Happy Saturday!

Last night as I was dyeing these yarns, I wasn’t sure how I felt about them.  This morning as I burst the pouches and started the wash-and-rinse process I was delighted to discover the dyes had migrated a bit and created some amazing color combinations.

Twinset #111- 112 is a DumpDye blend of all the blues, golds,  browns, and greens leftover after dyeing all the other yarns last night.  It came out like a deep dark avocado skin or dark pine sort of green.  Twinset #115-116 is a blend of navy (2 parts) and fuchsia (1 part).  It came out like a deep rich purple that even my regular purple dye doesn’t do,

There are several assorted sprinkle dyes and confetti dyes.    I could be mistaken, but I think if you made a three-some from 109, 113, and 119, you could create an amazing 3-tone scarf or shawl.  Add in #111 for contrasting dark stripes or narrow boundaries between the lighter colors.

Twinset #125-126 is a splattered blend of brown, gray, and blue, looking (to my eye) like some of the driftwood we’d find on the beach back home in Santa Barbara.   And #127-128 make me think of a misty-foggy morning among the eucalyptus trees at La Mesa Park there.

Any of this week’s colors would make amazing socks, but Phydlbitz Sock yarn is amazing for lacework, baby goods, shawls, scarves, and even household knits like pillow shams and other decor.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.50 and will be posted to the Blog Reader Specials page after these are dried and reskeined for presentation.  For Saturday and Sunday you can claim the ones you want from this week’s collection (BRS25 – #109 – 132) for just $26.00 each.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with  your requests.  I’ll mark your requests off the numbered chart below,  then send you a PayPal invoice.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120
Rack 2 – 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132

I am no longer using buymeacoffee for friends and fans who want to help me but don’t want or need new yarns at the moment.   Instead, Zelle and Venmo are options.

Awwrighty then!

Show here below are all of the unclaimed yarns from the   2 most recent collections of Blog Reader Specials.   I was finally able to get the reskeined, photographed, and posted the Blog Reader Specials page.

And currently on the Blog Reader Specials page, when you claim at least one matching Twinset, you may also claim as many additional skeins (matching or not) and your entire order will be invoiced at 20% OFF.

These are Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards):

and here are some DK weight – SW Merino/Nylon,  245 yards

and here’s another collection of Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards)

I’m running behind schedule this week — too many fires to put out at one time — so I don’t have all the BRS yarns posted to the Blog Reader Specials page yet.  I promise to have everything reskeined, photographed and posted by tomorrow evening.

BUT!  you can still see what is available on the previous two Blog posts (on the Available Yarns tally charts) as well as on the the Blog Reader Specials page.

When you take at least one MATCHING Twinset from the Blog posts below or the the Blog Reader Specials page  I will invoice your whole order at 20% OFF.   (You may add additional single skeins as well.)

No special codes or secret deals this time.  🙂

Happy Sunday!

I know I’ve mentioned it over the years, but this week I decided to lean into the idea a little more.

Paisley ties were at their peak popularity in the 60s and 70s. Their swirling designs and often vibrant colors matched the free spirit vibe of that period, but they are still available in many places

As someone in fashion told me, the paisley neck tie was practically the perfect accessory for men, as was the paisley scarf for a lady.  Filled with a mix of colors, it could be worn with a wide variety of suits or dresses because whatever the main color of the garment it would draw out one or another color from the paisley print.

Obviously, I cannot print a paisley design onto my yarns, but I can most definitely bring out a wide mix of colors that can then be knit into a plain stitch sock or scarf that looks good with almost any main garment you might wear.  The great thing about this is that you don’t need to incorporate fancy stitch designs or textures (although you could if you like); you can let the colors do all the work.   And even if you make a minor mistake, the array of colors will help conceal it and nobody will be the wiser.

This type of dye job on the yarn makes it great for knitting or crocheting as you relax with a movie or TV show !  Also, you could contrast with a solid color yarn for stripes, or even crochet granny square blocks surrounded with black, gray, or ivory to create almost a stained glass effect.

All of this week’s yarns are Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards).  Superwash Corriedale is a superior sock yarn (in my opinion), with less pilling for socks that are worn frequently, and it stands up well with machine washing.  The added nylon spun into the yarn means you don’t need to incorporate a stabilizer yarn for heels and toes as was once the custom.  Everyone has their own opinion for what they prefer in a sock yarn, of course, and there are no hard-and-fast rules.   I like this yarn for socks as well as baby garments that need frequent washing.

Phydlbitz Sock is normally $27.50 per skein.  These will be reskeined and put up into presentation skeins for the Blog Reader Specials page later this week, but for Sunday and Monday you can take your selections early for just $25.50 apiece when you claim two or more, either a matching Twinset or individual non-matching skeins.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email with your requests.  I will mark them off the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send you a PayPal invoice.  PayPal will process your credit or debit card payment even if you don’t have a PayPal account.  They will also collect your shipping address.

I expect these to be ready to ship on or about Thursday or Friday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96
Rack 2 – 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108

Happy Wednesday!

I hope All Y’all are doing well today.  I’ve been busy, and am happy to share some of what I’ve been doing.

This week I have three (3!!) racks of yarns to share with you.

Thanks to a custom job I dyed over the weekend, I had some leftover DK weight yarns to play with.  Those are shown on Rack 3 down below, but first I have two racks of my regular Phydlbitz Sock.  I didn’t plan it, but it turned out that I did six Twinsets as solids, and six as two-tone fades, which made it easier to organize the racks for showing.

Because of the custom dyes I had a lot of leftover dyes to use, so I combined several of them for the dye session yesterday.  All of the colors you see here are the result of combining various dyes on-the-fly (i.e., without precise measuring).  I thoroughly enjoy blending dyes this way, as it allows me to create colors or combinations not normally seen and nearly impossible to reproduce.

Most of the first rack are fairly evidently solids.  The second rack is the set of Twinsets dyed as two-tone fades.   Twinset #61-62 and #65-66 were dyed at roughly 36-inch repeats; the rest were dyed at roughly 72-inch repeats.   I’ve tried to arrange them on the rack to show off their colors and repeats.

While I dislike trying to name colorways, Twinset #65-66 reminds me of Antique Dusty Rose, while #67-68 looks like it belongs on a logo for surfboards or some little Beach Dune burger joint.  🙂

The third rack is the DK-weight, mostly dyed as solids except for #81-82, which is a navy-turquoise fade. The ones at the end #83 and 84 are solo skeins, leftover from the custom job.  These two were dyed earlier and started drying a day before so they’ve drawn up and look shorter, but they really are the same base yarn.

Phydlbitz Sock (#49-72) is normally $27.50.  The Merino/Nylon DK is normally $28.00.   For Wednesday and Thursday, you can get 10% off your order when you claim any two or more, matching or not.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your numbered requests.

Given the cold and damp of the season, drying and processing may take a little longer, but I expect to have these all ready to ship by Saturday or Monday.

I plan to have another batch of yarns ready by Sunday.  🙂

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60
Rack 2 – 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72
Rack 3 – 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84

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