Friday through Sunday (24-26 January), all yarns are at least 15% off; take three or more and get 20% off your invoice.

I put in an order for more yarn on Wednesday.  Initially I was notified they’d arrive today, but this morning I checked UPS tracking and it shows expected delivery tomorrow, but there was a warning on the UPS page indicating there may be weather delays, so I can’t guarantee I will be able to dye new yarns this weekend.

In the meantime, there are still plenty of yarns ready to ship on the Blog Reader Specials page.

In other news,  Houston seems to have begun thawing out, snow melting and temperatures rising a wee bit.  I am grateful for this, and doubly grateful I don’t live in an area where it is this cold for weeks or months at a time.

Happy Monday!

It’s been crazy time around the House of Knitivity, but I think I’m getting squared away.  We had some more rains last week, and the newly repair wall revealed some other leaks in the same area.  The worker came back and re-sealed other sections and expanded the work area, so that yesterday’s rains didn’t seem to penetrate.  I hope it holds this time.

And speaking of rain yesterday — all of outside was wet and rainy and disgusting, so I wasn’t able to get pictures of yarns from Saturday’s dyeing.  I was finally able to do that this morning, and I am so impressed that I might just start letting yarns dry 24-48 hours before posting pictures.

I’ve also discovered that with the weather and the house in disarray, I’ve fallen behind on many other things, but I’m catching up.  I know many people like winter, but I am not a fan and winter surely isn’t fond of me, either.

Anyway, let’s look at what was dyed.  I was particularly tickled with this week’s collection, both as I was dyeing and again as they came out of their steamer pouches and into the wash-and-rinse.  Not a single Twinset that I wouldn’t use myself.

These are all dyed on my regular Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards), dyed as Twinsets.  Several look like solids, but there are also several that were layered, and two are definitely confetti sprinkled (Twinsets #35-36 and #43-44); either of these would make happy vibrant socks.

Both of the browns (Twinsets #31-32 and #45-46) are very subtly layered.  The darked pair, #45-46, started as a blue-based green that didn’t much please me, so I dipped it in a deep rusty red; the blue-based green left the Twinset with tiny-tiny dots of the blue-dye that didn’t dissolve until the yarn went into the steamer.  That rusty red is also in #27-28 and #33-34, in different saturations.

I used Sunflower Yellow as a lone straight solid dye on #29-30.  It is softer than the yellow dye I normally use.  Bits of this yellow also appears on #35-36.

A rich peacock blue showed up on Twinset #37-38.  It’s a blend of teal and turquoise.  I love how strong this pair is.

Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50 per skein, but for Monday and Tuesday you can have a matching Twinset for $50.00.  You get Preview Pricing because I don’t have to photograph, edit, and post pictures of the claimed yarns to the Blog Reader Specials page.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your numbered requests.  Feel free to add any previously posted BRS yarns in your order as well.  I’ll mark them off the Available Yarns tally below and then send a PayPal invoice.  On payment, I will purchase your shipping label so it is ready when the yarns are reskeined and ready for shipping.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
Rack 2 – 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48

These are the unclaimed yarns from the collection shown below.  They have now been added to the Blog Reader Specials page:

Happy Monday all around!

I woke to discover it was 31º outside and 48º inside.  The central heating unit is “finicky” at the worst times, but I turned on both space heaters and it is now about 58º inside, so it’s getting better. But this is nothing compared to what others are dealing with in other parts of the country, so I’ll keep my complaints to a dull roar. <*grin*>

Moving on to the yarns.  I always enjoy playing with color, but last night’s dye session was particularly fun.  No Twinset was made with dye straight from the manufacturer’s jar. Between last week’s leftovers (most of which were blended in the jars) and this weeks new dyes, every Twinset has multiple dyes applied; some were splattered, but several were blended in the dipping  bowl and appear quite solid.

One of the thing that intrigued me about dyeing yarns was the way indie dyers could create small batches of bright multi-colored yarns.  Big commercial mills have to plan their palettes and color schemes months or years in advance, often consulting color experts and fashion trend planners, and then manufacturing thousands of the same skeins over and over.  I remember many years ago a particular custom colorway in memory of a beloved member of the old KnitList — there were 7 shades of purples, blues, violets, plus teal, and over 6 dozen skeins were created as custom orders.  I swore I would retire the “Aunt Gail” colorway. I shudder to imagine creating hundreds or even thousands of the same thing.  Not for me.

Indie dyers could change of their own accord and work in small batches.  Much of my dye work was finding various ways to apply multiple colors, like segmented, splattered, or overdyed.  I tried for years to create solid colors and only just recently figured out how to get solids that weren’t overly splotchy, which makes me quite happy.  But taking dye powder straight from the manufacturer’s jar and putting it onto yarn isn’t exciting; after all, there is a limited number of dyes from the manufacturer.

So in the coming months I plan to spend at least part of my dyeing energies into creating unique solid colors by blending in different ways.  I am pretty sure the folks at Pantone have identified and named far more colors than I will ever create, and they have formulas and recipes for all of them.  But I want to create my own colors, one at a time.  I will still make multi-colored yarns as well, of course, but now that I am close to perfecting my technique for dyeing solids in little operation, I want to apply that to creating unique solids one Twinset at a time.  At least, for the Blog Reader Specials.

In this week’s collection, I can’t identify a single Twinset that doesn’t please me, but I am particularly tickled with the Teal and Brilliant Blue (Twinset #9-10) and also the  Red and Brown (Twinset #21-22), which reminds me of a brick red.  I can think of several patterns to make “brickwork” with this red and a skein of gray to act as the mortar.  If nobody claims the reds I just might have to make a bias brickwork scarf.  Both of these Twinsets seem well saturated.  I didn’t use any straight purple dye this week, so all the various purples you see are blended reds and blues.  I also notice that my Silver Gray sometimes seems to have a pinkish cast.

All of these are on  Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each) and will be $27.50 after tomorrow.   For Monday and Tuesday, you may claim any matching Twinset for just $50.00.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered selection. I’ll mark your request off from the Available Yarns tally chart (below) so others can see what remains available when they visit here later.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Rack 2 – 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Don’t need more yarn, but want to help support my work?
You can always Buy Me A Coffee.

Thank you all for an amazing year.  Until 11:59p.m. on Tuesday night, New Years Eve,  ALL yarns will be invoiced at just $20.24.  This includes the collection I just showed in the previous Blog post here and any previously posted yarns on the Blog Reader Specials page.

No special codes or other discounts for this One Day Special, just send me an email with the item numbers you want.

As for me, my living room and work space is all a-jumble with the repair of the wall in my living room, but I should be able to get orders packed and shipping on Thursday or Friday.

I have a new order of yarns that should be arriving on Thursday as well, which includes some DK Superwash Merino Nylon along with my regular Phydlbitz.

Wheeee!  What a year this has been, for so many of us!

We’re ending the year with some beautiful yarns that will combine wonderfully with  some of the previously posted solid and nearly-solid Blog Reader Specials.  Today’s preview pricing deal includes all previously posted BRS yarns.

Wednesday will be another postal holiday, so I will aim to have this week’s collection ready to ship by Thursday.  Supposedly tomorrow (Monday) my west-facing living room interior wall is supposed to be replaced (ongoing water damage from rains), and while I hope it is a one-day job I don’t expect miracles.  All my yarn-working equipment and other furniture is on or near that same west-facing wall, so my living room will be a cramped jumble until it is all put back together.  I will do my best to move the yarns out as quickly as possible.

Onward to this week’s collection!

These are all Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), all dyed as Twinsets.  I dye Twinsets side-by-side so they are “twins” (sometimes identical but more often fraternal twins), but when I show them drying on the racks (as shown here), I rotate one, and then twist the bottom ends so display as much of the coloring in each Twinset.  This allows you to see the color distribution on each one.

All of this week’s yarns were dyed with at least two colors, but most have three and a couple have four colors applied.   Some of the colors were applied individually onto the yarns, while others were created by blending dyes on the yarn.

One Twinset in particular (#984-985) is a blending of brown, spruce, and blended green, but one of the blues that I used to blend green didn’t dissolve fully until the yarns went into the steamer so there are amazing tiny little blue flecks all throughout the yarn.

I didn’t use any straight purple dye this week; the apparent purple on Twinset #978-979 is from process of blending dyes onto the yarn salmon, blues, and red, with a light ‘smoosh’ to mix the colors into the yarn.

Normally, Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50, but for Sunday and Monday, all Phydlbitz Sock can be claimed for $25.00 each, including any previously posted Blog Reader Specials.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your numbered selections.  I will mark your requests from the Available Yarns tally chart below, and then send a PayPal invoice.  It’s okay if you don’t have a PayPal account — they handle all credit/debit card payments for me as well and will collect your shipping address so your purchase is protected.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 974, 975, 976, 977, 978, 979, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984, 985
Rack 2 – 986, 987, 988, 989, 990, 991, 992, 993, 994, 995, 996, 997

Don’t need more yarn, but want to help support my work? You can always Buy Me A Coffee.  🙂  Zelle also works.  🙂

A good and chilly morning here in Houston.  And it is the Winter Solstice today, so now the daylight will last a little longer each day. Yaayyyy!  It was in the low 40s when I went out earlier this morning, before the sun peeked over the roofline to interfere with pictures.

I set out with a semi-congealed plan for the dyeing session — solids — and for the most part I think I did well.  A few Twinsets didn’t behave the way I expected, but they’re still really good yarns and will work up nicely in just about any project.

As these are all Phydlbitz Sock the will naturally make wonderful socks, but you wouldn’t go wrong to take a few solids to use as contrasting heels and toes for your multi-colored sock yarns.  And as solids, they will knit up into beautiful shawls and scarves.

Twinset #950-951 is a nice, rich navy; #964-965 is a navy fade made from the remainder dye used for #950-951.

Twinset #952-953 was a big surprise to me — a beautiful color I’ve seen most often labeled as Orchid.  As I mentioned on Facebook last night right after it happened, it was ” a total accident because it was just some combined leftover dyes from multiple recent dye sessions. I *think* there’s a smidge of pink, a touch of purple (?), a dash of magenta or fuchsia, and a healthy helping of sheer luck.”    I would be hard-pressed to come up with this amazing color on purpose, and would require several experiments and trials.

Twinset #954-955 is a basic brown; #956-957 is a medium blue with a turquoise overdye; #958-959 is a pure solid red; #960-961 is a pale turquoise dip into the remainder after doing 956-957.

Twinset #962-963 is a medium gray solid; #968-969 is a variant of straight black; not as blackety-black as I would like, but still a good matte black.  I think I need to change dye brands to get the kind of black I used to get.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.50 each.   For Saturday and Sunday, you may claim any two or more skeins (matching or not) from this week’s collection #950 – 973 at Preview Pricing for just $25.50.

To claim the ones you want, send me an email with your selections.  These are all one-of-a-kind dye jobs, so what you see is what is available.  I will mark your selections off the Available Yarns tally chart below and send your PayPal invoice.

Because of the holiday and postal issues, I will aim to have these ready to ship on or about Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959, 960, 961
Rack 2 – 962, 963, 964, 965, 966, 967, 968, 969, 970, 971, 972, 973

Don’t need more yarn, but want to help support my work? You can always Buy Me A Coffee.  🙂

Happy Saturday!

First up — I’ve been having trouble with getting packages out this week. They were ready to go on Wednesday, as promised.  The issue is with the mail carrier not stopping to collect the packages after I put in a pick-up request.  I joked on Facebook this morning that I may have to set up Curb-Side Pick Up for yarns, but hardly any of my regular customers are  even inside Texas, so this may not be a useful service.

Anyway, I dyed up another batch of Phydlbitz Sock yesterday, and got them washed and rinsed this morning.  They are currently in the fan room to finish drying, since we’re likely getting rain this afternoon.

I got many surprises during this week’s dye session.  While most of the colors this week are obvious, some warrant extra comment.  Twinset #928-929 is a sort of rusty looking color, made with four parts chestnut and 1 part red.  Twinset #930-391 is what happens when I mix a medium silver gray with just a smidge of purple; not sure what I was expecting but it’s tending toward a lilac.  #932-933 is a two-tone teal and red, with some blending where the colors meet.  It’s hard to see in the picture but #936-937 is mostly a light navy over a pale teal base.

Down on the second rack, #938-939 is a two-tone with purple and navy, while #940-941 is a two-tone with pale purple-ish and pink (I think some young Prince or Princess will be thrilled to have sock or a springtime sweater with these colors.   It’s hard to tell in the picture but #942-943 is a two-tone with darkened red and navy; it’s quite dark in the picture,  but in person the knitted fabric will have an organic look rather than a commercial flat dye job.   #944-945 started with a splattering of the same reddened chestnut as #928-929, then a splattering of straight red, with an over all dip-dye in a bath of pink to soften it all together.    #948-949 is the silver gray with just a titch of navy as an overall dip dye.

And, of course, I can’t for #934-935 – a dump-dye blend of Kelly green and Bright yellow, mixed together.  I wasn’t expecting quite this sort of neon green, but I like it.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.50 per skein, but for Saturday and Sunday you can claim any two or more skeins for just $25.00.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your numbered requests.  I’ll mark them off the Available Yarns chart below, then send your PayPal invoice.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937
Rack 2 – 938, 939, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949

Happy Weekend!

This rainy weather is throwing me off my routine.  I pulled hanks on Thursday, dyed yarns on Friday, and discovered it was to be raining all day yesterday.  Finally late in the afternoon there was a break and I was able to run the yarns outside, get pictures, and run them back into the fan room to finish drying.

Anyway, I hope this finds you well and excited for the projects you will create with this week’s offerings.   There are all on Phydlbitz Sock, an excellent yarn for socks of course, but also terrific for garments and accessories as well as things like baby blankets and booties.

There was a lot of leftover dye from last week, so I wanted to use up what I could; most of this week’s dyes are solid or nearly-solid with variations along the strand, but also a few sprinkled combinations.

Most of this week’s colors are clear, as I try to get pictures in outdoor daylight, the way you’d see them at an open market, without filters.   If you want a closer look at a particular yarn or Twinset please let me know Sunday or Monday before I reskein these.   A few Twinsets seem worth pointing out:

When Twinset #910-911 was wet, it looked like the most aubergine-like aubergine I’ve ever dyed, even better than blackened purple, but this Twinset started with a blue-modified red and then double-dipped in navy.  When it was wet it looked fabulously even, but as it dried it is easy to see the red undertones beneath the navy.   Even so, I think this pair is begging to be knit into a dramatic open-work shawl to be worn over a smart ivory or cream outfit.  Of course, your inspiration may be quite different.

Twinset #920 – 921 is more coral than pink, as it was made with pale red and pale orange, while #924-925 could be an Impressionist’s pond scene watercolor.

Twinset #906-907 was dyed a solid Olive — this is one of those dyes blending at the manufacturer that tends to break apart while dyeing.  It comes out looking like the colors of the late autumn leaves on the forest floor, all wet and clumping — it’s an amazing color, in my opinion, and would look good paired with an outfit in either lighter or darker neutrals.

All of these will be available on the Blog Reader Specials page at $27.50 apiece.   For Sunday and Monday, you can claim any matching Twinset of this new collection (#902-925) for just $50.00.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered requests.    I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Wednesday.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913
Rack 2 – 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925

Don’t need more yarn, but want to help support my work? You can always Buy Me A Coffee.  🙂

Happy Monday! And Happy December!

It’s been a wild time lately, and I’m having to make some adjustments in how I do things, especially with dyeing and yarn processing.  For quite a long time I’ve been getting morning pictures before the sun gets just high enough to glare into the lens and mess up the shots.  Today (I’m typing this on Sunday), I got afternoon pictures with the sun behind me, shining directly onto the yarns.  I’m not sure this is better or not.  My goal is to present the yarns as if you were viewing them at an open air market, rather than styled with props and sets in a formal photo shoot.

All of these are on Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), and as is my custom they are dyed as Twinsets.   Most of them are solid or nearly solid, but there are a couple of splatters – Twinset #884-885 is splattered with navy and overdyed with violet; #888-889 is splattered brown with an overlay of gold.   Twinset #892-893 is a tri-color blend of pale blue,  beach sand, and wet-sand tan, while #894-895 is a two-tone of brown and purple.

Twinset #878-879 is gray, #880-881 is spruce, #886-887 is a nearly solid brown but it looks more like a grayed-out brown rather than chocolate or woodsy brown for some reason.  It is still a handsome color, of course, and will work well to use as a dark contrast in combination with brighter colors, like a solid rich red or forest green.  (The current batch of brown dye seems to be an odd but interesting shade of brown; I seem to get a richer brown by mixing espresso bean and teddy bear.)

I didn’t mix any green this time, but Twinset #890-891 is a blend of yellow with a smidge of sky blue, if I remember correctly.   And #900-901 is visually purple from a distance, but up close you can catch a hint of the red and blue that were blended in the jar before applying.  Blending different dyes together can be fascinating — while wet and in the blending jar it appeared solidly burgundy-purple, but as it strikes on the fiber the individual dyes behave differently.  Personally, I like the effect with most combinations as it gives the effect of multiple layers of color.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.50 per skein.  When you claim any two or more of this newest collection on Monday or Tuesday, they will be invoiced at $25.50 per skein.

To claim the ones you want you can send me an email with the numbered items you would like.   I’ll mark your requests off from the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send a PayPal invoice.  On payment I’ll pay and print your shipping label so I can ship as soon as the yarns are processed and ready to ship.

I expect this collection to ship on or about Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889
Rack 2 – 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901

Buy Me A Coffee

This coming Thursday in the U.S. is observed as Thanksgiving, always the fourth Thursday of November.  It seems fitting I extend my thanks to all the friends and fans of Knitivity; you all have kept me going for over 18 years now, and I truly do appreciate you for that.

Last weekend I opened the mid-month Empty-the-Bins sale over on the Blog Reader Specials page, and showed a picture of all the available yarns that were in the bins.

Many orders came in and were shipped out on Tuesday.

I can’t remember the last time I had to carry two full bins to the street to meet the mail carrier, but this load went out on Tuesday.   Surprisingly, one of my customers reported her yarns arrived on Thursday.  I’m hoping everyone else’s yarns have similarly arrived.

Anyway, after pulling all the requested yarn and accounting for all yarns on my local inventory and on the BRS page, I discovered there were almost two dozen additional yarns that were in the big group shot, but were not marked off on my inventory OR located on the BRS page.

Because none of these were marked off, I have restored all of the prodigal yarns to the Blog Reader Specials page.  And as noted at the top of the BRS page, the mid-month Empty-the-Bin sale continues through November 27 – every yarn is invoiced at 15% off, but if you claim two or more I will invoice at 20% off.  (Those with an Insider discount can use it as well.)

I hope everyone has a marvelous Thanksgiving with friends and loved ones, or in whatever way fills you with joy.  Some people like the big gatherings, and others keep it low-key.   For example, one of my daughters has gone camping for the week with her husband.  The main thing is to keep the attitude of gratitude and extend thanks for whatever is good in your life.

I had planned to dye a new collection of yarns this weekend, but I went to the clinic on Thursday for a fasting blood draw (only took 2 vials this time) and then got 3 vaccinations (flu, COVID, and TDAP). I felt fine most of Thursday, but then it sort of hit me in the evening, and I laid out most of yesterday.  Most of the day was spent researching all those unaccounted yarns and then reposting them to the BRS page, instead of preparing more new yarns.    So I’ll dye yarns this coming weekend and show them next Saturday.