Dyet Yarns: reuse, recycle, reinvent!

There is new yarn in the store since my last post; some sock yarns and some felting yarns. Gorgeous, bright colors! They are double-dip kettle-dyed, which essentially means they were put through 2 dye baths. All of my new sock yarns so far are named after food. I wonder if I was hungry when I [...]

Tags: alpaca, cashmere, dyeing, hoarding, mistakes, moving, rant, socks, sweater, wool, yarn

I’ve been doing a whole lot of dyeing lately; I am moving on July 4, and I have to get rid of my washing machine and dryer before the move. That means I won’t have them in my new apartment, which doesn’t have a hook-up for them. This will make my dyeing a little more [...]

Tags: cashmere, dyeing, Etsy, moving, recycle, selfish, wool, yarn

Yesterday was a very slow day at work, so I got quite a bit of knitting done between that and waiting for my MMA class to begin. In fact, I stayed up late turning the heel on my second sock because I wanted to get through to the straight part of the leg. Naturally, I [...]

Tags: cotton, dyeing, frog, handmade, heel, injury, lessons, mistakes, recycle, silk, socks, stash, thrift, UFO, wool, yarn

This weekend, Wendy D. Johnson came to Charlotte and taught an awesome workshop on toe and heel techniques at one of the local yarn shops, Charlotte Yarn. I learned how to do the two things I have been really wanting to figure out; Judy’s Magic Cast On and a slip-stitch heel for toe-up socks.
I made [...]

Tags: celebrity, dyeing, heel, lessons, mystery, new knitters, pattern, socks, wool, yarn

I have two things to report on before I go off on a wild convention run this weekend. The first is that I successfully dyed four (FOUR!) batches of recycled yarn that I think will work great for socks. I used two different kinds of base yarns (two sweaters). The first is the one I [...]

Tags: angora, dyeing, FO, handmade, lessons, new, recycle, selfish, socks, wool, yarn

It’s fairly rare to discover a sweater that has the correct (in my opinion) fiber content and weight for sock yarn. Up until now, I have been of the opinion that sock yarn is the only yarn I am likely to buy new rather than recycle. I have been debating offering new skeins of hand-dyed [...]

Tags: angora, dyeing, Etsy, labels, lessons, mystery, recycle, socks, sweater, thrift, wool, yarn

The Fire In The Sky colorway is officially launched! I love the way these colors mix. This colorway has long runs of blue and orange separated by brief spurts of purple. I’m not usually a huge fan of the blue/orange combination, but I think this time it came out perfect!
My original inspiration for this colorway [...]

Tags: blue, disaster, dyeing, Etsy, fire, merino, new, orange, purple, recycle, thrift, wool, yarn

Here’s a picture of the yarn I dyed last week all wrapped up! This is actually the 4 skeins that I dyed all together, so it’s a pretty huge wad of yarn. It’ll be divided up individually, wrapped up prettily, and listed in the store very soon.
I love this colorway bunches! It’s going to be [...]

Tags: dyeing, Etsy, fire, handmade, new, recycle, wool, yarn

Every now and again I get a craving to dye fiber, and I just don’t feel right until I do it. Lately with all the “disasters” and whatnot going on, the craving starting coming on again. I KNOW I’m supposed to be working on making shirts and jewelry to sell at cons, but it got [...]

Tags: dyeing, Etsy, labels, recycle, selfish, thrift, wool, yarn

It’s spring and everything is blooming outside. It’s the perfect time to make some bright spring colors! I’m not a huge fan of pastels, so my colors are pretty bright. I’ve got some gorgeous purple that I’ll be adding soon, too.
On the left we have Nuclear Bunny, a colorway of bright greens on a mix [...]

Tags: angora, blocking, cashmere, dyeing, Etsy, health, injury, KnitPicks, lace, Ravelry, recycle, silk, spring, UFO, wool, yarn