Happy Sunday!

Yesterday as I was preparing to dye, an idea ricocheted around my mind a little while.  Finally as I was lining up the yarns and dyes and work space it occurred to me how to make it happen.  The result:  Fade to Black.  Various colors in a regular fade process, but instead of fading to paleness like most of my fade dyes, how about fading into black?

I’m pretty sure I’m not the first one to see the vision of the finished yarns, but *how* to make it happen was a new-to-me direction.  I tried it with several different colors, with varying success.  Most of them came out degrees of dark-dark  charcoal, not nearly as black as I wanted.

Now that I have the general idea, I can move forward to perfecting my technique and making a darker blackety-black. Even so, I think the lot of them are beautiful.

There are also some black-banded dye jobs —  #611-612 and 621-622 — with a black band at the center of the hank, and assorted colors on either side of it.

The last Twinset of this week (#625-626) is a true DumpDye — I used the remains of all the blue-adjacent dyes I’d prepared for the session.

Not every combination will tickle every knitter, but they are all pretty marvelous, if I do say so myself.  Considering the coloring, it should be possible to pick any two or more combinations to create a stunning shawl or sweater.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards) and are normally $28.00.  For Sunday and Monday, visitors are invited to claim one or more matching Twinsets from this week’s collection (BRS26 – #603 – 626) for just $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered requests.  I will mark your requests from the Available Yarns list (below) and then send you a PayPal invoice.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know.

I expect to have these ready to ship by Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 603, 604, 605, 606,  607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614
Rack 2 – 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626

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Now through July 31, visitors are invited to take 20% off any purchase of two or more skeins shown on the Blog Reader Specials page.  Just make your requests by sending me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with the item numbers you’d like.  After I move your requests to the bottom of the page, I’ll send you a PayPal invoice.  All items shown are ready to ship and will ship the day after your payment clears, Monday through next Saturday.

I made a mistake!

Yesterday (Sunday) I posted pictures of the yarns I dyed on Saturday, and I included the regular Available Yarns table as I always do.  I keep track of every yarn, the dye date, and the purchaser on a local roster so I can stay neat and orderly.

So I prepared my roster for the newest yarns, then proceeded to edit the photos to include the corresponding numbers.  Somehow I screwed up the numbers on the pictures, which led to me preparing the Available Yarns table with the wrong numbers.  I was off by 20.  So here are the corrected pictures, and corrected Available Yarns table.   Every order has been corrected accordingly and every customer will get the yarn they requested, and all works out in the end.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590
Rack 2 – 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602

Good morning.

I was aiming for Halloween colors and combinations, but I’m not sure I hit the mark.  I’ll let you decide.

I wanted to include combinations like Purple, Orange, and Green, or Black and Gold.  Some worked out while others surprised me in ways I wasn’t expecting.

Twinset #579-580 does have the purple, orange, and green, but in random sprinkles and speckles, and might even pass for Mardi Gras Confetti.   The other speckled Twinset, #573-574, was sprinkled in red, then given a light overwash in a new-to-be dye called Aqua Tropic.

Aqua Tropic also appears in various strengths and combinations on #559-560, 563-564, 567-568, and 571-572.

Twinset #561-562 is a band of black in the center, with one end in purple, the other in green.  The purple didn’t strike as solidly as I would like, but it is still clearly purple.  This pair would make a  pair of wonderful self-striping spiral-stripe socks for Halloween, as would Twinset #575-576 in the red and gold combination with a center band of black, or the gold-and-gray two-tone fade of #569-570

Twinset #577-578 is an all-over solid in what the jar called “Chocolate Brown”, but to my eye it leans into something like a maroon or almost burgundy, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me.  This particular dye is  from a manufacturer different from the majority of dyes I use.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards each) are normally $28.00 each, but for Sunday and Monday visitors are invited to take any matching Twinset of this week’s collection (#559 – 582) 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 Available Yarns table shown below, I’ll send you a PayPal invoice including shipping.  If you are outside the U.S. please let me know so I can calculate your shipping charges correctly.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570
Rack 2 – 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582

Happy Saturday!

As I started this week’s dye session I felt an urge to try my old Glacier Lake colorway.  Alas, my dye methods and techniques have changed and I wasn’t able to replicate what I did about 15 years ago.  The original method was a black fade to gray for most of the skein, with a smattering of light teal at the undyed end.

So we end with a mix-and-match collection — a mix of multi-color yarns and solids.

Even so, I managed to closely approximate the concept on Twinset #559-560 (the fade plus teal), #563-564 (plus green) and #573-574 (plus red).

Twinset #569-570 is a black band in the center, with a smattering of red at one end and a smattering of a blue-grey at the other end.   I tried   similar thing on Twinset #555-556 with a center band of dark-dark chestnut, with a blue fade at one end and a green fade at the other end.

There are several solid or nearly-solid Twinsets in blended dip-dyes as well.

The multi-color yarns will work up into some amazing self-striping spiral stripe socks, while the solids will easily become a gorgeous lacework or textured knitting or crochet.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards) and are normally $28.00 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, visitors are invited to take any two or more skeins of this week’s collection (#555 – 578) at a Preview Pricing discount price of $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered items.  I’ll mark your requests off the Available Yarns table (below) and send a PayPal invoice.  If you are outside the U.S. please let me know so I can calculate your shipping.  Because of international shipping rates and minimums set by the U.S. Postal Service, I can ship six skeins for the same postage as just one or two.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1  – 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566
Rack 2 – 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578

Good morning.

I hope this Sunday finds you well.  I was up later than I’d like, listening to the fireworks.  I was in bed, not participating in the revelry, but it was happening all around my neighborhood with thunderous noise and flashes through my windows.  Technically there are noise and fire ordinances, but we are just outside the Houston city limits so fireworks happen, like it or not.

So many color combinations this week, and most are “accidental” blends.  For example, Twinset #539-540  started as a basic pink solid, but it didn’t look solid enough so it was overdyed with violet.   Twinset #537-538 was a sprinkling of turquoise with a light turquoise overwash.   Twinset #543-544 was a dry-on-wet application resulting in an interesting olive-and-gold effect.

Twinset #549-550 is a deliberate blending of chestnut and gold ochre, blended in the dye bath, resulting in a one-of-a-kind monochrome fade.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards) and are normally $28.00 each skein.  For Sunday, visitors are invited to claim any matching Twinset of this latest collection (#531 – 554) for just $52.00 the pair.   When you claim two or more from this week’s collection, you may also claim any number of previously posted Blog Reader Specials at $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email, and let me know if you are outside the U.S. so I can calculate international shipping.  I’ll mark your requests off the Available Yarns  table just below and then send you a PayPal invoice.

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

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542
Rack 2 – 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554

I was going to dye another batch this weekend, but I have literally run out of bins to store the yarns I’ve already dyed, so for today through Tuesday (June 27-30), everything on the Blog Reader Specials page will be invoiced at 15% OFF.  Take 4 or more skeins, get 20% OFF.  Just order the same way as normal — send me an email for the numbered items you’d like; I’ll send  you a PayPal invoice for those items, calculate your shipping and ship everything on Wednesday, July 1.

Be sure to let me know if you are outside the U.S. so I can calculate your international shipping rate, OR if you have a friend in the U.S. able to receive yarns on your behalf, let me know the correct shipping address.  Similarly, if you have some knitting friends in your area, I am happy to take a group order for yarns all going to one address.  A box of 12 skeins costs about $17.50 inside the U.S. with USPS Ground Advantage rate.

Feel free to order early and order often before the end of Tuesday.   🙂

Here is the group shot of the yarns I uploaded to the BRS page yesterday:

In other news, several times in recent weeks my bank debit card information has been compromised, and I have to go Monday to get yet another one.  Annoying as heck, but I’ve not lost money other than the expense for an Uber to get to and from the bank, since the bank blocks and/or reverses any fraudulent charges .  Since there are no bus lines near me, any time I need to go somewhere it costs me $40-60 round trip.  Small wonder I don’t travel far from home these days.

Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon.

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Happy Monday!

After a comedy of errors the last couple weeks, it feels like I’m getting back into the groove …. sort of.  I’m still running a day or two behind my regular routine, but I can deal with that.

Along with some of my regular dyes, I pulled out one I bought recently called “Sea Spray.”   It is featured in two Twinsets: #523-524 with a deep saturation monochrome fade; and #529-530, with medium Sea Spray sprinkles with a pale Sea Spray overwash.  This color is also featured in Twinset #517-518, along with sprinkles of several other blues and blue-adjacent dyes.  The sprinkled one would work well in contrast to either the monochrome fade or the overwashed sprinkles.

Besides #523-524, the other two monochrome fades are #509-510 and #525-526.  Both of these were created by blending other colors to create a monochrome dye bath; because they are blended from multiple dyes, sometimes the fade process reveals what looks to be a different color.  It’s just the way different dyes strike at different rates.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 460 yards), and are $28.00 regularly.   For Monday and Tuesday, visitors are welcome to take any matching Twinset from this week’s collection (#507 – 530) for just $26.00 per skein.

As always, except for custom requests, I dye in Twinsets and always show every yarn dyed.  I don’t show a couple samples of a larger batch.  If you need more of a particular colorways, I am happy to take a custom order to meet your needs.   I do not normally keep notes on past dye jobs, so requesting a custom dye job ensures your yarns are dyed from the same batch of dyes.  I can usually come fairly close to what I’ve done before, but I can’t guarantee future matches to previous dye jobs.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selections.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate your international shipping rate.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518
Rack 2 – 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530

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