New colors in Titus.

Posted by Julia on March 22, 2015

We’re delighted to announce the recent arrival of three new colors in Baa Ram Ewe Titus!

Titus is a fingering weight blend of alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wools, sourced and spun entirely in the UK.

We’re proud to have been the first US stockist of the stuff, back in 2012 when it came in just one color.

Since then, Titus has been warmly embraced by knitters, crocheters, and weavers all over the world, and the palette has expanded considerably.

We have three sample garments knit in Titus at the shop, which hint at the many possibilities for this special yarn: “Baht ‘At,” a pair of intricately cabled fingerless mitts, “Color Affection,” a three-color garter stitch shawl, and “Northallerton,” a slouchy colorwork hat. Titus is happy at a range of gauges, depending upon how dense a fabric you’re after, and upon the kind of garment you’re making.

For more pattern ideas, check out Coop Knits Toasty Vol. One, Kate Davies’ “Paper Dolls” and “Catkin,” Kirsten Kapur’s “Minetta,” and Carol Feller’s “Titus Adrift.” Also follow us on Pinterest, where I recently sorted the patterns and projects by gauge, just like the yarns at our shop. Check out the “Fingering weight” board for plenty of ways to use Titus, then come by the shop to plan your next project!

New colors in Titus Shades.

Posted by Julia on September 16, 2014

We’re delighted to announce the recent arrival of three new colors in Titus Shades!

Titus Shades is a fingering weight blend of alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wools, sourced and spun entirely in the UK.

We’re proud to have been the first US stockist of the stuff, back in 2012 when it came in just one color. Since then, Titus has been warmly embraced by knitters, crocheters, and weavers all over the world, and now comes in no less than 11 glorious shades.

With new colors comes a new pattern collection: Coop Knits Toasty Vol. 1, by Rachel Coopey, featuring accessories of all kinds knit in Titus Shades.

Coopey’s designs use a variety of techniques that show how versatile Titus is. It shines in cables, lace, texture patterns, and stranded colorwork, behaves nicely at a range of gauges.

Rosi has been knitting a sample “Northallerton” hat from this collection, using all three new shades together.

Come by the shop to flip through Toasty, see Rosi’s hat-in-progress and my “Color Affection”–also knit with three shades of Titus. Consider this special yarn for your next project!

Titus Shades.

Posted by Julia on May 27, 2013

Titus, a fingering weight yarn from British company Baa Ram Ewe, has been a hit since it first arrived at the shop in December. At that time, it came in only one color, an oatmealy tan the natural shade of the alpaca, Wensleydale, and Bluefaced Leicester wool it’s made of. A few months later, Titus Light and Dark became available, two new natural shades. On Friday, we were delighted to receive Baa Ram Ewe’s latest creation, a shipment of eight brand new colors: Titus Shades.

Each color is inspired by and named for some aspect of the Yorkshire landscape or culture: a deep, warm orange is called Parkin, a ginger and black treacle cake; a cool, pale blue is named Aire for the river that flows through Yorkshire’s traditional woollen district; a glistening white is called White Rose, for the flower on the Yorkshire flag.

These new shades fill out the Titus palette quite nicely, expanding the range of neutral colors beyond even those initial three.

A lovely knitter we know, Margaretta, has been working on a Color Affection shawl in the three original shades of Titus; here’s a sliver of her shawl-in-progress, still on the needles.

I thought of Color Affection as I was photographing the new Titus Shades, and couldn’t keep myself from arranging them into groups of three that I thought would make nice Color Affection combinations.

When Anne gave me the enviable task of creating a shop sample with Titus Shades, we brainstormed for a long time. Would stripes or stranded colorwork be the best way to show off these new colors? What kind of garment should it be? We finally decided on a lacy, striped cowl, and I got as far as casting on for that cowl when Margaretta came in to see Titus Shades with her Color-Affection-to-be in hand. At that slightly open gauge, Titus posseses the “drape and softness of a sleeping cat,” to borrow a phrase from Clara Parkes. Anne and I agreed that I really ought to be knitting Color Affection, and I ripped out my cast-on to begin again. I’m now a handful of rows into it, enjoying every stitch.

Come by the shop to see Titus in all its glorious hues, and to pick a color combination of your own. There are so many wonderful two- and three-color shawls that call for fingering weight yarn, and Titus is a perfect candidate. See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Titus.

Posted by Julia on April 25, 2013

For the past few weeks, there’s been a nearly-empty basket in the fingering weight section at the shop. Two skeins of Titus Dark have been sitting there, looking lonely, save for the knit samples tucked in with them. We were waiting for a shipment from Baa Ram Ewe, where Titus has been backordered (and Titus Light still is). This week, we welcomed back Titus in two colors: its original natural brown and the heathered charcoal of Titus Dark. Finally!

We also got a Titus pattern back in stock: Ann Kingstone’s “Baht ‘At” mitts. I knit a sample mitt, which came together surprisingly quickly, even with the tiny needles and twisted traveling stitches. It’s a little thing, but the fabric is stretchy, which makes for a satisfying, snug fit.

Come by the shop to try it on for yourself, and know that it’s available not only as a single pattern, but also as part of the Born and Bred collection, or in a kit with enough Titus to knit a pair. Whatever fits your knitterly needs. See you at the shop!

Two new colors in Titus.

Posted by Julia on February 19, 2013

As soon as we learned that Yorkshire yarn company Baa Ram Ewe had begun producing new colors of their well-loved yarn, Titus, we ordered some for the shop. Say hello to Titus Light and Titus Dark.

All three shades of Titus share a common gauge and fiber content: fingering weight, and comprised of 50% Grey Wensleydale, 20% Bluefaced Leicester, and 30% alpaca, all sourced in the UK. Baa Ram Ewe created Titus with the mission to revive the once-thriving British textile industry, and it seems they’re off to a good start, given the warm welcome Titus has received in the knitting world. We first learned of Titus through Clara Parkes’ glowing review, and recently saw another rave from Edinburgh designer and blogger Kate Davies. Even in a single undyed color, this yarn has wooed many. With three natural shades, Titus is even more tempting.

How to make use of it? Some HYS knitters are using Titus as the main color in their Quill shawl. Anne wants to use all three in a Color Affection shawl. A set of tam and mitts calling for Titus can be found in Ann Kingstone’s Born and Bred, which are now available as single patterns as well as in kits with the yarn.

On top of that, a recent Wooly Wormhead pattern calls for Titus, and the people at Baa Ram Ewe recommended this cabled cardigan pattern from Susan Crawford as a good match for Titus, as well.

The longer Titus lives at the shop, the more pattern ideas come up, it seems. We are just loving this yarn. Come by the shop to see all three shades of Titus, and to plan your next project.

Hello, Titus.

Posted by Julia on December 5, 2012

Back in October, Clara Parkes reviewed a new yarn out of the UK, a fingering weight blend of UK-sourced wools by the majestic name Titus. Anne was taken with the story of the yarn as much as Parkes’ positive review: Titus is an attempt to revive Britain’s diminishing textile industry by relying on UK-sourced wools and UK yarn manufacturers. Considering North Carolina’s own textile history, this story resonated, and Anne was quick to write to Baa Ram Ewe with a wholesale inquiry. A few weeks later we got a response, and I’m proud to announce that we’re the first US wholesaler of Baa Ram Ewe’s Titus.

Titus is every bit as wonderful as Clara Parkes suggests; soft and fuzzy from its alpaca content, shiny and drapey from its Wensleydale and Bluefaced Leicester wool content, and rustic in its natural color. These qualities make it appropriate for many projects, from shawls, scarves, and sweaters to hats, mitts, and other accessories.

It’s been such a hit here at the shop that we sold out of our first shipment in about two weeks, long enough for our weaver friend Victoria to weave an entire scarf out of it.

Now it’s safely back in stock, with ten skeins on the shelf and thirty more on their way from Leeds. Come by to see Titus for yourself!