.

The stained-glass look of this garment is achieved by using colorful variegated yarn against solid black, a neat effect.

Emily’s next colorwork project was the “Sweetheart Bag,” a pattern from the Fall 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits. The yarn is one of our favorites, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, a fingering weight shetland wool that is perfectly suited to stranded colorwork like this.

Anne has also been busy with a colorwork project; here is a tam she recently knit for her mother from Mary Rowe’s book, Knitting Tams: Charted Fair Isle Designs.

Worked in three shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, this tam came together quickly, thanks to the addictive quality of stranded color patterns. It was off Anne’s needles and on Phyllis’s head in no time.

Judy came in wearing her “Ship to Shore” shawl, knit with one skein of Shibui Linen.

Knit into a loose openwork pattern, Linen is cool to the touch and drapes elegantly, making a lightweight summer accessory that is sure to get a lot of wear.

Margie wore a new shawl in this week, too–here she is in her “Nymphalidea,” a free shawl pattern that’s been catching many a knitter’s eye this summer.

“Nymphalidea” sets a self-striping yarn against a solid in an asymmetric shawl. Margie chose Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball as her self-striping yarn and Fibre Company Meadow as her solid, a surprising choice that works perfectly.