Merchant Company

Calling all locals!

Or anyone visiting from out of town, of course. (Maine is a delightful summer destination!)

If you're interested in fondling some of my yarn with your very own hands, before you buy it, head over to The Merchant Company at 656 Congress St. in Portland, across from Local Sprouts, where there are mounds of squishy merino and silk (and even a bit of alpaca) just waiting for you to come enjoy them!

The Merchant Company is a new(ish) retail venue for us crafty folk to display and sell our wares. It has a great location right near downtown and loads of other art, craft and cultural points so it's easy to stop by and see what's new! The shop plays host to a myriad of craftspeople - you can find yarn, pottery, clothing, lamps, stationery, bath & body products, vintage items and more. They also have space for classes - always wanted to learn to sew or knit? Stop by and see what's being offered!

Personally, I have stacks of sock yarn in stock, both superwash merino sock and silky merino sock. There's also a basket of silky merino worsted and various random skeins of lace - alpaca, merino and silky merino. I've tried to keep a good mix of colors so there's something for everyone and I restock as needed, but I highly recommend snapping up yarn you love right away - there's no guarantee there will be more in that color! (In fact, it's fairly unlikely, due to the nature of small batch, artisan dyeing.)

They're open Tues-Sat 11-6 and Sun 12-5. Head over to their Facebook page and check them out. Then head on down in person and check out the whole shop! (While you're already on Facebook, click on over to my page and see what's new...)

4 skeins, 3 types, 1 dyebath

The above photo shows four skeins of three different types of yarn that were all dyed in the same dyebath. Pretty crazy huh?

From left to right: two skeins of silk lace, one skein of 100% silk, single ply DK and the aforementioned 50% silk/50% merino DK.

It's fascinating to me to see how different yarns take dye completely differently. Most of the differences come from how varying fibers react with the dye and how the yarn is spun. For example, I frequently dye batches of superwash merino sock yarn and silky merino sock yarn together. The silky merino always comes out much lighter and more muted than the 100% merino, while the superwash sock takes the dye in a way that is very vibrant and rich.

Another factor is just where the skein is, physically, in the pot while the dyeing is happening. Did it get poked and stirred a lot? Did it remain relatively untouched by me? Was is at the bottom? The top? Stuck in the middle somewhere? Skeins at the bottom of the pot tend to be much lighter than skeins at the top, so I try to rotate them frequently during the first part of dyeing, before the dye has had a chance to completely set.

Sometimes, who really knows why two skeins came out so differently! The two skeins of silk lace above, for example. Yeah, they're pretty close. But far from identical! This is why when a customer orders multiple skeins of one color from me, I make sure to go through the whole batch and pick the ones that most closely match each other.

I, for one, love the variation. Indie dyeing doing what it does best - being unique!

to stock, or not to stock...

That is the question!

Well, the question is this - would you rather pay more money for really spectacular yarn or less money for still-great-but-not-quite-as-great yarn? I encountered this question the other day when I realized I was considering carrying two types of merino/silk DK weight yarn. (Which totally throws off my naming schema, but whatever.) And I thought, "Do I really need to have to two types of merino/silk DK weight yarn?" They are very different. But...do I really need to have both?

So this is where you come in! I'm going to describe both yarns and if you could kindly pop over to the poll in the sidebar over there and let me know what you think, that would be fantastic!

Here they are! Please pretend like they are the same color. The one on the left, the greener one, is a 70% merino/30% silk blend. It is exactly the same as my ever-popular silky merino sock yarn, just thicker. The one on the right, the bluer one, is a really luscious 50% merino/50% silk yarn. I have never carried this yarn before but I test-dyed a batch and it is so nice. Like, I want to knit a giant blanket out of it and stay cuddled in it all day. (Or maybe that's just because it is freakishly cold today...) As you can see, they have completely different looks to them. They are definitely different enough that I don't mind carrying both.

Why don't I just do that?

Well...cost. The 50% merino/50% silk is quite expensive. As in, a finished skein would cost you, my loyal customer, approximately a full $20 more than a skein of the other yarn. Yep. You read that right. It's wonderful, wonderful stuff. But should I bother?

 Cheaper, though still lovely, yarn. This stuff is great. I'm currently knitting a sweater out of it.

 Expensive, frighteningly nice yarn. Gorgeous stuff. Were I not the dyer, I could never afford to knit a sweater out of this.

Aren't they lovely? So tell me what you think! If you don't see an option you like in the poll, leave a comment here!

simple things

I promised a while back that I'd share a project I knit with my superwash merino sock yarn. (A long while. Ahem.) It happens to be one of the same skeins of yarn that is pictured in that post - the wonderful grey/black color. I've been on a real grey kick for the past year or two, which means that most of my wardrobe is now grey or black. I love it, still, but I think I'm starting to feel ready to add some color... Anyway, this isn't it! But it's lovely nonetheless.

It's the Simple Things shawlette and the pattern is just delightful. It is, indeed, simple. I managed to knit the entire thing in...only...two and a half months. Which, honestly, is pretty darn good for me these days! Had I not had a wee babe to care for, I probably could have knocked the thing out in just a couple days. But it was perfect baby knitting - easy enough to pick it up and put it down due to the simple stockinette stitch. Even the eyelet motif was nothing complicated - an excellent introduction to a cute little lacy bit for beginners or a nice, easy, mindless (yet still cute!) bit for more experienced knitters. Or those with tiny children about.

The superwash merino sock yarn works very well with this pattern. It's super soft and has a wonderful drape. I wear it around my neck when it's cool but not freezing and it has never bothered me. It's quite stretchy and takes abuse well - my daughter has pulled on it multiple times and it doesn't get disfigured! The softly changing color ranges from dark grey to light grey to nearly white in places and matches just about everything I own.

Head over to see my project on Ravelry or check out some of my sock yarn!

sneak peek

Some "new" yarn I've actually had dyed for quite some time, but have only just been able to photograph! The stars and planets aligned yesterday and I managed to get a napping baby, sunshine and little else to do...all at the same time! Hallelujah. It's one of my favorites - the silky merino worsted - and in such a gorgeous color! I will admit that I was more than a little secretly pleased when I discovered a weird orange spot on one skein and had to keep it for myself. (Quality control is very important!)