Update:  All the claimed yarns are being shipped this afternoon.  I’ve just uploaded all the unclaimed yarns from this collection (plus an extra Twinset in pink that I’ve not shown yet) onto the Blog Reader Specials page.   Here is the group shot of the newly posted BRS yarns:

Happy Saturday!

First up — for all but a few states in the U.S., tonight we turn the clocks forward one hour, to begin Daylight Saving Time again.  For me this means I will have better opportunity for outside yarn pictures before the sun gets high enough to interfere.

Back in the Spring of 1984 when the clocks changed, I was quite oblivious in the moment.  I got up, got dressed and drove to church in plenty of time for the 11:00 service.  The parking area was full but I found a spot and managed to walk in the door just in time for  the 12:00 closing Amen and dismissal.  OOPS!    Thankfully I was not the pastor at that particular church. 🙂

Do you have a funny/awkward story about the time  change?

Anyway, I pulled out what seemed to be an unusual combination of dyes to mix for last night’s dye session, but I ended the session thinking I did fairly well.

A few I want to point out first — Twinset #201-202 is a deep rich Charcoal; #205-206 is a nearly solid Tangerine; #211-212 is a saturated Military Green with an overwash of Milling Blue.

Twinset #197-198 is a light wash of the Tangerine with all-over random speckles of black.  I could be mistaken, but I think a Triplet of the charcoal, tangerine, and the coordinating speckles would make a smashing shawl or scarf.

Last week I introduced a new-to-me technique of speckling 4 colors across 4 sections of the hank so that each quarter has 2 colors speckled together.   Both of those skeins were snatched up almost immediately, so I tried the same technique this week with four different colors to create Twinset #213-214.

As always, if you need a better view of a particular Twinset today or tomorrow, please let me know so I can isolate just that pair if no one else has already claimed it.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 — 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards.  These are normally $28.00 each, but for Saturday and Sunday, you may claim any two or more from this week’s collection (#195 – 218) for just $26.00 each skein.   They will all be reskeined for shipping, of course, but I like to offer this Preview Pricing discount because I don’t have to photograph the reskeined yarns or edit and post those image on the Blog Reader Specials page.  Claiming yarns from the rack saves me a little work, so I’m happy to save you a little money.  Win-win!

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your selections.  I will mark your selections off the Available Yarns chart below and send a PayPal invoice.  On payment of your invoice, I will prepare your shipping label so that when the yarns are dried and processed I can ship them.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206
Rack 2 – 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218

Happy Saturday!

Another fun collection of Phydlbitz Sock for you — 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each.

Along with several of my regular techniques, I tried something new on Twinset #175-176.  Besides being a regular sprinkle,  I used 4 different colors and overlapped each section so there are two colors in each section, but each color covers 2 section.  Interesting blending, and I’ll probably try it again in the future with different colors.

There are a few long-span two-tones (72-inch repeats), like #169-170, #181-182, and #185-186.

Twinset #177-178 is done with rich red bands that were supposed to be separated with gold bands.  The red bled into the gold while in the steamer so it looks like a deep orange bands.  It still looks amazing, just not the clearly segmented red-and-gold I had intended.

Twinset #189-190 is a purple speckled with a pink over-wash.  Twinset #191-192 is a similar style, with turquoise sprinkles with a pale gold over-wash.

If you’d like a close up or outside daylight picture of any particular pair, please let me know this weekend; they’ll be reskeined and labeled for the Blog Reader Specials page when they are fully dried.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $28.00 each, but for Saturday and 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 selections.  I’ll mark your choices off the Available Yarns chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180
Rack 2 – 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192

Happy Saturday!

It’s not Spring yet but I can hardly wait and I think yesterday’s dye choices reflect this.

Most of the first batch of dyes came out pale, pastel, and perfect for wrapping a summertime infant in a light weight blanket.  Others were dyed as richer solids ready to coordinate with the pastels.

For a heavier weight yarn Phydlbitz Sock is great for knitting double strand, or even chain-plied for the equivalent of triple-strand, to  really mix the multi-colored yarns well.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards) and normally are $28.00 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, visitors are invited to claim any matching Twinset of this week’s collection (#145 – 168) for just $26.00 each skein. .

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your requested numbers.  I’ll mark your requests off the Available Yarns tally chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  Let me know if you are outside the U.S. so I can calculate shipping correctly.

I won’t be able to ship on Wednesday (it’s a clinic day for me), so I’ll ship on either Tuesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156
Rack 2 – 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168

Happy Sunday!

Just as I was getting ready to dye yesterday, I discovered we were under a tornado watch until 9:00 p.m.   Probably not a big deal, but my area is prone to power outages during heavy storms and I didn’t want to have a dye session interrupted (hard to dye in the dark).   But I had to get it done, so I pressed through.

I was able to get a couple Twinsets done in a splatter-dye (#131-132 and #137-138), both of which included colors I don’t normally combine.   Twinset #143-144 is done with a 36-inch gradient fade from darkest to lightest reds.

Two other Twinsets to note are #129-130 and 133-134.  Many people have been knitting up versions of the Melt the ICE resistance hat (link to Ravelry), so these Twinsets were dyed for those who want it.  I made note of the recipe for these, so I can dye more if you need them.

Since I was somewhat rushing to beat the threatened storm, most of the yarns are solid or mostly solid.   Twinset #141-142 is a very dark purple-brown-navy blend of colors from last week.   Any of these would be excellent for your lacework, shawls, scarves, and so forth, or for doing color block work with a mix of solids.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards, normally $28.00 each.  For Sunday and Monday, visitors are welcome to claim any two or  more skeins from this week’s collection (#121-144)  for $26.00 each.   Just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) to claim the ones you want.

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

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132
Rack 2 – 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144

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Well, yeah, I guess it is!

I’ve just finished uploading to the Blog Reader Specials page all the yarns not claimed from last week’s dye session.  Here is the group shot of them:

But there are lots of other yarns also still available so go visit Blog Reader Specials page and see which ones fit your plans for knitting into the spring.

And if you place an order today (Wednesday, 11 February), you’ll get FREE SHIPPING inside the U.S.  🙂

Easiest way to place an order:  just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) and tell me which ones you want.

Happy Friday!

Seems like every corner of the country is experiencing a LOT of extreme winter-ness, and Houston is no exception.  According to local forecasting we will drop below freezing again this weekend, but no significant precipitation (rain or snow) for Houston.

I ordered February’s yarn last Saturday.  FedEx didn’t actually get the package until Wednesday, and now it looks like I won’t get it until Sunday or (more likely) Monday.  Usually when I order on Wednesday, it arrives on Saturday, but the FedEx app shows they are having significant weather delays back east.

So, instead of dyeing up a new collection, we’ll enjoy an End-of-Month/Empty the Bins discount sale, since the rent is still due whether I dye new yarns nor not.

Here is the latest group of yarns not claimed from last weekend’s collection.  They’ve all been photographed and posted to the Blog Reader Specials page, of course.

When you claim any two or more matching skeins (shown as Twinsets on the BRS page), your whole order will be invoiced at 15% off.  You are welcome to include single non-matching skeins into your order as well.

To make your order, just email me the numbers of the ones you want.  As always they are first-come, first served, and I do try to mark off requests as soon as I can.

I was supposed to ship out the most recent orders, but my mail carrier came around several hours early yesterday and I wasn’t able to hand off the packages, so I put in another pick-up request for today.  Let’s hope the mail carrier comes within her normal time period today, eh?

What do you knit in the cold of winter?  Do you knit/crochet for the current season, or plan your handwork to be done several months in advance?  Do you buckle down with hats, mittens, gloves, and blankets?  Or do you imagine sun-drenched days and start knitting beach cover-ups or maybe light shawls against the air-conditioning draft?  What is your crafting pleasure when it is best to stay indoors and warm?

One of my long-time knitting friends and Knitivity supporter asked about dyeing Pride yarn.  I’ve tried in the past, with less-than-perfect results — the biggest issue is preventing colors running into each other.   What works better for my set-up is to dye solid color skeins, and then break them down into sets of mini-hanks.  This allows the knitter to create whatever combination of stripes or blocks, to distribute the colors in whatever way works best.

There are, of course, many commercial mills producing solid colors in more quantifies and at lower prices than I can offer, so I’m not sure it would make sense for me to duplicate what others can do more easily, especially for color-specific themes, like Pride, Christmas, Fourth of July, etc.

However, there are other times when mini-skeins would make sense for hand-dyed yarns — for example a range of nature-themed yarns, or beach/water themes, etc.    If this is something you would like me to do, please feel free to share your ideas.

I hope all of you are able to stay warm, dry, and safe as Mother Nature marches her way across the country.

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