Dye classes are available to groups here at the Wool2Dye4 studio. Group size is limited to 5 students (six, if you beg me). Classes last four hours. Cost of the class is $20 plus purchase of one 8 oz skein of yarn to dye in class. Students bring a lunch, and I furnish drinks and dessert.To organize a class and reserve a date, email info@wool2dye4.com. My studio is in Lynchburg Virginia and there are terrific Bed and Breakfasts nearby for lodging.The picture is of the most recent class's dye jobs -- all colorful and vibrant, and one black skein of Licorice Twist (which will become part of a Halloween stocking).
I have in stock about 40 pounds of a bulky yarn that felts very well. Cestari Fine Merino, Babies Breath comes in 4 oz skeins of about 210 yards each. Cost: $10 per skein.This is a good price to try out some new skills. This yarn is good enough to give you a nice finished yarn -- if your experiments turn out well! -- but not prohibitively expensive.It is listed on the SPECIALS page of the website. To order, just email me and tell me how many skeins you'd like. I will invoice you through PayPal and ship when your payment clears. Easy!Good for felting, hats, Kool Aid dyeing, acid and natural dye experiments, warm wraps/scarves. This is a good deal.
A friend who has been in the retail end of the yarn business for years recently reminded me of the formula for pricing handknit items.Cost of materials plus $0.15 x number of yards = Cost of Hand Knit Items.
Today a customer wrote that she is about to begin an Aran sweater, and wanted me to help her decide if Andee or Montana would be a better choice. Her concerns were that the yarn be smooth enough to make good cables and that it feel soft against the skin.My answer: Montana will probably make a nicer cable. It is a firm three-ply in a very round yarn, which always makes better cables. It is a soft Merino and will probably knit up into a good Aran Sweater. My suggestion: Blue Faced Leicester ARAN. This is the very yarn that is used in the British Isles for Aran sweaters. It is a three-ply, nice and round. When I first saw it, I thought that it was a little big for an Aran sweater, but it has some stretch to the fiber and knits up into a truly nice fabric. It also makes cables that have definition.
A new yarn has arrived from England, a bulky BFL in two-ply. Interesting, fluffy, and definitely bulky at around 560 yards per pound. This yarn is wound onto half-kilo cones, which is just a touch more than one pound, and sells for $40 per cone. I've been needing a bulky yarn and I think that the BFL will be a good one. Yes, it is bit more expensive than merino, but not out of sight, and it is Blue Faced Leicester after all, a rare breed.Soon a picture and description will go on the website. First I will list it on the SPECIALS page while waiting for my webmaster to post it on the HOME page and integrate it into the website.
