Category Archives: Yarn Stash

Yarn Mystery Box

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I have been listening to the Nomad Yarns podcast for a couple of years now. It is a married couple who ran a yarn shop turned into yarn truck as well as dye independent label yarn. They have small children and pretty much speak my life. In this time of cancelled events and social distancing they advertised mystery boxes. You pick your price level and give them some suggestions of colors, weights of yarn, etc and they put together a surprise.

You guys….this was so worth it! It was a happy mail day indeed. My box was bursting at the seams and full of goodies!

I received two skeins of West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley DK in a nice blue, a skein of Nomad Yarn Twisted Branch sock yarn, a custom needle gauge, two mini skeins of Nomad Yarns Pallete, a set of Carbonyz Size 2 double pointed needles, a set of Knitters Pride stitch markers, and some waste yarn.

I loved everything in my box and it was neat to not know what I was getting. I have zero idea what to do with any of this and my stash is already at SABLE but this was a good investment. I supported a small business and I got to have the joy of new to me goodies.

Would you every order a mystery box?

More Floof

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I have been steadily cranking on my Fluffy Sockhead Hat made my Apothefaery Fibers and I very quickly realized I was going to run out of suri alpaca. I had some funds laying around that I had earmarked for the (cancelled) Knitting in the Heartland Event. So I decided to get more suri alpaca and support an indie dyer at the same time.

I hit up Apothefaery Luxury fibers and added four skeins to my cart.

I purchased two skeins of Snowdrift (white) and two skeins of Sterling Silver (grey) thinking that this will be nice solid colors to have in my stash to work up with the perfect future project, no matter the other yarn color. In the meantime I am going to skein up one of the snowdrift skeins and add to my aforementioned Fluffy Sockhead hat. It will be lighter than the original suri alpaca skein but will end up adding a third color block section to the hat.

I’m just going to consider it an unintentional design feature! Happy Knitting!!

Dyeing Finished Objects!

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You guys, I have a dying FO this week! The weather turned a little nicer so I sneaked outside on a break from work and took photos of our Easter dying attempt.

The tie dye turned out very nicely! It was very muted compared to the yarn but I’m guessing that is the difference between a plant fiber and an animal fiber. I have zero idea of what we will do with this fabric as it literally just tiny remnants. But Jellybean was really pleased with this “art” and that might just be enough for me!

I think the yarn made a very lovely variegated skein! As predicted we have white/undyed spots for sure. But it’s not a bad first attempt. I have not yet re-washed this skein to see if I am going to have any dye loss. I will for sure do that before working this up into a project. I 1000% percent do not trust my dyeing skills…lol.

I think this looks really nice skeined up even! This skein was a partial leftover so its around maybe 50-60 grams? I’m not sure what I would even want to do with this once I’m safe the dye won’t run on me. But all the value of spending time with Jellybean and forgetting about the state of the world for an afternoon was well worth it. Even if I never knit this!

Happy Knitting!!

Easter Dyeing Project

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I just couldn’t quite bring myself to waste the leftover Easter egg dye. And we are all still “sheltering in place” here in the State of Kansas so why not try a new craft? I dashed down to my stash and pulled some muslin scraps and some white Cascade sock yarn and started soaking both in a vinegar and water bath.

Once they were soaked we lightly rinsed them and laid them out. Jellybean helped me add rubber bands to the fabric. And then we waited until PB went down for her nap because I know better than to mix messy stain inducing crafts with a 23rd month old!

Jellybean was in charge of the colors and the placement of the dye. We had discussions of the color wheel and complimentary and contrasting colors. We make sure to turn our work and get the dye every where. (Thank god for plastic wrap!)

I then took the helm for the yarn dyeing. I took the skein and lowered sections into each of the five colors. Jellybean got to be in charge of pushing the skeins down with spoons. We totally on a scientific basis decided to let them soak for 7 minutes. I did zero research before starting this project. We literally just winged it and did what felt appropriate.

After the timer went off we pulled it out onto a pan. Then carefully under Jellybean’s watch we used the remaining liquid to blend the color sections. It was harder than expected and we ended up using some paper towels in the middle to catch the dye liquid form ruining other sections as it ran. We weren’t 100% successful but close enough for these novices.

We definitely have some white sections left on the yarn as it was hard to get complete coverage using solo cups and just pouring liquid over the yarn. I heat set this yarn and fabric in the microwave for 3 min and left to dry.

They are both still hanging fully dry in my basement as life took over. I’ll try to see if Jellybean is interested in helping do a FO photo shoot this week. I mean….we’ve got nowhere to go!

Canadian Stash Enhancement

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This week’s self care is brought to you by Canada! I opened the Gauge Dyeworks newsletter at the exact right time for a shop update and the wrong time where I was feeling down about the state of the world.

This is the classic merino twist sock yarn in a self striping set of greens. The official name is Colour Study: Green. It’s 443 yards and 115 grams of the plumpest most glorious sock yarn ever. I have been letting this yarn sit out on my work at home desk so I can admire and pet before I add it to my stash.

Has the current state of affairs led you to pad your stash or use your stash? I’m somewhere in between the two….

Happy Knitting

Winding Anxiety

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I have am really leaning into knitting as a balm for my anxiety and stress levels. My brain has been really drawn to my recent Apothefaery Yarns acquisitions. I really want to work the Suri Alpaca yarn and jump on the bandwagon. I have chosen a pattern yet but I did wind it up this past weekend. I have never wound laceweight before and I was nervous….

It was loose on my swift and I literally held my breath the whole time I was winding. Even with the floof….it wound perfectly the first time with no tangles! I was worried because it looked a little matted in the hank. I had more trouble with the fingering weight skein I picked to hold with the Suri! I had to wind that one THREE TIMES.

And while I had tools out I wound more yarn for some more socks. I pulled my BFL sock yarn from Amy of Stranded Dyeworks and some self striping Must Stash yarn. They both wound just fine. Although I didn’t pay attention and wound the Must Stash perfectly matched skeins backwards. One I will need to knit from the inside and the other from the outside.

I think this is all proof that I have a case of Cast-on-itis in the works!

Stashing Down Scraps

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I am still riding the wave of accomplishment from finishing my scrappy DK Hibernation Throw last week. I was cleaning up the project bag it had been living in to put the needles and notions away and noticed how small the pile of scraps were at the bottom of the bag. When I started I had two gallon sized ziplock bags full of scraps and a CONE of undyed sock yarn. Now I’m left with two quart sized bags and one sandwich sized bag of scraps that don’t have a plan.

Now, full disclosures these are not all my scraps or mini skeins. I still have my mitred square memory blanket going. I “tossed the stash” so to speak and aired out that bag to make sure all my yarn was in good order. It’s safe to say I I have plenty to work with, lol.

I’m just the kind of knitter that gets a thrill from using up as much of every skein of yarn I possibly can. I like the idea of scrappy projects where I can remember all the cool things I made with the full skein. Its akin to checking completed items off a list for me.

I’m curious, are most knitters this way? Do you keep your scraps?

A Purple Present

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I have been mum about this but I recently received a promotion at my job. It’s been in the works for a couple of months and I didn’t want to count my chickens until they hatched but its official now. I went from a staff level accounting to a manager of accounting operations. I have four direct reports and new boss who is….challenging…to say the least. It’s been a ton of work and I have a lot to learn. But I’m excited to have gotten this opportunity. I’m 35 years old and this is my first promotion ever.

My husband decided to get me a little congratulatory gift. He asked for yarn suggestions and I said anything from KnitCircus. So he and Jellybean made an order. And shocker, since Jellybean helped its ALL PURPLES. That is Jellybean’s go to color. I don’t mind because they made beautiful choices.

The top skein is a Trampoline base in the Dream a Little Dream colorway. It’s 440 yards of a light fingering weight and the same kind of yarn I made my Sherwood Forest Wrap with. The bottom two skeins are the Greatest of Ease base in two matching 25 gram gradient sock skeins in the Knit Sky colorway.

My favorite part of these yarns? They are already wound up and ready to use! I like when that less than fun part is done for me. KnitCircus may be in my top five favorite dyers. Do you have a favorite dyer?

Boxing Day

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I fell down a bit on Boxing Day. Now I live in the United States and it’s really not a thing here. But you know where it is a thing? The UK where the wonder dyer from the The Corner of Craft podcast Chromatic Yarns lives. And she had an unprecedented 20% off sale. And I was flush with Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket..

All of her yarns are Dungeons and Dragons themed. I have never played and know next to nothing about it. But what I do know is that I LOVE this purple speckle madness. I picked up three skeins of her Sturdy DK in the Eldritch Blast color.

And Hannah tucked in a small package of tea from Bird and Blend Tea Co. It was Dozy Girl, a chamomile bedtime blend and it was AMAZING.

As for the yarn it is going into my stash. I’m feeling like I want to track down a solid contrast color in DK and make striped sweater or shawl/blanket thing. For now I’m content to admire and pet the pretty skeins while feeling glad I supported an independent dyer who busts her butt to make a quality product.

Just curious, did anyone else score any kind of Boxing Day deals?

Teal Torch Knits 12 Days of Christmas

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Man….January is getting away from me!  I opened a box on my office desk at home and saw the beauty that was my Teal Torch Knits 12 days of Christmas advent. I haven’t been able to put it away since opening the last box because I just love it so much!

This was my second “advent” calendar of 12 minis. I didn’t have the budget on hand this summer to buy a full 24 skein advent from any one dyer but I did manager to sleuth out two 12 skeins advents for less than price of a full one. And boy did this one not disappoint!I keep smelling the soak and having to hid the stitch marker from my children.

Teal Torch Knits dyed their 12 day advent to be a rainbow. And not just any rainbow but a rainbow with speckles!! I have zero ideas what to knit with this one. Someone recommended the Fuss Free Festival Shawl by Louise Tillbrook. But I think I need more time to marinate on this choice.

Any good pattern suggestions from out there in blog land?