Happy Sunday

What a crazy week it’s been, but I’m catching up and it will all level out next week, I’m sure.

Here’s a shot of me out and about on Tuesday, taking care of things I’ve been wanting to do for a couple years.   I got done what needed doing, but I was worn out by the time i got home.  As you can see, I was going through a lot at the time.   🙂

I set up my process to start dyeing Friday afternoon as I normally do.  I barely got started when the power went out.  Heat up in the 90s, no air conditioning, and too dark indoors to continue dyeing.  UGH! By the time power came back it was almost Late O’Clock so I only did the first batch.  I dyed the second batch yesterday.

While I did dye my regular 24-skein batch, the first six skeins were for a custom order, and the next six are intended for a special project. So, there is only one rack of yarns to show for now as my regular Blog Reader Specials collection.

I’m not sure the camera captured it, but Twinset #495-496 is probably the most blackety-black I’ve been able to dye, mostly because I had to double-saturate the dye.   Twinset #499-500 is a combination of red, orange, and chestnut, while #503-504 is a blend of royal blue and turquoise.   All three Twinsets are fully saturated, deep and rich.

Twinsets #497-498 and 505-506 are sprinkle-dyes of all the colors I was using this weekend, in various combinations.  Twinset #501-502 is a wash of “grape fluff” topped with random deep purple splatterings.

Any of these would of course make wonderful socks, but the solids especially would lend themselves to your favorite lace or textured stitches for a shawl, cowl, or that special pattern you’ve been saving until you find the perfect yarn.

As with all my Phydlbitz Sock 2.0, these are 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each, and are normally $28.00.  For Sunday, visitors are invited to claim any two or more skeins for $26.00 each.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered items.  After marking your requests off the Available Yarns list below, I’ll send a PayPal invoice for the yarns, plus shipping.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate shipping correctly.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Thursday of this coming week.

Available Yarns: 
495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506

Happy Saturday to You!

This week we get something different!  We have 100% Superwash Merino, worsted wt., 220 yards/100 grams each.

Last week I ordered some new dyes — a couple dyes to replenish what I had, and a few new-to-me colors, including Amethyst (Twinset #477-478), and Aqua Tropic, which appears on a few Twinsets; it is the only blue-adjacent dye I used this week.

There are several brown or brown-adjacent colors on hand because I was attempting a Camo colorway for a friend, so the browns along with a gold and spruce I did as solid dyes for you in today’s line-up.  The Spruce is a  single dye from the jar, but it is clearly made up of different pigments at the manufacturer as it seemed to separate during the dip-dyeing — an assortment of dark greens and browns all mixed together.

Twinset #471-472 is a solid Crocodile Green, but I have trouble distinguishing it from the emerald and some other middle greens I have available.  (Personally, I prefer my own Knitivity Green #1 that I blend myself from a precise recipe of a yellow and a blue, but it’s nice to have a variety of greens available.)

Twinset #473-474 is a sort of sand color that reminds me of my mother’s camel hair jacket, but the fade effect is difficult to see; it’s more of a nearly-solid, and will pair with any of the solid brown variations (#469-470, 479-480, or 485-486).  Looking at them all together, I think a five-color set of 473, 489, 479, 485, and 469 would make an amazing Find-Your-Fade type shawl.  Or make take all five of these  Twinsets for a neutral-tone gradient or ripple lapghan.

All of these will be available on the Blog Reader Specials page for $28.00 per skein later this coming week.  Visitors are welcome to claim any matching Twinset on Saturday or Sunday for just $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requested numbered items.  I will mark your requests off the Available Yarns table shown below, and then send you a PayPal invoice.  If you are outside the U.S. please let me know so I can calculate your shipping charges.

I expect to have this week’s collection ready to ship on or about Wednesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478
Rack 2 – 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490

Happy wet-and-sloppy Saturday!

It’s been a weird week for me, and I think it is reflected in this week’s collection of yarns.  There are several happy bright combinations, but quite a few feel somewhat subdued and moody.  This isn’t a bad thing, of course, because a lot of patterns and garments lend themselves to quiet elegance without making an eye-blinding statement.

This makes me wonder — I know a lot of sock-knitters love the bright combinations, but sock  yarns are so useful in other projects that depend on knitting texture and stitch patterns rather than yarn colors, so it’s nice to have variety.   What do you prefer for your knitting?

Like, for example, Twinset #453-454 would knit up  a light nature-toned semi-solid with blips of chestnut, pink, and yellow.  Similarly, Twinset #459-560 is a different combination of washed-out sandy beach tones.

The final Twinset, #465-466 is a true DumpDye, where I combined the last bits of chestnut, chocolate brown, gold, yellow, and emerald into a fabulous mysteriously dark yarn without a clear identity of its own.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 — 75/25  Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each — and regularly $28.00 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, visitors are invited to take any matching Twinset of this week’s collection (#443-466) for just $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selections.  After marking your requests from the chart below, I’ll send you a PayPal invoice.  On payment of the invoice, I’ll purchase your shipping label so that when the yarns are dried, reskeined, and ready I can ship them to you.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Wednesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454
Rack 2 – 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466

Happy Saturday!

Let’s start with the pictures first this time.  Details on how to get your favorites is discussed down below.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430
Rack 2 – 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442

I had a fun time last night dyeing yarns.  At first I wasn’t sure about the dyes I had pulled out for the session, but it didn’t take long to just let the colors make their own decisions.

There are two DumpDye Twinsets:  #427-428 started as a pale seafoam green, but it needed something more, so it got a dip-dye in a mix of black and navy; the other one, #439-440, is a delightful mix of chestnut and navy.

There are several splatter dyes, as well as a few brightly segmented yarns, plus my regular monochrome fades.

These are all on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each).   Normally, these are $28.00 per skein, but for Saturday and Sunday, visitors are invited to claim any matching Twinset of this collection (#419 – 442) at just $26.00 each.

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your numbered selections.  I’ll send you a PayPal invoice, including shipping charges.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate your shipping correctly.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Wednesday

Happy Saturday!

I went into the dye session without a specific plan and no idea how thinks would turn out.   There are a few multi-color Twinsets — #397-398 is clearly segmented, while #401-402 and #417-418 are variations of sprinkle-dyed with several types of greens.  Twinset #409-410 is a dip-wash of red and yellow.  The red turns up again on #405-406 where it was blended with Kelly Green, creating a sort of brick red.  Twinset #403-404 is a dip-dye into a blend of violet and sky blue.  Twinset #415-416 is a mild fade of a blue-gray.

While any of these would be perfect for socks, these solids would also be tremendous for your fancy lacework or textured knitting.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75% Superwash 25-micron Merino/25% Nylon, 460 yards each), and will be $28.00 when moved to the Blog Reader Specials page.   For Saturday and Sunday, you can get Preview Pricing at just $26.00 per skein when you claim two or more from this week’s collection (#395-418).

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requested numbers.  After making them off the Available Yarns table below, I will send you a PayPal invoice.  On payment I will secure your shipping label, so the yarns can ship as soon as they are all dried, reskeined, and labeled.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Wednesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406
Rack 2 – 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418

Happy Monday!

I got into the dye session with high hopes, and I was not disappointed in the results.

But first, I need some help.  Somehow my Knitivity Facebook page got eliminated.  I suspect it was someone(s) attempting to take over my account(s), as I’ve been getting a lot of new requests for changing passwords, including  for apps and services I don’t even use.  I couldn’t find my Knitivity page on Facebook, nor could any of my friends.  There were over 1500 page likes and followers, so this is a significant loss in my ability to announce each new collection of Knitivity yarns.  I just checked again and there are now three followers, and all are names I recognize.

If you are on Facebook, please go to the new Knitivity page there, click Like or Follow for the page.  Then invite your friends to do the same.  I don’t know how long it will take to build up a passive audience again, but I need to have as many eyes as possible to roll over my yarns each week.

While we’re at it, here is my Instagram page, which should show up as rayknittermanwhiting or Ray Knitterman Whiting (same as my personal Facebook page).  I seem to get a lot of scammers and bot “followers” on Instagram, so it would be a treat to see real names I recognize there as well.

Okay, onward to the yarns!

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each).  These are normally $28.00 per skein, but for Monday and Tuesday you can claim any matching Twinset from this week’s collection (#371-394) for $26.00 per skein ($52.00 for each matching pair)

To claim the ones you want, just email me (ray@knitivity.com) the item numbers you want.  I will mark them off the Available Yarns chart below, and then send a PayPal invoice.  PayPal will collect your shipping details so please be sure they have your current address.

I expect to have these ready to ship by or about Thursday.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382
Rack 2 – 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394

Well, whattaya know!  We’ve reached the last weekend of April!

I notice there are now almost 100 skeins of yarn on the Blog Reader Specials page, including the most recent additions from last weekend’s BRS collection, shown here:

Having this much dyed sock yarn on hand means I’m running out of places to store them all.  So now, through Wednesday, everything on the Blog Reader Specials page will be invoiced at 15% off.

Most of my regular visitors know that I focus mostly on one-of-a-kind dye jobs and mostly on Phydlbitz Sock yarn (75/25 SW Merino/Nylon, 460 yards).  For me and my situation, sock yarns are easiest for me to dye, and because every dye job is unique you are always getting something not everyone else has.

I can, of course, dye other yarns on request, depending on what you need and how quickly you need it.

Good morning, and Happy Saturday!

Well, believe it or not, I didn’t set out to follow a color theme, but it sure looks like there was a tussle between the blues and the pinks.  I just pulled out jars of dyes I’ve not used in a while and they just happened to work well together.

When I was dyeing Twinset #349-350 and it was still wet, it struck me as looking like a scuffed up leather journal, but I’m not sure it does now.  It is a splattering of chestnut and espresso.   Those same colors were mixed for a dip-dye on Twinset #363-364, so I’m guessing they would all work together for stripes of solids and splatterings.  Either one would do well in a lace shawl or shoulder wrap, if you aren’t into knitting socks.

I brought out a jar of something called violamine, which I just discovered is also called acid violet-9, used for various scientific research.  To me, it is just a color. A very loud and attention-seeking color.  🙂

It  is sprinkled on Twinset #347-348, alternating with one of the blues; or a fade into pink on #351-352; it is segmented with other colors on #355-356, and just a smidge on #361-362.  Even in small amounts it makes itself known.

Twinset #353-354 is a splattering of chestnut with a wash of pale blues.  The same wash of blues is on #357-358, along with some jade and emerald.   Twinset #367-368 is a random sprinkling of pale espresso and blues.

This week’s literal DumpDye is Twinset #369-370.  At the end of the dye session, I dumped all the remaining bits of all the blues and blue-adjacent dyes.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 — 75% superwash 25-micron Merino and 25% nylon; 460 yards — which are normally $28.00 each, after they are reskeined, labeled and posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.  If you claim the ones you want on Saturday or Sunday, you may take any two or more at just $26.00 each skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your selection numbers.   I’ll send you a PayPal invoice for payment.  PayPal will process all credit or debit cards for me even if you don’t have a PayPal account, and they will collect all your shipping details for the shipping label.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate your international shipping on your invoice.

I expect to have this collection ready to ship on or about Wednesday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358
Rack 2 – 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370

Last weekend I dyed another collection of Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 that I showed on the Blog on Saturday (click here), with many yarns being claimed.

This particular yarn excited me in the preview pictures, and made me even more happy to see it skeined up. What really excites me is how the few colors I used migrated and blended on their own in the steamer.   Here is the reskeined yarn (#337) …

And here is the yarn laid out before I twisted and labeled it:

I love how the colors blended around.  But I guess other people aren’t excited by this particular colorway.   People also skipped over the other yarn that really tickled me, Twinset #325-326:

Here is the whole collection of yarns posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.