The Hillsborough Yarn Shop

After dropping my siblings off to stay at my grandparents, my mom and I stopped at The Hillsborough Yarn Shop and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Everything is artfully placed on shelves, or hung on hat racks. The knitting needles are stored in a repurposed card catalog. How creative!

The children's knitting book collection is complete with Missions Falls cotton, a rocking chair, and a hand-knit pig.

There is a mother and baby alpaca pair on top of the spinning rack of alpaca and wool-blend hand-dyed yarns.

The front window is graced with buckets of lovely yarn.

I love the Christmas wreath from red and green skeins of yarn.

Here is a super cute set of hand warmers and a hat.

I really enjoy how the owner, Anne Derby, arranged the baskets of yarn with pattern books that would use that type of yarn.

The coral, pink, and purple blend in the bottom right of this picture is just stunning. Wouldn't it make a lovely baby sweater?

The hand-dyed brown below is so subtle, yet rich with the nuances of brown.

I have enjoyed knitting leaf-motif hats and cowls, but this is an entire sweater of leaves!

This corner was so inviting. Light to knit by, a comfortable easy chair, a hand-knit blanket, and plenty of inspiration.

I definitely want to go back next time I'm driving through Hillsborough.

My mom purchased a baby fair isle pattern called Preppy Hats by Heather Walpole, that can be either pink bows for a girl, or whales for either gender. The pattern is also for sale on Ravelry.

We purchased Ella Rae bamboo silk to knit these hats. I'm going to do the whale versions, one in pewter and plum, and the other in mocha and navy. She's going to knit the pink bow version.

I also purchased my first Debbie Bliss yarn, Fez, which is 85% Extrafine Merino Wool and 15% Camel, in gray. The heathered purple is Ultra Alpaca from Berroco, 50% Alpaca and 50% Wool.

Please visit The Hillsborough Yarn Shop's website to find out more about Anne's lovely shop at www.hillsboroughyarn.com

Happy Knitting!

Spring Projects

I have almost finished another collection of hats for Rex Hospital. I only have to weave in a few ends and find ribbons for the drawstring hats, like the ones I did last time. I decided to do this photo shoot outside in the beautiful, budding garden. The red buds and dogwoods are some of the most faithful heralds of spring every year on my street. What more fitting place than a garden in spring to take pictures of baby hats, which will cover the heads of infants who will each have a unique role to fill?

I also have been delving into my other crafts, primarily sewing, in the past few weeks. I am working on a spring dress made out of 100% cotton. It is a lovely coral and pink floral, rather fitting for spring. 

As I still have to finish the armhole binding, hem the edge, and finish tailoring the dress, pictures of me wearing the garment will be shown later. Below are a few pictures of the fabric. A friend of mine made a purse from the exact same fabric. Having only one JoAnne’s in our area makes it not uncommon for duplicates, but that will be fun. I’m only hoping that once I finish, my dress will look as professionally crafted as my friend’s. 

For sewing details, it is a pattern from Elegant Stitches, a cute and creative shop in Cary. When I saw the pattern, I thought it looked absolutely perfect. However, I have so altered the dress in order to make it actually fit me, I don't know that I would be able to reproduce another one of these dresses. This is partially my fault, because I chose to go with the larger size when I was in between sizes. Hence, I have learned how to sew darts. Because of my alterations, the neckline won't be perfect. That bothers me (though I'm almost sure no one but a seamstress would notice), so I'm already planning a project to sew a light-weight scarf with it in one of the corals or pinks from the fabric. This may prove more difficult than expensive; pinks can be so difficult to match.

What are your spring projects? Are there certain crafts you tend to do more of in the spring? 

Happy Spring and Happy Crafting!

Rose