Happy Saturday!

Yesterday’s dye session was fun, and a little surprising.  To start, I had 3 nearly full jars of leftover dyes from last week, blended together from the several remainder jars.  Usually my remainder jars are less than half-full, often barely one-quarter full, so I mix them with similar or related colors.  This creates very unique colors not typically provided by the dye manufacturers.  So, anyway, those 3 reblended jars, plus all 7 of the newly mixed dyes were all used yesterday, leaving this glorious mess of empty jars and squeeze bottles.

My first surprise came early — using the run-off dyes from the first Twinset, I created a monochrome fade that looked to me like the dried and wilting leaves at the top of  celery (#803-804).  It tempered a little bit during the steaming process so now it looks to me like a Green Olive Fade.  But no matter, it came out fairly even.   Then later on in the session I used run-off from another Twinset and came out with what looked like a Roasted Cantaloupe Fade (#807-808), but again during the steaming it tempered into something a little different.

I learned two things from this — first, don’t name colors until they are fully done tempering in the steamer; and second, stop dyeing yarn will painfully hungry because everything looks oddly edible.

Another monochrome fade (#817-818) came out looking somewhat blue-gray.   I like doing the monochrome fades because I envision them being used in shawls or blankets with simple stitching but allowing the undulating colors to do the work of creating motion.  This should be especially useful when using multiple different Fades in a stripe, chevron, waves,  or other pattern.  All of the monochrome fades are on roughly 72-inch repeats, which is very useful for a dramatic woven project, as one customer showed me several years ago.

Sometimes I will do a 36-inch repeat in a monochrome fade, but that usually works better when doing single skeins rather than Twinsets.

This week’s DumpDyes, done at the end of the evening, are #797-798, combining all the blue and blue-related colors, looking like a dark spruce sort of color; and #809-810 using all the red and red-related colors, creating a very deep rust.

If you want to see a particular Twinset in a close-up image please let me know before Monday so I can photograph them before I start reskeining on Tuesday.

These are all on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 — 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, labeled at 430+ yards but they run 460-480 yards and a little heavier than 4.0 ounces.   Phydlbitz Sock is normally $28.00 per skein, but visitors are invited to claim matching Twinsets for $26.00 per skein when you order on Saturday or Sunday.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email and I will send a PayPal invoice.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808
Rack 2 – 809, 810, 811, 812. 813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820

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Update!  Wheee! Here are the unclaimed Phydlbitz Sock yarns from the most recent Blog Reader Specials! Visit the BRS page and make your selections today.

Happy November!!

Tonight, most of the country will turn the clock back one hour to mark the end of Daylight Saving Time.  For some reason I went to bed last night and woke this morning thinking the clocks would have changed last night instead of tonight.  I was befuddled when my phone and computer (which change automatically) showed the same time as my battery-operated wall clock.  Have you ever had a funny, strange, or confusing experience with the time change?

Last night I tried a slightly different technique for applying dyes to the yarns — I’m calling it Cloud Prints.   The first one I did was in Espresso (#789-790) and it really tickled me so I tried it again with Spruce overdyed in pale Turquoise (#779-780), and then in Red overdyed in pale Sky Blue (#777-778).  I’m not sure the technique works in every color or combination, but I think I will use it again to experiment further.

This week’s palette selection didn’t really lend itself to the confetti technique (#787-788), so I didn’t do that technique again this week.

There are several segmented yarns where I blended the segment instead of leaving hard edges (#773-774, 775-776, 785-786, and 793-794).   Any of these should work up into self-striping spiral stripes, if knit in plain stockinette, but by doing seed stitch you could break the colors up even more for an interesting effect.

There are a couple nearly solid Twinsets, like #783-784 and 795-796, as well as a couple of monochrome fades (#781-782 and 791-792).

These are all on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0, 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, and are metered out at about 450-460 yards, but I always marked them as 430+ to ensure you always get more yardage than is marked on the label.   🙂

Phydlbitz Sock is regularly $28.00 each, but for Saturday and Sunday this week, you may claim any matching Twinset for just $26.00 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requested items noted.  I’ll mark your requests off the Available Yarns tally chart below.  I post in many places across social media, and I can’t update all of them, so marking them off here in one place anyone can see when they visit which ones are still available.

And, of course, any previously posted yarns are available on the Blog Reader Specials page where they have been reskeined, labeled, and ready to ship.  If you see some there that you want to get with today’s Preview Pricing discount, feel free to add them with your order.

I expect to have this week’s collection reskeined and ready to ship on or about Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784
Rack 2 – 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796

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October 29-31 — All yarns will be invoiced at 10% off.   Take two or more, get 15% off!   This includes any yarns from the latest collection shown on here the Blog main page and everything on the Blog Reader Specials page.

Several months ago, a fellow dyer shared her collection of dyes from a different manufacturer.  I pulled several of them again this week to use with the brand I’ve been using.   I like the way they work well together.

There are a couple of confetti dyes, several segmented, and a few fades.  The only true DumpDye this week is #771-772 — a combination of blue, gray, purple, and brown; they came out a little darker at one end than the other because of how I immersed them in the dye bath so they appear as fades, but the dyes were all blended in the bath before immersion.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards), and are normally $28.00 each.

See some you’d like?  Just send me an email and I’ll take care of it for you.  If you are out of the U.S., please let me know.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Thursday, with a new collection to show on Friday or Saturday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759, 760
Rack 2 – 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772

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Okay, so the Mid-October Surprise sale continues, at least through Friday — all yarns are $24.50 each, with just $1-per-skein for shipping. All available yarns are shown on the Blog Reader Specials page.

But I was sitting here musing about some of the yarns and how they could be used together.  What about a simple triangular shawl pattern, but using 2 different colorways, with 8- or 10-row bands of each color, BUT doing stockinette for one color, then reverse stockinette for the other color.  It would result in a welted texture, rather than just a plain smooth stockinette all the way.  You could do a 5-stitch garter stitch or seed stitch border along each side going across the top.

This is just one way to use different coordinating or contrasting colors.

So I pulled out some Twinsets that feel like they’d work together in such a scheme.  First I got a picture of them all, and then made different pairings, shown down below.

Your color sense and inspiration is probably different from mine.  I realize the sun and shadows wreak havoc on trying to judge individual pictures, and I would be more than happy to photograph whatever combination you’d like to see together.  Just email me and let me know which yarns you’d like.  I can’t control the sun or shadows but I can at least photograph combinations all in one light at the same time. 🙂

Happy Saturday!

First, I failed to mention it but October 1 was my 19-year anniversary!  It’s been a wild ride, and a lot of people didn’t think I’d last more than a year or two.  I’ve seen dyers come and go, but I’m still here.  Barely, but here nonetheless. 🙂

I went into yesterday’s dye session thinking I would color for autumn, with changing leaves and the colors of the world changing.  I’m not sure I hit that particular target, but I am really tickled at how the colors landed, anyway.

Several segmented dyes, all of which will create some interesting spiral striping socks, Twinsets #731-732, 733-734, 739-740, and 743-744.   Each of these includes at least 4 different dyes.  We also have a couple of interesting fades — Twinsets #725-726 and 737-738.

A few DumpDyes include #727-728, 735-736 (reblended reds, plus gold and brown), and 747-748 (navy, chestnut, and other colors — but NO black at all).

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 SW 25-micron Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards each), normally $27.50 each.  For Saturday and Sunday, you are welcome to claim any matching Twinset of this new collection for just $25.50 each skein.

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

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

Rising Prices

As much as I dislike the idea, I have held off raising my yarn prices since at least 2022.   With the cost of nearly everything rising , I will be raising the base yarn price to $28.00 per skein starting next week.  I would love to keep prices the same, but I still need to eat and cover my bills as well.   If you want any of the previously posted Blog Reader Specials, this would be the week to claim them.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736
Rack 2 – 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748

Click images to view larger version in your browser.

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Happy Sunday!

I wasn’t sure where I was going when I started the dyeing yesterday, so I  don’t know if I got there, but that’s okay.  Once it all came out after the wash-and-rinse, I am overall pleased with this week’s collection.

Starting backwards (sort of) the last Twinsets I dyed were both Dump Dyes; #701-702 is a blend of all the leftover darkened navy, sky blue, gray, and violet, while #703-704 is a swirling blend of olive, gold, and some dribs of chestnut.  Twinset #707-708 is pure confetti,  while #719-720 is a combination of rose segments separated with a bolder confetti swirl.  Twinset #723-724 is an overall sky blue dip dye.

There are several segmented dye jobs with assorted colors.   The two Fade Twinsets look similar but #717-718 are faded olive, while #709-710  is a fade of leftover colors blended in the dipping bowl from one of the segmented yarns.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 — 75/25 Superwash 25-micron Merino/Nylon, and marked at 430 yards, but closer to 460-470 yards.  These are $27.50 each, but you can claim a matching Twinset for just $26.00 per skein on Sunday and Monday.   They’ll be posted at full price on the Blog Reader Specials page after reskeining and labelling.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your selections noted.  Unless otherwise requested, I will ship via USPS Ground Advantage within the U.S.

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

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712
Rack 2 – 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724

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EDIT to Add:   This Twinset has been sold. 

Check out these amazing muted colors!

They remind me of something like sun-bleached driftwood we’d find on the beach as I was growing up in Santa Barbara.

These are the kind of colors that would do well in a simple ripple pattern — Old Shale, Feather and Fan, or even chevrons.   Easy stitching while the yarn itself does the work for making your handwork stand out.

You can find this Twinset, along with so many other Twinsets and single skeins on the Blog Reader Specials page.

Happy Saturday!

I was musing recently about playing with color.  Midnight Green has long been one of my standard colors, a darked version of Knitivity Green #1.  So this week I was thinking about Red Velvet Cake — a popular dessert in some circles, made essentially by adding an ungodly volume of red food dye into a basic chocolate cake, often with a cream cheese frosting.

So yesterday I tried making Midnight Red Velvet by using my regular red dye, mixed with a bit of Espresso Bean dye.  It definitely came out looking rich (#677-678), but leans toward purple more than I’d like.  It would certainly make a dramatic shawl or lacework.

I used the remainder of that dye batch to splatter with some of last week’s blended Dark Rose to make #687-688.  As I was dyeing that pair last night, while it was still quite wet, it reminded me of something that would require an investigation from CSI.  I unofficially called it “O Blood Hell.”   Going into the steamer and then this mornings wash-and-rinse, it seems to have mellowed as the dyes migrated around a little.   Now it just looks stunning.  😉

There are several “confetti” Twinsets  (like #691-692, 693-694, and 695-696), all with four or more colors applied randomly.

Also appearing are several two-tone fades, and even a three-tone fade — #679-680 have hints of gray, navy, and chestnut, all in  pale pastel saturations.

Twinset #697-698 is a deep saturation of a navy and a purple , which were blended into the dye bath but seemed to have separated somewhere between application and steaming.

This week’s DumpDye, done at the end of the session combines the leftover chestnut, Indian yellow, and the bit of gold left from last week.  I really like the vibrant color, but because my proportions were inexact leftovers, there’s no way I can accurately reproduce it.

These are all dyed on Phydlbitz Sock 2.0 (75/25 blend of 25-micron superwash Merino/Nylon, 430+ yards.

Phydlbitz Sock  is normally $27.50 each skein.  For Saturday and Sunday, you are welcome to claim any two or more skeins for just $25.50 each.

To claim the ones you want just send me an email with your selections noted.  I’ll send you a PayPal invoice which will also  include shipping inside the U.S.  If you are outside the U.S., please let me know so I can calculate the rate to your country.   I am aware that international shipping may be a challenge at this time for reasons for beyond my control, so I will understand if you aren’t comfortable ordering yarns at the moment.

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

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688
Rack 2 – 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697, 698, 699, 700

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