Newsletters are in!!!

We have a few thousand of the Spring newsletters hot off the presses and ready for folding. I've been working on the Shoppe's section of the mailing list. Bex cracked the whip this morning and I've been working my poor little fingers to the bone. (Don't let on I took a break to share this important tip with you.)

We need to get something like 8,000 of these newsletters folded, taped shut, stamped and addressed.

Here's my hot tip: if you stop by the shop this week, looking casual and like you have time on your hands, Bex will ask you if you'd like to have some yarn credits. The correct answer is "YES!" You'll be directed back to the clubhouse with other Hillcreek volunteers to prepare the newsletters for mailing. For each hour you volunteer, you will receive $5 in yarn credits to be applied to purchases of yarn from the shop.

Are you a student on a tight budget?

Do you have a taste for yarn that's out of your budget?

Is your stash still not big enough?

Then this is the chance for you to fulfill your wildest yarn fantasies. It's also a fun get together with other yarn fiends and chat, gossip and generally carry on in a boisterous and merry manner. Remember, if you aren't there, there's a good chance you'll be the topic of conversation....

A walk in my socks

Welcome to my fiber adventure.

I decided to make my first attempt at dying, spinning and knitting a pair of socks. Next time out I'll start with raw fleece and maybe by then I'll have my own fiber animals so I can do the whole process beginning to end.

This time, however, I started with Brown Sheep superwash Merino top. It's a modest investment at just $1/oz and a 4oz bag.



I wasn't crazy about the gold color (just not my style) so I decided to over-dye it during a Hot Topic "Play Day." The nicest thing about Play Days for the would-be dyer is the opportunity to traipse through Bex's personal collection of Country Classic Dyes. Instead of buying nine individual dyes for the nine colors I used on that Play Day, I just paid for the Play Day (the usual $15) and used nine colors for about what two hole jars would have cost me. A jar of Country Classics dye is $6.15 and can dye approximately two pounds of animal fiber depending on the desired intensity of color. It is not appropriate for vegetable fibers, but Bex has dyes for them too.

Yes, I know that Hillcreek is known for its natural fiber dyes. However, there is a certain appeal for the artisan who wants to jump right in without knowing much about dyes and still get beautiful results without a lot of chemicals, mess, or equipment. Bex taught me how to dye hand painted dye in the microwave with just some plastic wrap and a disposable cup and spoon, using these Country Classics dyes.




WARNING: Handpainting yarn is highly addictive!!! Don't say I didn't warn you!

I decided to try dying the roving before spinning it. It might be fun to see the effect. It IS different than dying the finished yarn. It's also fun to watch how the individual colored fibers are pulled into the twist.




As you can see, I'm almost done spinning up my roving. I'm planing to Navajo three-ply this strand in order to preserve the color variations for more of a stripy effect than a heathery effect.

I'll let y'all see my socks in progress again as I start the knitting. Remember I have that magic loop toe-up sock class coming up on May 5. I'll be using the socks for the demo in that class.

Eunny Knits

At the last meeting of the knitter's study group of the Columbia Spinners and Weavers Guild, someone mentioned Interweave Knits had just gotten a new editor, Eunny Jang. I finally got around to visiting her blog, and it is FABULOUS. She's so creative!

She has several articles on various techniques and patterns available: some for free, some for purchase. See Eunny Knit.

I latched on to the Print O' the Wave Stole immediately. I'm considering doing it in a Jagerspun, or possibly in some of that cashmere I spent so long winding. I'd have to take it to a Play-Day, of course, to dye it to a different color (right now it's sort of a salmony coral).

I read up about kool-aid dying. It sounds intriguing but when I mentioned it to Bex, she said it isn't very colorfast. I can see that. I still might give it a try. During my Kool-aid research I found a technique for mason jar dying. You just put small quantities of yarn in each jar with an acid dye and load all the jars in a stove top canning pot. She pointed out I couldn't dye much yarn that way, but I said it would be a great way to dye many colors for Bohus socks. She pointed out that I could take little bundles of yarn to one of Carol Leigh's dying workshops and drop one in each pot to get many different and vibrant colors. At that point I thought about the little sampling of naturally dyed yarn in amazing colors that Carol Leigh snipped for me to take home to my mom, who is very fond of natural dyes.

Yup. I think Bex is right. I never knew natural dyes could be so vivid. I'm absolutely in love with one of their polk dyes. So I suppose that's what I will do instead of the mason jar technique.

I finished up the edit on my magic loop sock pattern earlier this week and sent it to my editor (aka my mom ). I'm hoping to have copies printed and at the shoppe by Tuesday, barring any delays for finishing tax returns. I took input from early purchasers to make some parts clearer and/or easier, and I added a second heel option especially for auto-striping yarns. I'm rather pleased with it. I'll also be teaching a class on the technique on, Saturday, May 5th.

Back to Eunny. She's responsible for this digression because I read an entry on her blog about Kool-aid dyed socks. Check out this pattern for Anemoi Mittens. What do you think are the odds we could talk Bex into teaching a class on these mittens? I've really never seen anything like them. They almost look like needlepoint.

I'm excited about Eunny Jang taking the reins at Interweave Knits. I already enjoy the magazine and hope it will be even better with her additions. Do you remember the entrelac socks in the last issue (not the most recent, but the one before, with the wrap around sweater I'm knitting for Bex)? That's a Eunny Jang design. I think Bex was going to do a class on it too....