↓
 

Knitivity

The Adventures of Knitterman -- Independent Art Yarn Dyer

  • Home
  • Contact
    • Building Inventory Time!
  • Knitterman’s Blog
  • Blog Reader Specials!
    • 2012 – What was done
    • 2013 – What was done before
    • 2014 – What’s been done before
    • 2015- What’s been done
    • What Was Done in 2016
    • Custom-Dyes
  • Patterns
    • Dicey Knitting
Home→Published 2019 → September 1 2 >>

Monthly Archives: September 2019

Post navigation

← Older posts

Protégé? Apprentice? Helper?

Knitivity Posted on 27 September 2019 by Knitterman27 September 2019

Whatever you call it, I was delighted that my granddaughter Devyn wanted to come and dye with me on Wednesday.   The idea was that I would show her a technique as I did a Twinset, and then she would use that technique on a Single.   As it turned out, my body could not do a full dye session — it took twice as long to do one batch with her than it does when I work alone, and I simply had to stop after the first batch.  Not her fault, of course, it’s my own failing body.  BUT, it was fun and she got to dye four hanks of Lovely Sock.   I was able to dye the 2nd batch on Thursday.

Anyway, here she is dyeing her very first hank of yarn (hint:  it’s #794, on the 2nd rack of yarns below).    She had a good time, and I hope she wants to continue learning about dyeing.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if she started her own yarn-dyeing business, or even became a regular helper with Knitivity?  😀   But that’s a dream for another day; for now I’m happy to enjoy her company.  And, of course, pay her for her work.

Anyway, there are now 24 hanks of Lovely Sock (80/20 Superwash Merino/Nylon, 430 yards) available for you.  I was going to wait until Sunday to show these, since there is already a sale on the Blog Reader Specials page, but I’ve had other plans come up for the weekend, and it doesn’t seem many are interested in the previously shown BRS yarns.

So, for Friday and Saturday, you can have preview pricing on  these newest BRS yarns (#774-797), each hank for $25.00.  They’ll be $27.00 each when they go to the Blog Reader Specials page.   All of my dyes were done at Twinsets, all of Devyn’s were done as Singles.  There is no obligation to take both skeins of a Twinset.

Since I do have other weekend plans, I will say these will be ready to ship on or before Wednesday — probably Tuesday, but I like to allow myself extra time these days.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selections.

Already claimed:  776, 777, 792, 793, 794, 797

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Posted in Knitting

A wee bit moist, eh?

Knitivity Posted on 21 September 2019 by Knitterman21 September 2019

Imelda has moved on now, but for a couple days it was horrible for much of southeast Texas.   If you have seen the news the last few days, you know we’ve had serious flooding all over the area.  My daughter’s … Continue reading →

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Continue reading →
Posted in Working

And now the cycle begins!

Knitivity Posted on 14 September 2019 by Knitterman14 September 2019

Awwrighty, then!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, I placed a rather large (for me) order for more yarns to keep me going a little longer.   I placed the order on Thursday, they processed it yesterday (Friday), and I received a notice to expect delivery on Tuesday.  Great, I can live with that.

So today, I was dyeing yarns, put the first batch into the steamer and went outside for a bit of air, and guess what was on my ramp!   They didn’t knock or anything, and I didn’t hear a sound from outside.   They even moved the cat food tray and put it on top of the water bowl, but I heard nothing.  Color me surprised!    🙂

My granddaughter is coming on Monday and she will help me open the boxes and run an inventory to ensure I got all that I’d ordered.  And help me find a place to store it all in the workroom she just emptied out a few weeks ago.   She probably isn’t much interested in a yarn-dyeing business, but learning how to check a shipment against an order is a useful skill for anyone in any line of work, right?  🙂

Meanwhile, I’ve got boxes and boxes filling up my space.   Oy vey!

So, anyway, I got the yarns dyed almost as quickly as I’d hoped, and I was able to get them cooled, washed, rinsed and hanging for your previewing pleasure.  I was hoping for earlier in the afternoon, but I had to rest between batches.

Oh!  And guess what happened after dyeing?  I was napping as the yarns cooled, and heard a shattering sort of noise.  I toured the kitchen briefly, and found nothing so I figured it was the neighbors and finished my nap.   Later, I stepped on a piece of something in the kitchen.  It felt like a piece of cat kibble which sometimes drops to the floor, but when I picked it up it was a knob of broken glass!  Further investigation let me to the kitchen cabinet — one of my Pampered Chef heavy glass mixing bowls had simply shattered in the cupboard!  I really liked these mixing bowls, with handles and lids, great for all sorts of kitchen work.  But I’d not used it recently and I have NO idea what could have cause it to shatter like this.

I’ve heard stories of other people’s Pyrex baking dishes shattering without warning.  Apparently modern Pyrex and similar glass ware is made with a soda-lime formulation, rather than the earlier borosilicate recipe that made Pyrex and similar glassware so sturdy and beloved.  A friend says such bakeware in Europe still uses the older formulation.  If you have newer glass bakeware, please be careful.

As is my habit, they were all dyed as Twinsets, but there is no obligation to take both yarns of a Twinset.  And, in fact, in today’s collection there are several solid or nearly-solid yarns that would work well in contrasting sets with some of the other yarns.  I didn’t really plan it that way, but one of the golds would work well with one of the browns, for example.

Because Monday is already slated for other work, this collection will rest tomorrow, and be reskeined and labeled on Tuesday, and ready to ship on Wednesday.

To claim the ones you want, send me an email with your numbered requests.  Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards) are $27.00 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, before they are prepared for the Blog Reader Specials page, you can have any of this newest collection (#750 – 773) for $25.00 apiece at preview pricing.

Already Claimed: 750, 751, 752, 753, 766, 767, 768, 769

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Posted in Knitting

Well, whattaya know?

Knitivity Posted on 13 September 2019 by Knitterman13 September 2019

The week started out wondering what my future would be.  And then yesterday happened.   And then today happened.

Yesterday I ordered more yarn.   Forty five cones, to be exact, including 15 cones of the Phydlbitz Sock base, and then 6 cones each of five other yarn bases.

What I did not get was more Primo Lace.  I like to order cones in multiples of three (my skein-winder for pulling hanks from cones does three at a time), but they only showed 2 in stock.  I emailed my supplier today to see when they’d be getting more of the Primo Yarn base in stock.  I was told they will not be ordering any more at all, BUT she did have 1 cone held back for knitting samples and offered it to me, along with the last 2 in regular stock.

So I’ll be getting three cones of Primo Lace.  I don’t know if she’d begun using that last one because what she billed me for is less than the normal size cone.  No matter — I’ll be starting with three cones and if one comes up short, well then that’s how the cookie crumbles.   And actually, I have a tiny remnant cone of Primo Lace with just a few hank’s worth of yardage left on, so this plus whatever her remnant cone turns out to be, I may still have 3 cones to work with.  Unless I am mistaken, there should be 45-50 hanks of Primo Lace to be dyed in the next couple of months.

The point is, this will be the last of the Primo Lace they sell, and I AM GETTING IT, AND I AM GETTING IT FOR YOU!!    How cool is that!!??

I will, of course, being dyeing the Primo in regular rotation with the other yarns, but since it has become a “precious commodity” in limited supply, if you know you want some, feel free to make a custom order request.

I discovered the recent batches of Phydlbitz Sock base are a little less than what they used to be, so I may end up having to make joins now and then in order to get maximum use from the cones, even though I don’t like doing that.

Also, yesterday, I somehow managed to get my ducks in a row to get my Medicare Advantage plan into place, so as of November 1 I will actually have access to health care again. Woo-hooo!  Several have expressed concern on this score, and I appreciate that.   I’m not relishing it, of course, because I already know I’m overdue for another colonoscopy, and I suspect other things will need to be brought up to date.   Whooppeeee!  But even so, access to health care is better than not having access, so I’ll take what I can get.  The one disappointment is that while this Medicare Advantage plan has ridiculously low co-pays for primary doctor visits and drugs, it does not include dental (she said they may have dental next year).   I have several thousand dollars worth of dental that needs to be done.  Maybe I should go for a cleaning and get an estimate on what needs doing and then get a GoFundMe to get my mouth fixed….?   We’ll see.

This afternoon I pull 24 hanks of Phydlbitz Sock to be dyed tomorrow, so that’s a good thing.

So, all in all, it’s turned out to be a good week overall and Knitivity will be moving forward.   If the morning works out well, I should be able to show some yarn tomorrow afternoon.  We’ll see what the weather is like.

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Posted in Working

Questioning my methods.

Knitivity Posted on 9 September 2019 by Knitterman9 September 2019

Awwwrighty, then!  I survived the weekend, albeit rather slowly, and got the week’s batch of Blog Reader Specials done yesterday.  I’ve resigned myself to accepting that this week we’ll still be in the mid-90s but some rain is forecast so it might not be so bad.  I can’t wait for fall to arrive in Texas.

A topic came up in one of the larger Facebook knitting groups, a knitter was questioning why so many yarns are sold in hanks instead of pull-skeins or balls, as it took so long to ball up yarn from a hank.  Several people commented how yarn retains its natural springiness if left in the hank instead of being put into a center-pull skein or ball, since that process adds tension to the yarn and it can lose its spring or elasticity.  Others mentioned they like seeing the color distribution on the hank rather than seeing all the colors mixed up as in a ball.  And, of course, many suggested that the inquiring knitter simply  invest in a swift and ball winder.  🙂

For many years now I have shown the yarns on the rack to show color distribution, but because yarns do tangle and skew in the washing process I take the time to reskein back into a well-made hank, which I can twist and show for presentation.  I really dislike twisting a hank that has random pulled strands hanging about, so I reskein to make things neat again.

I don’t normally put up into a center-pull ball, except by request — reskeining into a hank takes just a couple minutes, but putting to a center-pull ball takes much longer, and then it has to be done a second time to release tension that was created the first time.  (The first time, you are pulling yarn AND pulling the swift around and around as you ball the yarn, making a tight firm ball.  Then you have to put the new ball to the floor and re-ball it without that swift-pulling tension.  Second-wound balls are always softer and with much less tension to stretch the yarn. )

I like the way I’ve been doing it because (to me) my reasons make sense in my head.  But now I’m wondering — should I just twist the dyed hanks ‘as-is’ to show the color distribution in the presentation photos that I post on the BRS page?  I know many dyers do show their yarns that way, without reskeining.    Or is there a different way I  could be / should be showing the yarns?

Every now and then a topic comes up and I question or doubt how I do things, and I’m open to suggestions for improvement or constructive criticism.

Anyway, here are the yarns I dyed yesterday.   Two dozen Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each).

I used a variety of techniques on these, but mostly wet-on-wet.   The two sprinkles (724-725, teal, and 742-743, brown) were wet-on-dry.  I tried to re-create Glacier Fire (728-729), and the popular Glacier Lake (738-739).  Neither of those came out as I’d envisioned, but they still look good in their own ways.  🙂

These will rest today, I’ll reskein and label tomorrow, and they’ll be ready to ship on Wednesday.   To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered requests.  Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.00 each, but for today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday) you can have preview pricing at $25.00 each.

Already claimed:  724, 725, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 738, 739, 744, 745

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Posted in Knitting

Post navigation

← Older posts
©2023 - Knitivity - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑