agirlandherwool

Winter Colors have Arrived!

Over here in the Northeast of the US, a snowstorm has come and gone. It was soon followed by a thunderstorm, so ya know, you win some you lose some. We did not have a white Christmas, but that’s pretty normal around here. Overall, the holidays were fine given the circumstances and I only have good things to be grateful for this time of year.

I plan to do a 2020 reflections post later this week and so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, the shop is fully loaded with some winter colorways, some returning and some new. Check out the details below and stay tuned for a fun coupon code!

I’ve got colorways in your any size skeins, sock sets (and shawl sets) as well as mini skein sets. Lots to see here! The headers are all links to the products, but they are linked to the Sock base. You can navigate to the “New Items” section to see everything.

Before we get into the colorways, I did re-list my 2020 fade/gradient advent calendar now that it has been revealed. You can check that out here in the shop.

For each colorway…

Skeins are available in any size. You can also choose any quantity so anything from a single mini skein to a sweater quantity to a 300g skein are available for your pickings.
Bases: Sock, BFL Sock, DK

For each sock set…

A sock set includes a main color and a contrast color. Calling it a sock set is a little deceptive, so my apologies. As the overall theme in my shop is of course any size skeins, you don’t actually need to pick a large skein of the main color and a mini of the contrast color. You really can mix and match the sizes of the skeins. If you want contrast heels, cuffs and toes, you can buy a typical sock set. Or maybe you just want to add a color highlight on the leg. You can also set these up to be a really fun shawl, two color hat or anything else you have your eye on. You can also switch them up and buy a large skein of the contrast and just a mini of the main color. The possibilities are endless!
Bases: Sock, BFL Sock and DK

For each mini skein set…

Each mini skein set comes with 5 related skeins. They are basically a decomposed version of the corresponding colorway. It’s a really fun way to break down a colorway. Again, calling it a mini skein set is deceptive as you can buy these sets from 5g to 100g. You pick the size of the skeins, but all 5 skeins must be of equal size. This means you can add them to your favorite scrappy blanket, knit a fun toy or crochet up an entire blanket. In fact, a friend of mine did crochet a blanket out of the Frozen mini skein set and it came out really incredible. I’m in awe of all of the crochet blankets she whips up!
Bases: Sock and DK

Frozen

Frozen – the colorway
Frozen is a repeat colorway from last year with a new formula. It’s the same idea, just a bit more saturated. It’s filled with blues, teal, purple with bits of black and maybe a tinge of green. It’s a really fun winter colorway. It’ll be great for a fun pair of socks, but it would also be an amazing shawl or color for a pop of color to stick out under a coat.

Frozen – the Sock Set
Personally, I love to use contrast colors with my sock yarn. Based on the mystery yarn club orders, I am fully under the impression that you all do too. For Frozen, I paired it with a lovely cream tonal. If you know Overnight Oats, it’s similar in its base without any speckles.

Frozen – the mini skein set
The mini skein set is a real winter toned mini skein set. All of the skeins use the same colors from the main colorway but they all look so different. I just love the variety but how well they all go together. If you’ve seen the mini skein set in my shop before, it’s the same one! It’s been a really popular mini skein set and I’m happy to have it back in the shop.

Girl on Fire – the colorway
Girl on Fire is also a returning color from last year. We often think about cooler and darker tones for winter, but who doesn’t love curling up next to the fire with a good book? We all know the fire is so delightful after all, right? Girl on Fire is a bright red-hot colorway that will keep you warm all winter long!

Girl on Fire – the sock set
I decided to pair Girl on Fire with a deep red tone. It has a layer of black on it, but the color gives off an overall brown tone. The reds in both of the skeins just really play off of each other really well here.

Girl on Fire – Mini Skein Set
The mini skein set is just as bright and cheerful as the main colorway. This will add a pop to a yoke of a sweater or brighten up a hat for you or your charity projects! Each mini skein involves reds, oranges, yellows and pinks. Just an overall cheery mini skein set.

Kissed at the End – the colorway – NEW!
I had to come out with a new colorway for the winter, but I wasn’t feeling the festive colorways. I wanted a standard winter feeling, especially with the previous two bright colors. I’ve currently been obsessed with the pink and green combos and so I used that in this colorway. Overall, it turned into a really good winter/moody color that has bits of color in it to keep you interested. This is definitely the color I would personally use for a sweater and I do think it will work in a textured pattern as well. Of course, it will work for socks and accessories too!

Where did the colorway name come from? Well, you see, this one time my mother-in-law was trying to remember a movie they had just watched and enjoyed. She couldn’t remember the name though and so we were asking what was it about? She couldn’t remember that either but what she did remember was “They kissed at the end!” which you know, narrows it down to just about every movie on the planet. Since then, that has been a running joke in the family whenever a story is told. I knew it had to be a colorway name and it fit this colorway perfectly.

Kissed at the End – the Sock Set
I really didn’t want to bring in the brown or gray as a tonal to this color. I wanted the contrast to be a brighter color to contrast the darker tones of the colorway. I decided to bring in the pink with just some brown, but I did not tone it down too much.

So that is it for now. These are the colorways. They will probably be available on the worsted base soon.

Coupon codes! Make sure you follow me on Instagram @agirlandherwool for an ongoing coupon code for 10% off your order. You can also get the code by checking out my YouTube channel as well. I just don’t want it printed in a blog post. I don’t know if that makes sense. If you can’t find the code, just let me know! The code is ongoing here at agirlandherwool.com as a thank you for following me. You can use it anytime, as many times as you want. There will rarely be exclusions, but when there are, you can find them on my Shop News page.

Introductory Coupon Code! You can use the 10% off coupon code anytime, but I will be giving my blog readers a special 15% off code for these listings in this post through the end of the year. The code BLOGWINTER2020. Thank you all for an incredible year. Feel free to reach out with any questions and let me know which colorway you are most excited about!

Shopping at agirlandherwool.com

If you look closely, you may notice something new at agirlandherwool.com. That’s right, I launched a shop here on my website. No worries, my Etsy shop isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Why decide to open a shop here on your site?
There are quite a few reasons why having a shop here on my site in addition to Etsy is a good thing!

Avoiding that infamous ‘having all of you eggs in one basket.” By having a shop in addition to Etsy means that if something happens to one of them, I still have the other with my yarn available.
Etsy is a great site to host a shop. However, it is fairly simple in what you can offer. Followers on my shop know that I’ve been offering yarn of the month clubs. The back end of having clubs is fairly difficult on Etsy. Here on my website, I have more options in the products that I can offer. Being able to offer subscription products was probably the biggest motivation to launch my shop here. Long-term clubs will ONLY be offered here at agirlandherwool.com.
Etsy is a great place to host a shop because people go shopping on Etsy. It’s a popular destination for people looking for handmade items and crafting supplies. When asked where they purchased something, the buyer will usually say “Etsy.” While not wrong, Etsy itself would even tell you that they are just a marketplace for shop owners. You technically have not bought anything from Etsy, but instead, the shop owners have bought virtual real estate and visibility to Etsy’s marketplace. As I grow my brand, it makes sense that the buyers I bring to the table shop within my store and not within Etsy’s.
As a dye to order shop, I don’t have to worry about managing inventory within two shops. Most of my quantities are set to control my workload and not necessarily what I have available. You can always reach out to me if you need a quantity or base you don’t see available!

Why should I shop here when I’m used to shopping on Etsy?
In the end, you don’t have to. My Etsy shop isn’t going anywhere and you are more than welcome to continue shopping there if that is your go to website. I might try to entice you anyway…

My current price structure migrated from my Etsy shop to here. In order to compensate for the fees that I pay on Etsy, I will be increasing the prices there in the near future.
I will be offering up a coupon code for anyone who wishes to use it. You can use it anytime, as many times as you wish. This code is to be used indefinitely and I have no plans to remove it. That being said, I do reserve the right to remove the code even though I have no intention of doing so anytime soon. For the code, make sure you follow me on instagram and YouTube!
There’s a good chance that products will appear here first and may only appear here on my site. All clubs that are longer than 1 month are only available here on my website!

Moral of the story…
My goal is to provide hand dyed yarn in a more cost effective way. It doesn’t matter to me where you buy my yarn from because each and every order I receive makes me do a happy dance. I appreciate all of you and your support of my little business here on the internet.

I will add that Etsy orders and agirlandherwool.com orders will be treated the same. The processing times will always be the same and orders are treated on a first come first serve basis.

Again, thank you so much for shopping at agirlandherwool and I can’t wait to see what you make!
-Lauren

2021 Yarn Clubs are Here! Final Details!

Well, we did it folks. 2021 is right around the corner. This can only mean one thing. Well. It means a lot of things. It better mean a lot of things…

It means 2021 yarn clubs are here! Everyone, the clubs are up and live and you can purchase them now. Before you hop away, I have some important details to share.

Yarn Clubs are only available here at agirlandherwool.com! With the exclusion of single month clubs, you can only purchase clubs here on my website. Why? Etsy isn’t really set up to handle subscription products which makes the back end for me more hassle than it needs to be. With my own site, I’m able to offer more and more is what I’m offering.

Mystery Yarn of the Month Clubs

There will be no change to the mystery yarn of the month clubs. I post an inspirational picture and that’s all you know! You still get to choose the size of your mystery skein. You also have the option to order a contrast skein, although you do not need to. Just choose “None” under Contrast skein and you’ll only receive the mystery skein. You can mix and match the sizes you want so that you can make socks, shawls or whatever! You do you! Available on Sock, BFL sock or DK.

What’s new with Mystery Yarn of the Month clubs??
1. If you only like to buy one month at a time, you still can. Just select the “Ongoing subscription” clubs. You’ll pay for one month at a time with no obligations. However, you will need to cancel your subscription before the 20th of the month or you will pay for the next month.

2. If you want to pay upfront for 3 months, 6 months or 12 months, you can do so. You’ll pay the sign up fee and then nothing else for the remainder of the subscription. These clubs do not automatically renew. Please be aware that the 12 month club is only available for a start date in January. Similarly, the 3 month and 6 month clubs will end when the last month is December. In other words, no club will roll into 2022.

Mini Skein Sets of the Month Clubs

A new sibling to the mystery yarn of the month clubs. Based on the same inspirational photo, I will create a 5 skein mini skein set each month. You choose the size of the skeins, but they all need to be the same. For example, you can select to have 10g minis, 50g skeins or even 100g skeins (with more in between) but all five skeins will be that one size. This club is only offered as a ongoing one month at a time club, but it automatically renews so you don’t need to keep signing up. Just cancel when you no longer want to participate. Available on Sock or DK.

Dye with Me Clubs

For fans of my dye with me vlogs over on YouTube, this club signs you up to receive the fun one of a kind skeins we dye over on my channel. For a low price, you will receive yarn each month that we dyed up in the previous month. It could be any size, any base or a mini skein set. You really won’t know, but for less than $20 a month, it is a great way to have a fun surprise in your mailbox every month. It automatically renews each month, but you can cancel anytime.

Limited Edition Series
I did originally plan on offering up a quarterly Rainbow club for the first quarter. I will instead offer that up from April – June. I still have Not In Kansas Anymore available through the end of the Pigskin Party for those who love a rainbow colorway.

Remember, clubs are now available. If you want to start with a January club, you must do so before December 20th. I may extend the date this month, but to guarantee a spot, please order by the 20th.

Thank you so much! These clubs are very popular and I love offering them. I will have a vlog on my YouTube channel air in the next day or so and when it is live, check back for it here. You can also check out this post for some more details including rewards programs. For any discrepancies, the details I lay out in this current post is the final decision. Make sure you follow me on Instagram or YouTube for a coupon code!

Yarn Clubs -New Clubs for 2021

Hello! Happy Saturday. I hope you all have a great weekend and get to cozy up with some crafting. I am busy dyeing all of the Radvent Wrap kits this weekend. I can’t help start prepping for 2021 though and so I’m outlining some new clubs coming to the agirlandherwool shop!

Also – December clubs launch tomorrow, November 15th!

Current Yarn Clubs

I currently offer mystery yarn of the month clubs. All you know is the picture I use for inspiration and that is it! I offer them as 1 month clubs or 3 month clubs, with the pricing more favorable in the 3 month club.

In the mystery yarn of the month club, you choose the following:
1. Base – Sock, BFL Sock or DK
2. Size of the Mystery Skein: 20g to 100g
3. Whether or not you want a contrast skein, and if so, what size skein: 20g to 100g

Each month yarn club launches on the 15th of the prior month. This means that the December yarn clubs launch THIS SUNDAY, Nov 15th.

On the 15th of every month, when the new club launches, I share a photo of the prior month’s club. On this day, you can order that colorway without the mystery. If you don’t love mysteries, just check in on my instagram, agirlandherwool, on the 15th of the month.

New Yarn Clubs – Launching January 2021

There will be new clubs launching in January 2021. Reach out or comment on this post if you have any thoughts on which ones you are most interested in. I’d love to hear it! All new clubs will launch in December, but make sure you check back here for more details.

Mystery Yarn Clubs will now be offered in 6 month and 12 month timeframes. Purchase the club and then forget about it until the yarn shows up on your doorstep.

Mini Skein Yarn Clubs
I will be launching a brand new club featuring mini skeins. The mini skein club will either be 5 mystery minis or a themed set based on that month’s colorway. I’m leaning towards the latter option. You’ll be able to purchase these in 1, 3, 6 or 12 months at a time.

Dye with Me Yarn Clubs
Dye with me yarn clubs will feature colors from the Dye with Me vlogs I post over on YouTube. You can feel more a part of the process by purchasing the yarn we dye up during the vlogs. These will only be offered 1 month at a time when I have a better idea of what’s to come.

Rainbow Yarn Club
I will be offering up a limited time option to have a part of the rainbow club! Similarly to my Not In Kansas Anymore colorway, I will dye up a colorway that is rainbow themed, but not necessarily in your face rainbow. I’ll take a different interpretation at a time and bring a new technique in each skein. This will only be offered in 1 month and 3 month clubs and will run from January to March 2021. After that, I will have a new limited series theme.

Yarn Clubs – Reward Programs

The yarn clubs do have a rewards system set up. The rules work as follows, but feel free to reach out anytime if you have questions.

1 Month Yarn Clubs
One month yarn clubs earn points towards 10% off coupon codes.
Every 100g of the mystery color that you order earns you a 10% off coupon code.
This accumulates between months so if you like 50g skeins, every other month, you’ll earn a 10% off coupon for my shop. If you order 100g skeins, you’ll receive a 10% off coupon every purchase.
You do not earn points for the contrast skeins.

3 Month Yarn Clubs
Three month yarn clubs come with a coupon each purchase. The value of the coupon is based on how many grams of the mystery color that you order. When you place your order, you choose what size skeins you want to receive. This amount will be the same in all three shipments. If you order 100g Mystery skeins, you will receive a 100g skein each month for 3 months.
The value of the coupon code is your total grams of the mystery skein for all three months, divided by 10.
Example. If you order 100g mystery skeins for the 3 month club, your first shipment will come with a 30% coupon code.
Example. If you order 50g mystery skeins for the 3 month club, your first shipment will come with a 15% coupon code.
You do not earn points for the contrast skeins.

6 Month & 12 Month Yarn Clubs
The six month and twelve month yarn clubs will work the same way as the 3 month clubs. Each coupon will be set at the start of the next 3 months.
The first coupon code will be based on Jan-March and will be included in the January shipment.
The second coupon code will be based on April – June and will be included in the April shipment.

Mini Skein Club, Limited Series Clubs (Currently Dye with Me and Rainbow)
These will follow along with the same idea as above. For the mini skein club, the rewards will be based on the total grams for the set. The other two clubs will apply just as above.

General Rules for all clubs
These rules apply to all rewards programs.
1. All coupon codes are valid for 3 months and the expiration date is included with the coupon code.
2. The code is a 1 time use code.
3. The coupon code is storewide, but there may be exclusions. You can see a list of all coupon code exclusions anytime in the Shop Announcements.

Thanks so much for reading! Use coupon code BLOGNEWS20 for 20% off through tomorrow, November 15th. You’ll be able to use the code for the December clubs launching on Sunday.

Check out more details here on Youtube:

On the WIP Side – 11.11.2020

It’s Wednesday and I’m here to chat all about my current works in progress. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope it brings you some joy during the work week. Definitely check out my YouTube channel to see any projects “in person.”

Total: 6 WIPs (3 active)
Knitting: 5 projects – 3 shawls, 1 pair of socks and 1 blanket
Crochet: 1 project – 1 blanket
Spinning: 0 projects
Finished: 0 projects
2020 Total Finished: 23

Slipstravaganza Shawl – Stephen West MKAL
Pattern: Slipstravaganza MKAL | Stephen West
Yarn: agirlandherwool | Sock base | Speckled Orchid, Hibiscus Tea, Dragonfly and London Fog
Needles: Size 2
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/9/2020
Cast off goal: Not too long after the MKAL ends

I still don’t want to post too many spoilers here just in case anyone is avoiding see the rest of the shawl like I am. I did finish clue 2, but I’m only a few rows into clue 3. It takes forever to do 1 row! If you are interested in seeing more, check out this vlog I did about both this shawl and the Tamy Gore MKAL. I’m not sure when I’ll finish this project, but I will be focusing on it for now. I think there’s less than 30 rows for the section I’m up to, then another section in clue 3. New plan: Finish this before the next MKAL next year. Kits are still available in the shop. In addition, these colors are now available on most bases!

Golden Dusk MKAL
Pattern: Golden Dusk MKAL | Tamy Gore
Yarn: agirlandherwool | Silk DK base | 4 Spices Kit
Needles: Size 6
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/19/2020
Cast off goal: none

You can watch the same vlog to see my progress through clue 2. I did finish up clue 3 as well and people, I don’t know why, but I love this so much. It’s so soft and squishy and I know I’ll get a ton of wear out of it. It’s really a stitch sampler, I feel like we’ve done everything in this shawl. If you want to learn some basics of a lot of techniques, check this out. The rows are short and because it’s DK, it’s going very quickly. I’m tempted to start the last clue, but I want to catch up on the Stephen West one first (arbitrary knitting rules!). I’ll be posting another vlog after I finish clue 3 of both shawls.

The best part about how there are so many different stitches is that you really can’t get bored. You’re barely doing the same thing for more than a few rows, which keeps it very fun.

Vanilla Oink
Pattern: Vanilla Socks
Yarn: Oink Pigments | Targhee Sock | Ravin’ Claw
Needles: Size 0
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/19/2020
Cast off goal: none

I might be halfway through the first heel? This has been living in my dye studio and even though I feel like I’m always in there, I’m not necessarily working on this so much.

Other
1. Preemie hat – I’ve mostly finished a preemie hat, which I will include in a charity knitting recap coming soon!
2. Spinning – I haven’t spun.
3. Northeasterly – I have not worked on this as I need to pick out more colors. I’m really bad at working on projects if they are not ready to go.

Inactive
1. Neat Ripple – This is on hold until I finish up the charity items with the colors that I have used so far.
2. Tan House Brook Shawl – 2 shawls is enough!

What’s Next?
ADVENT! I plan to knit up the gradient advent that I dyed up this year. Otherwise, we’ll see. I have a lot of WIPs right now and not many plans beyond that.

Shop
Go check out Ambah O’Brien’s advent patterns. I’m so honored that she designed not 1, but 2 patterns with my yarn.

The Radvent Cowl is technically a DK weight cowl, but Ambah used my sock base and held the skeins double. She used 12 mini skeins from an expanded version of the Faerie Shadow gradient set. I’ve named the green half Faerie Garden. Kits are available now! The pre-order period is over for this kit, but I have a couple in stock. Grab one! They are all packaged up and will ship the next day!

Radvent Cowl using the Faerie Garden gradient

Ambah also designed a wrap that is stunning! It uses a 24 mini skein version of my Rose Gold set. It’s available now in the shop too!

November mystery yarn clubs are now available until November 15th. Grab them now!

Check out the shop here. There are some great kits for shawls and socks along with good pairings for sweaters. Let me know if you need help with some color selections.

Check out the recap of the 2 mystery knit a longs here–

Diary of a Yarn Dyer – Testing New Dyes

Last week on YouTube, I posted my biweekly vlog where I dye yarn and talk through my thoughts and techniques. The topic for that vlog was about testing a new to me dye and learning about the characteristics of the dye.

Generally, when I’m dyeing up new colorways, I have some sort of idea about what I want to do. I’ll probably do a new colorway start to finish vlog at some point, but the main idea here is that I know the dyes in my arsenal and what I can and cannot do. This doesn’t just happen overnight. Understanding the dyes, how they work with others and which techniques work best for them is something that comes over time. I speed up that process by creating mystery minis, where I try different techniques and color combinations to know when and how I’ll want to use this new dye.

Minis are a great way to test out color combinations

What I look for from a technique standpoint…

You may think that the only difference between different dyes is the color. This is far from true. Some dyes are more powdery, some don’t blend well, some lighten as they set, some darken as they set. It really differs greatly and so I need to understand how the dyes will work on the yarn and in the water.

Will it speckle?
Speckling is a common technique used by hand dyers to add a bit more dimension to the yarn. It’s a great way to add a pop of color too if you want just a bit of something to the skein
I find that not all dyes speckle well! Some are just too fine and they leave a dusting versus a speckle. Remember, a skein can be speckled, but one little speck will barely show up when someone uses the yarn. In order to really make a speckled yarn, it needs to leave a bit more on the skein than a dusting. Not all dyes are made for that and it’s good to know before you destroy a skein (I mean, not destroy, but just not end up with what you were going for).
Does it take a while to absorb into the yarn?
This is important to me because if it doesn’t absorb quickly into the yarn, I know I need a lower water level in order to use the dye. Why? Because otherwise, it will drift around in the water in the dye pan and not necessarily land where I want it to. This is an issue because the entire skein can take on that one tone where I might have wanted it to be an accent color. On the other hand, I might want it to not absorb quickly and this is important too. If I want a tonal color, having something that doesn’t absorb right in is good to know.
What temperature does it need the water to be?
Some colors really don’t take to the dye without a lot of heat. Others don’t require that. Some change properties with heat and others don’t. I need to keep all of this in mind when I’m dyeing yarn.

Knowing which colors would stay as speckles was important in this colorway
“Not In Kansas Anymore”

What I look for from a color perspective…

What does the color actually look like?
This is an interesting one. The dye companies do their best to show what a dye will look like, but I’ll be honest. I NEVER see the same result. A lot of that has to do with water to dye ratio, the base you’re using and so on. It doesn’t bother me one bit. I buy a variety of dyes, knowing that I can mix and match to achieve what I really want, but that means that I can’t start dyeing expecting a dye to look a certain way. It also will depend on the mixing of the color as well by the dye manufacturer. It’s like dye lots, but for dyes. Imagine that!
Which colors does it work well with?
Very important one. You rarely will receive a hand dyed yarn that only uses one color. Check out this video of mine where I dyed up tonals/semi-solids. None of them used one dye. There are no colorways in my collection that use only one dye, no matter how uniform is looks. I mentioned this earlier, but it really does take an understanding of how dyes will interact with each other. I have a dye that I use to create some brighter colorways. Blending it with other colors mutes it down until a really deep tone that I also love. It’s really about the combinations of the dyes that allows for some of my favorite colorways in my shop. You wouldn’t believe what 4th and Goal looks like at early points in the dye process.

This one of a kind color has a blue-green base.
I mixed two colors to come up with the base color

So that’s what I look for and think about when testing a new to me dye. Actually, when I get a new batch of a dye I’ve used before, I test it out as well to make sure it looks similar, although the research is not as vast as a new dye.

I hope you found this interesting! Make sure you leave comments, subscribe to my blog and check out my instagram and YouTube channel. All of the links can be found throughout my site and I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out anytime with questions you may have or content you want to see. Have a great Monday and week. A WIPs post will be up on Wednesday and a new YouTube vlog posts every Tuesday and Friday at 5pm ET.

On the WIP Side – 11.04.2020

Total: 6 WIPs (4 active)
Knitting: 5 projects – 3 shawls, 1 pair of socks and 1 blanket
Crochet: 1 project – 1 blanket
Spinning: 0 projects
Finished: 0 projects
2020 Total Finished: 23

Check out Monday’s post if you want to read more about my progress on this shawl. I just finished clue 2, so I am behind, but I don’t want to post spoilers just in case. Kits are still available in the shop. In addition, these colors are now available on most bases!

The non-spoiler recap is – I’m loving it! It’s been really fun to knit without being stressful and I love how the colors are working out. The rows are simple but create a really fun design. I definitely recommend it if you haven’t looked at it!

Golden Dusk MKAL
Pattern: Golden Dusk MKAL | Tamy Gore
Yarn: agirlandherwool | Silk DK base | 4 Spices Kit
Needles: Size 6
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/19/2020
Cast off goal: none

Check out Monday’s post if you want to read more about my progress on this shawl. I also just finished up clue 2 for this shawl and so I’m definitely behind, but I still don’t want to create any spoilers just yet. Definitely am enjoying it as well and I want to finish it quickly so that I can start wearing it. It’s getting cold outside and this is the perfect match for the cold weather!

Vanilla Oink
Pattern: Vanilla Socks
Yarn: Oink Pigments | Targhee Sock | Ravin’ Claw
Needles: Size 0
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/19/2020
Cast off goal: none

I’m still on the first foot. I’ve been so busy on the MKALs that I haven’t spent too much time on these. They are my project for while I’m dyeing, and so I am getting close to the heel.

Inactive
1. Neat Ripple – This is on hold until I finish up the charity items with the colors that I have used so far.

What’s Next?
ADVENT! I plan to knit up the gradient advent that I dyed up this year. Otherwise, we’ll see. I have a lot of WIPs right now and not many plans beyond that.

Shop
Go check out Ambah O’Brien’s advent patterns. I’m so honored that she designed not 1, but 2 patterns with my yarn.

Ambah also designed a wrap that has not yet been released yet, so stay tuned. I can tell you that she used an expanded version of my Rose Gold gradient set! It’s a 24 skein mini skein gradient set. It’s available now in the shop too!

November mystery yarn clubs are now available until November 15th. Grab them now!

Check out the shop here. There are some great kits for shawls and socks along with good pairings for sweaters. Let me know if you need help with some color selections.

Check out my latest project recap, which a special guest star – my mom!

MKAL Recap – Slipstravanganza and Golden Dusk – Clue 2

Hey everyone! I’m here to recap the MKALs that I’m working on so SPOILER ALERT. It shouldn’t be too much of a spoiler warning because I am behind, but I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone. This is supposed to be fun after all.

I recently finished clue 2 for both the Stephen West MKAL and the Tamy Gore MKAL and it seemed like a great time to recap you on where I’m up to. I also filmed a vlog that will air on Thursday on my YouTube channel. Go ahead and subscribe now and you won’t miss it! This is a BONUS vlog and so it’s a bit off cycle, but again, this is supposed to be fun after all.

I’ll start with the Slipstravaganza shawl, which is the Stephen West MKAL. I’m actually impressed with myself that I’m only a week behind on this. Clue 4 dropped last Friday and I’m ready to start clue 3. Considering the rows in clue 2 went from 400 stitches to 450+, I’m happy with my progress.

In clue 2, you use all 4 colors, which is awesome. I love the colors I chose and I’m happy to see them all work out well together. The pattern itself was easy to follow along and once you got the set up row ready, the next few were very straightforward. For a busy life, this is an exciting shawl but not a stressful one by any means. LIke the name suggests, there are all different kinds of slipped stitches, which makes such beautiful colorwork without all of the stress. I always love mosaic knititng and I’m always reminded to keep looking out for patterns just like that.

I did use stitch markers at all of the repeats. That’s not like me, but I didn’t want to keep counting stitches. It’s amazing how using little tools really help. I was off sometimes on the other edges (didn’t always increase I guess) and so I just added a few extra and no one will know. Like he reminded us, I did not stress out about it.

I also want to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. It is well known that Stephen West has remarkable patterns that are like no other. I’m in shock at how his brain comes up with a lot that he does, but because of that, I’ve often shied away from knitting his patterns. I’m a very practical person and definitely a project knitter. By this, I mean that I can’t make a pattern if it won’t have a purpose at the end. I’ve always wanted to knit crazy lace shawls, but I’ll never use them, so I never have.

I’m also someone to use subtle, muted colors. If you follow my shop, that’s pretty apparent. However, having a yarn shop means needing samples and a Stephen West shawl is a perfect pattern to show off yarn. The color play, stand out designs and overall popularity makes these patterns good sample subjects. Check out my YouTube channel “Planning Projects” video to hear more about how I picked colors for this shawl. It’s different than I would normally do, but in the end I created new colorways that I have in my shop. Overall, I think that all of the colors in this shawl work well together and I don’t know if I would have done it if I wasn’t pushed into it by my shop.

The pattern itself is probably something I wouldn’t be drawn to either. A 5 skein shawl?? I’m 5’2″ and fairly petite (excluding the Pandemic gains of course). Those two facts just don’t go well together. That being said, the pattern itself has been so different from the shawls I normally knit and it’s really helped me come out of my knitting rut. I really do believe that we tend to knit a lot of the same things over and over again (even when we use new patterns and new yarn) simply because we have a style and are drawn to the same things. I’m so excited to keep knitting this pattern and see where it goes. The mystery is really addicting.

If you are curious, I’m knitting it with the following colors on my sock base. Kits are available in the shop and will be on multiple bases tomorrow, Nov 3rd.
Main Color: Speckled Orchid
Contrast Color 1: Hibiscus Tea
Contrast Color 2: Dragonfly
Contrast Color 3: London Fog

That’s it for that shawl, let’s move onto the Golden Dusk shawl.

For this shawl, I went into this knowing that I would love the finished result and I have not been let down. Again, I picked more subtle colors and the design is less “look at me!” which fits my style well. To my earlier point, the mystery definitely is keeping me going, but to contrast it with the other shawl, I’m not addicted to seeing where it’s going. I’m 100% enjoying knitting it, but I’m not dying to know where it’s going to go. Kind of 2 very different shawls.

The pattern called for a Merino/Silk base and so I’m using my somewhat new Silk DK base. It’s a soft and squishy base that has been very fun to work with.

I’m viewing this shawl as a stitch sampler. There’s a lot of fun garter, lace, brioche, slipped stitches, textured stitches, you name it, clues 1 and 2 had it. I’m excited to see what clue 3 brings as I have not yet used the 4th color, which might be my favorite.

Overall, this has been easier for me as I’m comfortable with the stitches being used and since the rows are short and the yarn is a heavier weight (relative to sock weight yarn), it feels like it’s going quick. There’s really nothing better.

I know I will live in this, as it’s warm, pretty, cozy and all things like that. If you haven’t knit a Tamy Gore pattern, you definitely should and if you like DK weight shawls, give this one a go.

Again, I do have kits in the shop “4 Spices kits” and these colorways are currently available on the silk DK base. The colors are coming to other bases in the next week or so. Stay tuned!
Color 1: Cayenne Pepper
Color 2: Sea Salt
Color 3: Purple Basil
Color 4: Smoked Paprika

If you love kits, make sure you check out the Radvent Cowl and Radvent Wrap kits. These are the original kits used by Ambah O’Brien!

Check back to my YouTube channel to see me talk about these projects “in person!”

Shop News – Oct 2020

Hello crafty friends!

It’s a rainy and dreary week here in South Jersey and there’s nothing like fun and colorful yarn to brighten it all up. We’re actually painting the walls of our home (no neon unicorn here though), and so it seems like a perfect time to fill you all in on some Shop News and Updates!

I did post a similar vlog to my YouTube channel last night, so go check that out as well. There’s a mess of the world around me but the yarn is what matters!

It’s a busy time for a yarn dyer now as advents are going out, cooler weather is arriving and the holiday season is fast approaching!

Advents and 8 Nights of Hanukkah

So the time as past for you to order surprise advents and 8 Nights of Hanukkah calendars as I’ve mailed those out earlier this week. The lady at the post office says “what is it, Christmas time. You look like Santa!” as I carried in my garbage bags full of packages. Such a great feeling (THANK YOU!) and I was very pleasant in my response of “well, kind of!” and then showed her pictures of the calendars. For all of you who ordered these kits, thank you again and I hope you love them. If they haven’t arrived yet, keep an eye out and you should have it soon.

Ambah x Advent

I was very honored to have Ambah O’Brien reach out to me earlier this spring about collaborating on some kits for her Advent collection. Ambah is one of very few designers that I have followed and admired since I started knitting. I still need someone to pinch me.

She was interested in my Rose Gold gradient set and my Faerie Shadow gradient and asked if they could be expanded to 24 skein sets. I got to work and came up with two kits that I thought turned out pretty well. I shipped them off to Australia and MONTHS later (covid, anyone?) heard that they arrived safely.

You can imagine how I felt when I later learned that she used BOTH kits for two separate patterns. The Radvent Cowl uses the first half of the Faerie Shadow gradient, which I’ve named Faerie Garden. Kits are now available!

The other pattern, the Radvent Wrap, dropped yesterday and features my Rose Gold Gradient set. You guys. I can’t believe it. Check out the kits here.

So while I just wrapped up dyeing, packaging and sending advent kits, I will be back to the dye pots with the mini skeins galore dyeing these up! I plan to be able to send them with plenty of time before Dec 1, as long as you are located in the US. I’m not sure I can guarantee international shipments due to the delays in customs from various Covid regulations. I’ll still be shipping them though for anyone interested!

Fall Colorways are leaving!

At this point, I don’t plan to restock fall colorways, unless I decide to keep them as more regular colors and less seasonal. This mostly applies to more tonal colors that will be helpful to pair with seasonal colors.

If you like any of the following fall colorways, make sure you grab them soon!
– The Gourd Place
– What the Fork?
– Fall Foliage
– Autumn Vibes
– 4th and Goal

Fall Foliage | Autumn Vibes | The Gourd Place | What the Fork?

Good news though…

Winter is Coming!

Before we know it, winter will be upon us and I’m already planning out my winter lineup. I plan to bring back “Last Christmas” as well as the mini skein set, so stay tuned for more pictures. Last year, I also released Frozen and the Frozen mini skein set, Girl on Fire and its mini skein set and more. Let me know what you want to see come back in the shop and I’ll be releasing new ones as well. Check out the colorways page for more details. Keep reading for details about how to best pick out the yarn for all of your projects and yarnie desires!

Shop News

I’ve been working hard to convert the shop into a ready to ship shop. The reasoning behind that is that I want to be able to send out your yarn to you ASAP. When I dye to order, there can be delays due to an influx of orders, emergencies at work, colors not acting correctly (no matter how much I discipline, they just don’t always behave), slow drying times or other random things that can and do happen. When I sell only what is in stock, I know the yarn is good to go and ready for shipping, which means I can send it out quickly.

The downside to this is that it means I may not always have what you are looking for available. As a shop that relies heavily on Etsy bringing in traffic, this is a larger downside that it might seem. It’s hard to spread the message of “if something isn’t available, please let me know and I’ll dye it up for you” when people just scroll through listings. I’m doing my best to stock a wide variety, but if you are a follower and have requests, please let me know! I’m growing and I’m excited to bring you all what you want.

If you’re still here, thank you for reading all of this. Take this 20% off coupon from me. Use code BLOGNEWS20 for 20% off from now until Nov 15th, 2020. It’ll be good for anything that’s not on the exclusion list in the shop announcements.

All of this being said, look for some of the following things in my shop.

Underneath the list of sections, there is a button that says “Request Custom Listing.” This is an option similar to just messaging me. How it works though is that it’ll create a listing only you will be able to see, instead of me adding one to the shop. If you don’t see a colorway listed on the base, skein size or quantity you are looking for, click that button and let me know! I don’t charge extra for custom listings, but I will be able to communicate appropriate timing better. Anytime you do that, mention code phrase “Any Size Skein” in the message for 20% off and some special goodies (depending on supplies). This code will be ongoing until further notice! Only for you blog readers! Again, this only applies to the custom requests. If the request is listed in the shop, I will direct you there.
I plan to keep 100g skeins in stock in most bases. I’ll have them in their own section so that they are easily found.
I plan to have mini skeins as their own listings with mini skein photos. Make sure you keep an eye out for the section updates to find exactly what you need.

As a young and growing business, I’m constantly thinking of how to work efficiently and offer as many products as one person can. I appreciate all of the ongoing support of my little shop and look forward to what is next.

As always, feel free to reach out anytime with suggestions or feedback. I love hearing from you! Thank you all for the support!

Shop news on YouTube:

On the WIP Side – 10.28.2020

It’s Wednesday and I’m here to chat all about my current works in progress. It’s been a while and I’m so excited to show you what’s going on here. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope it brings you some joy during the work week. Definitely check out my YouTube channel to see any projects “in person.”

For Ravelry users: There are links throughout this post that link to Ravelry. If you are experiencing issues with the new Ravelry design, you may not want to click on those links. You can also see pictures on my instagram account, youtube channel or feel free to go to the contact form and send me a note if you have any questions.

Total: 6 WIPs (4 active)
Knitting: 5 projects – 3 shawls, 1 pair of socks and 1 blanket
Crochet: 1 project – 1 blanket
Spinning: 0 projects
Finished: 1 project
2020 Total Finished: 23

Gingerbread House Socks – DONE!
Pattern: Vanilla Socks
Yarn: Gynx Yarns | Power Sock | Gingerbread House
Needles: Size 0 – Flexi Flips!
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 9/5/2020
Cast off date: 10/10/2020

A winter-y pair of socks are done! I love the BFL yarn, it feels so nice and secure and these really fit well. I knit them shorter than I have been and it’s a length I really like. I do plan to do a flexi flips review soon, which is the only unique thing about these socks. Otherwise a quick pair of vanilla socks are ready for this cooler weather!

Slipstravaganza Shawl – Stephen West MKAL – NEW!
Pattern: Slipstravaganza MKAL | Stephen West
Yarn: agirlandherwool | Sock base | Speckled Orchid, Hibiscus Tea, Dragonfly and London Fog
Needles: Size 2
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/9/2020
Cast off goal: Not too long after the MKAL ends

OMG I CAST ON A STEPHEN WEST MYSTERY KNITALONG WHAT WAS I THINKING OH BY THE WAY I LOVE IT!

The above are my thoughts every time I check out the next clue. You guys, you definitely need to consider knitting one of these at some point and then also knit all of his MKAL patterns. I will be. It’s SOOO out of my comfort zone and exactly what I needed.

Okay okay let me take a step back.

I decided I wanted to cast this on because I was in somewhat of a knitting rut (hence my absence) and thought having a KAL with weekly clues might be a motivation I needed to keep up with my project. If you don’t know or haven’t figured this out already, I am a routine person. I even set up these recaps in the same format each week. Giving myself a schedule for my knitting, is something I thrive in. The idea of not having to be indecisive about what to cast on or overthink the color choices was really motivating as well.

I decided to use my own yarn because the more yarn samples I have, the better. If you’re interested in hearing about how I picked the colors (and dyeing them with me), head over to my YouTube channel. There’s a project planning video and then a Stephen West MKAL dye with me.

As a project knitter and a generally “I can’t own something without a purpose” person, I found comfort in knowing that the purpose of this shawl was to become a shop sample. I have knit a Stephen West pattern before and it came out way too large for me to be able to wear. Of course, there are modifications that can be made, but with a mystery knit a long, that would be really hard to do when you don’t know what you’re actually making.

As I work on this shawl, I’m amazed at how someone can think of these things and I’m always really excited to see what the next clue is going to be. It’s not something I think I would have been drawn to, but now that I have it, it’s amazing! It really is!

I talked about this on my recent project recap, but I think a lot of what we knit probably tends to be the same. Same styles, same colors because let’s be real. We like what we like and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you’re going through a knitting (or crafting) rut, I recommend knitting something completely out of your comfort zone. Why? It probably changes up some sort of technique you use over and over again. There are so many different things about this shawl that I’m having fun doing because it’s a style I’ve never knit before.

The color play is also so great. I’m usually a muted/toned down person and I LOVE the hot pink. It’s not overdone, but it truly does make the shawl. I won’t post spoils just in case, but check out my project page or my YouTube channel to see more.

PS. Kits are available and the colors are available individually in my shop now!

Golden Dusk MKAL – NEW!
Pattern: Golden Dusk MKAL | Tamy Gore
Yarn: agirlandherwool | Silk DK base | 4 Spices Kit
Needles: Size 6
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 10/19/2020
Cast off goal: none

Along the same lines, when you’re casting on 1 MKAL, why not 2?

So I talked a bit about how I wasn’t sure if the Stephen West MKAL would be my style, but I knew going into the Tamy Gore one that it absolutely would be. I love her designs and the Ashbrook shawl is my favorite make of all time (bold statement!). I went into this with the same thoughts as the other shawl except I knew it was going to be something I wanted to wear.

It calls for DK weight and the yarn used in the pattern also has a silk content, so I knew my Silk DK base would be perfect! Again, if you want to hear more about how I picked out the colors, check out that project planning youtube video. I’m using a 3 colors from my Cinnamon Spark set and then created 1 new color as well.

I cast this on while off from work last week and knit to basically the end of clue 2. I’m definitely behind as I think the MKAL is technically over but still trying to keep it a mystery. The yarn in the mostly garter stitch shawl is so soft and scrumptious. The colors are also working so well together too. Again, I won’t post spoilers but check out my YouTube channel or instagram for some pictures. I’ll be posting more updates soon since I’m close to finishing clue 2 on both shawls.

Tan House Brook Shawl – NEW!
Pattern: Tan House Brook Shawl | Jennifer Lassonde
Yarn: Handspun with Fiber from Created by Elsie B | Niagara Falls
Needles: Size 4
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 9/25/2020
Cast off goal: none

So I was really undecided about knitting a project out of this handspun. It was my first skein and definitely has room for improvement. When I was first casting on, I actually thought the yarn was too fluffy or at least too many fibers were hanging around. I guess I’m used to the smoothness of superwash.

In any case, the fluff is not bothering me at all. In fact, I love how soft the yarn came out and is knitting up. My goal for skein #1 was to make it not ropey and I definitely succeeded in that. The fluff is a perfect bit of softness.

What does bother me is just how thin the yarn is. I almost wish I made a 3 ply instead of a 2 ply yarn. It’s almost a lace weight, which I was not expecting for my first skein. As a reminder, I have spun yarn before on during the class I took and that was much more thick/thin. However, this yarn was the first “real” project in that I did a braid start to finish and I wasn’t expecting a lace weight.

I did go down in needle size quite a bit to compensate and I am kind of just going with the flow on stitches. I kept increasing the stockinette section for more rows than the pattern called for to make sure it doesn’t come out too small, considering the lighter weight yarn and smaller needles.

It just is too light. It’ll be more accessory that a garment for warmth and I’m just not sure if the woolly wool is the right feel for that either. It has the feel and look of something that should be for warmth, but will be more accessory to an outfit. That’s my only hesitation with it.

Jen also reached out and told me she did a gradient version and left the pattern modifications on her project page. Now that I’ve expanded the stockinette section, I’m following along with those suggestions to make the shawl larger. The plan is to use as much yarn as I can.

Overall, knitting with handspun is fun, although you do become more critical of it. I’m thinking about all of the ways that I would spin this differently next time and I can’t wait to try again soon!

Vanilla Oink – NEW!
Pattern: Vanilla Socks
Yarn: Oink Pigments | Targhee Sock | Ravin’ Claw
Needles: Size 0
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 9/25/2020
Cast off goal: none

Always need a pair of vanilla socks, right?

This post is getting long, so I’ll save this for next time as vanilla socks aren’t too interesting. The targhee base is and so I’ll be sharing more on that soon.

Other
1. Preemie hat – I’ve mostly finished a preemie hat, which I will include in a charity knitting recap coming soon!
2. Spark sweater – Officially off the queue for now!
2. Spinning – I haven’t spun.
3. Northeasterly – I have not worked on this as I need to pick out more colors. I’m really bad at working on projects if they are not ready to go.

Inactive
1. Neat Ripple – This is on hold until I finish up the charity items with the colors that I have used so far.

What’s Next?
ADVENT! I plan to knit up the gradient advent that I dyed up this year. Otherwise, we’ll see. I have a lot of WIPs right now and not many plans beyond that.

Shop
Go check out Ambah O’Brien’s advent patterns. I’m so honored that she designed not 1, but 2 patterns with my yarn.

November mystery yarn clubs are now available until November 15th. Grab them now!

Check out the shop here. There are some great kits for shawls and socks along with good pairings for sweaters. Let me know if you need help with some color selections.

Check out my latest project recap, which a special guest star – my mom!