The shop will be updated today at 2pm EST.

*click to visit the Flickr photo album of everything that’s being added*

We’ve prepared sock yarn, giant skeins of fingering weight superwash Merino that are great for socks, baby clothes and lace projects (do a giant shawl with one 1100 yard skein), handspun from Maisy Day, spindle kits galore, and tons of spinning fiber, including the Merino/silk above.

We hope you see something you like!

I heard back from Da Boss of Louet (where the superwash Merino I’m selling is from) and the superwash is, in fact, resin-coated. The temperatures for melting the resin that I’d read over the years never specified whether they were Celsius or Fahrenheit. I assumed Fahrenheit because what do I know from Celsius? Turns out it’s Celsius after all, which means the usual 190 F used for setting acid dyes (when your pot starts knockin’) is plenty safe for superwash. Dye with impunity.

I’ve added un-dyed superwash Merino lambswool top to the shop and dyed some up for tomorrow’s update. I’ve been experimenting with it, since I had no experience until the bump arrived. So, I dyed some, spun it up, and washed it in the machine. All went well, and there are a couple of tips I thought I’d to share, in case anyone else has been living under a superwash rock like I have.

Dyeing:
This stuff will just drift apart in water, so I made a big loop and twisted it up like a skein of yarn. It absorbed water very quickly, even in this skein-type configuration. I then squeezed the water out and untwisted it and Crockpot dyed. The technique is the same as for regular wool, except for temperature. I rinsed the dyed top by pouring it from the Crockpot into a sink of water that didn’t have very much water in it. It was pretty crowded in the sink, so the wool didn’t really have anywhere to drift. The tops are slightly messier than wool that clings to itself more, but they’re not bad at all.

Spinning:
Happiness! This stuff drafts like a dream. I spun the usual 2 ply bulky and knit a swatch for machine wash testing. It passed with flying colors. There was no visible change to the swatch after 2 runs in the machine on gentle/cold. Measurements were the same, colors didn’t change, there was no felting whatsoever. It’s kind of thrilling to put handspun in the washing machine and have it come out looking the same.

Proof:
*before*

*after*

There was a little yarn shopping this weekend. How sad is it that I live in Boston and had never been to Webs? Pretty sad. So, there was a westward trek.

Can you feel a colorwork mitten attack coming on? I can!

It was all I could do not to clap and jump up and down when I saw the shelves of Harrisville Shetland. The colors are crazy! I ended up with 8 oz./ 900 yard cones in Gold, Melon, Poppy, Red, and Magenta, plus a cone of 2/14 Alpaca/silk in Nile (appley green). If I could have rolled the whole shelving unit out to the car, I would have. Maybe someone will get it for me for Christmas!

There will be a shop update tomorrow with handspun, spindle kits, sock yarns, and lots of gorgeous dyed fibers. See you then!