Hurry, it will only be up until 1am, November 30th.
Etsy Treasury Vol. 2: Socks From Space
edited 12/4: of course, it's expired. it was fun, though. lots of really bright sock yarn!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Why Wait For Etsy?
As much as I love Etsy and have lots of fun browsing and looking at other people's Treasuries, I really don't love stalking a website, waiting for "my turn" a whole lot more. So, I'm launching my own version, which will be equally fun for me, and involve a whole lot less poking around, calculating, stalking, wishing, and generally wasting time.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I Got One!
An Etsy Treasury, that is.
For Knitters
Check it out!
(edited Nov 27th - sorry, this Treasury has expired.)
For Knitters
Check it out!
(edited Nov 27th - sorry, this Treasury has expired.)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Black Trillium Shop Samples
I've been busy knitting up samples of some of my base yarns - I want folks to be able to see how my dyeing turns out if they're curious before they purchase. Here's my all-time favorite so far:
That's a finished sock out of the Heavy Merino Sock, which I'm calling HMS for short. This yarn is something between a DK and sport weight yarn, so it works really well for socks and for garments. I want to sell it in 200g skeins so that folks can knit a smaller garment out of a single skein - which should cut down on alternating skeins and pooling. I think my favorite part about knitting with this yarn is that socks take half the time on US 3's when the yarn is nice and fat.
I called the colorway Princepessa, because, let's face it, that's fairly fru-fru pinky-purple. I threw in small bits of deep rose and indigo to add visual interest, and I love the way they made single stitches stand out here and there.
The next sample is knit from the very first skein of yarn I ever dyed - and my mother bought! I'm knitting socks for her because she doesn't knit her own socks, but first, let's take pictures.
The yarn is 100% Merino Superwash, called Merino Sock, and it has a lovely twist that plumps after dyeing in a way that makes the softest socks. I haven't ordered more of this base yarn in a while as I've been trying new things, but there are a few skeins left on the site. The colorway was called Veggies, which I love (although it needs more orange), but I don't think will be repeated as it isn't terribly sellable. I might do it for myself one of these days. The thing I really appreciated about knitting this up is that it showed me that kettle dyeing really is the way to go to avoid pooling.
The next sock sample I'd like to show you is Meriamboo Sock - a blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Bamboo. I cannot tell you how excited I was to find a base yarn that excluded Nylon content along with the other two. There is still so much wool in this yarn that color can still get nice and dark even though the bamboo is there. At the same time, the bamboo is shiny and will mitigate the wool's tendency to felt under the heated, moisture-laden environment of the inside of a shoe. Not to mention that Bamboo has anti-microbial qualities.
This sock is knit from a smallish half-skein that was left after winding, so I dumped it in the pot and added green and black to see just how dark and saturated the color might get.
I still have Merino Piccolo Sock to knit up - one self-striping in Wicked Sweet, and one in a fantastic variegated plummy fuchsia called Willful. I also have a skein of the Merilon Sock to start, finally. I love this yarn, but so does everyone else, so it seemed smarter to post what I had. But seriously, a girl can try her own yarn once in a while, right?
That's a finished sock out of the Heavy Merino Sock, which I'm calling HMS for short. This yarn is something between a DK and sport weight yarn, so it works really well for socks and for garments. I want to sell it in 200g skeins so that folks can knit a smaller garment out of a single skein - which should cut down on alternating skeins and pooling. I think my favorite part about knitting with this yarn is that socks take half the time on US 3's when the yarn is nice and fat.
I called the colorway Princepessa, because, let's face it, that's fairly fru-fru pinky-purple. I threw in small bits of deep rose and indigo to add visual interest, and I love the way they made single stitches stand out here and there.
The next sample is knit from the very first skein of yarn I ever dyed - and my mother bought! I'm knitting socks for her because she doesn't knit her own socks, but first, let's take pictures.
The yarn is 100% Merino Superwash, called Merino Sock, and it has a lovely twist that plumps after dyeing in a way that makes the softest socks. I haven't ordered more of this base yarn in a while as I've been trying new things, but there are a few skeins left on the site. The colorway was called Veggies, which I love (although it needs more orange), but I don't think will be repeated as it isn't terribly sellable. I might do it for myself one of these days. The thing I really appreciated about knitting this up is that it showed me that kettle dyeing really is the way to go to avoid pooling.
The next sock sample I'd like to show you is Meriamboo Sock - a blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Bamboo. I cannot tell you how excited I was to find a base yarn that excluded Nylon content along with the other two. There is still so much wool in this yarn that color can still get nice and dark even though the bamboo is there. At the same time, the bamboo is shiny and will mitigate the wool's tendency to felt under the heated, moisture-laden environment of the inside of a shoe. Not to mention that Bamboo has anti-microbial qualities.
This sock is knit from a smallish half-skein that was left after winding, so I dumped it in the pot and added green and black to see just how dark and saturated the color might get.
I still have Merino Piccolo Sock to knit up - one self-striping in Wicked Sweet, and one in a fantastic variegated plummy fuchsia called Willful. I also have a skein of the Merilon Sock to start, finally. I love this yarn, but so does everyone else, so it seemed smarter to post what I had. But seriously, a girl can try her own yarn once in a while, right?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Oh, Busy, Oh, Crazy
There can't be enough hours in the day for all the things I have gotten done in the last week. It all started Sunday, at a little barn in Granite Falls, tucked just off the highway.
I got me one of these.
The adjustable hand-winder, which is going to be my savior in a multitude of ways. It turns out that the folks at Fricke are a husband and wife team that hand make these winders, which means that I supported my local economy! They let me pick up my winder six days after I ordered it, bless their hearts.
Monday, I got down to business making some tools for Black Trillium. If you've been to the site, you know how bad the photography is, and don't think I don't know it as well. So I built a light box from scratch. It was fun, and I got to bust out my sewing machine. I also set up a dyeing stand that will help make space-dyeing a little less insane in an apartment kitchen.
Tuesday, I finished up some other sewing projects and then went down to a knitting group I'd been invited to show my hand-dyed yarn to. Oh yeah, and I had the pleasure of going to "work" (love Holiday retail jobs, eh) until late.
Finally, after spending time working on handknits for the site, and stitch markers, and everything but the yarn, today I finally got some dyeing time. I'm really excited about some of the new color combos that came out of today, and I hope I can get them all posted by the end of the week.
Now, since tomorrow is a school day for the bubba, I think that means I better get some sleep as well.
Happy Knitting!
I got me one of these.
The adjustable hand-winder, which is going to be my savior in a multitude of ways. It turns out that the folks at Fricke are a husband and wife team that hand make these winders, which means that I supported my local economy! They let me pick up my winder six days after I ordered it, bless their hearts.
Monday, I got down to business making some tools for Black Trillium. If you've been to the site, you know how bad the photography is, and don't think I don't know it as well. So I built a light box from scratch. It was fun, and I got to bust out my sewing machine. I also set up a dyeing stand that will help make space-dyeing a little less insane in an apartment kitchen.
Tuesday, I finished up some other sewing projects and then went down to a knitting group I'd been invited to show my hand-dyed yarn to. Oh yeah, and I had the pleasure of going to "work" (love Holiday retail jobs, eh) until late.
Finally, after spending time working on handknits for the site, and stitch markers, and everything but the yarn, today I finally got some dyeing time. I'm really excited about some of the new color combos that came out of today, and I hope I can get them all posted by the end of the week.
Now, since tomorrow is a school day for the bubba, I think that means I better get some sleep as well.
Happy Knitting!
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