Thanks for sharing

A big thank you to Valerie

and Jennifer
for sharing photos of their finished Duet Socks!!!

Both used the coordinating yarn to also add a cuff at the top!! What a cute idea :)

XXL Duet is here!!!

After lots and lots of e-mails from women with feet larger than a size 9 saying the need a bit more yarn for their socks...I created a line of XXL Duet Sock Yarn with exactly that! It's the same great yarn but LOTS more of it!!! These are also great for men's socks (I snagged the Lizard Rock colorway for Ken...he's gonna get his first pair of knitted socks!!!) and projects that could use a main color AND coordinating yarn for a little bit of a kick :)

These yarns are so much fun to make! I absolutely love coming up with new colors. I know there are favorites that sell out super quick and I will keep those coming...but it is so much fun to add new colors each week!

Pick Up Sticks, The Yarn Grove, and Renaissance Yarns (who will also soon have a website where you can order yarn on-line) are all eagerly awaiting their next orders to arrive. Be sure to check in there because each shop will have colorways you've never seen before at A Swell Yarn Shop!!!

I am just about done with my 'Hip Chic' socks (can't post a link...the color is sold out), I only have the kitchner on one heel and the rest of the other heel to go. I think I will have that done by the end of this weekend...pictures to come :)

Have a happy week and weekend!!!

Sewing Expo!!!!

Over the weekend I got the oppurtunity to go to the Sewing Expo. The Wooly Thread carries all kinds of wool items and that's how they found me...she carries my dyed fibers for spinning, needle felting and other various applications! That said, she asked that I come to demonstrate the drop spindle in her booth!!
When I walked into the Expo my jaw literally dropped! It was absolutely incredible the hundreds of booths, the fabric as far as the eye could see, the gorgeous quilts, the beautiful wall hangings, the amazing hand crafted dolls and so so so much more!
Of course I bought something, but I did pat myself on the back for the restraint I used. I got this skirt book last month and have been so eager to make the double layered skirt in it...so I got the fabric for it while I was at the Expo. Pink and lime green colorways- true to my pink and lime green devotion!! I love this fabric! So Pretty!!!!! I will enjoy just looking at it until I do have time to make the skirt! It sounds like a quick project though, two seams per skirt and an elastic waistband...that's a rainy Sunday project :)

What I did on my winter vacation!

Yup, I took a week off! I didn't go anywhere, I didn't come up with any adventures, I didn't sleep in, I didn't even relax...but it was one of the best vacations I ever had.

I took a week off work to dye yarn!!! For those of you who don't know this, by day I am a regular ole office manager/bookkeeper. I sit in front of a computer and crunch numbers! By night I am a yarn dyeing fool! Well, lately the yarn dyeing has become a second more than full time job and I was still very much behind. So I took a week off to catch up on all the orders for the shops that carry my yarns and got to see what it would be like to dye yarn full time. I LOVED IT!!!!!!! It was much harder and the hours were MUCH longer than at my 'day job' but totally worth it!

So let me share with you a day in the life of a yarn dyer.

This was my office! This is a handy dandy tool my super talented husband created for me to skein the yarn. Thank goodness for him because I would still be using the niddy noddy right now and I couldn't skein a fraction of what I can do with this puppy in a day!

This is the yarn....I first measure out the length for the main part of the sock, then I measure out seperately the heel and toe portion! This is the completely unexciting part! I know it's a neccessary part, but seriously, all I do is count loops for hours and hours and hours and hours!

Then I head to the kitchen...where all the magic begins! So let me introduce you to my co-workers...from top to bottom, left to right see Piper, Daisy, Pearin, Penelope and Daphney...they are my angora bunnies and yes, they are as soft as you can imagine they would be! When I am not dyeing yarn and have free time, I get to spin their wool! :) Oh la la

This is my motivator-Guppy!! He comes into the kitchen about every hour to see if I am done yet so I can sit the heck down and cuddle with him! He loves skeining time, because that is endless hours of me sitting next to him.

And here you see the finished product! Unfortunately this was shortly after I announced the new colorways were up on the website, so I was sold out for this photo...but that's where they live before they head out across the county to you!

So there ya go... a day in the life of a yarn dyer!

This day was brought to you by YOUR support for Duet Sock Yarns, and the super awesome people who have helped get these yarns to you...One such person is Liberty who is always quick to offer help when the skeining gets tough! She has plays a HUGE part in getting these yarns bundle up to go on the website and out to shops! She is also in the process of designing a childs sweater for use with the Duet Sock Yarns....so stay tuned for that pattern to be out soon!

Happy knitting!!!! ~Angela