Be back soon!

I've been at SAFF, and now I'm playing catch up with all the household stuff. I'll update the blog soon. It's funny how the hubby actually wants to eat and complains if there's no food in the house. (and yes, he can get some himself, and he's picked up food quite a lot recently. While Publix makes a mean rotisserie chicken, homecooking is still usually better.)

Another installment of same dyes, different yarns

I see the end of the Chris Sock Yarn in the near future. No, it's not bad yarn, but I purchased it from another dyer who was shifting to a different knitting related venture (Blackthorn Needles) with the intention of practicing my dyeing skills while I searched for base yarns.

This past week I had some unexpected demands on my time which cut into Fiber Charmer time much more than I liked. I was unable to do much dyeing, and I'm hoping for fewer time-eating surprises this week.

However, I did find the time to get in a little dyeing, and I'm finding the other yarns don't dye at all like the Chris yarn did. They've all grabbed the dye and don't let me push it along as the Chris does.

You can see by the pictures that it looks like I'm starting at square 1 again. The Steampunk yarns in the top photo went into a dye bath yesterday to see if immersion could even out the splotchiness.

The thick/thin yarn in the bottom photo took the dye beautifully. I'm really sorry that type of yarn isn't in fashion right now as it was a dream to dye. The other yarn in the photo is Baaamboo, which I need to reorder. It's a merino and bamboo blend, and it dyes wonderfully too. It has a frosty sheen to it since the bamboo doesn't take up the acid dye.

I'll rinse the overdyed yarns today and see how they turned out. Later this week, when I have an undisturbed dye day, I see that I have to refine my techniques and experiment with dye solution strengths for these other yarns.

As for the bases in the top photo, I like them both. One is 100% merino while the other is a merino/nylon blend. I do have a merino nylon blend from another source that I want to try also. It's truly astounding how similar bases from different sources can feel differently.

I also plan to get the etsy shop updated and get the artfire studio set up in time for the Phat Fiber Box. Boxes go on sale pretty soon. Go sign up for the email if you haven't already!

edited to add that I'm working on managing my time better. Not only am I setting aside dye days, I'm working on setting up a dye schedule. I've got colors I need to restock. Contact me with any special requests!

It's Sunday!

Actually, I'm low on pictures. This week seemed to speed away with practically no time to dye. My fault, really. I must learn how to schedule better.

I will mention that I'm now one of the moderators and bloggers for the Etsy Knitters Street Team. It seemed I had just signed up for the team when a message came out that the current moderators were planning to shut down the team unless some new folks volunteered to help. I thought about it and wondered if I should volunteer? Here I am, starting a new business, what could I do? I have much to learn myself. I realized that the current moderators all felt like that at one time, and hopefully I wouldn't be the only one to volunteer. There is a new team, although I think we've all been a little reluctant to step up. It feels a bit presumptious to just leap in, but I started leaping today. I've updated the blog for the Etsy Knitters this morning, and I'll spend some time this week making sure I'm well immersed in all that's going on. (Yes, it does sound like more admin time. I'm working on my calendar in just a little while and getting everything into its time slot. I must start treating my life truly as that of a small business owner and not a crafty lady who lunches.)

I will mention too that Sivia Harding will be at the Atlanta Knitting Guild this week as our Superstar. She's the main part of Thursday night's program, and she's teaching workshops all weekend long. You can get more information about all that here.