After a week’s delay, I present to you the latest batch of Blog Reader Specials, all available for claiming on the Blog Reader Specials page.
Here’s the group shot of Knitterman’s Lace, 100% Merino, about 1125 yards apiece: There are several that are similar but there were NO Twins dyed together. All single dyes.
And here is the batch of Knitterman’s Fingering, 100% superwash Corriedale, about 460 yards apiece.
Yesterday the weatherguy said we’d have more rains today “late afternoon/evening”. Now the radar is showing storms moving in this morning, so I’m racing the clock.
These are the BRS there were dyed last night. These are fresh from the wash, their first preview shot.
The first 10 are all Knitterman’s Lace – 100% Merino, about 1125 yards apiece:
And here are 10 Knitterman’s Fingering – 100% Superwash Corriedale, about 460 yards apiece.
First off, after having the stand on the sidelines to witness last week’s “adventures in home repair” I am excited to turn on the working brain again and get back into things. I spent a good part of yesterday just getting my house back in order — it’s amazing how much stuff got moved and had to be reorganized and put back into place.
There’s more yet to do, but I got the laundry area mostly functional:
My jug of homemade laundry soap didn’t fit inside so it sits on top. Oh well. And the Granique Arte (granny cart) now sits comfortably there as well — it use to ride around the kitchen for lack of a home to call its own.
Anyway…. moving right along.
DL wrote to me this morning to ask about over-dyeing a finished knitted project. She had purchased several skeins of a popular commercial yarn, and checked the dye lot numbers like every knitter knows how to do, and still somehow one of the skeins was “off”. As it was a circular shawl she now has a noticeable dark circle in the middle. EEEK!
She’s going to take pictures for me and we’ll discuss options on her project, but since other people have occasionally asked about over-dyeing, I thought I’d discuss the concept in general terms.
Normally, any hue of over-dye color will be affected by whatever color was already applied. Similar to painting a wall — any noticeable shapes or patterns or different colors on the wall before painting will show through as a ‘ghost’, unless you strip or prime the wall or apply two or more coats. It is slightly different applying dye to fiber, since the dye is not fully opaque, but the concept is similar. Whatever color was there to start will affect the end result. Of course, the only way to absolutely guarantee complete coverage and obliteration of the original problem is to overdye with a deep saturation of blackety-black.
Another issue is that DL’s original yarn is a mixed fiber (wool/nylon/metalic filament), so the yarn will take up dye differently. Nylon grabs color very well, wool allows more for bleeding.
Here is a project a customer asked me to overdye a few years ago, but I don’t recall the fiber content, whether it was all wool or a wool/silk blend:
Sarah knitted a Clapotis in a variegated yarn:
Notice that the primary feature of the Clapotis (the columns of dropped stitches) is lost in the variegation of the yarn.
and she wasn’t entirely happy with the colors, wanted to go more toward blues. So, after warning her that the overdye would not hide the original colors but would be affected by them, she still wanted the over-dye.
This is how it came out.
The darker and browner/golder shades affected how the blue went on it. The effect is similar to viewing something through a colored lens — everything takes on that color, just in varying degrees. This example turned out well and she was pleased.
One thing is clear — even softening the colors with a blue over-dye, you can still see the variegation and gradience, but (for this project, anyway) it really made the dropped stitches much more visible. The Clapotis depends heavily on those dropped stitches, so I’m glad this one turned out.
By the way, this is why I don’t recommend heavily variegated yarns for lacework — after putting in the effort, you want the lace stitches to be visible. That’s why I developed the “watercolor” technique, so there would be many colors working together to create an organic-appearing piece without distracting from the lacework. It is a very ‘wet’ process!
As for DL’s project, I’ll have to see the original color and see if there is a way to eliminate the solid hard circle effect from having a mismatched dye lot. And, if the original was a solid color, it might take a different procedure from what I’d do over a variegated yarn like Sara’s Clapotis. Applying a single solid overdye onto an original with two solid dye-lot colors will not eliminate the visible difference.
Of course, my biggest concern is taking someone’s finished handwork and potentially ruining it or turning it the wrong color. If I screw it up, I can’t undo what was done. So there will be dialog and consultation before I take any over-dye project.
But the only way to know if I can do something is to ask, right? And then discuss, and then do my best.
Woo-hoooo!
It is Saturday evening, and the best news of the week is:
And, yes, I DO realize that this is pretty much how “normal” people have things all the time. My bathroom/laundry area has been fairly low-class and run-down, but it was like that when I moved in before they had time to check for problems and fixes.
But the original problem that started this whole week was that water was misting out of the supply line for the washing machine, which made the floor fall out under the water heater. Fixing that is what led to discovering soooo many other problems. But now lookie how nice the area is. AND, my dead clothes dryer has been removed and taken away. I’ve lived without a functioning dryer for several years now, and while it would be delightful to have one again, it is NOT any sort of priority. I wash when I can and dry on the line outside. Those brown spots on the side are where the washer rubbed against the dryer because the floor underneath was caving in. And now, it is not! Woo-hoo!
Having spent the entire week (since last weekend, when I thoroughly scrubbed my kitchen floor) with all sorts of stuff scattered about the house, my Sunday will be in putting everything back away or finding new homes for some of it because the shelf over the washer is no longer there. The water heater is accessed through the bedroom closet so ALL my hanging stuff and storage bins are on my bed, all my bathroom contents are scatter around the bedroom and living room. UGH.
If I can make myself actually enjoy my environment again, I will be a lot better able to sit down, tally up the dye orders and requests and sort out what can be done and get my brain back into working gear. YAYYYY. So, all in all I am content with where it all stands. Frustrated that I am several days behind schedule, but most of the newly arrived cones are now in hanks and ready to dye, so that will move forward well enough when I get the rest of my kitchen reclaimed.
Whew!!!! And I know my experience is probably trivial compared to what others go through. But it is my experience for the week and I will no dismiss or diminish my experience. It SUCKED. But Monday starts a new work week and I will do all I can to make myself ready to WORK!
Well, I’m not doing feeling all the superlative, accomplished, or worthy this morning.
This is the status last night:
Before they quit for the night, the flooring had been pulled up and problems in the joists were fixed. But it was already getting late, so they just covered it up. Any number of critters from under the house could have waltzed right in during the night so I am glad they covered it up.
And this is how today starts:
I am sincerely hoping that it will all be made right.
In the meantime, I am trying to stay out of their way and avoid too much drama and anxiety.
Wouldn’t it be great to think I will get to start dyeing tomorrow??
As many of you know (by my rantings on Facebook), parts of my floor are being repaired. It is entirely out of my hands, the landlord’s nephew is doing the work — their money, their decisions, their timing.
This was the look of things on Monday:
A line to the washer had been misting out into the water heater closet, apparently for a long time. I didn’t notice it until one day the carpet was soaked. EEK! So anyway it was decided to repair the floor under the water heater and the laundry area. This i what it looked like on Monday.
Notice the corner of the washing machine. It’s in the middle of my kitchen. I can’t very well washing and spin-out my yarns with the washing machine not in place. And, I can’t conveniently move about the kitchen to even dye the yarns with all the laundry area stuff piled around the kitchen.
And then they decided to go ahead and fix the bit of the floor behind the toilet and just lay new flooring.
OOPS… apparently the bad flooring under the toilet extends to under the bathtub. I never noticed that area because: it is the 8 or 10 inches between the toilet tank and the tub, and there has been an over-toilet organizer/hutch occupying that space. But now that the hutch is gone, it is clear that the tub could have readily fallen through at any time.
And, before dyeing, I have to soak the yarns in separate bins that I put inside the tub, nice and convenient.
I had expected the anticipated work to be done and I could have started dye work yesterday, or at least started soaking the yarns to be dyed today. I was not expecting one problem to lead to another to another and another.
It was decided last night to do the floors and toilet today, so the washer wouldn’t be back in place at least until tonight, but now that the tub may have to come out, it may not be for yet another few days.
Which means it may well be the weekend or later before I get to start dyeing, which is frustrating.
Meanwhile, the coned yarns that were purchased for me recently HAVE arrived, and I’ve turned most of the cones into dyeable skeins. I’ve done all I can do. Meanwhile, the few remaining BRS yarns aren’t selling, and I have no other income to pay the utility bills and late-rent that are overdue or coming due this week. Basically I need to raise several big ones OR take a lot of orders for yarns. and/or get a bunch more cones ordered. Getting orders would be best, of course, since much of the yarns for that are here and ready to dye as soon as the floors are done, and that would bruise my ego less than taking handouts.
Nearly all the labels (Elann, KnitPicks, Cascade, etc.) use pretty much the same yarns, just different colors so they can slap different labels on it. But it’s all mostly interchangeable Peruvian Highland worsted weight yarn; i.e., if it says Peruvian or Peruvian Highland, and it is worsted weight, it’s pretty much the same stuff.
A couple years ago I collected up all my various-maker Peruvian Highland worsted weight yarns into 7 Priority Flat Rate boxes, sealed them up and sold them as Mystery Boxes.
Today, because I have an idea to pursue, and because I’m waiting for the new yarn shipment to arrive and because I can’t dye anything until my world is put back together (some emergency demolition and repair work is being done), I’m going to take these two boxes:
and use the contents of those two remaining mystery boxes:
to create the thing I see in my head. And actually, this go-round is for swatching and testing purposes. I want to see if it will actually work in the way I want. I’m pretty sure it will, but I want to be absolutely sure.
So, wish me luck today!
Monday and Tuesday there will be a couple guys in to replace the flooring under the washer, as well as the water heater closet and adjoining bedroom closet. So I was about to push all my hanging-up stuff to the other end of the closet, and
It’s a hanger cover that I made several years ago from my single-ply worsted weight Biagio line of yarns:
It is basic a “sweater” to fit over a hard clothes hanger to help avoid those hard hanger lines and shoulder nipples.
It is basically a sock toe, with increases at every round (due to the sharp angle) with a ribbed ‘neck’ and ‘waist’.
The one thing I made sure if is that the increases are made so that there are 4 stitches running the length of the sides. This way the actual increase line isn’t sitting atop the hanger so there is a sure padding over that hard hanger.
You could fill the broad field with whatever you wish, actually: lace work, fancy colorwork, or whatever. The important part is simply forming a thick but soft line along the shape of the hanger. You could cut and shape 1/2-inch foam padding to insert under the knitting to further enhance the hanger.
Definitely a benefit for those delicate blouses and other garments that need to hang, but aren’t helped by shoulder nipples or ridges.
If you would like a formal pattern or formula, please leave a comment below.
There are 4 Knitterman’s Lace (plus 1 Primo) on the Blog Reader Specials page:
And so because any one of them would make an interesting two-tone combination with any other one, I matched up all 6 possible combinations and swirled them. Unless you are using an unusually specific pattern, the swirling can only approximate the visual effect you can achieve in a variety of two-tone knitting.
Select any available pair of Knitterman’s Lace, and I’ll give you a bundled price of $45.00, including shipping inside the U.S.
Ok, so #142 and #161 are taken. That leaves #140 and #162. I’ll leave the other combo pictures just because they are cool!
I left the tag numbers inside the pictures so you can readily selected the pairs that you want. As always it is First Come, First Served, and once a pair is claimed, only one other pair will be available.
Thanks to a good weekend, I was able to get an order in place for yarn cones to start arriving — probably NEXT Tuesday or Wednesday. There is ONE cone each for Phydlbitz Sock and Primo Lace, and THREE cones for Knitterman’s Fingering, and Knitterman’s Lace.
Granted, my life would be so much better to have ten or more of each type of cone actually in-house, so I could more quickly fill everyone’s orders, and then restock at the back end, instead of waiting for yarns to show up in order to do your custom dye jobs. But that day will come.
If my supplier continues as in the past, they will get the combined orders out by tomorrow, and I will get them here in-house by next Tuesday or Wednesday. It will take a day or so to turn all those cones into hanks and then I can start dyeing on Thursday or Friday.
In the meantime, knowing that yarn is on the way, it’s a great time to put in your orders for special custom dyes. Any yarn not claimed for those who bought cones or purchased as a custom dye, will be dyed up as Blog Reader Specials in order to quickly replenish more stock and continue paying on what seems like a perpetual stream of bills coming due.
I’ve also posted a sneaky on the Custom Dyes page.
One Week 15% Refund Special
Valid through Sunday, 5 May 2013, for all yarns that are ordered on the “Surprise Me!” colorway option, I will refund 15% for those yarns. It will be treated as a blind “Blog Reader Special”.
I haven’t figure how to change the price of just one colorway, but if you select “Surprise Me” for any yarn base, I will count it as a blind Blog Reader Special, and will immediately refund 15% of the purchase price for that order. That means you get a surprise colorway on the base yarn of your choice, and I get to dye a Blog Reader Special without the additional work of special skeining and presentation photographs. Less work for me means a discount for you.
“But, Ray, you don’t do special presentation photos on the other colorways either.” No, but I have to follow the requested recipe and make sure it is done right, which is more exacting than playing with colors and yarns with unrestrained abandon. And some colorways cannot be handled with other colorways, so have to do a separate dye and wash process just so they don’t pick up dyes from other yarns. By doing Blog Reader Specials, if a spot of ‘this’ lands on a strand of ‘that’, it’s all okay. And, actually, that’s how Blog Reader Specials starts — mistakes and bleeding happen and created a yarn not meeting the intended colorway.
Oh yeah, and by taking advance orders on yarns I have already paid for to arrive next week, I will also be able to put money onto other bills this week. But that’s an added bonus purely to retain my sanity a little longer! (I used to keep my sanity in a trunk under the bed; what’s left of it now fits a Pez dispenser, which is handy because I have to dole it out in tiny portions.)
