Happy Sunday!

Per the 10-Day forecast, just a few more days into the lower 90s and then we’ll start seeing more autumn-like weather.  Even now as I type this paragrapyh at 10:00a.m. it’s just barely 80º, for which I am quite thankful.  🙂

Last week I dyed a lot of darker colors, so this week I deliberately pulled out some fluorescent yellow, a chartreuse, and fuchsia, along with some other colors.  These colors appear across several Twinsets this week.

Many of the colors/combinations seem obvious.  One Twinset (#789-790) looked better wet — when I sealed it into a pouch, it reminded me of watermelon rinds cut into random chunks; it is actually a combination of spruce and chartreuse.  Perhaps I just need to remember to eat so that all my yarns don’t remind me of edibles. 🙂

At the end of the day’s dyeing I created a genuine DumpDye (#791-792)  — using all the remaining red, fuchsia, brown, and gray into a combined vat that reminds me of dark red wine.  Very rich, very beautiful.

Twinset #771-772 is a two-color fade featuring fluorescent yellow and gold ochre.   Twinset #775-776 is a splattered combination of sky blue and pale gray, while #783-784 is a base of palest seafoam with a gradient fade of medium charcoal gray; #779-780 is a slightly deeper semi-solid in a similar seafoam green.

Any of these will make wonderful socks, of course, but there are so many other projects that you can use Phydlbitz Sock for — shawls, scarves, baby blankets, etc.   Because I use a limited palette each week, many non-matching skeins can be combined for some amazing contrasts.

Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50 per skein.  For Sunday and Monday, you can claim any two or more skeins (matching or not) for $25.50 off at Preview Pricing.

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

I expect to have this week’s Blog Reader Special Collection processed and ready to ship on or about Thursday.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780
Rack 2 – 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792

An unadvertised special — selected any three (or more) skeins on Thursday, October 10, and I will invoice your selections at $20.00 each.  Just visit the Blog Reader Specials page and make your selections.  

Good Monday morning (or whatever time you are reading this)!

My first thoughts this morning are for those in Florida bracing  for Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall over the next few days.  With the region already ravaged by Hurricane Helene just a week ago, it seems unfair the area should have to deal with another storm so soon.  I can’t do much about the storm, but I hope all my friends and family anywhere near the storm are safe, well-stocked, and able to either evacuate or ride out the storm.

It wasn’t intentional (although maybe subconscious?) but this week’s colors are mostly more somber and subdued.  I promise next week I’ll lean more into the lighter-brighter color combinations.

You can make an ample pair of adult socks with just one skein of Phydlbitz Sock, and I should mention that while I label them at 430- yards, I actually make them closer to about 460 yards apiece.  Using both skeins of a pair you can make a pair of knee-highs.

Any of this week’s solids/near-solids (#747-748,  759-760, and 763-764) will work very well for contrasting heels and toes, combined with any of my multi-color skeins (including those on the Blog Reader Specials page), but they can also be used for larger-than-socks projects like shawls, scarves, and cowls.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), all dyed as Twinsets.  There is no obligation to take both skeins of a Twinset.  Feel free to take only the ones you want.

Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50 per skein.  For Monday and Tuesday, you can claim any two or more skeins (matching or not) from this week’s collection (#745 – 768) for 25.50 each at Preview Pricing.

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

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756
Rack 2 – 757, 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768

click on images to view larger versions.

On October 1, 2006, Knitivity became official.  So much has happened along the way, and I’m sure any MBA or sensible accountant would have told me to put it down, walk away, and forget it ever happened.  But I never claimed to be the smartest dude in the room, just stubborn as can be so here I am!

Many of you have been with me from the beginning, and even before it became official, back when I was just another knitter in New Orleans.  You knew me before Hurricane Katrina and heard about the changes in my life from that event.  Others have discovered me along the way.  But all of you are deeply appreciated, since without long-term friends and customers/clients, I wouldn’t be able to survive.

For this week until Friday (October 1-4), all yarns will be invoiced at 18% OFF.  No special codes or limits.  You can select from the unclaimed yarns from the most recent collection here on the Blog, or any available yarns on the Blog Reader Special page.

Just email your requests and I’ll get it taken care of for you.

Happy Saturday!

Today is the last full day of summer; the autumnal equinox is tomorrow morning.  You’d think the weather would be nicer, but the last week or so we’ve been in the upper 90s!  Yesterday and the day before we hit 99!  YIKES!  And there’s a tropical storm brewing in Gulf, but it looks like it will head east.

I set out wanting at least one or two Twinsets leaning into autumnal colors — the golds, brown, oranges, and so forth, hinting at the turning of the leaves.   I think I succeeded on two Twinsets – #705-706 and #715-716.  Both Twinsets have a random sprinkling of the brown, golds, oranges, and yellow; the first one (#705-706) also has a bit of teal laid on light with a slap-and-schmear (a technical term within the industry – hahaha).

Most of the yarns this week have at least 2, and sometimes 3 colors applied in various ways — some sprinkled, some in more identifiable segments, and a few that came up appearing as solids.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock, and were dyed as Twinsets as a matter of convenience, but there is no obligation to take a matching pair. It is totally fine to request just one skein of a Twinset.  I have rotated one skein of each pair, and then twisted the lower ends of each skein so that you can see all the colors appearing on each skein.

Normally, Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50 per skein.  For Saturday and Sunday, you can claim any two or more for just $25.50 each at Preview Pricing.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email and I’ll calculate your invoice with today’s Preview Pricing discount.  I will mark your requests off the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send a PayPal invoice.  You do NOT need a PayPal account, as you can pay your invoice with a credit or debit card, and PayPal will process your payment.

I expect to have this week’s collection to be ready to ship on or about Wednesday.

Available Yarns: 
1 – 697, 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708
2 – 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720

Wednesday through Friday — everything on the Blog Reader Specials page will be invoiced at 15% off.  No special codes, no special math to get a better deal — just make your selections, email me what you want, and I’ll take care of it for you!

Also, I have discovered that I can ship up to TWO POUNDS (8 skeins) at First Class International rate for $37.50 if I ship through PayPal’s contracted deal with ShipStation.

Knowing that shipping costs are rising everywhere, I recognize the hesitation in ordering just a few skeins to ship outside the U.S.  when shipping costs almost as much as the yarn.

I’ll mention this again when I post the next collection of Blog Reader Specials over the weekend.

Awwrighty, then! I’ve just posted all of the unclaimed Phydlbitz Sock yarn onto the Blog Reader Specials page. I dye as Twinsets, and I show them as Twinsets only as a matter of convenience, but I’m wondering — since I DO photograph individual skeins as well as the Twinsets, would it be easier for you, the customer, to see the individual skeins? Or do you prefer that I show them as Twinsets? A lot of people do request just one skein of a pair, which is totally fine, and there are many individual skeins posted and available as well. Which do you prefer — Twinsets when available or all individual skeins? Anyway, go visit the Blog Reader Specials and let me know which ones you want.
https://knitivity.com/index.php/blog-reader-specials/

Happy Saturday!

I thought we were cooling down into more autumn-like weather.  Boy, was I fooled!  It got up to the upper 90s and I got wiped out with the heat until late in the evening.  But no matter — I got the dyeing done last night and got them all washed and rinsed this morning.  🙂

The afternoon started with a thought toward dyeing neutrals instead of the brighter colors I use more often.  I wanted to start with gray and add small tinges of various colors.  However, as they say, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”  I started with the gray, but it quickly went to pot and I knew better than to fight where the colors insisted on going.

These were all dyed as Twinsets, and every Twinset has at least 3 colors applied, either in layers or splatters.  Many of them remind me of shadows passing over.   Twinsets #683-684 and 695-696 are both DumpDyes combining multiple colors except black.  I still have nearly the full jar of black remaining.   One of them is a combination of navy and purple with a little gray, the other is the final DumpDye at the end of the dye session, using all the remaining dyes.

Oddly, even holding out in the sunlight I cannot really tell which is the navy-purple-gray and which is the one with everything including those 3  plus all the other colors.   The cool thing about these two DumpDye Twinsets is that if you need a rather ambiguous dark contrast to highlight other brighter colors, either of these should work well.  For example, if you need contrasting heels and toes on your socks, or maybe you need a clear separator band on an otherwise bright stripe design, these would do just fine.

All of these are on Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each) and are normally $27.50 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, each matching Twinset will be invoiced at $50.00 (i.e., $25.00 each).

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your requested numbered items.  I’ll mark your requests off the Available Yarns tally chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate your shipping charges correctly.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684
Rack 2 – 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696

Tuesday through Friday (Sept 10 -13) when you claim any matching Twinset at the regular price, you can claim another skein of equal or lesser value at 50% off.  You can even split up a Twinset to get your third skein.  So, if you claim two Twinsets, you can select any two other skeins at 50% off; claim four Twinsets at regular price, you can get four more individual skeins for 50% off.

Just email me your selections and I will calculate your invoice accordingly.

These are the most recently added yarns onto the Blog Reader Specials page, but there are many more yarns to choose from there.

Happy Saturday!

I had a marvelous time playing with color in last night’s dye session.  As always, I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to try this week, but I pulled out some dyes I don’t normally use, including a couple of the new fluorescent/neon type dyes I got recently.

Every Twinset dyed this week is a combination of at least two dyes, but most have three or more.  Twinset #655-656 is the only wet-on-dry splattered technique with sky blue, navy, and a couple other blues.  Putting wet dye on (nearly) dry yarn leaves lots of white space all along the strand.

Normally my sequence is to put all the yarns into a pre-dye soaker solution with a surfactant that helps remove any oils from the yarn-spinning process at the mill.  Oils left on the yarn sometimes act as a resist so that dyes don’t strike well.  Nearly all dyers do some sort of process to remove those oils.  The pre-dye soak also opens up the fibers better.  Then I put the yarn into the spin cycle in the washing machine to remove as much of the pre-dye soak solution; this is the part where the yarn comes out “dry,”  but fluffed up a bit.

Then I re-soak each Twinset individually in a warm bath to re-wet it so that the wet dye is better able to wick along the fibers, whichever technique I use for applying the dye.

Often when I dye I use up little remainders of dyes into what I call DumpDyes — combining all the leftover dye into a single blended color; I do this when there is not enough leftover dye worth saving, but still a little more than I want to just pour out.  It’s a way to create totally one-of-a-kind solids that cannot be repeated.  This week we have two DumpDyes:  Twinset #659-660 is a mix of magenta, fluorescent red, espresso bean, Teddy Bear Brown, and a couple others; Twinset #671-672 is a mix of all the blues that I had used last night.

Many of this week’s collection will knit up into fabulous Fraternal Twin socks; i.e., they will clearly have matching colors, but the colors will not sprinkle or spread exactly the same on each sock.  When using Twinsets for larger-than-socks projects (shawls, scarves, baby blankets, etc.)  it is recommended that you ball up both yarns and then alternate between the balls every two or four rows.

If you need more than two skeins in a coordinated set of matching colors, feel free to request it as a custom dye job.  Likewise, if you need a yarn other than Phydlbitz Sock, I can access most standard yarn bases that I don’t keep in stock.  Just let me know what type of yarn you want, how many, what color(s), and how soon you need it.

All the yarns this week are Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards) and were dyed as Twinsets.

Normally, Phydlbitz Sock is sold individually at $27.50, but for Saturday and Sunday (Sep 7-8) you can take any two or more skeins at Preview Pricing for $25.50 each.   For this weekend’s Preview Pricing these can be a matching Twinset or any non-matching skeins.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your selections, I will mark them off the Available Yarns tally chart below.  This helps others see what has already been taken at the time of their visit.

I expect to have this week’s yarns prepared for shipping on or about Wednesday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 649, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660
Rack 2 – 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672