Stuck

Hey

I know I have been absent. I am in the large group of travelers who can't seem to make it back to Seattle because the Seattle airport has been closed. I got a flight for the 26th.

:(

Toddler Mittens

Hello Everyone!

I have been knitting up a storm! I have been working on a mitered square baby blanket for a good friend and its going slow, but well. The other thing I have been working on is a glitten for my step sister.



Hayden is 2 and I made her this glitten, but I haven't tried it on her yet. I sewed magnets into the glitten last night and I think they are going to be too strong for what I had in mind. I am afraid she will walk be something metal and stick to it. That would be funny, but I would probably get into trouble.

So anyways, I thought I would try my own free blog pattern thing, since I am always knitting up the most random things anyways.




If someone want to send any corrections or pictures of FO's I will think of some good reward for taking the time. I am going to write the pattern for a mitten only, I am still working out how i ma going to do the glitten.

Needles Size 1, I used 5 dpns

Fingering weight yarn about 1.5 oz, this means any 50 gram skein should do the trick, I used Supersock.
Guage ~ 8- 8.5 Sts to the inch

Cast on 48sts. Join in the round (careful not to twist sts, place marker at beginning of round.
In 2 by 2 ribbing (K2 P2) for about 1 inch.
Knit 24 sts in cable pattern, k to end.

Cable Pattern(6 Row repeat):
Row 1-5:(K1 P2 K6 P2 K1)* repeat twice
Row 6: (K1 P2 S2 on CN, hold to back, K2, hold to front, K2, K2 off needle)* repeat twice.

Knit 3 rows this way, then start shaping for thumb.

Left Thumb:
Rnd 1:K24 in cable pattern, K until last 3 sts: K1FB, K1, K1FB
Rnd 2:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 3:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K until last 5 sts, K1FB, K3, K1FB
Rnd 4:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 5:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K until last 7 sts, K1FB, K5, K1FB
Rnd 6:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 7:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K until last 9 sts, K1FB, K7, K1FB
Rnd 8:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 9:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K until last 11 sts, K1FB, K11, K1FB
Rnd 10:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 11: Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to last 13 sts, slip 13 sts on waste yarn or cable needle, CO 3 sts and join with the rest of the mitten.

Right Thumb:
Rnd 1:K24 in cable pattern, K2 K1FB, K1, K1FB, K to end
Rnd 2:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 3:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K2, K1FB, K3, K1FB, K to end.
Rnd 4:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 5:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K2, K1FB, K5, K1FB, K to end.
Rnd 6:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 7:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K2, K1FB, K7, K1FB, K to end.
Rnd 8:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 9:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K2, K1FB, K11, K1FB, K to end.
Rnd 10:Cable pattern for 24 sts, K to end.
Rnd 11: Cable pattern for 24 sts, K2 slip 13 sts on waste yarn or cable needle, CO 3 sts and join with the rest of the mitten, K to end.

Continue knitting in the cable pattern on the "back" of the mitten and stockinette on the "front" for about 3.5 4 inches more or until 2 inches from desired length.

Starting at the beginning of round marker, K24 sts on to a needle this will now be needle 2, then 12 sts on another, this will be needle 3, and the last 12 sts onto another, this will be needle 1, your "round" will now begin in between needle 3 and needle one.
Rnd 1:On needle one K to last 3 sts on needle one, K2tog, K1. On needle 2 K1, SSK knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. On needle 3 K1 SSK, K to end.
Rnd 2:Knit.

Repeat these 2 rows until you have either 16 sts or 12 sts (depending on how long you want the mitten top). I did a 3 needle bind off for mine, here is a tutorial I found on youtube. You can also use Kitchener Stitch

Thumb:
Put the sts on waste yarn back on to needles for the thumb, pick up 3-4 sts over the
gusset area. Join the thumb sts in the round and work in st st for about 10 rnds (or longer if you desire).
To shape,(K2tog)* 7 times, K1.
Next round K.
*K2tog* 4 times and weave yarn tail through last 4 sts.

Ta Da!

From December Photos

PHOTOS of the New Beret

So I got some pictures from Through The Loops for the beret that she made. I absolutely adore it!



I was made from one skein of Supersock DK Select, and it is going to be her next free pattern! People who come from her blog will get a little discount.




Here is an up close shot:




I am going to be putting up the various colors I have for this yarn this week, I have gotten a few up. I need to enhance my picture taking skills, the colors aren't nearly as vibrant in the photos. Gotta take some lessons from Ryan or something.

Home Again Home Again

So while I was visiting the FMIL("future mother in law") and Adam's family in New Mexico, my horses decided they would jail break and go wandering. I got the call from my panicked friend watching them and Adam had to restrain me from jumping on the next flight home. Some good Samaritan returned them home safely. I guess someone was watching out for me. Anyways, I realized that when I returned home not only did I have my horses to get fenced in better, but I also had a bunch of dyeing to do! I had mixed up all the dye, but never had gotten around to pouring it on. Well now all my dyes are light and faded. So I had to remix. Today I got back into the dyeing groove. I have just a little bit more of yarn to dye for the sock club. I am feeling freer by the minute.

The good thing about being away from home was all I did was knit for a weekend straight. I got a sock done. I started some toddler glittens (they are tiny!) on size ones. I have to say I am really liking the size 1's. I saw a beautiful hat that Through the Loops knit for me out of the DK Select. Once I know I am allowed to show the photos I will put them up because it turned out amazing!

I have a bunch of really cool ideas for the next two months, but I don't want to reveal them until I have all the appropriate pictures to go with them...... at least I think they are cool.

I am starting to think about what I am going to put in the Stitches fashion show.... a lot of scheming going on over here, and it's not just my horses :)

Worn Out

Hey Everyone

It has been non stop busy since I came home from the show. Adam and i had to finish moving all of our stuff to the new house then the 8 boxes from Stitches arrived (yay)! Then all the patterns and custom orders from CTH. Then barn roof that had be hanging on by one last post finally decided it was going to have to be repaired. So for 3 days I stopped dyeing and started digging post holes. 2 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft. We had a contractor come today and do the carpentry bit, but Adam and I dug the holes and laid the first round of concrete. For some reason my phone is STILL no work so if you have been trying to call me, I am very sorry but for now you will have to email me. I can't even begin to tell you about how many troubles I have had with the phone.

But it's starting to come together I have a whole room just for storing yarn and another for an office so it is starting to be more organized. I have too many orders to keep them in my head any more. When I finally decided on a system for organizing the orders I had a small mountain of yarn to dye. It was pretty funny when I realized how much I had been keeping in my head. Not doable.

This weekend I worked ALL weekend with some yarn that Adam dyed that he calls Grinch. This is so typical Jenna: I wasn't going to put up a picture and then I thought it couldn't hurt to snap a quick shot. Then I was like well it needs a better background so I went rummage for a pillow case. Then I had to take a million pictures (none of which I thought were great so I kept taking a bunch). I just can't let it be. So any ways back to the story. Adam was bummed that no one bought any of his Grinch at the show so I thought of a good way to showcase a Christmas-y yarn: A cute kids Christmas dress.



My Dad's new wife has an adorable 2 year old daughter named Hayden and she is quite the fashion queen. I am very excited to see how this is going to fit her. Anyways, I am going to go do some knitting therapy.

So far today I have mixed up wrong colors (over a gallon and a half), had to overdye skein that I dyed the wrong color, invoiced the wrong people, argued with the bank, comcast, and got my barn fixed. Tomorrow will go smoother. It has to.

:)

Stitches East and Sock Club

I am in recovery mode. It was a great weekend and I was so happy to meet so many people. Sherri from Loopy Ewe stopped by and grabbed a picture for her blog.
Adam, Erica and I had a ball, Erica showed me some cool knitting things that I had not really been exposed to before (like "pretty" stitch markers and special knitting bags). I think Adam got a lot out of it as well. Erica taught him how to knit socks on two 24" inch circulars which was good for him because he really has a hard time with double pointed needles. I was so impressed with how quickly he learned that I decided to pick up some patterns from Kalamazoo Knits (Rav). Mostly I am carrying their Easy Socks on Circulars. I will put them up on my website and I highly recommend them. The greatest thing is that they knit up a variety of sizes. The sock pattern of theirs that I am currently making is the Dressed to the 9's Cable Sock Pattern.
The picture is kind of dark and I will work on getting better ones. The weather here in Washington doesn't always cooperate. The color of the sock is in my new WoW color of the month Something Finney inspired by Murlocs. The other colorway for November is the one that won the vote below call Rezzing Again. That is what always happens to me when I encounter Murlocs. Hmnphh.

So back to Adam's Sock. I realize that once we started knitting the promotional patterns that I was giving out for free at the show that I had swapped the pictures on the 2 patterns. I hope that doesn't cause too much confusion, if people have questions I would be happy to send out a corrected pattern. ANYWAYS! The sock:

Adam calls this color Gargoyle Sunrise. He is making the sock out of Supersock Select DK. He says he is going to dye some more colors for Stitches West. I am always excited about his dyeing, and amazed that even though we use the same dyes and dyeing methods, he still manages to do colors I don't.

I am going to take down last months sock club colors by the end of this week and put the new ones up. We just moved into the new house fully and for some reason my phone service is not working, so if you have tried to call me, I haven't been able to answer. It's on my list of a million things to do today. So bear with me as I get everything sorted out. Email receipts are coming soon, hopefully by the end if the day if quickbooks would stop freezing my computer. Patterns are coming soon. I just keep chugging along moving forward with the next thing I think you guys might like.

On a last note, a lady who purchased some dyes/ blanks and a DVD from me sent me a picture of the yarn she dyed her first time. I have some other first time photos that I have been holding onto and when I find a good place to put them all up I will certainly do so. So keep pictures of dying exploits with your indie dyer stuff and finished objects with your indie dyer yarns. I adore seeing them.


- From Crista called Blue Lagoon.

Vote on your favorite Rezzing Again

So Adam and I disagree on which color is more murloc.


Vote top or bottom color on the side bar to the left! Then I will tell you about my murloc scheme. In a way I am offering 3 color options for next month. I wanted to be able to make the murloc toy with a different color for the fin because I want my murloc to have a body color different then his fins. I think I will do some sort of deal about buying like a Louet gems 50 g skein in the Something Finney for a contrast color. More details after Stitches. I have samples of these colors here at Stitches if anyone wants to see them in person.


:)
Jenna

Art and Murlocs

I never thought that I would have as much trouble with murlocs IRL as I do with them in game. For those of you who don't know a murloc is a famed WoW creature that causes you to die a lot. I have dyed several sets of murloc and I am not sure but they are not done drying yet. So verdict is out until I see them dry. Ever since I saw the knitted murloc I had to have one. I started contemplating the various ways to make one and dye one that I thougtht was a good representation of a murloc. So I looked at some FO's on Rav and decided that a "good" murloc needed two colors: a body color and a fin color. What makes the murloc so cool is the contrasting colors. SO! I was going to look at murlocs today to get a good look at one to see if they would lend any insights into a colorway, but I was so involved in other things (namely the simple re-quest) acheivement I forgot. So this evening at my new house that doesn't have internet, I had to decide on what colors to make my murloc. Well that means that I had think about what I thought murlocs look like. I decided they look teally-yellowy-bluey. Or maybe more greenish -aqua- golden. Anyways that is how I dyed it and I hope when I log in and actually look at them I will find myself relieved they look they way I thought they did.

When Adam and I were in high school at Orme, all of the seniors had to take a class call humanities. It was taught by an english teacher and an art teacher, and later a philosophy teacher I really did not care for........ I thoroughly disliked the class.
The class for the most part was based around the premise of "What is Art?" and we talked some about Art History, but mostly the goal of the class was to try and come up with a definition for art. We looked at Christoff(?), some guy who built the wall of sheets across California and covered a famous building in Berlin. Our assignment was to cover trees in the courtyard in front of the library with orange construction paper. So we took this huge roll of paper and wrapped it around several trunks and taped it up. It looked horrible and to me it definitely was not pretty or "art". However here we are trying to broaden our definition of art and this teacher was teaching us essentially to be more accepting of "art" might be. So here I am 6 years later in my kitchen dyeing and I realize that I may finally actually understand what hell he meant. I have decided that I can be comfortable defining art as a representation of an artist's interpretation. I have been to some famous art museums and seen some really cool art. If you were to ask me in general if I thought I was an artist I would probably say no. I can't really draw, I never took any art classes unless it was a requirement, you get the picture. I was a Biology and Computer double major, I didn't take any art classes in college. In fact quite recently I had someone tell me that I am a "logical" person and not really artistic. To which I said because the person was an illogical person, obviously (and didn't really know me very well).

Anyways moving on, I think now about my colorways and my strive to be unique and think what is it that makes someone look at a Picasso and declare it wonderful art, or a Monet, or even pop artists. I know a lot of what makes art important is the history of art. It is more then that though, I guess you never do know what draws people to a certain piece. I guess I do what could be defined as in the art realm. I definitely don't think of it that way but if you simplify it down more and more, I dye which is in the realm of painting and most people would consider painting art. Yep, definitely not what I thought I would be doing next. How funny, huh? Man, I hope these murlocs turn out, because I can only sell so many murloc rejects..... ;) I have decided on my next colors and I hope they go over as well as the last two. The names are going to be the best part. I love naming things quirky and funny names if I can. Like my tauren druid is named Mynataur because Myna is my nickname. One of the people in my guild is named Eatcritanddie, and another is named Mootilator. Love it!

Stitches madness

Going to yarn shows is really crazy making. I try to sit down and plan out my time. No, not happening. Dye until your colors look at the same to you. Or until your boyfriend says,"Can we call this one Rainbow Disco?" ARG! I am having fun, but we are trying to move at the same time and my Army Boyfriend is "in the field" this week, so basically he is gone all week. Sigh. This seems so much slower when he isn't around.

I have been trying all week to post about colors I have been thinking about and ideas I have had. I have some yarn that I think looks really subtle, but will consumers think it is boring? I think a lot of what I consider "basic" color combos to be boring. On the other hand you can't be too "artiste" and have colors that people look at and say,"I think its beautiful, but I would never buy it." I hate it when people say that. :(

Anyways my mitered square project is coming SLOWLY. I have one square finished. Only a million more to go. I was going to take a picture and put it up, but i have been trying to do that every day this week and it just is not happening. Maybe next week. Sigh. With Adam's schedule I tend to fall asleep around 9 pm and get up at 5 am. So I have about an hour left. :( but that's ok. Although I am a WoW player, I am not so good at other video games I ascertained today. We tried to play Splinter Cell and Adam didn't know whether to be irritated or fall off the couch laughing. So he can play XBOX and I will knit squares. Hmnt. So there.

;) More to come later.

Early Morning

I had an early morning this morning because I had to drive Adam to work at 4:00. Instead of going back to bed I decided to dye up some samples for my WoW inspired yarn of the month. I got out to the new house and mixed up some dyes and dyed my first color Firey. After it went through the cook and rinse I decided it has too much orange and not enough black. So instead of using orange as one of my colors again I just made my red and yellow overlap more. Looked way better to me. The other ones are still nice, but they didn't look to me like I had in my head.

For those of you who don't play WoW I googled Felsteed and put up a picture of one.

Then I did the Winterspring. Using "white" or rather natural is always a bit difficult especially when you are only dyeing one skein like I did here
Anyways now that I have started dyeing WoW inspired colors of course everything seems WoW colored to me. I have to remember to dye "normal" colors as well. My problem is once I start something getting em to stop is like trying to stop a freight train. I just have to make sure to remember my other interests and hope that will inspire me for more "normal" colors. I have been thinking about dyeing things the colors of my horses. I am not sure how that will look. It will either go over really well or totally bomb. I will get back to you on that one.

As far as knitting goes, I am making several things. I need to make mates for some glittens. I feel like I am over glittens, because now that I have figured them out they just don't seem as cool as they used to. Instead I would rather work on mitered squares in stockinette I found a pattern on rav for how to do them now I would be tickled pink if I understood the math behind how they worked. However they may be less cool then and maybe I wouldn't be so excited about knitting a million little squares. Meh.

Gotta go send out some orders (8lbs of roving!) and dye some more yarn for stitches. I am trying to dye sock yarn in small sweater making amounts. CTH has this beautiful simply supersock sweater and we all know how good I am with sweaters, but OTHER people can knit it and I will have the pattern. Other people with better sweater knitting gumption.

I might try and check out some local yarn groups this evening. There is a yarn shop near me in Lakewood and I thought I might try and go. However. I do have to pick Adam up so... we'll see....

Happy Knitting/ Dyeing!
Jenna

Blog Time

I know I seem to hardly ever update my blog, and I have decided to try and make an effort a couple times a week to write in it. I always want to write in it, but after a go-go-go day, it always seems like by the time I have a moment, all I want to do is spend time away from my computer. Anyways, so for those of you who like to check on it I will try to carve out an hour or to in the morning before I start running around like a crazy person to write something.

Moving on. I got back from Ally Pally and I had a lot of fun, did a lot of sightseeing and knitting. At yarn shows is when I have the WORST cravings to knit. All the cool garments and the yarns and the standing around waiting for people to come buy yarn. Yeah, so I picked like 6 new things I want to try. I learned how to do some mitered squares and now I can't seem to stop. I am one of those people (and I get this impression from a lot of indie dyers) that I just want to know the concept and work with it myself. I had a lot of frustration trying to knit the pattern for a garter mitered square with stockinette stitch. I come back to rav and read up and find out the right pattern. I prolly knitted about 10 wrong ones with little different variations to no success. ARG! Oh well. I dyed a bunch of ends (skeins that aren't full skeins) various colors for an emulation of the CTH mitered afghan. I am going to make a baby blanket for a friend. It's really a toddler blanket but whatever. The first blanket I made was out of cotton.

Chase's Baby Blanket

I think Chase will probably want something a little studier this time. Especially if he might drag it everywhere. This way I can use up some leftovers as well.

I have been knitting A LOT lately. I wish there was a way to knit and drive, it makes driving some like such a wasted chunk of time. My boyfriend and I have gotten to where we fight over who has to drive and I always point out that if I am driving and he is not knitting then it is a wasted chunk of time. He doesn't see it that way oddly enough.

Anyways, I have some new dye ensembles up on my site including Fall Festival (for those of you enjoying Fall) and Tropical Paradise (for those of you that hate winter).

Time for more knitting!

Cobble Gobble

Hey

I just got some new dyes! Great colors! Blue Wisteria, Avocado, Apricot, Bright Green, Midnight Blue, Spicy Plum, Pagoda Red.

So Adam and I broke out the new Supersock DK Select and had a little dyeing party. He had never dyed before and wanted to see what it was like. We had a lot of fun. I love new colors.
He had me start knitting with his yarn right away so he could "see how it knits up." So I decided to make Glittens for my little sister Rae.



Here is his second skein. I am loving these Glittens so much I think I will make some more.




Then I did a little dyeing.
This one is Cobble Gobble.


This is Niagara.


The select takes the color so nicely, any colors appear clean. I love love love it. Next I think we will play with some Sockittome/ Kraemer Jeannie Select. I am excited, I only got to try out half my new colors and only Adam got to play with the red.

Hello Again!

What a whirlwind tour! I just arrived home from Stitches, and it was fantastic! The Alpaca Bulky sweater that I was working on at the show is coming along nicely now I that I remembered that it needed a button band. The fiber content is 65% Wool / 35% Fine Alpaca, with 8 oz / 370 yds. It is a great warm bulky yarn for a variety of projects. I put up 12 skeins. If it sells well or I receive requests for it, I can get more.


At the fashion show, Knitter's magazine entered the Alpaca Bulky Coat, you can make this coat with between 4 and 6 skeins of the alpaca bulky yarn and I will be bringing several matched sets of the dyed yarn to Stitches East as well. The pattern is in the fall issue of Knitter's. This yarn is very easy to dye. If you dye it yourself, I would recommend dyeing it in semi-solids to highlight the pattern work in this coat. I am using 3 skeins and a free sweater pattern I found on Ravelry to make my super simple sweater (pictured above). I dyed it in "colorways" since I am not using any pattern stitch.


I have updated my dyes web page so that you can get an idea about what the colors will look like when they are dyed. The yarn samples are Supersock DK and the dyes are mixed at "full strength". Currently I showing 20 of my 37 colors, I will put the rest up when I get a chance. I will have these samples available for you to see and touch at Stitches East as well. People seemed to enjoy being able to see the colors in person. Raspberry became my new best selling color (though kiwi and Iris were a close second).

In other blanks news, I debuted my Supersock Select at the show and it sold out the first 2 days! The select means that the wool comes from only the best low micron count merino fleeces. Low micron refers to the kinks in the wool and the lower the count, the finer and softer the wool. It means the wool can be spun more tightly and thus wears well too. I have other customers tell me that they think the colors are better and cleaner. I find it is easier to dye, personally. So on that note I went looking for some more. I am getting 40 each of the Sockittome Select (80% Select Superwash Merino/ 20% Nylon- fingering weight) and the Supersock DK (100% Superwash Merino- DK weight). I don't think I will be getting anymore so the Supersock (fingering weight) Select in this year, only 50 kgs are made at a time. Cheryl (at Cherry Tree Hill) usually has the entire allotment sold before it gets to her. You will want to get these select yarns while they are still available.

I have over 30 pounds of high quality merino roving IN STOCK and ready to ship as well. I will post the next set of blanks in the next week or so. You can expect to see two new Silk and Mohair blends: 54% mohair/ 23% silk and 18% wool with a nylon binder. One is a boucle: 8 oz / 422 yds, the other is stranded:4 oz / 322 yds, and both with be offered at $16. The boucle is shown in the pictures, as you can see the silk gives it a wonderful sheen. I will be bringing it dyed to Stitches East as well. I am going to have some pattern support for many of my yarns as well. I am doing a sock pattern for the Supersock/ Louet Gems/ Kraemer Jeannie/ Supersock DK. Also a hat and scarf set for the boucle and possibly a drapey sweater for the stranded version. You can buy your own blanks and dye them for the pattens or just buy an indie dyed one at the show. Either way I am sure the colors will be fabulous! These will make great gifts to your knitting friends, yarns you dyed your self, along with a pattern for the yarn.

Well, we enjoyed Stitches Midwest and we are looking forward to Stitches East. We hope you enjoy the new blanks. On another note I am looking for some more indie dyed yarns to take to Stitches and to the Ally Pally show in London. Please email if you are interested.

Happy Knitting and Dyeing!

:)
Jenna
Indie Dyer

STITCHES MIDWEST

Thank GOD! I got everything packed for Stitches Midwest. My booth is 831 & 829.

I brought A LOT OF BLANKS. I have everything from wool to silk to alpaca to possum. I also have the last 30 hanks of Supersock Select. It is a low micron count Supersock. I will have 20 blanks and at least 10 dyed. I have some beautiful mohair and silk boucle, and silk and mohair stranded as well. I will be bringing all my dyes, and Synthrapol, and some Citric Acid.

Also I am bringing several different types of 4 ounce blanks all suitable for sock/ hats, etc: Superwash DK, Fingering weight wool, Worsted worsted and bulky wool. Some of these yarns I have some free patterns for.

What I am most happy about is the other indie dyed yarns! I am bringing three different indie dyed yarns.

Unwind Yarns by Khetala (Rav) Shannon sent her yarn from British Columbia. She sent me a cute little Shrug pattern that her daughter looks adorable in to go with her worsted yarn.

Fire Lizard Yarn's Cara sent a great batch of sock yarn. She is from Huntsville, AL and does a variety of things, NOT JUST YARN! :) Her blog is here.


Last, but certainly not least is Ancient Thread's Lynda(blog) from Syracuse, NY has brought her unique touch to the party. Lynda only uses plant dyes for her yarn.

Finally, I am bringing 200 Superwash Manifesto DVDs, I have little guide booklets to go with them and I will be signing them at the show. I have a bunch of low cost getting started projects that are fun and easy and COST EFFECTIVE.

At least come by and say Hi I would love to meet you.

Jenna

And they are up!

Hello

I know I have been quiet, not my fault I swear!

New Yarns up :D
I have gotten good response to my dye ensembles and I will be making more soon. I have put up several new yarns for your dyeing pleasure.

Suri Alpaca Laceweight
100% Suri alpaca, 50 grams/ 466 yards This laceweight yarn is unbelievably soft. It dyes a little more muted then the superwash. Dying recommendations: Citric Acid 2 tbsp/ half gallon, Heat Set.

Orenburg Laceweight
20% Silk/ 80% Kidd Mohair, 50 gm/ ~600 yds This yarn is handspun in Russia, and hard to find. This yarn could be considered a cobweb or gossamer weight yarn. Often it is used for formal shawls like would be worn at weddings and such. The bit of silk gives this yarn a hint of sheen that gives the yarn a little depth. Dying recommendations: Citric Acid 2 tbsp/ half gallon, Heat Set

PlainJane Wool
100% Wool, 2 oz / 200yds, For all you purists out there who want just plain wool sock yarn or a nice fingering weight for other projects this is the straight up, real deal. This is good yarn to start on if you are tired of the superwash, it is easy to dye and easy to work with, and it has a nice feel to it. Dying recommendations: Citric Acid 2 tbsp/ half gallon, Synthrapol 1-2 drops in the dye, Heat Set

Simply Roving
100% Merino wool roving, This is the softest roving I have ever felt and it is very high quality. It comes clean and ready to be dyed. When I dye roving, I lay it out in a pan just like I would any other yarn. Cut to your specifications, I am sure you will be satisfied with this product. Dying recommendations: Citric Acid 2 tbsp/ half gallon, Synthrapol 1-2 drops in the dye, Heat Set

The other offering I have recently put up is my new video The Indie Dyer Experience: The Superwash Manifesto which is available for preorder and will debut at Stitches Midwest. I spent an entire day in the studio to bring you this one hour DVD that will show you step by step how to dye yarn. I dye 3 sample hanks, with the very dyes that I sell so you can see how to get colors lighter, make colors darker, how to reuse your dyes, and make mixing more dye efficient. Also we will show you many of the tips and tricks that can really save you time and money.

Happy Dye-ing!

Jenna
www.indiedyer.com

Ensembles Anyone?

After getting some feed back about the dyes I think it might be easier for people if I get together some dye ensembles so people can have a group of dyes to buy together.

In the Dyes section of my website you will find some new little dye packs. The number of dyes in the different sets varies so that people can have a wider variety to choose from every other the set "basic 4." That being said my starter set is a set of 4 dyes. Let me introduce my ensembles. You will notice that buying an ensemble will be a bit better price then buying each of these dyes individually. :)

Basic Primaries (4 colors/containers): Citrus Yellow, Coral (this is red), Bright Blue, Nickel( Black), technically you can make every color from these 4 colors. 4 oz of dye (4 one ounce containers) will make roughly 6 gallons of dye if you use it at "full strength" which is considered 2 tsp to a half gallon. If you want to color to look lighter or darker then "full strength", you are going to have to use more or less powered dye accordingly. $11

Extended Primaries(6 colors/containers): Citrus Yellow, Coral (this is red), Azure Blue, Nickel( Black), Ultraviolet, and Aqua, while technically you can make every color with the above set, both bright violets and turquoises/ aqua are hard to mix yourself and be brilliant. This set really gives you a wide range for which to mix your own colors and make 90% of the colors you want . 6 oz of dye roughly makes 9 gallons of "full strength" dye (see note above about full strength dye). $16

Crayola Colors (8 colors/containers): This what you would get if you bought a 8 pack of crayola crayons, pencils, or markers. Nickel (Black), Nutmeg, Coral (red), Musk Melon, Citrus Yellow, Emerald Green, Intense Blue, and Ultra Violet. These are basically the colors of the rainbow with brown and black. Nutmeg is a reddish brown and Coral is a bright scarlet red, between the two you should be able to make a good spectrum of reds. $22

Watercolors (6 colors/containers): Kiwi (my favorite all time color!), Iris, Soft Orange, Robins Egg Blue, Bubble Gum, Baby Blue. All of these colors are lighter then the other colors, they won't make a dark fierce hue, instead you will find a softer, more inviting color. $16


Faded Colors (6 colors/ containers): Bordeaux, Bronze, Curry, Olive Drab, Alpine Blue, Khaki. These are your off colors, they are sort of fall colors, and they aren't very bright. Perfect for a more muted color. $16

Blues (5 colors/ containers): Azure Blue, Sky Blue, Intense Blue, Robins Egg Blue, Electric Blue. With these blues your will be able to find the exact hue you are looking for and be able to make any color of purple or green! You will be surprised at the variation of these blues. $13

The Ultimate Collection(37 colors/ 37containers): This would be every color I have to offer, it is the ultimate indulgence. You will always have a wonderful selection to choose from and can explore colors with more control of what color you are going to get. You can easily work several different palettes just by putting aside certain colors. $ 99 (price is cut from $111, thats 4 dyes free!)

Anyways, I plan to offer more dye ensembles in the future, but these should get you started. Happy Dying!

New Yarns anyone?

With the launch of my new store I have been hunting around for more things to put up on my site for you to dye. At a really good price.

How does everyone feel about Suri Lace?

Suri Lace Alpaca
50 g / 466 yds

100% Suri Alpaca lace weight yarn that is well suited to fine lace work.

Specifications: Gauge: 7sts. per 1 inch on US 3 needle. Washing instructions: Handwash only and lay flat to dry.

I found about 30 skeins, so once it is gone that is all I have.
This yarn is a protein fiber so it will need citric acid in the dye bath, and you can use the standard mx dyes with a few drops of synthrapol in the dye bath.

I have heard a rumor about some certified ORGANIC sock yarn, and I am stalking it and should know tomorrow how much I can get. ....... plant dyers this maybe your way to get a totally organic experience......

As always.....hunting down the best prices.....
Sign up for my newsletter (sidebar) to get info on good deals on my yarn.

ITS ALIVE

BUSY SHOULD BE MY MIDDLE NAME!

These past couple days have been CRAZY! However, my site is up! www.indiedyer.com is now a live site!

I have been dying my little fingers off! Wanna see?
Here is my Indie Dyed Yarn, that I have been working on for several days.

This yarn is promised out to Loopy Ewe, but I have a bunch more not pictured headed out to Jimmy Beans Wool!

They are going to be carrying my stuff as well I am incredibly honored and excited to have both of these stores carrying my stuff!

Thats all for now, more tomorrow. I have some other BIG updates, but I can barely stay awake.
Night!

Back in the Studio.....

Today was awesome! I was got to test out all my new dyes. I entrusted a CERTAIN someone to order the TEN dyes I specified. Some how when I got the box there were closer to THIRTY dyes in the box. AND I couldn't find the black. Hmmm..... Well I did what any self respecting dyer would when faced with ALL THOSE DYES and BLANKS. I started dying! Umm we decided to label it "testing the dyes."


I love my Mom's studio, it is sooooo nice. My first big order (for me anyways) is shipping to The Loopy Ewe . I am so very excited for her to pick up my yarn.

Here I am poking my yarn, to see if it was done cooking.


This colorway is called Cactus Flower. Here I am caressing my about-to-be dried Cactus Flower.Later I realized that "Nickel" is actually black. I didn't realize that BEFORE I placed the order for Black that is labeled "Black." So my fellow dyers you lucky people will have TWO blacks from which to choose. Lucky Lucky!

Notice: The yarn on my Mom's site SOLD OUT. Thanks! My site should be up enough to order dyes and other stuff tomorrow. I won't be able to ship until I get back Tuesday.

Video Buzz

Hey

Today I head out to beautiful green Vermont to shoot my first dying video. I have borrowed my Mom's beautiful studio and I am looking forward to taking visiting my family and friends in the area.

Tenitive working title is: The Superwash Manifesto. I am so very excited to get this DVD out because now I can really showcase some of the finer points of dying and I think it will appeal to a wide range of people. In addition to a straight forward how to, I am going to show various stages of dyed yarn and the different tricks and tips that can help people understand the dye process itself a little better.

I am also thinking about making an appearance at Stitches Midwest at the end of August. I will have all my blanks, dyes, supplies and probably some of my own dyed yarn there for sale as well.

Anyways, I am off to catch my plane, I hope to see you soon!

Temporary Fix

Hey Guys!

I have a good temporary fix. YOU CAN FINALLY GO PURCHASE YARN. My mother was kind enough to loan me some webspace. My website is about a week from being done, but she has gracious enough to put up the yarn for me.

So here is the link:

http://www.discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com/pages/8668/Indie_Dyer.htm

Shop happy! The dyes and videos are coming soon.

:)
Jenna

Down So Long!

Hello Fellow Dyers!

Sorry I have been away so long, I am in the process of moving to Washington to be with my boyfriend and it has been busy.

Many things have come through in my long drive to Washington, all my bank accounts have been finalized, my dyes have shipped, and I got some labels printed. My Mother has offered to help me ship put some of the stash I had stockpiled at her place so I will begin limited orders for just blanks. For all of you that sent me your email addresses I will be sending out an email with provisions on how to order, and while my web guys works furiously to put up a website to my liking, I will start taking some orders for blanks. I will only be shipping UPS for now. Once the website is up I will probably offer more options. The idea behind the limited orders is that will give me an idea about what the demand will be and how much yarn to order from the mills.

Meanwhile, all the yarn that I had of my colors are currently sold out. I am not dying anymore until after I move. I would rather get the store up and running so you guy can dye yarn.

I have to trailer one of my horses from Texas to Washington so if I am a little out of touch my apologies; I have many more requests than I initially anticipated (no complaints here ☺ ), so I figured since I have much of the stuff waiting to go out I would try and accommodate the people who just can’t wait ☺.

To email me for any reason: indiedyer at gmail.com (put an @ for the at and take out the spaces)

Big Move among other things.....

Hello Out There--

I know I have been quiet, I am the process of moving to Olympia, WA, and so I have been a little busy.

I ordered my colors for dyes, and decided on 1 oz containers. I am getting my license to do business in Washington mailed to my new address, and open a business account. My website is coming along great and I have a logo (as you can see above).

So I got a call from my Mom today and she said, "I sold some of your sock yarn!" and I said, "What are you talking about?" She said,"You know that yarn you dyed the other day that you sent to me to check out?" I said,"Sure, but that was for you to tell me what you thought of my colors! You sold it?" She said,"Actually no, I sold 3 more skeins of it, so you need to dye some more......" I always just dyed yarn for me when Mom wasn't using her studio, I never thought about selling it. I dyed yarns for me, Mom dyed yarn for customers.

I grew up with yarn and dye and left over dye water everywhere. I would come home and see what my Mom had dyed that day, and what colors were left over. I loved seeing what was left, because it gave me some constraints to work with to use up the left over dye. I ended up dying a lot of potlucks.

My Mom told me that she would knit me a "wonderful wallaby" if I dyed the yarn. Well that day there was a lot of red and yellow leftover, and the end result yarn was pretty orange, and I wasn't sure how much I liked it. However when it was done, I thought it was pretty cool looking. So I went to school the next day proudly wearing, and a guy I had a crush on told me I looked like a construction worker. I was mortified, I went straight home, and mixed up some violet dye and overdyed the sweater purple. My Mom just laughed. It turned out really well and I still wear my wallaby today, but it is getting pretty worn...Anyway, enough nostalgia.

I am opening my store that other people can have the same ease and freedom around dye I do. I don't agonize about colors, if I didn't like I over dyed it, started over, or gave away the yarn. Yarn and dye were easy to come by, so I didn't care if I screwed up yarn. I hope that yarn and dye will be more accessible now for you too.

Sometimes I will hear a story or see something that strikes me strongly color wise and I would try to picture how I would like it to look on yarn. What colors would I have to put to really bring out the intent of the situation or feeling.

I guess I will dye some more skeins in colors that I have done in the past for myself. I want to focus on getting my Indie Dyer Store running so I will only dye 20 skeins of each color. I am just not going to have time to do more than that right now.

Here are some of the colors that I am planning on reviving from my sketchbooks, and personal yarn stash. I will throw a couple new ones in to from some ideas that I have been toying with for a while. Well, we will see how much I like them in the real world and out of my head. I will put pictures up after I get sorted out from all of this moving.

Deep Sea - all the blues-turquoises- navy that make up the ocean
Fairy Tale - bright violet, emerald green, and sapphire to start, all the colors that make up a kings treasure chest or a the sheen on a dragon's scales
Paisley - various greens with gold flecks
Fire and Ice - icey blue and rusty streaks like a bonfire on a cold winter night

... these are just a few that have meaning to me and I personally like, so if you are interested in MY colors, please feel free to email me, I am going to ask around to see how much these sock yarns go for....

BUT if you are interested in blanks, they are on their way! I have my email list all ready to be fired up and sent out when I have the shopping cart set up. Not long now!

Say NO to Vinegar!!!

WARNING: PERSONAL OPINION BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

If I could leave on lasting impression on indie dyers it would be SAY NO TO VINEGAR! It is not a good mordant! It is for putting on salad, not dying!

The acidic compound in white distilled vinegar is acetic acid. Unfortunately, acetic acid is not the best compound for fixing dye, you have to use more dye and more water to rinse the yarn in addition to the foul odor it leaves behind. In addition the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar varies from bottle to bottle producing inconsistent results.

I prefer and use citric acid. Citric acid is a better mordant. It fixes the dye better which in turn means the yarn requires less rinsing. One tablespoon of citric acid does as much as a whole gallon of vinegar. It is much more cost effective. Frankly, it is better for the environment, safe to handle (it is the same type of acid you find in lemons/limes!), and less corrosive (better for pipes, hands etc).

Just because I can use watercolors to paint my house, doesn't mean I should. I use what professionals use, house paint. It just pains me so to see people constantly asking questions about how to use vinegar and when to use vinegar and using vinegar to rinse. Vinegar is NOT A CURE-ALL. This is just one of many reasons I am opening this store, to make this simple compound available to you, along with the directions about how to get the results you want.

For those of you that LOVE your vinegar and couldn't IMAGINE doing it any other way, okay, but there are better tools out there, begging you to use them. I am sure the other people in your studio will not complain of the lack of stench either.

Update on the store: Hoping to get my website design approved so I can get the site up. I am testing several payment methods, and trying to figure out if people really do hate paypal. I like it, but someone recently told me that "people" do not like paypal. If you have a paypal opinion would you be as so kind as to vote on the sidebar? ((Thanks))

Content

Hello Again

I had a yarnie ask me to post the content of the yarns I am offering.
All the yarns are fingering weight, the Cherry Tree Hill and the Louet Gems are both 100% superwash merino, the Kramer Yarn is 80% Superwash Merino / 20% Nylon.

I have received quite a few requests to carry other yarns, or asking if I will carry other yarns. Currently, this is all I have to offer, however, once I get the site up and running I am sure I will be able to provide more yarns.

The important thing about the blanks I am selling is that they are already wound off, and tied loosely, so the only prep you have to do is dye related. These are intended to be dyed directly.

I am really excited about my website, I talked with my designer today. We discussed having a page to talk about dye news of sorts, tips and techniques. I know many indie dyers have their own kitchens and methods, but I hope that for people who are searching so some clear answers about why their yarn doesn't look the way they think it should, we provide some good resources.

I would like also to thank everyone who has shown such tremendous support and know that what you want to put in your dye pot is on the way!

NOW! Back to work to get this thing running!

Yardages

So I talked to some of my suppliers, and found I can offer these blanks for way lower then I thought originally, so here we go.

Obviously all sock yarns to start out:

Kraemer yarn is 450 yds/ 100 gms for $7

Louet Gems is 185 yds/ 50 gms for $4

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock for $8 this is 420 yds/ 4 oz

I hope to get a call back on the dyes this afternoon. I am hoping to be up and running within the next couple of weeks, so wish me luck.

UPDATE!

Hey

I didn't expect to get such a tremendous response so quickly. I am going to offer all my blanks for LESS then $10 dollars each, probably around $7 to $8 each, with no minimum purchases.

I am going to be selling skeins that are wound off, and tied loosely, but are grey goods. Leaving them as grey goods serves two purposes. The first is that it is faster and allows me to offer the blanks to you cheaper. The second is that it allows the individual dyer to wash the blanks as much or as little as they want prior to dying. This is important as too much washing can strip the wool of its lanolin and loft it too much. So rather then sending you the yarn pre-stripped, I will sell it unwashed.

I am also going to be offering fixatives (like Citric Acid, which better for the environment then vinegar and smells better too ;) ) and wetting agents in smaller quantities for indie dyers. I will be offering a line of professional dyes that are environmentally friendly and contain no metals, or harsh chemicals (no acetic acid, no ureic acid, no tin, no aluminum, etc,).

Another thing that I think there is a demand for is instruction. I am going to have some instructional DVDs made that emphasize the different dye processes for different fibers, and also the various uses for supplementals such as citric acid, soda ash, etc.

Tomorrow I will figure out exactly which blanks I can offer for what price.

Well that is all she wrote. Have a nice evening!

Getting the Word OUT!

Hello Everyone!

I just talked to my web master and I am really going to push to get the site up. I was wondering if you guys were interested in helping me pick a logo? I have designed several myself and gotten some help, but I really want want a good feel for the website. I guess it is easy to get hung up on the more "creative" part of the website.

What will really draw people to the website is being able to get everything they need and want to dye. I will have dyes in 2 oz jars (enough for 3 lbs of yarn) in 10 base colors, plus all the additives needed for dying.
As far as blanks I will offer many sock yarns in 4 oz balls:
Superwash Sock Yarn DK
Superwash Sock Yarn Fingering
Superwash Sock Yarn with Nylon Enforcement
Wool Sock Yarn (Hand Wash Only)
Alpaca Sock Yarn

If there is anything in particular you would like to see as a blank, please let me know. If I get enough demand I will try and find a supplier.

Last, but not least, I am looking into getting some instructional dying DVDs made, and guest articles on the site.

That's all I can post for now, but I am hoping to get some feedback and when I have a couple of logo ideas, I will post them and you can vote. :)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Experience is the right word.....

Well I just signed up for Ravelry and I am just amazed at all the people out there dying their own yarn! AND the things they are doing to their yarn to get it dyed.... I mean I didn't know you could do that to yarn.

So anyways I thought I would share some of my projects and thoughts and crazy things I have done over the years and share my experience. I hope to open a shop where people can cheaply buy the supplies to dye their own yarn.

So this will be a great experiment! Hope you are along for the ride!