You know, I've been thinking about Self-striping hand-dyed yarn lately after a customer emailed to say that one of our colorways perfectly self-striped. She asked me why we didn't market our yarn as self-striping? So, I got to thinking: So many of our colors self-stripe. In fact, maybe at least a third of them do. But, I feel uncomfortable calling any of my designs self-striping. Why you ask? Well... In order for a yarn to truly self-stripe, it needs to be accurately measured and dyed in sections to accommodate the stripe. Make sense? So many companies (hand-dyed) market self-striping yarns. Do they really sit and measure sections? We sell a lot of yarn and would never have the time to measure each section. Oh my gosh! I would literally RIP OUT MY HAIR!!
There's somewhat of another problem with self-striping yarn too that has always kind-of bothered me a bit: If you alter the size of your garment or project, the stripe distorts and may not appear as self-striped at all. So many considerations when knitting and you want a stripe. So, I guess that if you'd like a nice self-striping "surprise", a lot of J. Knits colors might be for you!! A lot of our 2-colored yarns stripe perfectly. If stripes are your thing, you certainly have a bunch of J. Knits options! But please don't expect to see it on the label because it just won't be there anytime soon.
Uh oh! Was that a little rant? Oh boy...apologies all around!!
Moving onward....
Look at the beautiful "Just a Whisper" Shawl from the talented needles @ Emma's Daughter Designs:
Isn't it lovely? Wonderful! It uses 4 skeins of our Silky Yarn. Shown is the colorway Boston. Look for it soon at your LYS!
So, what's on my needles at the moment you ask? Well.. I have to admit that I've been somewhat of a traitor :).
Here it is:
It's an OnLine yarn that you knit to form a boa-type scarf. I just wanted a quick project that I could do in the heat and saw a sample of this in a yarn store. It's called Solo. I just fell in love with it! That yarn is like a wide, porous tape that has 3 colors in it. I chose the brown and tan colorway. You spread the tape out to form a single layer and then knit through the tape (put your needle through the top of the tape) instead of just wrapping it around the needle. Then you just knit as usual. Neat huh?
This is almost finished. Then I'm moving on to a wonderful little knitted lace item (shhh! It's a secret!) using our Superwash Me - Light Sock . It was so strange! You know, no matter how many times I see a color come out of the pot, sometimes a colorway just sticks with me. Every time I see it again, I love it more and more. Here is one of my favorite colorways:
It's AC #124. It's not really the best photo because these colors are hard to capture on film. It's like a turquoise blue, shades of purple and even a touch of pink. Gorgeous. Here it is from the website:
Yes that's better! I just can't deny that it's been calling ("Julie") and calling ("JULIE") and calling ("HEY Julie!!!!!") for some time now. How could I have ignored it? But that's soon to be over with... I'll keep you updated on my progress...
On another note, here is an early-season photo of my garden:
This is actually the first year I used that black weed paper to keep the annoying pests out! And, you know what? What the HECK was I thinking not using this all those years? I need to have my head examined! I have almost 0 (zero!) weeds in there. It's awesome! And, I really think the warmth from the paper causes the plants to grow bigger than ever. Here it is now...
It's like a tropical jungle in there and I love it! I have 4 different kinds of tomato (for my homemade tomato soup of course! I included grape and Romano tomatoes too. YUM!), 2 kinds of eggplant (black beauty included of course!), 4 different kinds of cucumber (including pickling...), sweet potatoes (never grew these before but they are easy!), red and green peppers, string beans and those are giant sunflowers in the front. I didn't even plant the whole garden... It's a big space and I ran out of time! As you can see, I have a green thumb :). Nothing like a garden for fresh veggies. I ALWAYS make time for my cukes and friends!
On another note...do you have any form of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder?). Come on now, you know you do! Is it for J. Knits Sock or Lace-a-licious yarns (he-he!). Or maybe just sock yarn in general? Do you hide receipts and skeins just praying that no one will find your massive stash? Hmmm?
Ok, besides J. Knits yarn, mine is Noni Patterns. Ok, it's a sickness. I admit. I have every single one. In fact, I think I even bought a couple of them twice, forgetting that I bought them already! UGGH! Here are some of my newest purchases:
I used to think that the Sculpture Garden was my favorite (see below) because it is such a classic design. But...
then I saw the 3 in the top photo! I think that Hydrangea Bag (upper right) is my favorite now! I can just imagine J. Knits Felter's Dream - Worsted (just about the same as Cascade 200) little hand-dyed flowers dancing all over that bag! I think I am going to have J. Knits woven tags created so I can stick them on there along with the Noni tag. I might give some of these bags as Xmas gifts to friends and family. Awesome!
We keep infiltrating more states across the US. Tennessee is our newest one! We just took an order from a store in Knoxville. Yeah!
Have you seen the newest Vogue Knitting? It's the 25th Anniversary issue. It's gorgeous!
As you open the mag, there are different covers inside. I think there's a dozen in all. Each inside cover highlights a different big yarn company. It was really well done but I was disappointed that Berroco wasn't in there. In any case, it's worth a purchase. There are tons of free patterns too. Really nice! Check it out!
Ok. I'm done for now...
Have a wonderful, sunny, summer-y day (or clear, crisp, winter-y day, depending on your location!)
and...
as always...
Have FUN and Knit SAFELY!
Bye for now!
Julie
J. Knits
http://www.j-knits.com/
