Most sock yarns are sold in balls of about 440 yards, or, in singles, at least 200 yards per ball (She-For-Whom-I-Work sells hers in hanks of only 175 yards, which at $12 a pop, or $24 for a pair of socks, is kind of chintzy, in my opinion). But ~tonia~ is selling hers with 500 yards per skein, and at only $1 more than the less-than-generous yardage supplied by S-F-W-I-W, it's a good deal for such beautiful hand-dyed yarn. I'm hoping that ~tonia~ will tell me just how on earth she's able to make her yarn reliably self-striping. Sometimes, often, that's the look that I want. Real stripes.
S-F-W-I-W calls her yarn "handpainted", which generally means it's not supposed to stripe when it's knit. It may pool a bit (which I like, but isn't always desirable, although I think it's really pretty), but it doesn't make real stripes. If one wanted her yarn to stripe, one would have to carefully chose a pattern that would make wider stripes than those that show up in the socks I knit waaaaaay below and posted in June, I think. It's sort of a spiral type of stripe, and while it's okay, it's not what I'm going for in striped yarns.
Well for heaven's sake, I thought I'd posted a photo of the socks I'm knitting for Joan for her birthday (which was Sept. 2, but who's counting, other than Joan?). Now those are self-striping. I think it's an incredible striping effect. Someday maybe the lady who dyed this yarn will tell me the secret of how she got this effect.
So here's that photo:
Okay, so I didn't rotate the photo before I uploaded it and now I can't figure out how to do it. Turn your monitor sideways.
This yarn came from The Painted Tiger at etsy.com. I found several great yarns there this summer, right before I started working for S-F-W-I-W. This one was $25, 460 yards, and very soft; it's 75% Superwash Kona wool. The photo at etsy really caught my eye:
So, anyway, my friend now has her own line of handpainted, self-striping yarns. Go buy some! (And send it to me.)
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5 comments:
Thanks for the sweet post. I am so excited about this venture. Even though I am exhausted from having to stay up to 4 am to get them done for this weekend. A few hours of sleep a night just doen't get it.
What? You want me to give awayt my secret??? ;) Ummmm long color repeats.
I'm very excited about it, too. I'd planned for years to learn to dye my own yarn; I even bought a kit on ebay that contained a big pot, four dyes, and assorted equipment, but I've never used it. Now that I'm working for Claudia I don't know that I'll ever get the energy to try it on my own; maybe I'll try koolaid dyeing with my granddaughter some day.
And no, I wouldn't want you to disclose any secrets! The more secret they are, the more yarn you'll sell!
I'm very happy for you, Tonia. I hope you make a bundle of money!
thats some nice looking yarn.
as to the self striping - there's some maths involved if you want the spacing perfect.
say your knitting socks with 72 stitches on us#1 (2.25mm). the length of yarn for each stitch is equal to the circumference of the needle, pi x 2.25 mm = 7.065mm/stitch. multiply that by the number of stitches per round and you get 508.7mm or 20 inches of yarn per round. multiply that by the number of rounds you want of a certain color. approximately.
you're (not your) *sigh*
*confused look* You mean that math is involved? In knitting? But I don't do math.
But thanks--for the first time I see how the stripes can be reliably achieved!
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