End of the Month Sale!

Short and sweet:   August 27 – 31 (Tuesday through Saturday) — Everything on the Blog Reader Specials page will be invoiced at 15% off.  No special codes, no limits how many you need to buy.  Just make your selections and email me with what you want.  Take four or more skeins and get free shipping inside the U.S.

Meanwhile, I will be futzing around trying to find or create a poncho-style design, using up some alpaca or alpaca-blend yarn I found in my workroom.  I have 7 skeins that I created a few (several?) years ago at around 4 ounces each, plus 3 big hanks at around 9 ounces each.  They’ve not been in protective bins with my for-sale BRS yarns.  I’m not sure the actual fiber content or yardage, so I’m not comfortable dyeing and selling it.  I personally dislike “mystery yarn”.

Cleaning Up??

Okay, not really cleaning.  But I did just finish this new dishcloth.   I could have made it taller so it is more squared, but I laid it against my current dishcloth and it is the same width.   Details and pattern down below:

Picture of hand-knitted dishcloth

Picture of hand-knitted dishcloth
Picture of hand-knitted dishcloth

This is a ridiculously easy stitch pattern, designed mostly to give texture, which is important when washing a sink full of dishes.  🙂  The seed stitch forms a ridge visible on both sides, so this doesn’t have a “smooth” side and a “scrubby” side.

Stitches used:
knit (K), purl (P), yarn-over (YO), knit 2 together (K2tog.)

I used basic kitchen cotton (I have a fondness for Lily brand “Sugar  ‘N Cream”) on size 8 needles.

EVERY row begins slip stitch: with yarn held in front, slip first stitch as if to purl, move yarn to back to knit next 4 stitches.  EVERY row ends with K5.

Cast on 55 stitches.   There are 5 stitches on the sides for borders, with 45 stitches for patterning between the borders.  If you wish to go wider or narrower, just make sure there is an uneven number of stitches between the borders.

Knit 8 rows (4 garter stitch ridges), and remember to slip the first stitch of each row, then beginning the Pattern rows.

Pattern rows:

Row 1-4  — Slip 1, K4, *P1, K1, repeat from * until 6 stitches remain, then P1, K5.

Row 5 — Slip 1, K4, P1, *YO, K2tog, repeat from * until 5 stitches remain, K5.

Row 6 — Slip 1, K4, P across until 5 stitches remain, K5.

Repeat Rows 1-6 as many times as you wish, then end patterning section with just Rows 1-4.

End with 8 garter stitch rows.

Starting and ending the seed stitch patterning rows with a Purl stitch makes the seed stitch patterning more visible against the garter stitch side borders.

Many Yarns Going Out; Many More Remain!

So here we are on a Thursday afternoon, with a couple pictures to share.

With the current special deal (15% off everything on the Blog Reader Special page, through tomorrow night), I have this bin of packages ready for the mail carrier to pick up.   But the bin isn’t full yet!  I could fit 2 or 3 modest packages in the bin, or even another Priority box!  I mean, if I have to carry this bin to the street for the mail carrier, what’s another few packages, right?

Meanwhile, I have just uploaded the remaining unclaimed yarns from the most recent collection of Blog Reader Specials.  Here is the group shot of the ones I just posted:

I can see a simple shawl made with alternating lighter/darker green Phydlbitz Sock — either simple stockinette stitch or maybe a fancy lace or even Old Shale.  I think it is amazing what color can do without a lot of stitch-by-stitch effort.

Mixing It Up

Update!

I haven’t sold enough yarns to cover me through the month, so I’m extending this week’s deal through Friday.  You can claim your 15% Off by selecting any two or more skeins of this week’s collection OR any previously posted yarns on the Blog Reader Specials page.   Just email your requests same as normal, and I will calculate your discount on your invoice.  If you have an Insider code, feel free to use that now through Friday as well.  🙂

———-

Happy Sunday!

I hope this finds everyone well and ready for some interesting yarns for your knitting, crocheting, weaving, and other yarn-craft adventures.

I had small amounts of some assorted yarns that needed to be dyed and removed from the store room, so I dyed them up all together.  Because they are similar yarns, but different bases I dealt with them separately, and started by attaching colored cotton yarns to identify them, because cotton doesn’t take up acid-based wool type dyes very well.  Thank goodness for sunny daylight so I could tell the difference between the yellow cotton tags and the gray cotton tags.

I’m 99.99% sure I sorted them correctly after dyeing.  And I am absolutely 100% sure the Twinsets are correctly paired, as they were dyed as pairs, washed and rinsed as pairs, and then hung as pairs.

So, anyway, these are the yarns available this week:

  • Merino-Nylon sock – 75/25 Superwash Merino, 460 yards – $28.00
  • Phydlbitz Sock – 75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards – $27.00
  • Merino Light Fingering – 100% Superwash Merino, 500 yards

I didn’t do any deliberate fades or segmented or variegated dyes this week.  The Phydlbitz Sock yarns are all nearly solid, while the Merino based yarns are mostly a mix of splatter and smoosh without distinct areas of color.  This makes them suited for either socks or a large shawl with very minimal color pooling.  I do, however, recommend alternating balls every 2-4 rows when knitting, which further minimizes the risk of unwanted pooling as well as the sometimes obvious change to a new ball of yarn.

All but #616 were dyed as Twinsets, especially handy for those larger-than-socks projects.  You are never obligated to take both skeins of a Twinset; feel free to mix and match as the Preview Pricing discount is for any two or more skeins from this week’s collection (BRS24 – #616 – 642)

For Sunday and Monday, you may claim any two or more of these to be invoiced with a 15% Preview Pricing discount.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your selections and I will invoice you through PayPal.  Even if you don’t have a PayPal account, you can use your debit or credit card and they will process the payment for me.  Just be sure PayPal has your current shipping address.

Yes, I do ship internationally, so if you are outside the U.S. please let me know so I can calculate your shipping charges.  Because international package shipping has a minimum weight charge, 1 skein ships for the same price as 6 skeins, so feel free to indulge your fiber fantasy.

Available Yarns
1 – 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628
2 – 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642

Mid-Month Madness!

Mid-Month Madness

Wednesday through Friday, everything on this page will be invoiced at 20% off.  No codes, no minimums, just email your selections to me, I will invoice you via PayPal, and will have your yards ready to ship with the next pass of the mail carrier.  Yes, you are always welcome to split up a matching Twinset.  🙂 

Shown here are the unclaimed yarns from the most recent collection of Blog Reader Specials; they have been individually photographed and posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.

Glorious Rich Color!

Happy Saturday!

Can’t go wrong with brilliant color, and I hope this week’s efforts measure up to expectations. See discussion further down for how to claim the ones you want as well as the Available Yarns tally, so you can see which ones have been claimed at the time of your visit.

Picture of hand-dyed yarns hanging on rack to dry.Picture of hand-dyed yarns hanging on rack to dry.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603
Rack 2 – 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615

Last week I did mostly solids, so this week I decided to mix it up with some brilliant combinations.  Some are sprinkles, some are sprinkle-and-smoosh (yes, smoosh is a technical term within the industry), and some are clearly segmented.

These are all dyed as Twinsets, allowing for larger-than-socks projects, but you can always take just one of  a pair.  Due to the variations, I have rotated one skein from each pair, and twisted both skeins to show off all the colors available on each skein of a pair.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock, which are normally $27.50 apiece, but for Saturday and Sunday you can have any two or more, matching or not, for just $25.00 each.

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your numbered item requests.  I’ll mark them off the Available Yarns tally chart above and then send your PayPal invoice.  Even if you don’t have a PayPal account, they will process your credit/debit card for me and let me know your invoice is paid.

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

More Solids for Contrasting

Happy Saturday!

What a blistering summer it has been, and we’re not even half done with it.  I hope all y’all are finding ways to keep cool and avoiding the perils of overheating.  I normally do my exercise walks early in the morning, and it is still obnoxiously hot here in Houston.  I didn’t get to the dyeing until after 7:00 last night, which is unusual for me, but it was just too dang-blang hot to work yesterday.

There are far too many multi-color yarns still available on the Blog Reader Specials page, so I thought I’d try again for compatible and/or contrasting solids, aiming for mostly darks and as fully saturated as I could make them.  Some of these are not as fully and evenly colored as I’d like, but  I am mostly happy with how these turned out, and I’m confident when combined with a multi-color yarn, the solids will contrast just fine as they are.

Most of the colors are self-evident, and most were dyed with single mix dyes, rather than combined.    Twinset #568-569 is a dark charcoal gray; #572-573 is a sort of taupe; #590-591 is a mostly gray with hints of a greenish-gray undertone; #580-581 is a combination of all the remaining dyes at the end of the night.

These are all  Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards), normally $27.50 but for Saturday and Sunday, you may select any two more more (matching or not) for $25.50 each.  And for this weekend, if you take any two or more from this new collection (BRS24 – #568 – 591) you can also select any previously posted yarn on the Blog Reader Specials page for the same discounted price.

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your numbered item requests.  I’ll mark them off the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send your PayPal invoice.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579
Rack 2 – 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591

Picture of hand-dyed yarns drying on a rack.