Sunday, February 25, 2018

Knit Up and Dye Episode 59 - Breathe In, Breathe Out

Sorry, no demonstration this week, but I do discuss how I document my colorway formulas, give you some great resources for your business supplies and talk about my healing progress and prognosis. Quick sneak peek (spoiler alert) of the subscriber level custom colorway for my patrons and I show off my most recently completed beaded doll.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Episode 58 - Unconditional Self Love

Very minor progress on two sock patterns. I'm in "time-out" to address my shoulder pain. Answers to some business questions posed by a viewer, and some digital love out to everyone who is hurting. Quick look at some beading and a 1000 things update.


Sunday, February 18, 2018

Shipping Overages

I've long since known there are some less than functional features of Etsy that could affect customer confidence, but what I didn't realize was that I hadn't communicated how I handle them.

Etsy calculates shipping fees per each item, not over the order total. This affects the overall rate you are charged for shipping, often making it much higher than the actual cost.

To resolve this issue I offer two solutions.

You are welcome to contact me with a list of the items you wish to purchase and I will set up a custom order with a single weight by which Etsy will calculate your shipping. I'm always willing to build custom orders whether for off the shelf items or dyed to order special purchases and welcome the opportunity to interact with you.

Or, if you place your order through the regular shopping cart, I will refund you the difference of the shipping rate you were charged and what I actually paid through the system when I generated your shipping label.

Hopefully, this clarifies how I handle this issue. I don't want a miscalculating shopping cart to be the reason you held back from buying that perfect extra skein. I've also updated the information in my shop to make this more obvious.

If you are a shop owner as well and have other solutions to this dilemma, I welcome your suggestions.

And as always, I'm open to all comments and feedback. Please let me know what you need and want.

Thank you.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Knit Up and Dye Episode 57 - Inside Out




Includes a quick demonstration of English vs Portuguese knitting styles, an update on my progress with "1000 things", project progress as well as a new project specifically utilizing the Portuguese knitting style.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Knit Up and Dye Episode 56 - Changes and 1000 Things

I'm making some changes and adopting a new knitting technique due to shoulder injury. Episode features discussion regarding current projects, upcoming test knits, new colorways, Portuguese knitting and ridding my life of 1000 things. Also includes announcements for Patreon drawing winners for February.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Colorway Chronicles: Brick

Another color I find challenging to work with is red. I love the color red. It has such a rich and varied spectrum, however I find blue-reds are more common, easier to achieve and more prevalent than yellow-reds.  What do I mean by this and why does it matter?

Red is a composite dye, which means it is made up of other colors. Magenta is the primary base, however varying amounts of blue, yellow and black are added to this to get red. Yellow is a weaker pigment, and it takes a lot of yellow to make an impact. Too much yellow in the mix and, of course, you get orange. Because of this, and of course, economic factors, most reds tend to land more in the blue-based tones than the yellow. Which is all well and fine, they are very pretty, however, if you are an individual with yellow undertones in your skin (such as myself) the blue under toned reds are simply not as flattering when worn around your face.  This is a fashion challenge many people face - we love red, but most reds don't love us.

Brick is my answer. I worked with a yellow based red that had slightly orange tendencies and warmed the tone while adding depth to the overall color by adding a yellow-green. (Weird right?) What I got in the end is a rich tonal yellow-red that varies from a rust, through red and on to a maroon. It immediately made me think of factory fresh red bricks. I love this colorway, and am seriously considering a fingering weight sweater in this colorway.