Happy October!

And Happy Anniversary to me!  I’ve now officially Knitivity for 17 years!  Several people thought I wouldn’t last but a year or two, and while it has been difficult at times, I am still here. I’m not particularly smart or noticeably clever (at least no more so than the next average fellow); I am  just incredibly stubborn, for better or worse.

I’ve been struggling with my body lately, so this early taste of Autumn means I can actually enjoy taking my exercise walks without trying to beat the heat.  I’ve not had a car or driven since 1989 and have been a walker, but walking has always been a means to reach a destination and not a pursuit in itself. Getting off my duff just to walk for the sake of walking is relatively new to me just in the last few years. With age and health concerns, it is what I must do to keep body and soul together.  I’ve never been this old before and will never be as young as I am now.

Yesterday I had a wild (and probably questionable) idea how to dye this week’s collection of Phydlbitz Sock yarn.  I would take 3 dyes and make a Twinset of slap dyes, and then make the next Twinset with those same dyes and do a 3-color dip dye. The result  would be four coordinated skeins. I tried this three times, across six Twinsets. I’m not sure of the success — dye saturation is not the same between slap dyes and dip dyes. The main difference is that slap dyes have less control than other dyeing methods as far as where the dye lands.   Even so, I did what I did and offer up each Twinset on their own merits.

Most of the experiment yarns are #906-917, and it looks like #918-919 and 924-925 are done in a similar fashion, but I failed to display them side-by-side as I’d done on the first rack, mostly because I was hurrying to get the second rack photographed as the sun was coming up over the roof and glaring into my eyes.

Once that experiment was done, I dyed the remaining yarns in a variety of techniques without any particular intention.  And then, after all was said and done, and I did my clean-up, I ended up with SIX jars of leftover dyes!   So there will definitely be some solids next week, which are great for lacework or other textured knitting where you want to see the stitches without distraction of multiple colors.  🙂

All of these are on Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards), which are normally $27.50 apiece.  For Sunday and Monday, you may claim any matching Twinset from this current collection (BRS23 – 906 – 929) for $49.50 (10% off each Twinset).

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selections.  Be sure to let me know your destination ZIP code (inside the U.S.) or your country if you are outside the U.S.

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917
Rack 2 – 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 925, 927, 928, 929

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