Customer FOs: April

Spring finally sprung and it's finally time to take a look at those April FOs. Yet again we have a great selection of amazing FOs made out of Dyeabolical yarn. You guys really make it hard for a girl to keep her WIP (works in progress) pile down to a reasonable number. I always want to cast on for ALL THE THINGS when I'm writing these posts.

You don't want to hear about that, though. You want to see some FOs, or Finished Objects. A finished object is any item knitted, crocheted, woven, felted, spun or otherwise transformed from Dyeabolical yarns or spinning fibers into another form (e.g. yarn knitted in to mittens, warp crocheted in to dishcloths, fiber in to a felted object, dyed top spun in to yarn).

Anne finished a couple cute little baby items using the cotton warp yarn - these adorable little slippers (project page)

....and this super cute baby sweater. There is just something adorable about baby knits, isn't there? (project page)

I (Kara) finished a re-knit of my Folded sweater using Silkerino - a (discontinued) silk/merino blend. While this yarn is no longer available, the Silky Sock available exclusively at Ewe Knits would be a fantastic substitution. If you aren't in St. Louis, any of the fingering weight yarns would also work and I think Tenacious Tencel would make a great sweater yarn. (project page)

I also finished a pair of Spatterdash Mitts out of Alter Ego in Katatomic. These were so much fun to make and I loved picking out the buttons to go with the Katatomic colorway. I can't say enough about how fun these are in a variegated yarn. (blog post)

From Shannon, a wonderful pair of socks using Super Ego in Golden Afternoon. Sometimes stockinette is perfect to let the colors shine through. (project page)

Emmy Lou also finished a pair of socks in April - these are the Don't Cage Me In Socks out of BFL Hard Twist in the Chocolate Wine & Cherries colorway. Fantastic! (project page)

Rachel was a bit Dyeabolical herself in April, using her BFL Hard Twist in Katatomic and Tenacious Tencel in Wicked City Woman to knit up a Piper's Journey shawl. So. Gorgeous. (project page)

Krystal brings us a little bling in her awesome Hitchhiker, knit out of the Bling Sparkly Sock in Davy Jones Locker. (project page)

Bibliogrrl used her skills with a crochet hook and the Highlighter Orange yarn in Alter Ego paired with a gray yarn to make a fun kerchief. 

Kara the spinner (not me) has some great projects involving handspun this month. First up, she spun this BFL fiber in Malliot Jaune (which was part of the Variations on a Pink fiber club) into a fingering-sport weight yarn...

which she then knit into a lovely Zuzu's Petals shawl/cowl. (project page)

She also spun up 4oz of polwarth/silk fiber into an amazing bulky yarn....

which she then turned into this kid-sized cowl. Looks fabulous! (project page)

Like I said, another amazing month of Dyeabolical FOs. If you would like to see your FO featured here in a future post,If you'd like to see your project featured in the future, just send me a message on ravelry (karamichele) or send me an email at starmonkeybrass(at)gmail(dot)com. Until next time, stay crafty.

Customer FOs: March

Ah, March - seems like it was only days ago that you brought us an unexpected foot plus of snow and knitting time while we were all trapped in our homes watching it fall. It gave folks some time to finish languishing projects or whip up some quick knits. Either way, there were some great FOs in March.

For the uninitiated, FOs are Finished Objects. A finished object is any item knitted, crocheted, woven, felted, spun or otherwise transformed from Dyeabolical yarns or spinning fibers into another form (e.g. yarn knitted in to mittens, warp crocheted in to dishcloths, fiber in to a felted object, dyed top spun in to yarn).

Sheila whipped up a giant Hitchhiker using a couple skeins of Strong Arm Skinny in Queens Tea - I like the little added touch of beads or charms at each point - such a great idea! (project page)

From Ann, a brighter than sunshine Vitamin D cardigan using a cotton/rayon blend. The sweater is even beter in person and would be great in any of the fingering weight yarns available in the shop. Rachel is also happy to dye-to-order if you need a sweaters quantity. (project page)

From Cindy, a great cowl knit out of Superwash Merino Worsted in Jeans Quilt. Lovely! 

Deborah paired Strong Arm Skinny in Carnival with a non-Dyeabolical purple yarn to make a beautiful Strand Of Pearls shawl. (project page)

Wendy brings us another lovely Wingspan using the BFL Hard Twist base in Caucus Race. (project page)

And with that, we close out another month of FOs. If you'd like to see your project featured in the future, just send me a message on ravelry (karamichele) or send me an email at starmonkeybrass(at)gmail(dot)com. 

Customer FOs: February 2013

Hello again from Kara! Well, the tough semester has ended and my mini-break before my summer class starts is coming to a close. So let's catch up on all those FOs you guys finished in the last few months, shall we?

First up we've got the February FOs. If you aren't familiar with FOs, they are Finished Objects. A finished object is any item knitted, crocheted, woven, felted, spun or otherwise transformed from Dyeabolical yarns or spinning fibers into another form (e.g. yarn knitted in to mittens, warp crocheted in to dishcloths, fiber in to a felted object, dyed top spun in to yarn).

Allison knit up the Skew socks using a skein of Strong Arm Skinny in 70s Dress Shirt. This is another one of those patterns that's great for variegated yarn and these socks are a great example. These would look great in any of the colors Rachel has in stock now.  (project page)

From Rachel, the yarn dyer and spinner herself, we have a pair of slippers knit out of a 3-ply sport weight handspun superwash cheviot in Themyscira. A fun, yet practical use of handspun (I always wonder what to do with the handspun I've acquired). (project page)

Tiffanie knit up a beautiful Saroyan using Worsted Weight Superwash in Shades of Olive. (project page)

Bethany knit this awesome necklace using Alter Ego in Whisper & Hush. I love how the yarn pooled on this & it would be great for your leftovers since is doesn't take a full skein. (project page) 

Michelle used some Bling Sparkly Sock in a custom colorway to knit this gorgeous Iron Maiden shawl. (project page)

Sarah from Yarn Geek Fibers was busy in February spinning and knitting both. 

First up, Sarah made this great crochet cowl/headband using Alter Ego in We're All Mad Here. (project page)

Next she spun a Polwarth/Silk blend in Blood Orange into this great fingering weight yarn... (yarn page) 

...and knit it into this gorgeous Wingspan. I have not seen a Wingspan knit out of handspun go wrong yet and I keep imagining how great any of the fiber in stock would look spun up and knit into one. (project page)

And that's it for February - as always, if you have an FO you'd like to have featured here, send me (Kara) an email at starmonkeybrass(at)gmail(dot)com or message me on Ravelry. :) 

Perfume Follow-Up

Thank you to everyone who tested the perfume scents for me. I definitely will be offering perfume in the shop sometime in the fall. In the meantime, I am still happy to make still make full-size testers for $5 for whoever would like them. Because they are testers, they will not have fancy labels. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who tests out a scent could fill out a survey.

Here are a few testers ready to ship. Each bottle should last a long time. I use two "swipes" of the Brown Sugar & Fig scent every day for over a month and my bottle is still very full. Testers are filled by weight, not volume.

FAQ

How do I order?
Email me at dyeabolicalyarns@gmail.com Tell me which scents you want and your paypal email address. I will then invoice you. Your tester will look like the bottles above. The testers do not have pretty labels.

Why is there a different volume of perfume in each tester? 
The testers are filled by weight, not volume. Each bottle will have about 7 grams of fragrance in it. 

How do I apply it?
Each bottle has a roller ball. To apply the perfume, shake the bottle with the cap on, then roll the fragrance over your skin. A little goes a long way. Start with 2 or 3 swipes across your pulse point before adding more. Some people find that the scent lasts all day. Others will need to reapply it throughout the day.

What does body chemistry and time have to do with it? 
How long the scent lasts, and what it smells like on your skin, has a lot to do with your individual body chemistry.Scents can also change or develop over time. A freshly applied scent will smell different than one that has been on your skin for a few hours. Similarly, a freshly blended bottle of perfume will smell slightly different than one that is several months old. The scent in each bottle should last a very long time, but to ensure the best scent, please use your fragrance within a year.
  
Ingredients? Are they pure, undiluted fragrance?
I use both fragrance oils and essential oils to create the fragrances. It is not safe to put fragrance or essential oils directly on to your skin. They must be diluted to be skin safe. I use a synthetic, well-tested, perfume base to dilute the oils. My base leaves no oily residue.

Do you still make soap? 
Yes! I have been a soap making machine lately. Any of the scents below can be incorporated in to the luffa, cube, octopus or medallion soaps.  

Available Fragrances


Summer Honey (all natural)
Eucalyptus/Spearmint (EO/FO blend)
Vine Ripe Tomato (surprisingly light and summery)
Festival of Lights (apple, lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon)

Sandalwood
Lemon
Patchouli
Violet (a very light, very subtle scent)

Rose Garden (strong and rosey as a rose garden should be)
Lavender and Basil (I think this smells just plain clean. Not really like either lavender or basil.)
Euphoria (EO/FO blend; jasmine, rose, sandalwood, similar to Aveda* Euphoria)
Lilac
Cashmere and Cotton (pomelo, bergamot, vanilla, sandalwood, musk, hint of patchouli)

Christmas Wreath
Cedarwood and Sage (EO/FO)
Dreamsicle

Gingerbread
Brown Sugar and Fig (Wendy's favorite)
Green Apple (new!)
Dirt (new!)
Lime Mint (new!)
Tangerine (EO; new!)
Lime (EO, new!)
Clove
Lemongrass (EO, new!)
Patchouli and Clove (new!)
Cherry Vanilla (new!)
Tangerine Lime (EO; new!)

Coconut Lime Verbena (new!)
Grass (new!)
Special requests - I am happy to consider special requests for your favorite fragrances or experimental scents.

Shop news

Hi! This week will have a lot of blog posts. I have a lot to say! First, the shop news.

• I have a new logo! What do you think? It is the first time I have updated my logo since I started the company. My friend Mindy worked on it for me. She did an awesome job!

• I have had a lot of wholesale orders come in the last few weeks. Yay for me, but it means that the shop is a little low on stock right now while I work on them. I will continue to list new yarns and fibers every week as I finish them, but it will be more like 3-4 listings a week instead of the usual 10-20.

One of several color cards

•  Dyed-to-order is totally a thing! Some of you know this already, but recently several new customers told me they didn't realize that I could dye most of my regular bases and colors on demand. A list of available colors and bases are here. You can order in one of two ways -- either purchase one of the dyed-to-order listings or email me and I will set up a listing for you.  

•  If you clicked the link above, you might have noticed 4 listings for individual colors on specific bases. Those colors were samples that will be featured in the Phat Fiber box this month. 

Perfume testers

•  Perfume! I am still trying to narrow down which scents I want to feature in the shop this fall. Would you like to help? See my newest blog post for ordering information. The testers are $5, plus shipping. IF YOU WERE AN EARLY TESTER, please contact me once you have filled out your survey. Several people filled out anonymous surveys and I have no idea who to credit. I will be posting a different blog post in a few minutes with all of the relevant perfume information. 

and that's all I have! Thanks! 

Dyer Things

True or False: The hanks below are all the same dye lot.

TRUE. All of the yarns above are from the same dye lot. I made up a dye bath, mixed it well, put all 3 hanks in the pot at the same time and stirred frequently to ensure even take up.

So why are the 3 hanks so different?  I have theories based on experience.

• The 2 hanks on the left are both superwash merino. The one on the right is a non-superwash merino. The superwash process leaves the yarn ready to accept dye faster than yarn that has not been treated.
• All 3 hanks have a tight twist, but relative to each other the hank on the left is the tightest twist and the one on the right is the loosest twist. The yarn on the left twists around on itself and creates resist areas. The tighter the twist, the harder it is for dye to penetrate the resist areas. 
• Just as the superwash process leaves the yarn ready to accept dye faster, it leaves the yarn ready to accept water faster. I put these hanks in the water dry.The 2 superwash hanks were saturated with dye water immediately. The non-superwash hank floated on the surface for a minute before I was able to gently coax it down in to the bath. The faster the dye can penetrate the yarn and lock on to it, the more saturated the color will be. 
• Different dyes take up at different rates. There is no such thing as a pure green dye (to my knowledge). "Emerald Green" might be a mixture of brown, red, green, blue and yellow dyes. Dye strikes superwash merino much more quickly than non-superwash merino. The superwash sucks up all the "fast" colors and leaves Mr. Nonsuperwash hanging back to slowly absorb the rest. 
• Finally, all 3 hanks are merino wool, but the middle hank has 10% tencel. Tencel remains undyed in the presence of acid dyes. If you were to look very closely at the tencel blend, you would notice that the surface of the hank has a very slight sheen to it. That's the undyed tencel and it causes the yarn to look slightly less saturated than its neighbor.

Spring Fling (picture heavy)

How is it possible that I am still exhausted from last week's trip to Colorado for Spring Fling and The Loopy Ewe? How much longer can I blame the altitude? :)

Ann and I on our way to eat fancy pork chops and lobster mac and cheese with some new friends. Ann is wearing the Vitamin D cardigan knitted from a limited edition cotton/bamboo fingering weight yarn I dyed for her last year. So many people have asked me about that yarn in the last week. I can dye it special order, but I don't have time to revive the line right now. Perhaps later in the summer?Not pictured, the Piper's Journey shawl I have stuffed in my bag. 40 degrees in Denver is like 65 degrees in St. Louis. Who needs coats or knitwear?

New friends!

Going to The Loopy Ewe in style. A stretch limo that seats 15 knitters does not corner roundabout interchanges very well. Amusing for all involved.

The view of the mountains from the Embassy Suites parking lot. 

I only remembered to take my camera out for one class.

I bet you can't guess which class it was...

Or how many toy knitting books I brought home...

Or how in love with these little guys I am.

On the left, genius toy knitter and knit designer, Susan Anderson. On the right, me contemplating knitting a flock of chickens and perhaps a giraffe and hippo and unicorn.

The stash that came home with me. Bottom row, center square, the Color Affection shawl finally got me.