New colors from Baa Ram Ewe.

Posted by Julia on February 6, 2016

The folks at UK yarn company Baa Ram Ewe dreamed up two new colors for their Titus and Dovestone DK yarns, and I’m happy to report that we now have them on our shelves here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop!

The two yarns take the dye differently, coming out bright and clear in Titus, but deeper and heathered in Dovestone DK. “Lotherton” is a bright turquoise, and “Rhubarb” is a hot pink.

These new shades are definitely the boldest we’ve seen from Baa Ram Ewe, yet they fit nicely into the color palette, offering new opportunities for high-contrast color combinations.

Dovestone DK is a dk weight blend of 50% bluefaced leicester, 25% masham, and 25% wensleydale wools, all sourced and spun in the UK. It’s a nice big 100 gram hank with 252 yards, plenty for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl. For pattern ideas, look to Carol Feller’s Dovestone Hills booklet, Kate Davies’ Buachaille, and our “DK weight” board on Pinterest.

Titus is a fingering weight blend of 50% wensleydale wool, 30% alpaca, and 20% bluefaced leicester wool. There’s plenty of pattern inspiration for Titus to be found on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, of course, and we’ve seen some beautiful Titus projects here on the blog over the years, but we wont turn our nose up at new patterns for Titus, either.

Titus Mini Knits is a collection of accessories knit and crocheted in Titus, from mitts and socks to hats and cowls. CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 2 is another round of accessories in Titus from designer Rachel Coopey, whose colorwork patterns look like such fun.

Come by the shop to see all the new goodies from Baa Ram Ewe, and consider Titus or Dovestone DK for your next project!

Hello, Fibre Company Cumbria Fingering.

Posted by Julia on February 1, 2016

We’re delighted to welcome a brand new yarn from the Fibre Company: meet Cumbria Fingering.

Like its big sister, Cumbria Worsted, Cumbria Fingering is a soft and sturdy blend of 60% merino wool, 30% masham wool, and 10% mohair. The soft white merino is blended with the dark gray masham, creating a natural heathered base color over which all the other colorways are dyed. Each 100 gram skein boasts 328 yards, enough for a hat, pair of mitts, or small cowl.

Cumbria Fingering is designed with longevity in mind, and as such, is constructed with 4 plies tightly twisted around one another. Sweaters and accessories knit in Cumbria Fingering should weather regular use and look great for years to come. This 4-ply construction also gives the yarn a very smooth texture, which suggests sharp stitch definition for cables and texture patterns.

Though I haven’t knit a stitch with it yet, I’m already daydreaming about a sweater in Cumbria Fingering. Kelbourne Woolens, designers and distributors for Fibre Company yarns, let us know that a small collection of sweater patterns by Bristol Ivy are forthcoming. In the meantime, I’m looking for pattern ideas in all the usual places: CoopKnits Toasty Vol. 1, Kate Davies’ Yokes and Colors of Shetland, Brooklyn Tweed patterns that call for Loft, and our own HYS “Fingering weight” board on Pinterest. I can’t wait to get my hands on this stuff!

Look for Cumbria Fingering in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and while you’re here, check out all the other lovely Fibre Company yarns we keep on hand: Meadow, Road to China Lace, Canopy Fingering, Savannah, Acadia, Knightsbridge, Canopy Worsted, and Cumbria Worsted. See you at the shop!

Hello, Cutthroat Yarn Gradient BFL.

Posted by Julia on January 27, 2016

We’re delighted to announce that we now carry Gradient BFL from Cutthroat Yarn!

Gradient BFL is a 100% superwash bluefaced leicester wool in a fingering weight, and it’s hand-dyed by Cutthroat Yarn founder Jeanette Ward in Leesburg, Virginia. We’re always on the lookout for locally-sourced yarns, and plied self-stiping yarns, too; Gradient BFL fills both of these needs nicely.

Each 100 gram skein has 443 yards, enough for a shawlette, hat, cowl, pair of mitts or socks. Use Gradient BFL anywhere self-striping yarn is called for, like Stephen West’s “Spectra” or “Daybreak,” Melinda VerMeer’s “Nymphalidea,” or Melissa La Barre’s “September Circle.” Some patterns that don’t call for self-striping yarn look equally lovely in gradient yarns like these; consider Hilary Smith Callis’s “Starshower,” Martina Behm’s “Hitchhiker,” or Kelly McClure’s “Sockhead Slouch Hat.”

Instead of choosing from a set selection of colorways, we asked that Jeanette dye a few of her favorites for us, and we love what she came up with. The colors have no names or numbers, and may never be duplicated, so be sure you get enough for your project! Look for Cutthroat Yarn Gradient BFL in the fingering weight section here at the shop.

New colors from the Fibre Company.

Posted by Julia on January 11, 2016

Every so often, we get word that one yarn company or another has developed new colors, broadening their spectrum and filling in gaps. When the word came recently from the Fibre Company, we put in our order right away for new colors in Road to China Lace and Knightsbridge.

Road to China Lace is a relatively new Fibre Company yarn for us, a 2 ply lace weight blend of 65% baby alpaca, 15% silk, 10% camel, and 10% cashmere. Each 100 gram skein boasts 656 yards, enough for a good sized shawl. These four bright new shades bring a certain whimsy to the Road to China Lace color palette.

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.

Knightsbridge also got four new colors, but they’re more muted and rustic, in keeping with the existing selection.

Look to our Pinterest page for Lace weight and Worsted weight pattern ideas, and come by the shop to plan your next project. Have any of you faithful readers worked with Road to China Lace or Knightsbridge before? Feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you made.

See you at the shop!

Hello again, Shenandoe Farm.

Posted by Julia on January 8, 2016

Last week, we had a visit from Elaine of Shenandoe Farm. She came with stories of a successful year and with a bag of beautiful yarn, made of fiber grown right here in Orange County, North Carolina.

We’ve stocked Shenandoe Farm yarns before, though it’s been a while since we sold the last remaining skein, so a new delivery was welcome. This new batch is composed of 80% mohair, 10% wool, and 10% llama, spun into a dk weight at Zeilinger Wool Co. in Michigan, a family business for over a century. The heathered color is a natural one, just the shade of the animals that grew the fleece to make it.

Eager to get her hands on this special yarn, Anne knit a swatch on a few different needle sizes, so we could get a sense of what gauge it’s most comfortable at.

From there, it was put in my lucky hands. After a bit more swatching, we decided this sturdy stuff would be well-suited to a pair of Churchmouse “Welted Fingerless Gloves,” a go-to pattern here at the shop. I’m busy stitching up a pair as a sample for the shop.

Look for Shenandoe Farm yarn here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Hope to see you soon!

New colors in Yarn Hollow Photograph.

Posted by Julia on December 30, 2015

Five new shades of Yarn Hollow Photograph are brightening a special basket here at the shop.

Yarn Hollow is a yarn company that has grown from one dyer in her garage to a three-person hand-dyeing operation out of Grandville, Michigan. For almost three years now, we’ve stocked Yarn Hollow’s Photograph, a worsted weight 100% bluefaced leicester wool.

Each skein 4 oz skein boasts 250 yards, a good-sized chunk of yarn at about 5 stitches per inch. Pick up one skein for a “Dustland Hat” or “Cumberland” cowl, two skeins for a “Big Herringbone Cowl,” or three for a “Range” wrap–all well-loved worsted weight patterns that we’ve knit as shop samples over the years. Check our “Worsted weight” board on Pinterest for more pattern ideas!

Look for Yarn Hollow Photograph in the worsted weight section here at the shop. See you there!

Hello, Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering.

Posted by Julia on December 7, 2015

Another new yarn has made a home here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Say hello to Sincere Sheep Cormo Fingering!

Based in Northern California, Sincere Sheep produces naturally dyed yarns from U.S. sourced fibers. Cormo Fingering is a 2-ply yarn made of 100% Cormo wool, a cross-breed of Corriedale and Merino sheep originating in Australia. The Cormo sheep whose fleece made this yarn live in Kaycee, WY.

Cormo is a finewool, much like its Merino ancestors, and makes a highly elastic yarn that’s velvety soft to the touch. The 2-ply structure of Cormo Fingering gives the yarn a pebbly texture, and gives the knitted fabric a lot of character.

I’m using a skein of Cormo Fingering to knit “Starshower,” a shawl-cowl hybrid by Hilary Smith Callis. It starts off like a traditional top-down shawl, with a garter tab cast-on, grows for a bit with regular increases, then is joined to work in the round. The end result is a shaped cowl, like a shawl with no dangling ends to worry about.

Each 4 oz skein has 500 yards, plenty for a cowl, shawlette, scarf, or hat and mitt set. A versatile skein like this makes a great gift, too, so consider it if there’s a knitter on your holiday gift list this year. Look for pattern ideas on our “Fingering weight” Pinterest board, and look for this special yarn in the fingering weight section here at the shop. See you there!

Hello, CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

Posted by Julia on December 2, 2015

We’re excited to announce the arrival of a brand new sock yarn: meet CoopKnits Socks Yeah!

Socks Yeah! is the inaugural yarn from designer Rachel Coopey, also known as CoopKnits. We first discovered Rachel Coopey through CoopKnits Toasty Volume 1, a collection of accessories she designed using Baa Ram Ewe Titus. A closer look at her body of design work reveals a sock-knitting devotee, just the sort of person who ought to be dreaming up sock yarns.

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 comes in 10 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.

Solid colors are also ideal for stripes and stranded colorwork, so I’ve been considering the possible color combinations, in pairs and in trios.

If you’re wondering just what to knit with a couple of hanks of Socks Yeah!, there are lots of good places to look for sock patterns. We have cubbies full of sock books and binders full of sock patterns, and Ravelry is bursting with many more. To begin with, check out Rachel Coopey, if you haven’t yet.

We have copies of her CoopKnits Socks Volume 2 here at the shop, which is certainly worth flipping through. “Phloem” and “Echevaria” are intriguing free patterns, and for a few dollars, I like the look of “Arkin,” “Emlyn,” and “Crenate,” among others.

Look for CoopKnits Socks Yeah! in the fingering weight section here at the shop, and look closely, for the heathered colorways that look solid from a distance are far more complicated up close.

See you at the shop!

Back in stock: Vivacious 4ply.

Posted by Julia on November 27, 2015

Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply has only been on our shelves since February, and already we’re due for a second big reorder. Over and over again, knitters are drawn to our cubby full of Vivacious 4ply by the rich, hand-dyed colorways and the softness of the yarn.

I’m happy to report that a big box of Vivacious 4ply landed here at the shop last week. Our cubby is stuffed with more colors than ever, and there’s plenty to go around!

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!

Vivacious 4ply is hand-dyed, so each skein is unique, even from the same dye-lot; remember you can alternate skeins to blend hand-dyed yarns in larger projects.

We carry lots of hand-dyed yarns, but each one has their own color personality. Vivacious 4ply seems to excel in low-contrast, painterly colorways, the kind that I’d expect to knit up looking well-blended rather than streaky. Their brightest shades are rich and eye-catching, but their muted browns and grays are not to be overlooked.

Look for Vivacious 4ply in the fingering weight section at the shop. See you there!

Back in stock: Malabrigo Rasta.

Posted by Julia on November 23, 2015

Just in time for cold weather, we’ve restocked Malabrigo Rasta!

Rasta is a soft, squishy, single-ply merino wool that knits up quickly on US 13 – 17 needles.

Each 150 gram skein has 90 yards, which may not sound like a lot, but those 90 yards go a long way at 2 or 2.5 stitches per inch.

Rasta is perfectly suited to cold-weather accessories: hats, scarves, cowls, and the like. Anne knit this simple seed stitch cowl with one skein of Malabrigo Rasta.

Come by the shop to pick up a skein or two of Malabrigo Rasta for your last-minute holiday gift-knitting! See you there.