The new dye bar

If you're local, you know we used to dye the yarn at the shop, in the dye bar/bar bar/kitchen. What with no longer having the bricks-and-mortar portion of our shop, obviously that had to change -- so let me show y'all what my fabulous husband did in our house, in a small room at the back of our house that really had no other use other than storage.



1. Not your ordinary 2x4 - I love what Tim did here with rounding off the corners. It's a small detail, unlikely to be noticed unless you're looking up; but it makes it classy and impresses those who notice.
2. Shelves, stocked with dye - And room to grow! The shelves are deep enough to hold two (one in use, one backstock) and ultimately should be able to house all of the available colors. Which means lots of new colorways! Whoot!
3. Crock pots a-ready - I have base yarn on the way, and these should start seeing use by the end of next week!
4. Standing in doorway, looking to left - We debated putting doors on the shelves under the sink, and decided not to; eventually, though, the shelves under the crock pots will have doors in order to keep backstock protected. Notice also the small bar above the sink; this'll be great for moving yarn from the crock pots to the sink without having to take them off the hangers.
5. The drying rack - Looks remarkably like the drying rack from the store... probably because it is. Tim cut the middle shelf out (the one that all the African Violets were on) to make it shorter so that it could fit in the smaller room.
6. View outside over the crock pots - maybe this view every day will inspire me to rip down some of that crazy ivy. That bar, by the way, is on an adjustable chain; so if I need to make it higher or lower it's going to be incredibly easy to do so.
7. View outside over the sink - I can not wait to have time to do a garden this fall; my poor vegetable gardens have been unused the last three years because I knew I didn't have the time to devote to caring for a vegetable garden. I can already taste next spring's tomatoes...! Which has nothing to do with dyeing yarn for y'all... unless I put in some flowers that one can make natural dye from. Hmmmmm!
8. Lovely gift from Beth - No reason really to include this, other than our friend Beth did the macrame herself, and I feel like it's a good luck piece.
9. Standing at back door - I don't know that the winder is going to live there permanently, blocking the coffee mugs and taking up valuable table space.

So now when you get our yarn, you kind of have a vision of where it was dyed!

Hel-loooooo Dyers!

We are very excited about receiving our first shipment of Jacquard Acid Dyes today! We carry all 40 colors, and you can mix and match those to your heart's content.

Acid dyes, as toxic as they sound, aren't really at all, and are very easy to work with. All you need to add is vinegar. And yarn or roving, of course! Acid dyes work best with animal fibers, and we have plenty of undyed Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, Lorna's Laces Superwash, and roving from Louet upon which you can let your inner artist loose.

Keep an eye on this space as we put the finishing touches on our dye bar. We'll let you know when the classes and 'studio time' are available!

Say "hello" to our little friend

Guess what we got the other day?



Not sure what it is...? We'll give you a hint:



Still haven't guessed...? Okay, one last hint (this one is what it makes):



Could this mean that the oft-rumored dye bar is close at hand...? Stay tuned to find out!