Tag Archives: wool

New colors in Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply.

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Fyberspates recently announced six new colors in their Vivacious 4ply yarn, and we’re happy to announce that they’ve arrived here at our shop this week.

Vivacious 4ply is a high twist, superwash merino wool in a fingering weight. Each 100 gram skein has 399 yards, enough for a pair of socks or mitts, a hat, scarf, or shawlette. Check our “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest for pattern ideas!

These new colors are a mix of gentle pastels and more vibrant, saturated hues.

They complement and enhance the existing Vivacious 4ply palette, creating new and exciting options for projects using multiple colors.

Look for the full selection in our Fingering weight section here at the shop!

Hello, Kelbourne Woolens Andorra.

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Meet our first new yarn of the year, Kelbourne Woolens Andorra.

You may recognize the name Kelbourne Woolens – they’re the North American distributors for Fibre Company, and they also design some of the most popular pattern collections for those yarns. Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley are the minds behind Kelbourne Woolens, and while they will continue their good work for Fibre Company, they’ve also cooked up something new to mark the 10th anniversary of their business: their very own line of yarn.

Andorra is the first yarn under their own Kelbourne Woolens imprint, a bouncy sport weight blend of merino and highland wool with a dash of mohair. It’s a wooly, lustrous 2-ply with a medium twist, not too tight or loose, and especially after knitting, it looks pleasantly fuzzy.

Andorra is obedient on the needles, which for me means it doesn’t split, and it has enough elasticity to move smoothly from needle to needle, stitch by stitch. In short, it’s lovely to work with, and while it’s well suited to a variety of projects, it has me thinking, “Sweater!”

Anne got a sweater’s worth of Andorra in advance, for sample knitting, and has started a top-down, Bohus-style pullover from the new Kelbourne Woolens collection. More on that soon – til then, here’s a preview, Anne’s first few rows.

Look for Andorra in the sport weight section here at the shop!

New colors in CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

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Not long ago, we welcomed a bundle of new shades in CoopKnits Socks Yeah!, expanding the palette of that lovely yarn.

Developed by avid sock-designer Rachel Coopey, CoopKnits Socks Yeah! is a hard-wearing, machine-washable blend of superwash merino wool and nylon, and it’s put up in 50 gram, 231 yard hanks.

It now comes in 22 solid colors, many of which are light in value, and both of those features make it ideal for showing off texture patterns, cables, and lace.

Remember CoopKnits Socks Yeah! when your fingering weight project requires sharp stitch definition and durability. You’ll find it in the Fingering Weight section here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, in a little basket bursting with color. See you there!

Hello, Berroco Ultra Wool DK.

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Meet the latest addition to our shop, Berroco Ultra Wool DK!

Berroco Ultra Wool DK is lighter version of the well-loved, worsted weight Ultra Wool – a smooth and sturdy superwash wool, one of the few that suggests “tumble dry low” rather than “lay flat to dry.” That makes it a truly easy-care yarn, perfect for baby and children’s garments, blankets, and everyday accessories.

Each 100 gram ball boasts 292 yards, already wound into a center-pull skein, no less. The center-pull end is neatly tucked into the label, so you don’t have to reach into the depths of the skein to fumble for it, one of the pleasing features of Ultra Wool in both worsted and DK weight.

Look for Ultra Wool DK in our DK weight section here at the shop, and check out all the new colors we got in Ultra Wool worsted, too!

Hello, West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply.

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I’m happy to announce that a new sock yarn has found a home here at the shop! Meet Signature 4ply, from West Yorkshire Spinners.

West Yorkshire Spinners is a yarn company in the UK, and like Baa Ram Ewe, their focus is on producing high quality yarns from British wool, and revitalizing the textile industry in their home of Yorkshire.

Signature 4ply is their self-patterning sock yarn, composed of machine-washable bluefaced leicester wool and nylon, for strength. These colorful skeins are dyed in such a way that the yarn creates a color pattern when you knit it in a small width or circumference, such as a scarf, pair of socks or mitts. No matter what stitch pattern you use, colorwork comes out as you knit, entertaining you as you knit even the simplest of projects.

Look for WYS Signature 4ply in our fingering weight section here at the shop!

Making 2018 Wall Calendar.

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The Making 2018 wall calendar is here, and so lovely!

Each month has a beautiful drawing of a particular breed of sheep alongside a plant used for natural dyeing.

Many of these sheep breeds are unfamiliar to us – how we wish we could represent them all in yarns on our shelves! We did see a few friends, though, like the Finnsheep whose fleece make Tukuwool Fingering, and the Rambouillet whose fleece make Brooklyn Tweed Vale.

This would be a welcome gift for any knitter, spinner, dyer, or sheep-lover this holiday season. Come by the shop to pick one up!

Hello, Dovestone Natural Chunky.

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Another exciting new yarn has arrived to entice us: meet Dovestone Natural Chunky!

Dovestone Natural Chunky is the latest from Baa Ram Ewe, a small yarn company out of Yorkshire. Their noble aim is to revitalize the textile industry in their region by sourcing and spinning their yarns entirely in the UK.

Dovestone Natural Chunky is made of the same good stuff as Dovestone DK and Dovestone Natural Aran: 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, spun into a soft and fuzzy single ply. It’s delightfully wooly, quick to knit at a suggested gauge of 3.5 stitches per inch, and comes in 5 undyed colors, the natural shades of the sheep.

There’s a beautiful new book to go with it, too – Learn to Knit at Home, by Alison Moreton.

Aimed at new knitters, it covers the basic stitches and techniques, then offers a variety of beginner-friendly patterns for accessories, home goods, and even a few garments, all knit with Dovestone Natural Aran and Chunky.

Learn to Knit at Home is a reminder of how very beautiful simple knits and purls can be. It would make such an excellent gift for an aspiring knitter, along with a few balls of Dovestone yarn to work with!

Come by the shop to see what’s new from Baa Ram Ewe, and to peruse their other yarns, as well. See you there!

Dream in Color Pop up! Club, part 2.

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We’re happy to announce that we’re participating in Dream in Color’s Pop Up! Club 2017-18! That means that every two months from August to February, we’re getting a special new colorway from Dream in Color, a Tuscon-based producer of small batch hand-dyed yarns.

Our October shipment features BFL Sock, a fingering weight blend of bluefaced leicester wool and nylon, with 420 yards on each 4 oz skein. BFL is naturally sturdy, but the addition of nylon makes it even more so: perfect for a special pair of socks.

A special pair of socks is exactly what Katherine is using her special skein for – she came in last week with her sock-in-progress to share the pleasing way the colors are playing out in the fabric.

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

New colors in Ewe Ewe Baa Baa Bulky.

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Last week I unpacked a box from Ewe Ewe featuring four new colors in Baa Baa Bulky.

Ewe Ewe specializes in super-soft superwash merino yarns, and Baa Baa Bulky is the thickest of the bunch. Soft and easy to care for, Baa Baa Bulky is just the thing for frequently-worn accessories, children’s garments, and baby blankets.

We have a small car-seat or stroller-sized baby blanket at the shop made with Baa Baa Bulky, a free pattern when you purchase the yarn from us. It’s nothing but garter stitch and color blocks, simple and soothing to knit. The hardest part may be choosing a trio of colors, especially with new colors increasing the possible combinations. These sweet pastel shades created an opportunity for gradients like the one below, which I find especially pleasing.

 

Look for Baa Baa Bulky in the bulky weight section here at the shop, and come by to pick three shades to make a “Baa Baa Blanket” all your own!

Hello, Tukuwool Fingering.

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We are especially excited to announce our newest yarn: meet Tukuwool Fingering!

Anne and I have been particularly excited about this one. So far this fall, we’ve brought in new yarns from companies we already work with, companies who have become like old friends over the years. Tukuwool is not only a new yarn but a new brand for us, and we’re delighted to have found them!

Tukuwool is based in Finland, just like Laine Magazine, where we first read about them, and their yarns are sourced and produced entirely in Finland.

Tukuwool Fingering is, as its name suggests, a fingering weight blend of Finnsheep and Finnsheep-Texel wool. I looked up these sheep breeds in my precious copy of Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Wool, and learned that Finnsheep are found in the mediumwool category, where each fiber is a notch thicker than familiar finewools like Merino, Targhee, and Cormo. Still, Finnsheep fiber is soft enough for next-to-skin wear, depending upon one’s preferences, and makes a springy and resilient yarn.

Tukuwool Fingering is woolen-spun, like Brooklyn Tweed Loft, a process which makes both yarns lofty and especially warm for their weight. Tukuwool Fingering is a great substitute for Loft, which opens up a world of patterns for this relatively young yarn. First things first, however – check out the smattering of patterns that have been written expressly for the special yarn at hand, Tukuwool Fingering:

Look for more pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board. I’ve got something in mind for this yarn, which I’m anxious to get on my needles – but more on that later. Look for Tukuwool Fingering here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, where we hope you find inspiration for your next project! See you there.