Knitivity

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

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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

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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

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