Ever need a Colonial costume quickly?

Every once in a while, I am invited to dress up in costume and represent the early American crafts of spinning and/or weaving/knitting, etc. The first event was in the springtime, and the dress I made kept me warm on a cool day; however, that same dress seemed like a huge punishment when worn last summer on a sweltering August afternoon in the sun.

This coming weekend -- another August day in the humid Virginia weather -- I am going to join my guild in demonstrating the domestic arts (ahem!) at the Albemarle County Fair. A group called Backyard Revolution has created a settlement which will attempt to replicate life in the agrarian economy of the late 1700's through the 1800's. There will be natural dyeing of fibers, spinning and weaving along with blacksmithing, log-home building .. oh, lots of things that those folks had to do every day of the week just to subsist.

I will be spinning. Usually I sneak in my plastic spinning wheel, a little jewel from Babe's Fiber Garden, but this group sounds like they might be a little strict on period interpretation. My PVC plastic frame with a stainless steel wheel from a wheelchair will probably not cut it, pass muster. So, I am taking a couple drop spindles and some fleece from a Virginia flock which a girlfriend manages. They are Leicester Longwools, a cousin of my beloved Bluefaced Leicester, so that will fit in nicely. And, I will be working with fiber from Central Virginia, too.

But, back to my costume! I mentioned that I had made a dress for my first appearance in Colonial garb. That thing was ugly, plus it really did not fit and I had positioned safety pins along the bust to create pleats. In preparation for the upcoming fair, I decided to cut off the top and make a skirt and then to just buy a white blouson sleeved blouse (something like a peasant blouse) and an English vest. All of this brings me to the point, which is that I have a great recommendation for anyone needing to put together a costume to approximate early American dress.

It is Jas Townsend & Son, inc. They have a good selection of clothing for men, women and children plus several little accessories, such as the pockets which were worn under aprons mostly. They are muslin pockets with a cotton twill tape running through a little band on the top, but I saw several women in costume who wore theirs on the outside of their skirt, with no apron, and adapted this idea. I sewed my pocket onto the side of my new skirt ... made from the ugly dress. Great solution.

Here is the link to Jas Townsend & Son website: jas-townsend.com. I give them top recommendation!

Next was footwear. My old Berkinstock sandals sort of remind me of pieces of leather which women might have wrapped around their feet during the Middle Ages. I am now in possession of a pair of Mary Janes, by Naot. They work fine, but what about socks? To knit a pair of knee length natural socks in four days is pretty much impossible for me, so I decided to drag out the antique circular sock machine. Within two hours and a couple of setbacks which taught me to check my equipment before launching into a project, I was in possession of a pair of kneesocks done in my lovely BFL Ultra! They were both too long, though, so I have had to unwind the toes and finish them off by hand, but much less trouble and work than handknitting! I have two days to go, and one toe to go, and then must wash out the machine oil. That was the result of over-oiling a reluctant sock machine into movement.

I'm looking forward now to getting dressed up for this shindig on Saturday. The weatherman, though, is calling for a week of solid rain. So, we shall see how the sky looks that morning.

Yarnie says, 'Sock Summit ... or bust!'

Sock Summit: August 6 - 9, 2009

We are ready and waiting to ship our booth yarn to Sock Summit today. I can hardly believe that the long days of prep, counting and recounting, thinking of what nifty little tool you always wish you had at a booth but had forgotten, and, of course, some snacks. We have closed the boxes and ordered in FedEx to pick up.



Off go the hand-dyed yarns from UptownStitches.com, our sister website, to Portland Oregon's Raintree Convention Center for Sock Summit. The organizers have no idea how many attendees will attend, and estimates are at 50,000 by some counts. Just imagine what it is like to guestimate how much yarn to send for a booth at such an event! Impossible. My partner in crime is Barb Brown, owner of Wild Geese Fibres (http://www.wildgeesefibres.com/), and she is the actual attendee. Due to a long list of regulations which basically mean that taxes and finances would preclude much profit for Canadian vendors to bring in their own stock, she needed our help in stocking her booth. Barb, sock pattern designer extraordinaire, turned to us and we were happy to help her out.



We sent either way too much yarn, or hardly enough ... and we won't know until after Sock Summit is over, whether or not Barb will be kept busy. She's got an American helper at her booth, so she will be able to slip away and take a few of the advanced classes. Lucky her! Must admit that I all put stripped the shelves of Uptown Stitches to stock that booth, so I sure do hope we have some takers!



If you are going to Sock Summit, please do check out Barb's Wild Geese Fibres booth to see the Uptown Stitches yarns in person. We even have a kilo of skeins of one of the Dye for Glory entries, by Laura Schickli. Just absolutely beautiful work on our base, BFL-4 Socking. Each skein will sell for $25.



All of our handdyes will sell at one of two pricepoints: merinos at $20 per skein, and BFL's at $25 per skein. If you get to meet Barb, tell her Sheila sent you!

Web of Trust ... help rate Wool2Dye4?

Yesterday afternoon, we received a note from a potential customer who attached a negative rating from Web of Trust, an internet company which reports on the security of individual websites. They mistakenly gave our home page a bad review ... but high reviews for all other pages ... because of a parking page which our server uses. It's called Website Welcome, and it's a 'nothing page,' and is only there so people can have a secure checkout on their sites. There is a possibility that one customer somewhere could have been unhappy with the shopping cart for another company which is serviced by my server company. Who knows? As WebGuy #2 says, 'One bad apple ...'

Anyway, what I am hoping will happen is that if anyone is already using Web of Trust that they will give my two websites (www.Wool2Dye4.com and www.UptownStitches.com) a positive rating, to dispell that negative vibe going on.

We've got the security and backup and incripted credit card service and all that good stuff, and that one page of the site does not warrant a negative rating. So, if you see a warning notice from Web of Trust, please do take the time to rate us, and may I ask you to rate us positively?

My thanks to anyone who may see this and actually do this for me.

We've only received the one letter from one customer, but if it happened once to her, then it could happen as the popularity of security sites grows. Maybe it's time for us to get a dedicated server for the sites.

Canadian Kool Aid???

One of my fiber friends sent me this note in today's eMail ...

Ever since your kool aid dying program at the Stewartsville Library (3 years ago ?) I've asked my Canadian sister-in-law to please bring some creative Canadian kool aid colors back when she goes to visit her parents. She kept forgetting. I saw her this past weekend and she said - okay finally I remembered and she handed me 6 boxes of.....Jello.

My assumption is that Jello won't work because of the gelatin. Will they work?

Sock Summit puts their handdyers to the test!

Sock Summit -- what a great name! -- has grown exponentially into a huge machine. Now, they've come up with a terrific contest. Not for just any dyer, but for dyers associated with the event itself. This includes the organizers -- who number among the Who's Who of our fiber arts worls -- the vendors, advertisers, etc. Here is some must-read material on the contest.

http://blog.ravelry.com/2009/06/25/dye-for-glory/
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

... and, if you are a Ravelry member, log on and then check out this thread ...
http://ravelry.com/discuss/sock-smmit-2009/topics/698417

Haven't heard of Ravelry?

Several times I have mentioned that my blogging time started to get eaten up by Ravelry. What I have been reminded of recently is that everyone in the world has probably heard of blogs, but not everyone in the world has heard of Ravelry. So, to clarify ... Ravelry is an online community devoted to knitting and crochet enthusiasts. For me, this includes handdyers of my natural wool yarns, and especially sock knitting affectionados.

On Ravelry, there are groups created by either individuals or companies. One of my customers told me about Ravelry, and so I checked it out only to discover that it was in beta version, and that there was a couple month wait to get accepted into the fold. Someone must have contacted the folks at Ravelry, because we received an invitation to join as a potential group moderator for Wool2Dye4. So, we jumped to the front of the line, became a member of the online knitting community and started a group called Friends of Wool2Dye4.

Amazing. Just amazing amount of contacts immediately began to fly back and forth. I had a quick look around the site, and quickly found out that it is like any large group of many people with varied interests and that discussions could quickly turn to things other than wool. For me, the value in maintaining a group was not to discuss cooking, children, navel gazing, or --worse! -- politics and religion. No. Immediately I decided to guide the discussions, as much as possible, to be on-topic .. the topic being my yarn, right?

People's personalities come out in informal little posts. Their humor, their approach to business, to the scope of their businesses, to what they consider a lot or a little business, method, etc. '

It's fun. I like logging on and seeing the discussion of my yarns, the expected new yarns on the delivery schedule, suggestions for yarns and fibers to add to the lineup. Last summer when my British Wool supplier came to work with me for a week, we held a quasi Cyber Open House on Ravelry on a July Sunday afternoon. I was so surprised that within just the one hour of our Open House, we had more than 100 posts back and forth. It was exhilarating to be tapping away, the two of us sitting side by side, and calling out, 'Hey, I'll get this one!' and 'Oh, look who it is!' We truly did have almost instantaneous interaction with some people halfway round the world.

But, of course, it is not all fun and games. Like last month, for instance, I had the brilliant idea that I did not want to carry spinning fibers any more on the Wool2Dye4 website. There were very good reasons, which do not need to be repeated because I was called down good and proper. My customers practically told me that they were disappointed in me.... a sure way to get my attention. They had their say both on Ravelry and in personal eMails, which, I may say, were even more pointedly worded than the publicly posted Ravelry discussion. And, yes, I backtracked and am still carrying spinning fibers. What else could I do? In a way, I was irritated that I couldn't do what I wanted to do, and in another very big way, I was proud that so many people felt so strongly about the site and the products that they had to resort to strong language to make their point.

Ravelry is good for my business, and I buy adversing, of course, and also support the owners' efforts by sending a small gift of cash every once in a while. A sort of general 'thank you' for the opportunity to interact with my customers, to get to know them better, to see pictures of their dogs and cats and kids and hubbies. And of their knitting, their dye jobs on my wool, their designs. Many times a customer will write a private eMail to find out more about a wool or when new stock is expected, or just how a particular fiber reacts to a method or expected wear. And, many of these eMails end with, 'Whatever did we do before Ravelry?' Must say that Ravelry has given me a chance to get to know my customers in a way that mere eMails do not afford, and I like it.

There is a down side to almost everything! Maintaining an active group with viable questions and discussions takes an awful lot of time to keep up with! As a result, other forms of communication have suffered, including ... yes, the blog. I was thinking that this will be a good spot to introduce the fiber artists who are supplying the lovely yarns for the new website, Uptown Stitches, in the next weeks. I've started a new Ravelry group, Friends of Uptown Stitches, and am introducing the artists there, but sometimes I worry that I may be preaching to the crowd there.

Sheila's Sock is a hit ... and hasn't even arrived yet!

Happily, we ordered Sheila's Sock twice! I thought that the first order would be a nice introductory order, just enough to get a few folks interested in what I think is a great yarn with a great future. Evidently, lots of folks must have had the very same reaction to this 100% superwash in our springy merino, because we have pre-sold the entire first order. All of it! It hasn't even arrived yet, either.

Not to worry, though! We have a nice sized stock order coming the middle of July, and again in August.

This week I am spending my spare moments winding up little butteflies of this yarn so that we can drop them into outgoing orders. Every time I wind up this yarn, I want to fire up the dyepot and try out a full-sized skein, instead of the tiny one I allowed myself to dye for samples. This year definitely looks different when it is dyed and dried! The two firmly twisted plies swell up against each other, giving a nice cabled sort of look.

I will have to wait for the mid-July shipment before I can afford to take some of this yarn out of stock and experiment. Nice stuff, this!

Noted added: June 19, 2009
One of the comments is a question, actually, and it is about Sheila's Sock being presented on cones. Yes! We expect the cones (and more skeins!) mid-July. I will start crowing when I hear they have passed through Customs, and will let all know.

The first shipment of this new yarn came and went within 8 hours! We worked like demons here turning around orders which ate up every single skein. Well, I admit that even though I was shorted 100 skeins from my original order, there was a little package of 4 skeins which I secreted away. At least, I think I did, but will know when things calm down. Corwin, my Studio Assistant, could have parcelled them out. As it was, we had to ask two customers to give up a couple of kilos so that we could make good on our promises to those other folks who expected some of the 100 lost skeins.

That is the way of orders and measures at our end of the market. The entire shipment is weighed within a reasonable margin of the original order. We are lucky that the skeins from this mill are consistently weighed, but in the grand scheme of things, 100 skeins in either direction is to be expected. It's been a couple of years since we pre-sold a new yarn and had to ship every single skein which arrived. I think it was Ultra Merino 3-Ply, the last time this happened.

No worries, though. The next shipment will be here in just a few weeks ... cones and skeins. We are taking pre-orders now on the website, by the way.

Many thanks to all who took the plunge to try the new formulation of our springy superwash merino and on the new size skein.

GreenerShades - more thoughts on these nice dyes ...

GreenerShades acid dyes are a new set of dyes on the market, and I recommend giving them a try. For a list of re-sellers of GreenerShades, follow this link:

http://greenershades.stillrivermill.com/wheretobuy.php

I wrote to Greg Driscoll at Still River Mill/GreenerShades, and he gave me more information about their approach to working with dyes and fibers. As owners of Still River Mill, they process all sorts of fibers. Here is some of what he had to say:

"In keeping with our environmentally friendly philosophy, we really try to do things as nontoxicly as possible here in the mill, hence the GreenerShades dyes in the first place. The dyes have been tested on a lot of different fibers, including nylon swimsuits, and they outperform other dyes in most cases. "

(Sheila's note: I wrote to Greg and mentioned that in my experiment I had used some superwash/nylon yarn, and his answer gives us more insight into the reactions of fiber to process. Read on ...)

"Thank you very much for the writeup on your blog and the link on your site. The superwash process is quite toxic, so we don't purchase superwash fibers. The process uses several chemicals to clean the wool and then applies a synthetic resin to essentially glue down the scales of the wool. (This lessens the felting that happens when you wash and dry wool.) This process adds many more dyepoints to the fiber, allowing the fiber to absorb a lot more dye. Hence your deeper shade on the superwash.

The light spots on your yarns are usually caused by the skeins not being clean enough before you dyed them. There is something on the wool and usually it is the oils applied in the spinning process, natural lanolin, or scouring agents that prohibit absorption of the dye."

Greener Shades - Experiment
Still need to do a similar experiment with my old dyes from ProChem, but I did want to post this picture. There are three fibers dyed with each of the nine colors. The little sock yarn on the right side of each bundle is superwash merino with nylon. The middle bundle is regular merino, the mini on the left is Bluefaced Leicester.

As you can see (and please click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better view), there is little to no difference in the colors of the non-superwash fibers (merino and BFL). There is shade change and difference in absorption with the superwash/nylon fiber on a few of the colors: Yellow, Orange, Black, Aqua, Green. By no means is this a scientific experiment, and I think I should do this again. Also, I will push myself to do the same exercise with my ProChem dyed.

All this said, I would not hesitate to use Greener Shades dyes. The colors are vibrant, truly, and since most of us are in the habit of testing before jumping into the dyepot, I think the more intense absorption of the colors listed above can be taken into account when we dye. My mind is not made up, but I have nothing negative to say about Greener Shades.

If anyone else has tried this brand, please speak up!

The new site is open ... http://www.uptownstitches.com/ ... and we are offering free shipping

through July 31, 2009 to customers within the Continental U.S.

At checkout, enter Coupon Code: W2D4-06.

I have no idea why the picture is turned sideways, but you can still see that it is a Starter Kit from Greener Shades. The kind folks at Greener Shades sent me this sampler so that I could try the dyes out myself. They are acid dyes which are formulated to be absorbed with greater intensity by the fibers, and to leave less metals in the dyebath which gets integrated into our water system.

Yesterday I did a little test using mini skeins of Bluefaced Leicester and Merino and another of a superwash merino with nylon. My test actually brought up more questions than answers, and I now realize that I have nothing to compare the results to, so it's time to do a test on the regular dyes I normally use, i.e., ProChem, and the same fiber combo. Initially I saw that the superwash with nylon changed hues with the yellow and orange, and absorbed much more dye in the blue and black than the non-superwash yarns. I know that superwash yarns do absorb more color than non-superwash yarns, but I am talking a major difference in the amount of absorbed color.

Using a set of three little measuring spoons with denotations of A Pinch, A Smidgen, and A Dash, I did not follow the set of instructions which came with the samples, but used my old quick and tried routine of a little dye, a splash of white vinegar, a cup of hot water all into a zip-bag and into the microwave for two sessions of two minutes, with a rest in between. Colors were nice and clear, and most of the color was absorbed from the mini-bath.

I will say that my first impression of Greener Shades is that the colors are vibrant and lovely. Ever since the experiment, I have been daydreaming of dyeing up some of the limited British Merino in SW DK and making a one-of-a-kind sweater for next year. Maybe a sleeveless vest, even, since I've picked up Barbara Walker's book, Knitting From the Top, and am becoming obsessed with some of her ideas. She and Elizabeth Zimmerman can just put me into that wonderful zone where ideas flow, there are no dropped stitches, and long swaths of plain knitting go by effortlessly.

Will post a picture of the results of both experiments in the next few days, but wanted to see if anyone else has used Greener Shades with success? They look good, so far. Good enough to have me daydreaming about an Amethyst vest, knit from the top down.

Wish I could remember where I got those little measuring spoons. They come in handy when mixing colors and I recall that I found them just after buying Maryanne Lincoln's book, Recipes from the Dye Kitchen. She is a rug hooker, but that doesn't matter. She is a genius at mixing color, mostly for wool fabric swatches, but wool is wool and her recipes are wonderful. She does mention the TOD brand dye measuring spoons, which are calibrated scoops at both ends measuring down to 1/32 of a teaspoon. Also the Grey brand of spoons which go to 1/128th of a teaspoon! Maybe they are the Grey spoons. If so, I have only this information for the hunt (though the internet will surely yield some better results -- this book was written ten years ago when we didn't think to look on the internet as a natural reaction): Ralph Grey: 4877 Ashworth Road; Mariposa CA 95338. Happy hunting!
Here's a link ... http://www.iloverughooking.com/grdyemesp.html (the tiny ones!)
Found them: http://www.greenfeet.com/itemdesc.asp?kw=Pinch-Dash-Smidgen-Measuring-Spoons&ic=6005-01203-0000&eq=&utm_source=google-base&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=6005-01203-0000&utm_term=Pinch-Dash-Smidgen-M

Schedule of new arrivals

I thought I would post the anticipated arrival dates of some of the new yarns, and some which have been out of stock, either in the cone form or in skeins.

Next week, the first week in June, these yarns will be here ...
Angel Lace, Platinum Sock cones, Ultra Merino 3Ply cones, and W2D4 Merino DK-SW on skeins.

June 9th-ish, we expect ...
the new Sheila's Sock (on 72" skeins), the new W2D4 Merino Worsted-SW on both skeins and cones

June 27th-ish/end of June ...
more Ultra Merino 3Ply cones, the new W2D4 Merino Sport-SW on cones, more Platinum Sock cones, and some W2D4 Merino Worsted on both cones and skeins

Around July 4th, look for ...
more Sheila's Sock on cones and those 72" skeins, Ultra Merino 3Ply on cones and skeins, and a healthy amount of Platinum Sock on cones and skeins, and a bit of Bamboo Two-Step on cones.

Uptown Stitches is Live!

We are live, at last! ................ http://www.UptownStitches.com

Go see, and be sure to let me know of any glitches you may come across.

Also, know that we are adding to the site every day ... yarn and patterns, too.

Thanks all for the wonderful notes of encouragement you have sent me!

Sheila

So, here is the official shot of The Uptown Sweater, designed by Shawn Glidden. It appears on the Home page of our new website, www.UptownStitches.com. Launch date: May 18, 2009!

Everything has not yet arrived for the new shop, but there is enough to open, so we are going ahead and will be beefing up categories as we go. Patterns, for instance, will be uploaded this week. We are going to have quite a few wonderful sock patterns from Barb Brown. Barb has the wonderful ability to make use of a yarn's intrinsic qualities as she creates unique patterns. For instance, color variations of handdyed yarns used against black or white solids in patterns which are really not difficult to knit; they only look that way. I am very happy with all of Barb's work, and always eager to see her next design.

Shawn Glidden, too, is the same sort of designer and when I hear what she is thinking up next, it is such a pleasure. She, too, is a careful designer (like Barb) and her sense of style is young and well-considered at the same time giving us designs which are classic in line and creative in pattern.

I have to say that I am enjoying meeting the designers and dyers and getting to know more about them as time goes on. Babies, hobbies, talents in other-than-fiber areas, etc. This is another perk of working on the Internet and creating new working relationships across the globe!

Stitches South - April 2009

I went to the newly established Stitches South in Atlanta last weekend. For the first year of a show, it was well attended and well supported. No one said how many folks were there, but at registration there was a big fat list of classes which had not filled up. But, not so, with those that I took ... Tradition- a series of old-fashioned decorative stitches, taught by Candace Eisner Strick. (You might know her Merging Colors kits and patterns, which we are going to carry on the new website.) That was fun -- knitting swatches of fancy patterns --and, not so fancy as to be out of the reach of the average knitter, but challenging all the same. Somehow I invented a knit stitch during one exercise! I think, though, that it was double knitting ... where one side is one color and the other side is another color? (It was supposed to be striped ribbing but it was beautiful!)

The other class was with Laura Bryant of Prism Yarns. It was called Fake Short Rows, but we asked her to rename it because the end-result fabric is so lovely that it shouldn't have an ugly word like 'fake' attached to it. Very powerful stitch, and her samples were really lovely. I scoured the Market floor and finally bought some Italian (yea!) yarn and some special glass knitting needles (must haves!) and started my own filagree shoulder shawl. Somehow, though, it is not progressing to be quite as lovely as the samples we did under Laura Bryant's nose. I will have to rip and start over again, I guess, and maybe be less adventurous in my design. This one, by the way, could make an average garment into something spectacular!

The Market floor was a little disappointing in that there were not many vendors. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is that there was an adequate number of vendors, but not that shockingly huge display of must-haves at every corner, one vendor better than the next, etc. There just were not that many of them there, and I totally understand and want to make that clear. It was, after all, the first year of the show, and it had to have been hard to make the decision to attend both a new show and a show that would draw on financial resources in these strange economic times. But, I must say, that most vendors seemed to be busy most of the time.

There were a few, as always, who seemed not to be very welcoming to customers, and it really makes you wonder why they made the effort to come to the show, unload all their stuff, fill the booth, and then sit and read or knit and not pay attention to the crowd. Next weekend is the weekend for Maryland Sheep & Wool, one of the largest fiber shows on the East Coast, and several vendors from the west were going to drive up to MD and set up this week, making the most of the two shows being schedules so closely together. The folks who had the glass needles, for instance, (Michael and Sheila Ernst from Oregon) were going up to Maryland. I invited them to stop in Virginia if they had the time, but they haven't called me yet. I'd love to show them my Laura Bryant Fake Short Row capelet on their stunning glass needles.

I made some good contacts for the new website: Kim Dolce, a knitwear designer. Boy, I do love her sense of style. Casual yet elegant. You can see her designs on her website: Dolcehandknits.com ... We'll carry her patterns on Uptown Stitches. Also, looked closely at the Hiya-Hiya Needles. You know what I'm referring to ... the very lightweight ones from China. I ordered complete sets of both the smaller and the larger ones, but they are out of stock for a while. I am thinking of carrying those two kits only, plus the replaceable cables, but want to work with them a bit before deciding. And talked to the man with the American Buffalo yarn. That is sort of iffy at this point. It is wonderfully soft, but on the pricey side, and I am not sure if my customer base will take it to heart!

My next post will be about three new sock yarns we are adding to the Wool2Dye4 lineup. One is so much like an old one I used to carry, which I got from a distributor, but which never came in looking like the previous batch. Now, I've got my own finger in the pie, and a little control over the milling process and we have come up with a really wonderful Superwash Merino in a firmly twisted 2-Ply. But, more on that later.

By the way, if you want samples of the three new sock yarns, eMail me with your request (and address!) ... Yarnie@wool2dye4.com.

Later!

W2D4 Merino DK - Superwash ... a change

I admit to a goof. It was in choosing a new size skein for one yarn, the Merino DK in Superwash. Last month we went from the universally accepted skein size of 100 grams in the DK-SW to a 175 gr skein, or -- if you think in ounces -- from a 3.8 oz to a 6 oz skein. I did take advice from customers in both camps, and decided to try the large skein. Reasons were good: knitters of heavy socks couldn't get a pair out of 100 grams (231 yds) so they had to buy two skeins; baby garment knitters couldn't get quite enough yarn to make a full garment; dyers for sweaters and large garments worried that dyeing many small skeins were hard to match in one dye lot.
All good thoughts, right? HOWEVER, the typical measurement of 100-grams is the expected weight in our industry, from the local yarn shop to the booth of the fiber artist at the fiber festival.
To fix this, we are going back to the 100-gr skein. As of yesterday, the larger 175-gr skeins of Merino DK-SW were discounted 15% on the website to all customer types, and we have ordered the 100-gr skeins to be returned to permanent stock.
Below is a schedule of upcoming Merino shipments expected in the next two months ...
Mid-April: Platinum Sock on 100-gr skeins. Ultra Merino 3Ply on skeins and cones. Merino Worsted on skeins.
End of April/Early May: ... Platinum Sock and Ultra Merino 3Ply on skeins and cones. Merino DK-Superwash on cones.
Mid-to-Late May: Platinum Sock and Ultra Merino 3Ply on skeins and cones. Merino DK-SW on 100-gr skeins
................We have a new sock yarn coming up on trial: 100% superwash BFL in a nice 4-ply yarn at 1984 yards/lb (436 yards per 100-gr skeins). This could be a nice fresh yarn for your lineup. Our customers keep telling me and telling me that when they set out Bluefaced Leicester yarns at their booths, the BFL is the first to go! I see it myself, so I am very happy to bring in this great new yarn.
This yarn just has such wonderful sheen to it that gives it immediate impact, and of course, the long staple makes it a strong yarn.The typical American sock knitter goes into yarn shops and buys sock yarn with nylon in the blend. Of course there are major opinions on both sides of the story, but I think we can satisfy all doubters with a good strong BFL superwash yarn with a good twist.
If you would like a sample of the new trial BFL sock, please eMail me. What shall we call it? I woke up in the night and thought, 'BFL Socking.' Is this the new name?
I am boosting stock of the major sock yarns in the next months to accommodate upcoming fiber festivals. If you have specific needs, please eMail me and tell me about them so that I can work on having enough of your yarn available.

The Uptown Sweater

The lovely sweater design from designer Shawn Glidden has finally been named. Since it is the first design for Uptown Stitches, and she hit the nail on the head in the comfy yet elegant design, it shall henceforth be known as The Uptown Sweater! Thank you, Shawn. and, thank you, Kraemer Yarns, for that terrific Belfast yarn. The combination of linen, cotton and that touch of silk make for a fabric that you just want to cover your body.

Yesterday I packed it up, along with the Summit Hill sweater knit in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Adult Ladies Sweater (aka February Sweater from Knitter's Almanac, but in adult size), and a shawl knit from Laura Schickli's Luxury Lace. Then we shipped them to a photographer friend in New York -- Rick Stockwell -- is going to shoot pictures for the pattern and website against an urban background. Urban backgrounds are hard to come by in my little corner of Virginia! AND he is an artist at work, so I know already that the pictures will be interesting and engaging. (Check out his website ... www.stockwellphotography.com.) He is using a professional model, Lesley Collis, who is an actress and a beautiful woman.

I will post these wonderful pictures as soon as they are in!

Uptown Stitches - New yarn company

This week some of the new yarn started to arrive for Uptown Stitches, the new website. Bright colors from PolarKnit arrived yesterday, and I can see why folks like to make ski hats out of this yarn! You cannot be missed in one of these colors! Have already had inquiries about this yarn, and am glad to see it in person. If you do not recognize this name, it is the copyrighted name of Polar Knit Fleece, that wonderul warm fabric, but cut into yarn for us knitters.

Speaking of the website, it looks as though WebGuy is on the move, and there are definite changes at Uptown Stitches! He uploaded the new program (from X-Cart.com, if anyone is looking for a fantastic eCommerce program that does what the seller really needs doing), and has now uploaded the new logo and color scheme, and he has just deleted all the extraneous stuff I asked to have removed. It is looking good, and I am hopeful.

Operating under the assumption that The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease, I admit to calling him three or four times last week. Boy, I do feel sorry for him when I am in one of these must-have moods! BUT, it's all about getting business done, and he is a good sport about my persistance... probably a better sport than I am while I wait for him to get to my work. Unimaginable that he actually has other things to do in life, like move to a new house, for example. Here is a picture of the new logo and colorway.

Barb Brown's pattern in Multi and White

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned that I wanted to knit my own samples for the new website, UptownStitches.com and so I launched into Barb Brown's pattern, Blue Willow, with enthusiasm. Using Necessary Sock, a lovely dyed yarn from Handwerks Textiles (Laura Schickli), my sock has a complete different look than the original in classic blue-and-white. Laura's yarn, used alternately with white BFL Ultra!, almost has the look of Fair Isle.

For ages folks have been doing this trick, but I'm doing it now, and am here to say that it works! And, it is so much fun to knit. Remember, I consider myself an intermediate knitter with slight prejudices against cable needles, picking up stitches from the row below, double yarn-overs ... hmmm. What else? I know, I know that it sounds like I am eliminating lots of knitting fun, but there are so many other stitches out there, aren't there? For instance, my idea of a good time -- and I mean a really good time! -- is the double increase. Whew! I love that stuff.

Here is my version of Barb Brown's lovely pattern ...

Working with Designer Barb Brown

Blue Willow Socks by Barb Brown

I thought that I would start to write about the progress of the new website, as there actually does seem to be a little light on the horizon. As usual, I am waiting for web work. That is the very worst part of having an Internet business, for me, and I mean waiting for the WebGuy to do his thing. BUT, that seems to be a part of how I am doing this website work, and I depend on him, and that means I have to wait sometimes. Too often. Too long ...

Today, though, I want to share some of the work of a delightful designer I have been working with. Actually, just as I start to work with the new designers for Uptown Stitches, I immediately cast on one of their patterns to see if I can do it easily. I suppose I will classify myself as an intermediate knitter, and may be a little generous in this compliment to myself, but I am fairly competent. Anyway, this lady has struck my imagination and my attention. We've been writing back and forth, almost like immediate friends and find that we share the same sort of aesthetic. I love her designs! They are bold and use color in ways which make a knitted fabric seem more complicated than it actually is.

Her name is Barb Brown, and her website is Wild Geese Fibers. She is a Canadian and a prolific knitter as well as designer. I first met her work in Carol Jean Sulcoski's new book Kniting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. She has a pattern in this wonderful book. (Hey! handdyers, here is a book written just for us! Do you have it yet?) I will post here a picture of an example of one design, which I happen to be knitting now. It's called Blue Willow, named after the china patterns, a pattern which reminds me of my mother's sense of taste and summertime meals outside as a child.

Here is the address of her website. Go and check out her sense of color and design. She told a wonderful story about helping her mother decorate Ukranian eggs, as a child, and in her work I can see the influence of that early color theory. Be sure to take a look at the Pieces of Eight Socks, and Digeridoo, and Magic Triangle Socks.

http://wildgeesefibres.com/?page_id=3&category=11