Thursday is always yarn day! The new yarns are available at 12 noon central, and I'm trying to offer a lot of choices these days, as they tend to go pretty quickly. You can see them HERE.
And please take a moment to fill out my survey. It's less than 20 questions and it will really help me dye the yarn you want!
Some of this week's yarn
The newest yarn I've been dyeing is called Inca. It's a blend of Silk, Alpaca, and Merino. I had been searching for just the right Alpaca yarn — I love it's sheen and it's softness, but, in the deep south, an aran weight Alpaca can be too warm for wear most of the year. Then I stumbled upon this blend. It's soft, it has the most incredible sheen, and it's nice and warm without being too warm. So I fell in love.
Forgive the washed out, early in the morning pictures. I just had to share this yarn with you. Yarn love.
I haven't decided what to knit with it yet. I think it would be divine for a Clapotis (I've had that pattern back on my brain again lately). It would make a wonderful vest, especially in a sort of subdued palette, I'm thinking maybe something with gray and pewter and brown. And scarves. Ellie, who has a thing about gauntlets, thought gauntlets. I'm completely undecided, but the possibilities are wonderful.
Here are some up close pictures of the colorways.
Crayon
Cleo
Pop!
Guppy Creek
We're off to dinner in a few, ready to celebrate an exciting new year and looking forward to all the change it will bring!
In case you need a little bit of yarn to spark your new year, and haven't seen yet, I've got a New Years Day-long stocking, starting at midnight.
And, of course, a few pictures (because I am a tease at heart)
Some of y'all may remember my post this summer about our family walks along Guppy Creek, one of the children's favorite places. I had meant to dye a summer Guppy Creek colorway, but I got sidetracked, so it wasn't until after an early fall visit that I finally did it.
It was one of those colorways that made you instantly happy, and I did a batch on both Blue Faced Leicester (above) and Organic Merino (below). One of the elements of dyeing I always enjoy is the subtle differences a colorway will have on different fibers.
I liked it so much that I dyed it on Seasilk (a blend of silk and a fiber spun from seaweed that is called Seacell).
Guppy Creek apparently has struck the same chord in y'all that it has for me. The only problem I've had with it is that I can't keep it in stock. It sold out so quickly that I don't have any left for myself. I'm in desperate need of some of the Seasilk for a project I have planned and two good friends have emailed begging for some on Blue Faced Leicester.
I decided that the only thing to do was to spend some time this morning dyeing some more. I've got several vats of it going, on both Blue Faced Leicester and on a DK weight Sea Silk. I'll have some more in the store later this week. In the meantime, if you just can't wait, send me an email to joyce at elliebelly dot com and I'll be happy to reserve some for you. Everyone needs a little bit of Guppy Creek when the weather turns cold and pretty fall days are just a memory!
If you've been reading my blog for much time at all, you know that one of my obsessions is replicating the rich colors of aged patinas in my yarns. I love weathered woods and old bits of metal that have take on the patina of time. My favorite of all is copper, as it takes on a patina with age. One of my original colorways was based on an old copper mailbox.
Recently, I've been doing the Copper Patina colorway again. I decided to try it on a new yarn, the seacell/merino blend called Sea Wool, a sock yarn. The result made me very happy.
I've kept most of it for myself, but have added a few skeins at Etsy, a few on Elliebelly, and the last two will be available here on Thursday at noon.
Despite the rigors of life as a ballet mama — running from work, to the studio, and then dashing home to sleep before repeating the process, I've managed to stock some yarn for you today at Elliebelly!
Don't feel too sorry for me. I've obviously found some time to spend in the studio dyeing yarn. It was a welcome refresh from our compressed schedule until the Nutcracker run is over. As much as I am enjoying Ellie's excitement over the ballet, it felt good to get a little time in to play with color and yarn!
Today's colorways include —
The yarns this week are Blue Faced Leicester and Organic Merino. The store stocks at Noon, Eastern Time. Please come by for a look!
I agreed to do some custom dyeing for a few people earlier this month, and have been busy dyeing ever since. I finally finished up this morning. The last few skeins are in their last rinse bath and will be out hanging in a few hours.
It is always fun seeing the colors emerge, and especially fun when dyeing lots of different colorways on the same yarn. All of this yarn is the British Bulky Blue Faced Leicester, which is very hard to get and a fabulous yarn. It's not as bulky as a true bulky weight — I think of it as more of a heavy aran. I love using it for baby sweaters and am toying with the idea of doing some for Ollie — his new favorite color is green and I think he needs a sweater.
This is the yarn from two orders that I packed up this morning. It was fun laying it all out on the table. I sort of wish I had put out all of the yarn and created a room of yarn and photo-ed it from high up on a chair or something. But it's fun still, getting this much all at once.