« Knitty happy days | ??? | eye candy »
January 26, 2008
a la recherche de la laine perdue
Today I talk about my yarn for dyeing.
Since last year, I have a wee place in Etsy and started selling my own yarn. Now hand-dyeing-oneself is quite handy for every knitter, looks not so difficult, so I wanted to do it, too. Once I tried, I recognized that I really love dyeing, so I set my objective to open my hand-dyed yarn shop online.
The most important and at the same time difficult part to work out is the availability of supply. There is some shop in Japan who possess undyed yarn for dyers, but there is absolutely no yarn which I need. But imagine if I get it from overseas, how much it cost with shipping, custom tax and all!
I somehow managed to find a Japanese yarn supplier and worked with him to make my own yarn, which is now on my shop. The yarn was imported from Italy, and has fabulous quality. So I dived into the shop and started.
But my happy start didn't last long. Almost immediately I found the yarn was out of stock and no possibility of back order. There was some sad misunderstanding between supplier and me and after since, I have been searching the appropriate yarn for my shop.
Recently I finally chose a yarn proposed from the supplier. At first I declined it, because the weight is not perfect for my needs. It is 5 ply instead of 4 ply, so the length for 100 g is not very good. And waiting in dreaming to find my prince-charming-perfect yarn, the time and season has just passed. I decided to try the yarn.
It is not perfect for required condition, however it is SO SOFT, and springy more than the current Italian yarn. This time it is made in Japan, and the yarn has a striking resemblance with extrafine merino wool. Yet it is washable like cashmerino. Cashmerino yarn contains more than half synthetic fiber, but this is 100% wool.
Some days ago I tried to dye the very yarn so far:
And it is not bad. I believe. I made a swatch to see the gage.
It is 31 sts for 10cm, with US 2 needles. Not bad.
So I made a decision. This time I know I can get a quantity.
Also, I look into some lace weight yarn. For that I don't think I need many, since I don't plan to make it as my regular. Now I have some of 100% Alpaca, some 100% cashmere, and this
This is 40% cashmere, 50% wool and 10% nylon. I did a try, and not bad. Maybe I will buy some more.
Therefore, please stay tune, friends, soon new line of my hand-dyed yarn will appear on my shop…
(BTW, I have still some more current Italian yarn, so it will appear too!)
Posted by trico at January 26, 2008 11:21 PM