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.

Well, I’m a failure, I guess.  Okay, no I’m not really a failure.  (Anybody who keeps working along for 18+ years isn’t really a failure.)  But I just spent the good part of the afternoon staging yarns, collecting my thoughts (more like gathering my thoughts into a jumbled pile), and then recording a video showing how to combine colorways from a yarn stash into a project.

This is the yarn pile I was working with.

These are all the yarns from all the bins available and ready to ship from the Blog Reader Specials page.  I know I have a face for radio and I’m not always the suave and glib speaker, but I was getting into it a bit. I had a good time pulling a random yarn and seeing what else would go with it, either coordinating or contrasting.

With two or three or four of these yarns, you could make shawls, cowls, scarves, or baby blankets in a wide array of knitting techniques — granny squares or miter squares for a baby cover, or one of those Find -Your-Fade shawls popular on Ravelry a while back.

Just for example, right in the center of the pile is a Twinset in a rich teal solid and I combined it with a nearby teal gradient fade that would look smashing together.  I pulled out a half-dozen or more various combinations.

Then I went to edit the resulting video.  I had the camera stationary with the ring light to ensure the camera could see the array of yarns as well as the ones I was holding up.  The video quality was just so-so, but the audio was nearly impossible to hear.  All that effort was for naught.  I need to buy one of those fancy clip-on microphones YouTubers are using these day.  They aren’t expensive, just out of reach until after the holidays.

Anyway, the whole (or main) point of this effort is that I must send all these yarns shipping out this week if possible.  Sales have been down and my monthly bills are not only overdue but seem to be increasing month to month as well. It’s an ongoing struggle.

All yarns on the Blog Reader Specials page at 15% off.  But, if you take any two or more, you’ll get 20% off.  Just claim the ones you want and send me an email.  I take emails in the order they are received, and will mark your requests off first, then send your PayPal invoice.  Upon payment I will pay and print your shipping label so your yarns can go out with the next pass of my local mail carrier.  I can’t travel to the post office to drop off packages, but they’re usually pretty good about picking up if I put in a request online.

If you are outside the U.S., I can ship up to six skeins for the flat rate of $37.50 (oddly it doesn’t matter if it is one skein or six).   The increase in U.S. postage means I can ship a flat-rate Priority box for $16.50 — normally, 12 skeins can be squeezed into such a box, but I’ve been known to “strongly encourage” up to 14 skeins to snuggle closely.   I mention this because it is easier and less expensive to send a lot of yarns to a single address.  If you have several knitting friends local to you, I am more than happy to make a group box to your address — you and your friends can get 20% off their individual requests AND chip in for a shared postage rate inside the U.S.  Not a bad deal, really.

I post regularly to Facebook and Instagram, have begun showing again on Ravelry, and just recently joined Blue Sky.  My sister is trying to get me on TikTok as well, but I’m having a hard time figuring it out and accessing my page there, and that platform is very video-centric.   If you are on any of these platforms, please do share my links there so others have a connection to find me.

And, of course, there is my Blog here, and the Knitivity Insider mailing list, but that list has dwindled to fewer than 250 as people’s interests change and they unsubscribe.  I only use the Insider list to show the newest yarns each week so that  those who are really interested can get First-Look and get an extra discount before I show on Facebook and other platforms.

I understand that not everyone wants or needs yarns right now.  Out of a sense of need, I have opened an account at Buy Me A Coffee, so that those who feel so inclined are invited to pitch in an amount of your choosing. Or, for those who use Zelle, that’s another way to support an indie artist if you don’t need yarn right now; Zelle is connected to my personal email or phone (just ask if you need it), and Zelle doesn’t deduct a percentage fee like BMAC or Paypal.

If I could sell every yarn every week, I would be okay, but with so many yarns still available, this is clearly not happening.  The only way I can think of to increase sales is to increase exposure.  I need more eyeballs rolling over my yarns regularly.   Feel free to share this Blog post or Insider email with your friends.

I’ll be dyeing again next weekend, so you can expect a new collection of Blog Reader Specials.

These four skeins would make an amazing asymmetric shawl, easily knit up in (for example) Fibonacci stripes!   Claim these four skeins today (BRS24 – #872-873 and 876-877) and get 20% off your order.  Just email me your request and ask for the Thursday Foursome Deal, and I’ll take care of it for you.  These are all one-of-a-kind dye jobs, so it’s first come, first served.

Want a different combination?  For Thursday (today), pick any two Twinsets and get the same deal.

Edit to add:

I’ve just posted pictures of the unclaimed yarns over on the Blog Reader Specials page, but here is a group shot of all of them.

Happy Saturday!

There’s a little chill in the air this weekend.  Nice!

I was just outside getting pictures.   I felt a drop.  Then a couple more.  And more.   I had to move quickly to get it done, and then whisk the yarns into the fan room to finish.  But now pictures are taken and the yarns are safe from rain.  Not sure how much rain we will actually get later on, but better safe than sorry.   🙂

Anyway, here are this week’s offerings, mostly in the darker ranges this time.  There were several Twinsets that suggested names that were surprisingly not food-related!   A couple of them reminded me  of things like Shadows in the Forest or Waves on the Sand.  As always, yarns look different between wet and dry.   But even so, I think there is something for everyone this week.  🙂

Since I don’t work with standardized color recipes too often, I also no longer try to name the yarns.  But, just for fun, what you you name some of these colorways?

Several of this week’s Twinsets were dyed at 72-inch centers, like #854-855,  866-867, and 870-871, to point out a few.   That is,  each hank is 2-yards around, or about 1 yard long when laid flat for dyeing.  Sometimes I will leave them laid out and dye from one end to the other.

Other times, I will dye the centers, move those centers to the ends, and then dye a new center, so that the color-changes occur at roughly 36 inches rather than 72  inches.  Good examples of this are Twinsets #864-865 and 870-871.  These are all approximations, but can give a good idea how the colors will appear in knitting, and  will change depending on your knitting.  Socks are great on Size 1 or 2 needles, but you can use Size 5 or 6 to knit lighter shawls on Phydlbitz, producing larger stitches and color changes appearing closer in the knitted fabric.

These are all  Phydlbitz Sock, normally $27.50 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, you can claim any two or more of this new collection (BRS24 – #854 – 877) for $25.50 each.

Edit: This discount is extended through Monday.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requests.  I’ll mark your selections from the Available Yarns tally chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  On payment, I will print your shipping label so it is ready when the yarns are ready to ship, and you will get an email notice with your postal tracking number.  When the mail carrier picks up packages, I nearly always announce it on Facebook so customers can start tracking their packages.

A friend on Facebook was asking about yarns to the U.K.   I do ship internationally, although the rates have gone up (again!) so an international package costs $37.50 to ship.  BUT, it’s basically a flat-rate up to a certain limit, and will cover for one skein or up to six in a single soft package.  If you have friends who want to try my yarns, it is better to make a package to a single address.

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

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865
Rack 2 – 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877

I am busy this week building more Trio Bundles of Phydlbitz Sock yarn.  Normally thee skeins of Phydlbitz is $82.50.  I will be marking the Trio Bundles at $70.00 (15% off would be $70.13).  I will be posting my assembled bundles on Wednesday or Thursday.  While I am building bundles that look good to my eye, visitors are welcome to select their own unique Trio Bundles — any 3 Phydlbitz (or 6, 9, or 12) for $70.00 for each Trio.

The only workspace available for sorting yarns is on top of my queen size bed.  This might take a while!

I will be building Trio Bundles based on color compatibility and/or contrast.  I know there are hundreds of projects on Ravelry and elsewhere that feature three (or more) colors to create shawls, baby blankets, scarves, and so much more.  I am really not a project/pattern designer, and prefer playing with colors and allowing others to imagine how those colors work for themselves.

Happy Sunday!

This morning, most of the country turned the clocks back from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time.  And the forecast calls for rain alllll day long, but so far the radar looks good.  I will try to get the yarns photographed before the rains start.   I may have to figure out a different way to get pictures.

Update:  I rushed to get the yarns outside. Got the first rack into position, adjusted my camera, and BAM!  Here came the rains, hard and fast.  So I scrambled to get everything back inside to the fan room for the day.  <*sigh*>  Well, I’ll figure it out and by the time you read this, it will have all been figured out.

As I was bursting the pouches to start the wash-and-rinse process I was impressed with all of the yarns this week.  Not a single Twinset was even mildly disappointing.  If I had all the time in the world, I can see many of these being used for contrasting colorwork.  Sadly, even with the time change, that extra hour just isn’t nearly enough.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), all dyed as Twinsets as a matter of convenience for those who like to do larger-than-socks projects, like shawls, cowls, etc.  A friend of mine made a whole sweater-vest for her husband using just two skeins of Phydlbitz.   A single skein does make an ample pair of average adult socks, while a Twinset can make some amazing knee-highs.

Phydlbitz Sock is $27.50 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your numbered requests.  I’ll mark your requests from the Available Yarns tally chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.   Upon payment of the invoice, I will purchase your shipping label so it is ready when the yarns are dried and processed for shipping.   I expect to have this week’s yarns ready to ship on Wednesday or Thursday.

(Today’s pictures are different from my normal  format, with the item numbers shown superimposed on the yarns instead of above the yarns. This is from having to photograph them indoors. Please let me know if this creates an inconvenience.  In spite of all the lights in the room on, the colors aren’t as clear as if photographed in daylight outside. )

Available Yarns: 
1 –  830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841
2 – 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853

Edit:  Both Mardi Gras Bundles have now been claimed. 

I mentioned it earlier, but now that the Blog Reader Specials have been uploaded and posted, I want to make mention of the special Mardi Gras Bundles, #1 and #2, each marked at 15% off the individual skein prices:

==========
BRS24 – Mardi Gras Bundle #2 – #813, 815, 817 – Phydlbitz Sock – $70.00 the bundle (15% off the regular price) 75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each

==========
BRS24 – Mardi Gras Bundle #1 – #812, 814, 816 – Phydlbitz Sock – $70.00 the bundle (15% off the regular price)
75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each

Normally, one skein of Phydlbitz Sock yarn is plenty enough for an average-size pair of adult socks.  Using three skeins (for example in broad stripes) you could have some amazing knee highs for Mardi Gras.  🙂

And, of course, here is the group shot of all the yarns I posted to the BRS page:

Happy Monday!

I just saw on Facebook that some of my FB Friends are getting snow today!  SNOW!   I just looked at my local 10-day, and we’ll be enjoying temperatures in the mid-80 all the way, but there is increasing chance of rain later this week, probably making a wet mess of Halloween.  I’ve not had Trick-or-Treater at my home  for many decades, but I know there are likely some neighborhood parties at schools or churches nearby.

Yarns arrived Saturday and I dyed yesterday.   Knowing that Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras seem to sneak up too quickly after New Year’s Day, I attempted to get ahead of the game.  There are two Twinsets suited for Valentine’s (Twinsets #810-811 and 822-823) and three Twinsets that were supposed to be toward Mardi Gras (Twinsets #812-813, 814-815, and 816-817).  Even though I double dipped the purple for better overall coverage, I’m not thrilled that the purple isn’t as rich as I wanted.  That’s okay; I’ll have a few more chances to try again, and for die-hard Mardi Gras fans, these will work just fine for socks, scarves, or whatever works as a Mardi Gras outfit.

The other Twinsets are a mix of semi-solids, schmears, and segmented sectionals.

Last week’s Blog Reader Specials were  packed and ready to ship on Thursday as promised, and I had put in a package pick-up request the night before.  Thursday’s mail carrier didn’t bother to honk or knock for pick up, so I put in another request for Friday.  Friday I was waiting and waiting, and a while after dark I was on my porch and saw the mail carrier zoom on by without stopping until they reached the end of the block and then sped onward, neither picking up my packages nor leaving the incoming mail that Informed Delivery was coming.  Another request was put in for Saturday, and I was outside waiting as they came around.  I told the driver that Friday’s mail carrier didn’t stop at all; he pointed to a full rack of mail and said, “These are all the undelivered mail from yesterday.”   It’s getting to the point I feel like I need to pull up a chair and wait by the mail box on the days I have outbound packages.  Frustrating, to say the least.

As I am already a day behind my own normal schedule, I expect this week’s yarns to be ready to ship on Thursday or Friday.  As is my habit,  I do announce on Facebook when packages have been picked up, but I am more than happy to also email individuals their packages are picked up.

All of this week’s yarns are Phydlbitz Sock, 75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards, and normally $27.50 each.  For today (Monday) you can claim any two or more for just $25.50 each, matching or not.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requests.  I’ll mark them off the Available Yarns tally chart below so others can see which ones are still available, and then will send a PayPal invoice.  If you don’t have a PayPal account, you can still pay the invoice using a credit or debit card.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816, 817
Rack 2 – 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829

Okay, I admit:  that is cheesy title. It harkens back to decades-old and admittedly terrible joke:

“Hey, should we stop at the burger joint for our picnic?” 

“No, alpaca lunch instead.”

Anyway, this will be a different sort of collection of Blog Reader Specials, so I figured a funny start would help.  🙂

As I mentioned a few days ago on Facebook, I have some yarns that were purchased many years ago that I failed to properly mark.  It’s the age old failure of thinking I will always remember exactly what this is.  I know it is alpaca, but I don’t remember if it is 100% Alpaca or an Alpaca/Merino blend.  It feels lovely and soft, and in the handling it feels like it may be superwash if there is Merino involved.

I got it from my previous supplier before that supplier retired and turned over most of their lines to another supplier.  I was sad to see the first one retire, as I’d been with them over 10 years, but they picked an amazing supplier to take over and I’m happy with them as well.  I looked on the new supplier’s Web site and I can’t find the same kind of yarn in the same put-up that I had, so I confess I can’t guarantee a particular fiber content beyond a rough estimate (“guess-timate”).

I do know each skein is about 210 yards each, so it’s a nice worsted weight, suitable for a quick-knit winter cap, or even a nice bundling cowl or scarf.   Ravelry has an advanced search function where you can find over 60,000 patterns for hats and neckwear!  Pick any two of these for some amazing contrast knitting!

One of the issues with dyeing solids the way I do it is that when yarn is wet during the dyeing, it all looks evenly colored no matter how many times I dip it and rotate it around to get even coverage.  The less-saturated sections are visible until the yarns are rinsed and spun out.   This issue is most noticeable on #793 and #798.  I didn’t find any undyed sections, just areas where the dye didn’t strike as fully.  I like to think these less-saturated areas will add an organic look to your special project rather than being knit with a flat solid  color from a commercial mill.

#799 is a dark-dark green, while #802 is as nearly black as I could make it.  Most of the rest of the colors are more clearly visible, and I present my photos unedited.

Each of these will be $28.00 on the Blog Reader Specials page, and I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Thursday.

To claim the ones you want just drop me an email.  I will mark your requests off the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send a PayPal invoice.  Upon payment I will purchase and print your shipping label to ensure the label is available when the yarns are ready to ship.

Available Yarns:  (all claimed now!)
793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805

Sure, why not!

I’ve just photographed and posted the unclaimed yarns from the most recent collection of Blog Reader Specials.   Shown here is the group as a whole.   All orders now through Friday will be invoiced at 15% off your total order.

To be honest, sales are slowing and my reach is decreasing (the Knitivity Insider list is lower than 250 individuals now), but my bills are increasing.  I need to create an additional $300 this week in order to pay my overdue light bill.  I seriously need to find more ways to expose knitters to my yarns, but I understand not everyone needs (or can afford) more yarn.   I would seriously prefer selling my hand-dyed yarns, but at this point, though, I’m not above asking for help — you can either drop a few dollars through PayPal or Zelle (ask me how), and it would be much appreciated.  🙂