Tag: handdyedyarn

It Doesn’t Feel Much Like Fall Yet

I am going to try again to get myself back into the blogging habit. No promises, but here goes. I’ll show you some of the end of summer stuff we’ve been up to and what’s coming this fall. I have some knitting, travels, reading and other life updates.

Life Updates

We have had two new grand-babies this summer. I haven’t been able to see one of them yet but I have seen the other a couple of times. She’s the one which I was knitting the sweater, bonnet and booties for earlier this year.

baby knitting hourglass blanket
hand knitting baby sweater set
Nouveau ne

I also traded in my beloved ’22 F-150 for a pretty new red ’26 in July. I call her Ruby and I love her too.

We, and by that I mean mostly Jerry, have been doing some improvements to the workshop and grounds around it. I only have this one picture of the shop after re-doing the siding and painting. He has done some other repairs to the foundation and concrete patio and driveway. I’ll maybe get photos of that for next time.

Dyeing

We have done two more dye sessions since my last post. These are just re-stocking sessions. I already showed you the new color in my last post. It has been selling very well, so I’ve needed to re-stock it too.

There’s still a good amount of the discontinued color Oregano available on the website. We are at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend, however, which may wipe that out. If you want to get some before it’s gone, select a base and then select the color Oregano. They are still $20 a skein while supplies last.

Knitting Notions hand dyed yarn color oregano

Travel/Festivals

In August I was in Charlotte, NC for the Southern Comforts Fiber Market the second weekend. We had a good show this year!

Next I was in Allegan, MI for the Michigan Fiber Festival and it was amazing as always. The weather was cool this year, which cannot be said for that same weekend in Nashville. It has been a beastly end of summer this year.

I went straight from Michigan to Cranberry TWP, PA for the new version of the Pittsburgh’s fiber festival, StitchburgPA. I was so happy that it moved back to Cranberry! The show was fantastic and I am excited for next year.

Upcoming Festivals for the rest of September are:

Wool Gathering at Young’s Jersey Dairy, September 19-20.

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, VA, September 26-27

Knitting

My one and only project since July is a re-knit of Dee O’Keefe’s design, Bensusan. I am using my newest yarn color, Black Cherry, and I love how it’s coming out. I am on the 4th pattern repeat of 5 for the main section, so about 60% I think. Maybe a bit more but the rows are getting longer and they are 36 row repeats.

The Westknits MKAL is coming up soon. I want to participate again because they are fun, but it’s 8 colors, which gives me pause. I’ll let you know more when I consider my possible choices later this month.

Reading

In July and August I read 10 books, and most were 4 or 5 star reads for me.

  • Mansfield Park – Jane Austen ****
  • Monsters in the Archives – Caroline Bick ***
  • The Last One at the Wedding – Jason Rekulak *****
  • The Correspondent – Virginia Evans *****
  • Summer – Edith Wharton ****
  • It Could Have Been Her – Lisa Jewell ****
  • Brideshead Rveisited – Evelyn Waugh ****
  • The River is Waiting – Wally Lamb ** (this one annoyed me at times)
  • Land – Maggie O’Farrell ****
  • The Little Friend – Donna Tartt (re-read) ****

What I am Currently reading:

  • Revival – Stephen King (re-read)
  • Country People – Daniel Mason ( I just started this last night and it is utterly delightful!)

Closing

That’s all for now. I have some downtime today and I intend to get in some knitting and reading. The rest of the weekend will be very busy with long days. I hope to talk to you again soon and thanks for reading!

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Highlights From April and What’s Coming in May

Custom Dye Order Knitting Notions hand-dyed yarn

Highlights from April include some yarn dyeing, two fiber festivals and some baby knitting. We’ve got several events coming up in May, and I will also discuss what I’ve been reading this month.

Yarn Dyeing

I took advantage of a break in the festival schedule to do some yarn dyeing. I had two custom orders to fulfill. Since I was doing that, it seemed sensible to work on some restocking of our yarn too. We got all of that done in between two fiber festivals; The Greencastle Wool Show and the Midwest Fiber Festival.

Yarn Dyeing Knitting Notions
Yarn Dyeing Knitting Notions
Custom Dye Order Knitting Notions hand-dyed yarn
Custom Dye Order Knitting Notions hand-dyed yarn

Fiber Festivals

The Greencastle Wool Show is in Greencastle, Indiana. We have been a long time vendor here. It’s a smaller, quieter festival a bit west of Indianapolis. It takes place the second weekend in April on Friday and Saturday.

Midwest Fiber Festival 2026 Knitting Notions booth
Knitting notions knitting tools
Midwest Fiber Festival 2026 Knitting Notions booth
Midwest Fiber Festival 2026 Knitting Notions booth

The Midwest Fiber Festival is in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a newer show, this was the 5th year, and we are one of the founding vendors. I am excited to see how it grows in the coming years.

Upcoming festivals in May are :

Knitting

I finished knitting the baby sweater set I was making for new baby due in July. I knew the yardage of the yarn I was using was going to be close, and it was. I literally used every inch of it, but I made it.

hand knitting baby sweater set
Nouveau ne
hand knitting baby blanket
Hourglass Throw

I decided to stash dive again into my cotton yarns and make a little blanket to go with the set. I have eight balls of Rowan Handknit DK yarn in a dark rose color, I have had for least 20 years. It should be plenty for the size I am making. The pattern is Hourglass Throw by Anne Hanson. It is currently satisfying my lace knitting itch.

Reading

Recently Completed:

  • Twist by Collum McCann – 4 stars
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – 4 stars
  • The Searcher and The Hunter by Tana French – both 4 stars

Currently Reading:

  • The Keeper by Tana French – This the third book in the Cal Hooper Trilogy. This is a recent release and I just started it today. I wanted to re-read the first two books (above) before reading this one.

I have several other books in my pile of possibilities for May. I’m a bit of a mood reader, so we’ll see what happens there. I have a lot of driving coming up next week as I travel to Minnesota for the Shepherd’s Harvest Festival, so I should get through a couple of audio books during the trip. I’ll let you know.

Thanks for reading!

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Colorful Moments: Yarn Dyeing After Scenic Stitches

yarn dyeing

The first festival of 2025 is in the books and now it’s yarn dyeing time again.

Scenic Stitches

Our first festival of 2025, Scenic Stitches in Chattanooga, TN was a great experience! I was very impressed with it’s first year. I can see a lot of potential for the future of this festival. There is room for improvements, as is to be expected, but overall a great time was had by all. I am excited to see what they will do for next year.

Knitting Notions booth
Knitting Notions Booth
Knitting Notions booth
Knitting Notions booth
Knitting Notions booth
Knitting Notions booth
Knitting Notions booth

Yarn Dyeing

As soon as I returned from the festival, I got to work on the spring dyeing. I spent Monday through Friday doing all the preparations and Saturday we got the first day of dyeing done. We were able to put it out to dry on Sunday. It was chilly but it is mostly dry.

yarn dyeing
yarn dyeing

On Monday I prepped the yarn and dye we needed for the second day’s dyeing. Today (Tuesday) was unfortunately way to wet, cold, and miserable. That means day two will have to wait. I am hopeful that Wednesday may be a tiny bit improved. If we can get that dyed tomorrow, it can go out on Thursday to dry. Thursday will be cold but not rainy.

We have one more day of dyeing after that which we will have to get done as soon as the weather permits. It’s what you have to expect in February.

Knitting

I haven’t gotten much knitting progress to show. I cast on the front of the vest in Chattanooga. I haven’t had much knitting time, but here is where I am at the moment. I am getting close to the end of my second skein of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn. I have the third skein wound and I hope I can finish the whole thing with it.

Vest front knitting
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New Hand-knit Socks and New Yarn

merino bamboo hand knit socks

There are new hand-knit socks and some new yarn to show you, so let’s get into it. Since my last post, my knitting time is limited so I only have one item to show you today.

Knitting

I finished my Classic Merino Bamboo socks on Sunday. I used 67g/324 yards of yarn. I enjoyed making up the pattern by using various stitch patterns. I can see this pair being one of my favorites. They are comfy and soft, but the bamboo should make them pretty durable.

merino bamboo hand knit socks
merino bamboo hand knit socks

Yarn dyeing

The main reason that my knitting time has been limited is that it is yarn dyeing time again.

After I returned from Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival, my yarn arrived from the mill. I planned to do 2-3 new colors and restock the other colors.

winding mini skeins
winding mini skeins
color samples
Three new colors compared to some current colors

I wound some mini skeins of 10g each to do some color samples. The three mini skeins in the right picture are the ones that made the final cut.

I spent the next couple days getting all the dyes mixed and doing other preparations. We divided the work into four dye days.

Dye day one
Dye Day One
Dye day two
Dye Day Two
Dye day three
Dye Day Three
dye day four new colors
Dye Day Four – the three new colors

The week after this, I got all the labels printed and attached. Next, I packed the yarn in the trailer or in the back up inventory boxes in the workroom. Yesterday, I got all the new inventory logged into the system. That included taking pictures of the new colors and marking the discontinued colors on sale.

new yarn colors 2024
New 2024 Colors Iris, Oregano, and Rose
discontinued yarn colors 2024
SALE Colors Cerise, Pewter, and Winter Sky

I am excited about the new colors. They work well with the rest of the palette. I can’t wait to see them on the displays at the next show. I don’t know when I will get a chance to knit any fresh samples using them but hopefully by the fall. I don’t have a way to link to particular colors on the website. The new color names are Iris, Oregano, and Rose. If you select any of the hand dyed yarn bases, you can select those names to view them there.

The colors that are discontinued are also available for 50% off which is $14.50 a skein. The colors on SALE are Cerise, Pewter, and Winter Sky. I love all these colors. It is hard to decide which ones to switch out, but you have to do it periodically to keep everything fresh.

I will close with this and hope to back to work on my sweater or a new shawl in my next post.

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Sometimes Weekends Are For Knitting

saltarello shawl

It’s not often that I get weekends off but sometimes weekends are for knitting. I was home and my work was caught up so I took the weekend off and did lots of knitting. It was wonderful!

Knitting Saltarello

I will get to my current knitting projects that I began this weekend in a moment, but first let me share my finished Saltarello (Ravelry project page) with you. I cast off on Friday morning and took some before and after blocking pictures. The transformation is always so amazing!

saltarello shawl unblocked
Before blocking
saltarello shawl blocking
During blocking

I am thrilled with how it came out! I used 160g of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in color Obsidian. That calculates to about 690 yards. I used size 5 US needles. I measured it the day after I took it off the blocking pins, and the relaxed size is 72″ x 31″. So, mine is a bit smaller than Dee’s sample. She notes in the pattern that hers is 75″ x 35″.

saltarello shawl

I think I want to wear this in my booth this coming weekend at SAFF. It is a good size for me and I am excited to show it off. I hope it will be an inspiration for knitters to want to make it. I just love lace knitting. It is fun and interesting to make and looks so elegant.

New Knitting Projects

Mingling Daisies

Speaking of interesting knitting, I decided to go with the Sea Coral for my Mingling Daisies shawl (Ravelry project page). It is definitely interesting to knit. I had a rough start, which is mainly due to the inflexibility of the I-Cord edging I think. I started 3 times before I got everything going right.

classic merino bamboo for mingling daisies
mingling daisies shawl

Once I got past the setup and worked it bit of length it started to get easier. The daisy stitch is fun now but I hated it in the first rows. I am also used to working pattern stitches and lace from charts. This is not charted, but it’s pretty easy to memorize so it’s not too big a deal. I am adjusting and using my progress keeping app (Row Counter) to chart my place in the pattern. I really like how it is looking so far and it is fun to work on now.

Knitting the Geogradient MKAL 2023

This is an impulse project that I cast on this weekend along with the above. I can’t explain why I felt compelled to knit this shawl (Ravelry project page). I have never done a Westknits MKAL for several reasons.

  • I don’t generally like surprises in my knitting.
  • Despite his obvious gift for designing, I am rarely tempted to knit them. They are not typically to my taste.
  • I don’t care for garter shawls in lots of colors, but here I am making one. Who knows why?
Classic merino superwash sock for Geogradients MKAL 2023
westknits geogradient MKAL 2023

I think what intrigued me was the colors. I have been watching and even helping some of my customers pick out the colors for theirs and it just seemed like such a fun knit. I dragged out almost every color I have in my Classic Merino Superwash sock yarn and started playing with sets.

I took dozens of pictures and looked at them in gray scale. I narrowed the sets down to three. The greens and the blues/teals fit the gradient criteria the best. It should come as no surprise that I settled on the greens. I love green.

classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets
classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets
classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets

I have completed a bit less than half of Clue 1. I am not going to stress about the time table. I am not concerned much if I fall behind or see clues before I get there. I got started a bit late anyway. I just hope I like where it goes and plan to have fun with it.

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We are Wrapping Up the Summer Break Time

Yarn Dyeing

It’s the end of July and that means we are wrapping up the summer break time. The yarn is all dyed, labeled and in it’s storage bins. About 2/3 of the yarn is in the trailer and the remainder is stowed in the work room as back up to restock the trailer during the late summer and fall show season.

Yarn Bowls

In addition to yarn dyeing, we have some new Yarn Bowls in the works. We will be bringing a selection of these to the festivals and adding them to the website. There are a large variety of woods and sizes, so the best way to see them is in person. The woods used include oak, cherry, walnut, and mahogany. We ended up with so many different sizes that we will have a range of prices to fit most budgets and uses. They will vary from $40 to $70.

Fiber Festivals

I will be heading off to Charlotte, NC on August 9th for the Southern Comforts Fiber Market. The festival will be at the Oasis Shriner’s Auditorium on August 11-12, 2023. We have a full schedule after that, so hopefully you can make it out to one. I would love to see you!

Knitting

I have been working on my new shawl design when I can. I would love to have this finished and ready for displaying in the booth soon. You may recall that I am using my Classic Merino Bamboo yarn for this shawl. The pattern will be forth coming as soon as I decide on a stopping point.

At this point I could work one more repeat of the lace pattern and still have enough yarn left for the edging. I am currently on the the third skein. The shawl measures around 65″ long unblocked. If I add another section and the edging, it will add around 7″. That’s 72″ before blocking. I think I may want it about a foot longer. That’s my indecision at this point. Do I stop at a 3 skein project? Or continue on and use some of a 4th skein?

Is bigger better in this case? ;-)

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A Peek Inside My New Office

In early May our youngest daughter moved out. A few weeks ago we finally got around to turning her room into my new office. I have been putting it to good use ever since then. It’s nice to have a work space where I can leave stuff out if/when I get interrupted from a task in progress. In the past I would have to do most work from the dining table. Having my own office has been a wish that is at last fulfilled.

my desk and sitting area in my new office

I love that I also have this set up as my order filling/shipping station. Everything is at hand which is so wonderful! No more searching for the scissors, tape, packing material, etc.

office and shipping supplies in my new office

This weekend I am working on yarn labels. It’s quite a large batch (1,940 to be exact!) to print, cut and then color label. It is inevitable that I will not get this all done in one sitting so it’s nice to be able to walk away without moving it all to another location.

yarn labels awaiting color name stickers

I hope to get the labels ready to attach to the yarn by Monday. My work room is filled to overflowing at the moment with the yarn that we dyed Thursday, Saturday and Monday.

lots of sorted hand dyed yarn awaiting labels

It took three days of prep work before the first dye day. We also had one prep day in between each of the other two dye days.

soaking yarn for a days work and dye mix buckets
four dye pots set up with tables for sorting and rinsing

We had some rain on Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening. That caused a delay in getting some of the yarn dry but Monday through Wednesday were sunny, so all of the last two days of dyeing were dry by Tuesday evening.

That covers a good bit of what’s been happening around here. I better get busy on those yarn labels. Thanks for reading!

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A Little Bit of Interim Knitting

As I mentioned in my last post, I needed a little bit of interim knitting. The shawl is still coming along but some variety was called for. Here’s where my shawl in progress is at the moment. I am down to the last 30g or so of the second skein of Classic Merino Bamboo. I measured the main section, aside from the edging, and it is about 38-40″ unblocked. The edging adds about 3″ which means it is going to require at least 3 skeins of yarn to be long enough. I should have known that 2 weren’t going to be enough.

I apologize for the photo quality. I am currently in another hotel room, this one is in St. Louis, MO. I am going to be setting up the booth this afternoon at the second annual Midwest Fiber Festival. I am excited to be here. It was a great show last year. The staff are wonderful and the enthusiasm of everyone is contagious. I’ll share some pictures from the festival later. For now, let me get back to the bit of interim knitting I teased in my title.

We all have tons of fingering weight/sock yarn in our stashes right? I got an idea recently to pull out some of mine and make myself some summer shorty socks. The first pair on the needles are made with some of my hand dyed Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in some discontinued colorways. I have all sorts of remnants from booth samples and such, so I will be combining them in fun ways to keep it interesting. I am just following a basic cuff down sock formula with a 1×1 cuff (2 1/2″) and a slip stitch flap heel. I am using 68 stitches and my US1 (2.25mm) Signature Needle Arts DPNS. I have no affiliation for the link, but I am a fan of their needles. I only have two sets of DPNS and one circular US5, but they are great. I love the stiletto points. They are pricey but the quality is there.

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Good Morning From Ann Arbor, Michigan

I am writing to you this morning from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am going to be setting up the booth today for the Spring Fiber Expo. This will be the third festival for us this year. The first two, Carolina Fiber Festival and Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival, were fantastic! They met and exceeded our expectations. So, the year is off to a good start.

I wanted to write a post so many times in the last few weeks but you know how it is I am sure. So, here I am with a couple of hours before set up time and finally the energy to get it done. The weeks have been filled with the usual tasks. I have done a bit more dyeing to restock a few popular yarns that were already getting low. We have some more Shawl and Hair Sticks on the website. Thanks to my husband’s diligence and hard work, we have eight different woods available.

I made the drive up to Ann Arbor yesterday. I had a bit of time last night to knit on my shawl. I am into the second skein of yarn now. Here’s a picture I took this morning in the hotel room. It’s gray and rainy at the moment so it’s not a great one.

I need to get my lunch packed and head over to the fairgrounds in about an hour. See you soon!

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What a Great Week for Dyeing

With the exception of Saturday, we had a great week for dyeing. What is even more exceptional is that it is still only February. The daffodils are in full bloom too. Of course it’s in the upper 40’s today, after a high of 84 degrees yesterday. Yep, that is totally normal for middle Tennessee.

Saturday morning had a very chilly start of 24 degrees, but work must be done. So, we got out there early and got the largest batch of yarn dyed. I forgot to get pictures while it was drying so here’s the buckets after taking them off the lines. The colors were the warm greens, purples, greys, pinks and teals.

We took a day off between batches to allow for drying time and to prep for the next one. Monday was much warmer and we got the second large batch done. The colors we did were cool greens, black, yellows, oranges, reds and neutrals. We took a day off again to let the yarn dry and prep for the last day’s work.

Wednesday was blues day and the weather was even better.

I am very pleased with how great they came out. I am also so glad to put away the dye pots for awhile. LOL!

I am working on labels today while Jerry is back at work in the shop on some new Shawl and Hair Sticks. We are adding back some exotic woods like Purple Heart and Mahogany, as well as restocking the domestic woods.

I have been working on my new design when I can, which is not as much as I would like. Progress has been made though. I completed the edging on the cast on end and have knitted 4 and one half repeats on the main body. The edging will look much better after blocking.

I apologize for the time between posts and for the brevity in this one, but labels await my attention. See you soon!

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