Happy Sunday!

This is going out later than normal. We had a terrific little thunderstorm Friday night. One of the big trees in the back fell onto the neighbor’s property behind mine, on the next street over.  The landlord was none too pleased, but he arranged for a crew to come, so now this morning I am being serenaded by the sound of chain saws and whatever they are doing back there.  Their huge work truck and equipment trailer are just inches from my front porch where I normally hang and photograph the yarns.  I hope to get pictures by this afternoon.  Obviously this won’t go out until then, but I wanted to explain the delay from my normal routine.

Later – Okay, the tree workers gone done and cleared the way, but ran into the rail on my ramp (oh joy …. not!), then I had to dance between sunlight and rain, but I finally got the pictures!

I had a wonderful time playing with color last night and trying a different technique for applying dye onto the yarn.  I hope you agree that these will create some amazing socks for kids going back to school, or perhaps contributing to any of the amazing shawl, scarf, and accessory patterns now available.  Imagine combining these bright multi-colored yarns with one or more solids for textured stripes or two-stranded colorwork in your wardrobe accessories!

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 SW Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards), and are normally $27.50 each.  For Sunday and Monday, however, visitors are invited to claim any two or more from this new collection (BRS25 – #557 – 580)  for just $26.00 each.

To claim the ones you want, send me an email with your numbered requests.  I’ll send a PayPal invoice, but if you don’t have a PayPal account you can still pay with your credit or debit card, no problem.  Please do ensure that PayPal has your correct shipping address. If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate correct shipping to your country.  In most cases now, I will use USPS Ground Advantage for all packages, unless Priority mail is requested.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 557, 558, 559, 560,  561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568
Rack 2 – 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580

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Good morning, and Happy Saturday!

Last post I showed a box of new-to-me dyes that a fellow dyer shared with me.  These dyes are from a company I had never heard of in all my years of dyeing.  So I had no choice but to try them out, right?

Most of the ones I tried came out full and rich, but a few of them left little splotches here and there. (i know how to minimize this in the future — it has to do with how I prepared the dye solutions.) Fortunately, the little splotches are simply deeper saturations of the color intended, and are a mark of hand-dyeing, as opposed to what a large commercial operation would produce.  It’s a good thing, but in the future I will try to avoid these issues.

I dyed the first batch using leftover double-mixed dyes from last week — combining dyes to create new colors and reduce the number of jars of leftover dyes.  Like, for #533-534, I used the leftover charcoal color and then added an extra scoop of straight black dye.  This Twinset came out as nearly-almost-pretty-close to black as I’ve done.  Twinset #541-542 is the leftover mixed gold-yellow, but there was enough of that color that I supplemented with a scoop of chestnut to create #551-552.  Twinset #555-556 is the leftover sky blue, while #247-248 is a blend of leftover teal and turquoise.

I dyed the second batch using mostly the new-to-me colors and used them straight without blending, except for the monochrome fade, which was a bit of new blue and leftover yellow.   For example, Twinset #537-538 is Wine, which came out more purple-y than the burgundy dye I normally use.  Twinset #543-544 is a color called Pearl Gray, but it looks very much like the gunmetal color I used many years ago — a sort of blue-ish cast on the gray.  Twinset #535-536 is a color called Jade Green.

All of these solids would be perfect for some amazing lacework or textured knitting – shawls, scarves, etc.  It’s never too early to start your gift-knitting for the holiday season, and because this is sock yarn,  your items can be washed in the gentle cycle and laid out to dry without fear of major shrinkage as happens with non-superwash wools.

If fancy lacework isn’t your forte, you might consider combining any of these solids with some of the multi-colored yarns on the Blog Reader Specials page.  Take any two or more from this week’s collection and add any number of previously shown Blog Reader Specials at the same discounted price.  (Note: all of the 2024 yarns are already reduced to $20.00 each!)

All of these are on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0, 75/25 25-micron superwash Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards each, and are normally $27.50.   For Saturday and Sunday, you may take any two or more skeins for just $26.00 each.

To claim the ones you want, please send me an email with your numbered requests.  I’ll mark it off from the Available Yarns tally chart down below, and I’ll send you PayPal invoice.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544
Rack 2 – 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556

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Update:

As of 17July2025, all of the UNclaimed yarns from this week’s collection have now been posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.  Here is the group shot:

Happy Sunday!

I had a fun dye session yesterday.   While flipping through my computer files of dye jobs long go, I cam across a sample knit of a colorway, taking colors from an interesting photo of Glacier Lace.  There was a section of black-charcoal-gray fade, with a smaller section at one of the hank in sprinkle-smooshed teals.

This was originally done probably 15 years ago.  I have changed my yarn base, my dyes, and my technique, so I could not exactly replicate it.  But I did try with Twinset #531-532.   I had originally done other colors in that original series that I tried to copy, including Glacier Honey (#508-509)  and Glacier Berry (#517-518).  Just like with Glacier Lake, my attempts last night aren’t exactly like what I did back then, but I still like these new versions.

There are two monochrome fades (#513-514 and 519-520).   Many of you know I follow the “waste not, want not” principle; in this case, run-off dyes from one dye-job collect in a large bowl and mix into a single new color.  I slowly dip a new Twinset pair into the run-off dyes, allowing the yarn to pick up as much of the collected dye as it can.  Sometimes the collected dye isn’t enough for my taste so I’ll modify the blended color with another color and dip the other end of the hank, as I did on #529-530.

The cool part about these monochrome fades is that they are never a single straightforward dye, but a mix of whatever colors I used just prior.  So they are usually compatible with other dye jobs of the same week’s collection.  The monochrome fades are especially good for knitting or crocheting mitered squares — the undulating color creates directional lines, and when combined with several other monochrome fades can create amazing blankets, shawls, scarves, or even sweaters.   Similarly these work well for any of the amazing ripples and chevrons.   For me, I find it fascinating to let the color do the work rather than fuss with textures stitches, which are great for solid color yarns.  This makes these yarns ideal for knitting while looking at TV or a movie, or relaxing outdoors — simple knitting for fantastic results!

All of these are  dyed on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards) and are $27.50 each.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered requests.  After marking them off below, I’ll send you a PayPal invoice. It’s okay if you don’t have a PayPal account — they will process your credit or debit card and collect your shipping information.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 119, 520
Rack 2 – 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532

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Yes, the Christmas in July sale continues over on the Blog Reader Specials page.   For just for today, Tuesday July 8, if you take one or more matching Twinsets, your whole yarn order will ship for free inside the U.S.  🙂

Here are just a few randomly selected Twinsets, but there are dozens available.   I’ve moved them all to the top of the Blog Reader Specials page so you can see them all together.

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BRS25 – Twinset –  #487 & 488 – Phydlbitz 2.0 – $27.50  each
75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/ Nylon, 430 yards each

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BRS25 – Twinset –  #331 & 332 – Phydlbitz 2.0 – $27.50  each
75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/ Nylon, 430 yards each

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BRS25 – Twinset –  #383 & 384 – Phydlbitz 2.0 – $27.50  each
75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/ Nylon, 430 yards each

Wheee!   The Christmas in July sale is off to a good start!

I was able to get one smaller package out into the mail yesterday, and I have two larger packages ready to be picked up tomorrow …

But I still have SIX BINS of yarns listed on the Blog Reader Specials page …

Each bin holds roughly 24 skeins of yarn when full, although I’ve taken a few out for the packages already packed.  You can see there are plenty of yarns ready to be taken, ready to be adopted to a loving crafting home and made into amazing projects for yourself and your family.

Obviously I would love to have all of these shipping this week, but I realize not everyone wants or needs yarns right now, and maybe some people want  or need colors I’ve not dyed recently, so I can’t expect all these yarns to ship this week.

As I mentioned recently, I am going to be expanding my outreach into more visual and video postings, as that seems to be where  I can catch people’s attention and interest.

For today, just visit the Blog Reader Specials page.  If there’s nothing there for you, feel free to share the link with your friends who might be interested.  And, if you haven’t already, please do sign up to join the Knitivity Insider mailing list.  I only use  that list to share new collections as I dye them.  Insiders get first look and they usually get a discount or reduced shipping offers that are only announced to Insiders.

For the next 7 days, ALL Phydlbitz Sock on the Blog Reader Specials page will be invoiced at $20.00 each!

Order same way as normal — just email me your selections and I’ll take care of it for you.   For the next 7 days, order as often as you like (or until all the yarns are gone).