edit: All the yarns not claimed below from the preview racks have now been posted to the Blog Reader Specials page; click through to see the individual Twinset pictures.  Shown here is the group shot of unclaimed yarns from the preview racks this week:

Happy Saturday!

Gloriously sunny but cold here in Houston this morning.   Hard on the hands to be handling damp yarns in the windy cold air outside for pictures.  With Daylight Saving Time starting tomorrow, I am hoping I can schedule the weekly photo shoot for a better time when the sun isn’t glaring right into my camera lens.

• Side note:  What is your opinion about Daylight Saving Time?  Would you rather have DST all year?  Or never have DST?  Or are you okay with the annual time change?   Leave a comment if you have an opinion.  🙂

So anyway, this week I decided to go with some darker/richer colors.  I knew I wanted to do a Midnight Green (#218-219) as well as a Dirty Mechanic (#234-235).  Neither of them came out exactly as I had hoped, even though I used the same dye mix recipes that I used several years ago when I developed these two colorways.   The difference, apparently, is how I applied the dye to the yarn, since my technique has changed over the years.  They are still great colors, though,

I also somehow managed to come up with two versions of Driftwood (#228-229 and #230-231) as well as a surprise Beach Sand (#232-233).  I have tried for years to get a light-enough shade of tan-brown that would look like the sand on the beaches where I grew up in Santa Barbara, CA.  And now suddenly it just happened when I wasn’t even looking.  Imagine that!! I love surprises.

Most of this week’s collection are nearly-solid and/or a splatter-smoosh technique;  Twinset #220-221 is the only Twinset with noticeable bands or sections.   All the rest would be amazing shawls or cowls where you want an overall tone without a lot of banding or pooling of contrasting colors.  At close viewing you’ll be able to pick out variations, but from a distance they should appear as an organic monochrome color. A lot of the visual expression comes from your own stitch patterns and designs; in my head I generally see a wash of color as it would be expressed on plain stockinette, garter stitch, seed stitch — simple stitching that allows the colors to do the work.  Your knitting technique may call for something different, like lacework.

Because I nearly always use a limited palette for each dye session, many of these colors will also work great in contrasting or colorwork patterns — for example, the deep reds of #238-239 would be amazing when paired with the aqua-teal of  #240-241; or maybe one of the Driftwoods of #228-229 and the Beach Sand #232-233.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards), and will be $27.00 each when they move to the Blog Reader Specials page.  For Saturday and Sunday (March 12 & 13), you can claim any of today’s new collection #218-241 for just $25.00 each.  They will all be reskeined and properly labeled prior to shipping, but this preview pricing is available because I won’t have to also photograph, edit, and post individual presentation pictures on the Blog Reader Specials page for the ones claimed early. You save me a little bit of work, I save you a little bit of money.  Win-win.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selections.  Many of this week’s collection will work well in contrast with others, so there is no requirement that you claim both skeins of a Twinset if you only want one.

When you make your claim, I will mark off your requests on the Available Yarns tally chart shown just above the pictures below, and then send your invoice.  Soon as the invoice is paid, I will  purchase and prepare your shipping label to ensure that when the yarns are dried, reskeined, and labeled, they will be ready to ship with the next pass of the mail carrier.  You will receive a shipping notice along with a tracking number.

It takes 3-4 days for the yarns to be ready to ship so your shipping notice should include the date of anticipated shipping.  This week, for example, I expect to have these yarns shipping on or before Wednesday.  It will probably be Tuesday, but I always allow an extra day in case of unexpected delays.  I have learned that between crazy Texas weather, and my own occasional health issues, it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver as much as possible; this principle seems to work with nearly any field of endeavor.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229
Rack 2 – 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241

As I mentioned last week, my supplier is raising prices on all their inventory at the end of this month, so Phydlbitz Sock will be $27.50 starting next month.

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