Happy Saturday!

I had a great dye session last night, and I am impressed with some of the new combinations this week.

A friend asked me to replicate the red and gold Twinset I did last week, and I really did try (#317-318), but I’m not sure it turned out as glorious as previously.  But I did try.

I also tried a new-to-me dye color, called Crocodile Green (#321-322).  It’s not much different from my Knitivity Green #1, sort of a grass green.  I did it as a solid so I could see what it looks like in full saturation all by itself.

There are several two-tone Twinsets this week.  Twinset #311-312 is a 50/50 two-tone of palest gray and palest yellow; #319-320 is two-tone of bold yellow and bold pink; #331-332 is a two-tone of salmon and blue with a third color with the two dyes overlapped.  Twinset #327-328 is a two-tone of a darker blue-gray and purple, with a small span of salmon in between the blue and purple.

A surprising sprinkle-dye is #325-326 – up close it reminds me of the colors you might see in a children’s storybook, light happy colors.

When I got nearly finished with the session I mixed most of the remaining colors for a true DumpDye, but it came out looking like a slightly lighter version of spruce, so I dumped in all the red, pink, and salmon as well to overdye the green effect.  The variation in color along the strand seems most evident in bright daylight, but even in the photo you can see a sort of brown and then a sort of red-brown.  Fascinating.

These are all Phydlbitz 2.0 and will be $27.50 on the Blog Reader Specials page, but for Saturday and Sunday you can have any matching Twinset from this week’s collection (#311-334)  for $50.00 the pair.

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

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

Available Yarns:
Rack 1 – 311, 312, 313, 314,  315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322
Rack 2 – 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334

update:  All the unclaimed yarns have now been posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.  Here is the group shot:

Happy Monday!

I had a great time last night playing with fibers and dyes, and was pleased with how this week’s collection turned out.  Saturations where I wanted, paler fades in just the right places.

While I often extol the value of Phydlbitz Sock yarn for socks, shawls, baby things, etc., what comes to mind this morning is summer-weight tee-shirts.  There are quite a few patterns on Ravelry, of course (sock yarn tee-shirts on Ravelry) but you can easily take a tee shirt that fits and make your own unique design by knitting or crochet fabric to the shape of the tee-shirt you already have.  You could go with simple stripes, mitered squares, or even free-form crochet to complete a lovely casual tee or beach cover-up.  And being a study sock yarn, your creation will do fine in the wash after a day at the beach or weekend camping trip.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I just found out this past week that the fiber content of Phydlbitz Sock was changed several years ago without my knowledge.  I’m not going to go back and re-label previously posted Phydlbitz Sock yarns, but all the new labels will have the fiber content as it was explained to me last week – 75/25 25-micron superwash Merino/Nylon.  It was sold to me under the same name as I had always bought, so I was unaware of the difference until this week, and it is the same yarn customers have been buying all along, so I will continue to use the Phydlbitz label.

And unless or until things change drastically in light of recent political actions (which I will not address here), I will not raise prices.  Phydlbitz Sock will remain at $27.50 per skein.

For Monday and Tuesday, visitors here at Knitivity can claim any two or more skeins at $26.00 each, as preview pricing discount.  When these yarns are reskeined they will be posted to the Blog Reader Specials page at the regular price, so it is good to claim the ones you want at preview pricing.  Even better: when you claim any two or more from this week’s collection (BRS25 – #287 – 310) you can claim any number of skeins from previously posted Blog Reader Specials at the same discount price.

After the wash-and-rinse I hang the yarns outside to dry (when weather allows), and number them for claiming.  When appropriate I will rotate one skein of a pair, and then twist the bottom of each skein to most effectively show the range and distribution of colors across each Twinset.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knivity.com) with the numbered items you want.   I’ll mark your selections off the Available Yarns tally chart below and then send you a PayPal invoice.  Upon payment I will immediately purchase your shipping label so that when the yarns are dried, reskeined, and labeled, they can ship right away.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or about Thursday or Friday of this week.

Available Yarns
Rack 1 – 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298
Rack 2 – 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310

Yes, another month draws to a close!

Just visit the Blog Reader Specials page and take any available skeins for just $22.50 each, Friday through Sunday, 25-27 April 2025.

Happy Friday!

I’ve had a fairly good week, and I hope yours has been good as well.

I went into the dye process ready to film at least part of it.  Got all my dyes mixed and arranged, work space cleared, slippy solution in the red bowl, camera in place.  The only issue is that I didn’t have a cord long enough for the ring light, but all the other house lights were on so it was okay.    I had earlier filmed a little bit of preparing a hank of yarn at the start, and then a bit of the dye process.  I still need to film the intro and outro which may take a day or two, and then upload it all to YouTube, since I’m not sure social media will let me upload such a large video file directly.   I’ll have it done in a few days and will certain post a link when it is ready.

So I went into the dye session expecting good things, and I surprised myself with how well these all turned out.   Twinset #263-264 is the one I filmed and you’ll see that in the video.  The other Twinset I filmed was #273-274, which came out as a sort of Sage Fade.

The significance is that I did the Sage Fade entirely from the combined excess run-off of #263-264.  It’s amazing how colors work together. There was some purple, navy, teal, gold, and bits of last week’s combined leftover dye, but when the run-off got stirred together in the catch bowl, it became this amazing sage color.   I dipped the Twinset slowly so it would take up all the color, which created the fade technique.

Twinset #265-266  is a “hand-slap” application of a little sky blue and some silver gray; instead of applying dye straight to the yarn, I squeeze a little dye onto my hand, which I then slap randomly onto the yarn.  Gently slap, I should add; I don’t want to create splatter all over the work space.  🙂

Twinset #271-272 is what some might call Clown in a Blender; this type of wild splattering of colors nearly always creates fun socks for kids and grown-ups alike.  The cool thing about this mixy-mix of colors is that you do not need fancy stitching patterns on your socks; you let the color create the texture on its own with simple stockinette or maybe seed stitch for the leg of a sock between the heel and the cuff at the top.

Twinsets #269-270 and #279-280 are two variations of combining mostly sky blue and emerald, with a little smattering of aztec gold.  The excess run-off from one of those (I forget which one), created  a very pale aqua wash for #285-286; on one end of the hanks I splattered a mix of teal and turquoise, which always tickles my soul when I see it.

There are also several apparent solids, which were actually dipped solids created from mixes of dyes directly into the catch-bowl (not excess run-offs), so these are one of a kind solids that I wouldn’t know how to replicate.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), and will be available at $27.50 each on the Blog Reader Specials page.   For Friday and Saturday, you may claim any matching Twinset from this week’s collection (#263-286) at $25.50 per skein, preview pricing discount.

To claim the ones you want just email me with your numbered selections and I’ll mark your selections off the Available Yarns chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  When payment is made I’ll prepare your shipping label so your yarns can ship as soon as they are ready.

I expect to have this new collection ready to ship on Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274
Rack 2 – 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286

Edit 16Apr25:  Here are the yarns not claimed from the Preview Pricing period:

Happy Saturday!

I started the day’s dyeing with a sense of hope and promise.  And, truth be told, the day did go pretty well.  But there were some interesting developments along the way.   I think I broke some dyes in ways I wasn’t expecting.

Some of you know I use the “waste not, want not” philosophy when it comes to my dyes.  That is, I don’t like wasting dye if I can help it.  When I am using full-strength dyes, I will wrap the yarns and gently press excess dye into a bowl below the dyeing workspace.  And then I will use the next Twinset to pick up that dye.   That is just one of the methods I use for creating some of the Fade Twinsets.

In particular Twinset #245-246 appeared to have a lilac or lavender hue.  If I’m not mistaken I was using the run-off or excess from #247-248 (which used purple, teal, and navy).  Anyway, in the bowl i stirred  it around and it appeared well-blended, and I expected a fade effect of the combined dyes.  What happened is that the purple struck first, while the little bit of navy and teal remained so the tail of that Twinset took on a pale green-blue cast without much of the purple at all.   The other Fade Twinsets (#249-250, 256-257, and 259-260) were done in a similar fashion.

My other main method for doing fades is directly applying dyes onto the yarns and moving the dye inside the pouch.  I didn’t do this method at all yesterday; all the fades this time were made using the run-off or excess dyes from the prior Twinset.  And the dyes pretty much broke.

The rest of the Twinsets are fun combinations of colors, some related and others with strong contrasts. But there are no ugly colors, just unusual combinations. 🙂

These are all Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), and will be available at $27.50 each on the Blog Reader Specials page.

For Saturday and Sunday, you can claim any matching Twinset for $50.00 each pair, at Preview Pricing discount.

To claim the ones you want just email me with your numbered selections and I’ll mark your selections off the Available Yarns chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  When payment is made I’ll prepare your shipping label so your yarns can ship as soon as they are ready.

I expect to have this new collection ready to ship on Wednesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250
Rack 2 – 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260 261, 262

A brisk and chilly morning in Houston! But I’ve heard other parts of the country are having it even worse, so I’ll try not to complain too loudly.  Other than the weather, I hope everyone is doing as well as can be.

I dyed on Friday and only when I was nearly done did I realize our local weather was changing and I wouldn’t be able to show yarns yesterday due to forecast rain.   Just as well — some of the Twinsets needed additional processing and that took most of the day.

On a whim I decided I would go back several years (before my surgery in 2020) and do a technique I used to use a lot.  I got set up and started, and just a few Twinsets into the process I remember why I stopped using the technique; the biggest issue is that it creates a very messy workspace that has to be fully wiped down after each Twinset to ensure colors from one Twinset don’t linger and get picked up onto the next.  It also generally takes longer to apply the dye.

Oh well, I mostly like the results and will likely do it again in the future, although I did learn a few new things, and some of the new dyes I got a few weeks ago behave differently from what I’ve used before.

Anyway, the colors are richer and more saturated and even though there are a few places that the dye didn’t strike as fully, I am happy.

Any of these would be marvelous for socks, and many would also work well for shawls, scarves, baby blankets, and other projects.  Several would work well for chain-plying, too.  I recently learned that chain-plying a sock yarn creates a yarn more akin to a bulky or chunky yarn and would be comfortably knit on Size 10 needles.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock, and will be listed at $27.50 apiece when they move to the Blog Reader Specials page after reskeining.  For Sunday and Monday (April 6-7), you can take any matching Twinset for just $50.00 each pair, Preview Pricing discount.

To claim the ones you want just email me with your numbered selections and I’ll mark your selections off the Available Yarns chart below and send you a PayPal invoice.  When payment is made I’ll prepare your shipping label so your yarns will ship as soon as they are ready.

I expect to have this new collection ready to ship on Wednesday or Thursday.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226
Rack 2 – 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238

Well, how about that!  We’ve already come to the end of another month! Is it just me or is the year just flying by?   It’s time for another 20% Bin Buster sale.

Yesterday, I uploaded the unclaimed yarns from last weekend’s Blog Reader Specials to the BRS page.  Here is the group shot of those:

I want to point out a couple unique Twinsets rearranged into contrasting pairs.  I had to go look up what these colors were – Twinset #193-194 is a Fawn Fade, and #205-206 is fairly close to Avocado Fade.   Personally I think they would work well as bundled pairs for contrasting stripes, blocks, or maybe an entrelac scarf or shawl.

Since is the end of the month and there are too many yarns filling the bins ready to ship, I’m going to let you have any two or more skeins at 20% off your full order.   Just make your request by email (ray@knitivity.com).  I’ll mark your requests off and move them to the bottom of the BRS page, and then send your PayPal invoice.

Offer valid Friday – Monday, March 28-31.

I expect to ship all of this weekend’s orders on Monday.

Happy Saturday!

I had an interesting dyeing session yesterday, continuing my experimenting with some of the new dyes I got last week. I mentioned last time that I’d been leaning more into a lot of solid dye jobs, this week I would do mostly multi-color combinations.

As I normally do for multi-color yarns, I have rotated one skein of each pair, and then twisted the lower end of each skein so you can see the full range of colors within each Twinset.  When I dye a Twinset, the two skeins are laid out side by side and each one is dyed the same way in fairly equal portions of each color.  They aren’t identical in the same way commercial yarns are prepared with computerized precision, but each Twinset is a pair of fraternal twins.

If knitting a project larger than socks with a Twinset, I recommend alternating between the balls every two or four rows/rounds,  to break up potential pooling and eliminate the obvious visual breaks that can sometimes occur if you knit all of one ball and then begin the next.

These are all Phydlbitz Sock (75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards each), and will be posted to the Blog Reader Specials page at $27.50 each after they’ve been reskeined and labeled.  For Saturday and Sunday, you can take any two or more of this week’s collection (BRS25 – 191-214) at a Preview Pricing discount for $25.50 per skein.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email (ray@knitivity.com) with your selections.  I will mark your selections off the Available Yarns table shown below, and send you a PayPal invoice.  You don’t need a PayPal account; PayPal will process your credit/debit card just fine and they never reveal to me your personal data.

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

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1 – 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202
Rack 2 – 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214