Wearwithall.

A new book, recommended by a friend, has arrived at the shop.

Wearwithall is a collection of patterns by the people at The Yarnery, a yarn shop in Saint Paul, MN. The book has a nice range of projects, including hats, socks, sweaters for babies and children as well as adults, and an eye-catching striped stole.

This stole, designed by Theresa Gaffey, is made from the exquisite Isager Alpaca 2 yarn, a fingering weight blend of wool and alpaca. Its construction is simple, letting the brightest colors from the muted Isager palette do the talking.

Take a closer look at Wearwithall next time you're in the shop. Be sure to visit the Alpaca 2 as well, and as you do, just imagine curling up in a cozy Alpaca 2 stole. Hard to resist, no?

Pop Knitting.

An inspiring new book has landed at the shop. Pop Knitting: Bold Motifs Using Color and Stitch, by Britt-Marie Christoffersson is a collection of graphic, modern-looking stitch patterns.

Christoffersson combines color and texture in surprising ways, making the book itself a thing of beauty.

The sweaters shown alongside many of these motifs make use of them in beautiful and often pleasantly strange garments. The results are fascinating and exciting, whether they appeal to your personal taste or not.

Come to the shop to take a closer look at Pop Knitting; you're sure to find some inspiration there.

Extra Yarn.

A phrase I'm always delighted to hear at the shop is "I brought some show and tell." Fascinating things are pulled from purses and knitting bags: projects in progress and recently completed, intriguing patterns, years-old handed-down hand-knits, and sometimes most interesting--books. A knitter brought this one in for show and tell a few weeks ago, and immediately, we knew we had to stock it here at the shop. Then Clara reviewed it, and the point was driven home. We placed the order, and Extra Yarn now lives here with us.

Extra Yarn is a children's book, but its knitterly subject matter and gorgeous illustrations make it equally appealing to adults.

Come by the shop to flip through this sweet storybook. You'll find it on the teacart, perfectly at home among the newest grown-up knitting books. See you at the shop!

Knitbot Essentials.

Last week, a sweetly-packaged bundle of books arrived at the shop.

Quince & Co. has just published a collection of knitting patterns by Hannah Fettig, co-author of last fall's beautiful Coastal Knits. Say hello to Knitbot Essentials.

Inside, you'll find simple cardigans, pullovers, and accessories that look comfortable and easy to wear.

The patterns are shown in Quince & Co. yarns, but written with yarn substitution in mind, making it easy to figure out what yarns will work well for each pattern, and how much you'll need. Fettig also provides an excellent section on how to achieve drape in knitted fabric, demystifying the gauge of her patterns, which is often larger than what you'd typically expect from the yarn.

Anne has already swatched her beloved sweater's-worth of Malabrigo Finito to get gauge for Fettig's Lightweight Pullover (above).

Copies of Knitbot Essentials have been quickly disappearing, but have no fear--a new shipment of them is expected this week. Come by to take a closer look at this truly tempting collection.

Knitting in the round: two new books.

Knitters who know me know that I love a good reference book. I savor detailed explanations, carefully labeled diagrams, and knitting books just stuffed with information. Here are two such books, both of which have recently arrived at the shop.

In Circular Knitting Workshop, Margaret Radcliffe gives expert guidance on the technique for which the book is named. This includes several different methods of knitting in the round: using a singular circular needle, two circular needles, and four or five double-pointed needles. Radcliffe then arranges quite a lot of knitting knowledge around this technique, explaining how gauge, charts, and finishing techniques function in circular knitting, as opposed to a flat knitted piece.

Most useful of all, perhaps, is her section on converting pattern instructions from flat to circular. This is a question that comes up at the shop all the time; a knitter admires the look of a pattern, but would rather work seamlessly in the round than sew flat pieces together. Circular Knitting Workshop is the best resource I've seen for making these kinds of changes to a pattern.

Meanwhile, The Sock Knitter's Handbook focuses this same kind of technique-teaching attention to the particular craft of knitting socks.

Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrot have put together a great resource, with schematics and instruction for both toe-up and top-down socks.

Many heel and toe variations are explained and clearly illustrated, with different colors of yarn used in each different step of knitting. This helps to highlight the construction of the thing, the process that gets you to the product.

Come by the shop to stick your nose in a book or two, for that, too, is one of the great pleasures of knitting.

60 More Quick Baby Knits.

60 More Quick Baby Knits is the latest collection of patterns for the popular Cascade yarns, focusing this time on Cascade 220 Superwash Sport, a lightweight washable merino wool.  

60 More Quick Baby Knits is well described by its simple title; inside, you'll find everything baby: sweaters, booties, onesies, hats, blankets, sleep sacks, and more. There's a nice variety of patterns, as you might expect in a group as big as 60, from simple texture patterns to cables, lace, and colorwork. Something for every knitter with a baby project in mind.

Find it on the shelf with all our baby books. See you at the shop!

Celebrating Family.

Another new Debbie Bliss booklet has made its way to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

Celebrating Family, as the name suggests, is a collection of knitting patterns for babies, children, and adults. All of the patterns call for sport-weight yarns, either Debbie Bliss Eco Baby, an organic cotton, or Cashmerino Baby, a machine-washable blend of merino wool and cashmere.

Find Celebrating Family on the teacart, and Debbie Bliss Eco Baby and Cashmerino Baby yarns on the shelf just beyond it.

Hello, Rialto Lace.

When the Spring/Summer issue of Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine arrived last month, we noticed that several of the patterns called for a brand new Debbie Bliss yarn: Rialto Lace. Debbie Bliss's Rialto line of yarns are all composed of springy 100% superwash merino wool, and we've had great luck at the shop with three weights: Rialto Aran, Rialto DK, and Rialto 4-ply, which I've used for many pairs of socks and one crazy sweater. The Rialto yarns are soft to the touch, wear well, wash easily, and have beautiful stitch definition. The mere existence of a lace-weight Rialto yarn meant that we had to have it at the shop, and so, of course, Anne ordered it.

This week, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace arrived, and with it, a Rialto Lace booklet, which shows the yarn made up in sweaters as well as shawls. 

Take a peek at this new yarn and browse through the book for inspiration. You can find them both on the teacart.

Strikketøj.

The newest book by Danish designer Helga Isager has arrived at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop.

Strikketøj is a pattern collection well-described by its subtitle: Knitting Designs Inspired by the Pop Culture of the 20th Century. Isager offers a pair of patterns for every decade of the 20th century, meant to reflect something of the style of the time.

Often, she pairs an adult pattern with a child's pattern, and both are equally chic. If you're interested in unusual children's knitting patterns, Helga Isager's designs are worth a look.

Strikketøj is a must-see for those seeking new uses for Isager yarns. Have a look next time you're in the shop!

The Principles of Knitting.

Here is a book that has been much-anticipated, a healthily revised version of a classic knitting tome: The Principles of Knitting, by June Hemmons Hiatt.

As I've expressed here on the blog before, I have a great love of serious knitting resource books. I don't need a lot of beautiful photography, though I'm in no way opposed to it, and while pattern collections can be wonderfully inspiring, there is nothing more exciting to me than a knitting book packed full of text, charts, and diagrams. The Principles of Knitting is right up my alley in this manner, as it is something of an encyclopedia of knitting at 736 pages. It is a thick, heavy book, one best perused at a table, with time and concentration.

Hiatt takes an analytical approach to the craft, cataloguing many versions of many techniques and offering an informed opinion on their best applications. As the length of the book suggests, Hiatt does not use words sparingly, as so many knitting technique books do. Instead, Hiatt takes all the room that is necessary to clearly and deliberately explain a technique, even one as deceptively simple as holding the yarn.

For someone who learns best from written instructions, this is a real treat, a book tailored to that very learning style. For me, The Principles of Knitting is a perfect fit, a big, beautiful book that I'm happy to page through for pleasure as well as instruction. If you have ever wanted a book of every imaginable cast-on, or have wondered which kind of increase or decrease to use, and why there are so many, The Principles of Knitting deserves your attention. It is a book to grow with, and one that reflects how much there is to learn and to do with knitting needles and yarn.

If I've intrigued you, come by the shop and see the book for yourself, where you'll find it weighing down the teacart importantly, a mere stack of two copies tall enough to tower over all the other new releases. See you at the shop.

For the hands and the feet: two new books.

From Martingale & Co. this week, we received two new books. One will help you clothe your hands, and the other, your feet. Let's take a closer look.

There are many ways to knit small circumferences in the round, and it's a good thing, too, because preferences vary from knitter to knitter. Some love double points and some loathe them. Some are happy using the magic loop on one long circular, while the mere thought of magic loop knitting sets others on edge. Some prefer knitting small circumferences like mittens or socks on two circular needles, and this new book is for them. Knitting Circles Around Mittens and More, by Antje Gillingham, is a collection of patterns for mitts and mittens using two circular needles.

Along with the patterns comes helpful information about modifying existing patterns to use two circulars instead of double points, as well as instruction on knitting two mittens at once. If knitting in the round on two circulars is your kind of thing, this book may be, too.

Now, for the feet: Knitting Scandinavian Slippers and Socks, by Laura Farson, is for lovers of colorwork. Many of the patterns use worsted weight yarn to create cushy slippers, but some are for fingering weight yarns, as well. Here are some of the stranded designs you'll find inside:

Take a look at these and other new books next time you're in the shop.