Dyeing Upgrades and Colour Tests

Whiskey in a Teacup Shawl knitting yarn

I'm popping by today to let you know that, despite things being quiet in the shop lately, I'm still working hard behind the scenes. I thought I'd give you a quick update and let you know what's in store (har har) for the next few months.

Project number one for Gauge Dye Works in 2020 has been a change in our dyeing setup. It's been a work in progress for years and we've finally made the switch from the original "prototype" that I used to dye every skein these past six years to Version 2.0, which can leap tall buildings in a single bound. (Well, probably not, but it can dye twice as much yarn which is far more useful.)

We are also switching up which dyes we use as our primary colours, which means updating all our colourway recipes. It's a big project if I do it all at once, so I'll be doing it bit by bit as I re-introduce older colourways to the shop. I've been sharing a little snippets of my progress over on Instagram if you're interested. 

 

rainbow yarn wound on a large rack knitted tubes of rainbow colored yarn

The yarn I'm dyeing right now is all rainbows all the time. I started doing them as a series of colour mixing tests (like the knit-up tubes in the photo above), but I love them so much and, based on your comments, you do too. So I'll be dyeing more and adding them to the shop once I have enough, likely in a few weeks.

I've been getting a lot of requests for Whiskey in a Teacup, and that will be the first colourway I work on once I'm ready to jump back into production dyeing. That's the shawl version in the top photo, and I'll bring the shawl, sock, and baby sweater versions all back at the same time. I don't want to guess at what day I'll have that ready, but I did want to reassure you I haven't forgotten about it! 

first cuff of Kia socks knit with Gauge Dye Works yarn

I'll leave you with a picture of the Kia socks I'm working on. The yarn in an accidental one-of-a-kind colourway I dyed last year and I think it's working beautifully with the simple and satisfying stitch pattern.

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