Thursday, March 3, 2011

Coming Soon...

I've been spending the month of February (which now seems to have spilled into the month of March) emptying my bobbins and finishing unfinished yarns. I don't have a lot to share today, except for this...



This month I am going to begin offering custom spinning listings for handspun sock yarns. I was hoping to have this listing available in the shop by now, but I've been suffering from a toothache for a couple of weeks now. I have an appointment scheduled with my dentist to take care of the problem, but I'm going to wait until the pain is under control before I take on any more work. (Who knew that a little tooth could put a full grown woman out of commission so easily?)

Here are the details from the custom spin listing:

Have you ever seen a roving in my shop and wished that you could have it as a sock yarn? Now you can! Just purchase the roving along with this custom sock spin listing and leave instructions in the note to seller box letting me know how you'd like to have it spun. A custom spin usually takes around 7-14 days.

This custom spin will yield approximately 375-450 yards of 2 or 3 ply sock yarn, depending on the fiber and yarn construction (please note that I can make no specific yardage guarantees). You may choose from any roving in the shop, but please keep in mind that some fibers work better as sock yarn than others (and may yield better yardage). For a sturdier sock yarn I highly recommend a 3 ply, though if you intend to use your sock yarn for another project (maybe a shawl?) 2 ply would work well too.

Are you concerned about felting? If so, be sure to purchase a superwash fiber.

The construction choices are:

-2 ply. If you're not worried about heavy-duty, long-wearing socks this construction is wonderful to knit and barberpoles beautifully.

-Traditional 3 ply. This one is great for socks. It has a round construction that produces beautiful stitch definition and has lovely color distribution.

-Navajo/chain ply. This construction shares all the benefits of the traditional 3 ply, except that its colors are more likely to stay intact, can shift more quickly and can be more stripey in appearance when knitted. If you're in love with the color sequence of the roving you purchase and you don't want it to blend or change too much, this may be the choice for you.

*This listing is ONLY for a single, sock-weight custom spin and is only valid when purchased in conjunction with a Four Rivers fiber. I am (on occasion) open to spinning fibers from other vendors, but will only do so at my personal discretion and additional charges will apply. If you wish for me to custom spin someone else's fiber, please contact me to discuss the details BEFORE purchasing.

The cost of the custom spin listings will be $30 (not including the cost of the roving), which yields a little bit of savings considering the amount of yardage offered. These listings will be available only on a first come-first serve basis and I will only be putting up one listing at a time. I estimate that I'll be offering 2-3 each month. A day or so before I list the first one, I'll be putting it at the top of my shop announcements, so if you're interested in nabbing one of these you'll have some warning.

Other than that, I don't have much else to share today. While I have been doing a lot of knitting lately, I still don't have a finished object to share yet (though I should have a few to show soon).