August Sale!

Stock up now before fall hits!

Holiday Yarns and Black Friday Plans.

Holiday Yarns

As you might have seen, there are three limited edition, self striping colorways this season. I’ll only be able to dye them up a couple more times, but if what you want is out of stock, contact me and I should be able to take care of you. To check is any is available, holiday yarns will be kept in the first row of the first page of the shop all holiday season.

The first colorway is Elf. With equal-sized red and green stripes, this colorway looks great on both the Glitz (438 yds) and Strong (400 yds_ Sock bases. If you would like this on the Merino (400 yds) or Luxe (435 yds) Sock bases, let me know and I’ll do a custom order. I will only be dyeing this colorway in Glitz Sock and Strong Sock for the shop.

In Glitz Sock:



In Strong Sock:


The next colorway was born from my favorite Christmas decorations, which are always silver and gold. These equal-sized stripes of gold and silver also happen to be a great New Year’s colorway, or if you are just fond of bright, shiny things. The colorway name “Party Dress” comes from all of the bright, shiny, metallic party dresses that are in the stores for the holiday season. This colorway only works on the Glitz Sock base.


This last colorway was a suggestion from a customer, and I am in love with the result. “Winter Wonderland” is equal-sized stripes of silver and light blue, and is a lovely winter colorway regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas. It was even suggested that these colors could be a possible Hanukkah colorway?

This colorway is only available in Glitz Sock as well.






Black Friday

 

Hey guys, I’ve already had a few people ask me about Black Friday plans, so I thought I’d go ahead and let you guys know what’s up.

I will be having a one day only sale (Friday, November 23) on all of the discontinued organic merino yarn. I need to make room for all of the new stuff, and figured this would be a good time to give you all a little deal for the holidays. This will include all organic self-striping and the already discounted colorways. This will not include any of the new bases (Gynx Sock, Gynx DK, and Gynx Aran only), which means that holiday yarns will not be included.

I will announce the specific amount of the discount on Friday in this thread and all of my social media sites. This will be the last sale I have this year, so now is the time to stock up!

Studio Ghibli Yarn Club!

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that sign-ups are now going on for my first ever yarn club. This time around, the theme is Studio Ghibli movies. If you're a fan of my Totoro, Spirited Away, or Ponyo colorways, you don't want to miss out on this club. Full details are available on Etsy here. Sign-ups end November 18 or until spots are gone, so get a spot for yourself (or a loved one) today!

Big Changes at Gynx Yarns.

There are going to be some changes here at Gynx Yarns.

One standard I have always had is that I would only buy yarn bases from what I believed were ethically-treated sheep. For over a year now, I have been using one base in three different weights (sock, DK, aran) that was certified organic. However, yesterday I was told that the source I buy my yarns from is no longer able to get this wool. They have found a replacement that they believe will be almost identical to what I am using now, but it would be a few months before they would be able to get any to me. There will also be a small price increase with this new source of organic wool.

So I was in a bit of a dilemma yesterday. How will I get through the next few months until this new yarn is released? What if I don’t even like the new yarn? After some conversations with a few people whose opinions I trust, I believe I have come to a solution, and honestly, it could lead to some exciting things.

I have found another source that gets their merino from ethical sources. Are they certified organic? No. Do they still care about the welfare of their sheep? Yes. What has always been important to me and my company is not a certification, but just that the animals that we receive wool from have been treated well and are cared for. This new source would allow me to add things like superwash bases, nylon blends, even some blends with a bit of sparkle. If, once I examine this new organic yarn, I decide that it is on par with what I have been selling, I will continue to have organic yarns in the shop as well.

One thing that is for certain is that the Gynx Sock, Gynx DK, and Gynx Aran lines will no longer be produced once my supply runs out. Because of this, I will no longer be taking custom orders until I have everything figured out. While this new organic base may very well be indistinguishable from my current bases, I just can’t know for sure, so I can’t promise anything. If you have enjoyed working with these bases or have wanted to try them, it would be highly recommended that you get what you want now.

I want to know what you, my customers and supporters, think about all of this. How do you feel about non-organic, but still ethically-sourced wools? The possibility of superwash or other additions? Please feel free to tell me your opinion either on the blog, on Ravelry, or email me at gynxyarns@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Gynx Yarns, and I thank all of you who have helped me get to this point.

Introducing: Stripes!

Today's the day! Some of you have seemed really anxious for me to release my self-striping yarns, and you don't have to wait much longer (unless of course you're reading this after 1 pm Central, then you don't have to wait at all). Since this is the first batch of self-striping yarns in the shop, I thought I'd give you all a little preview post so you know what to expect this afternoon.

The specs on these are the same as Gynx Sock: 100 gram skeins, 437 yards, 100% organic merino.

Top row left to right: Dallas, Beach Vacation, Tron
Bottom row left to right: Neon & Neutral, Epyon, Naruto

I tried to get a little bit of everything for this update: some darker colors, some very bright colors, some neutrals. I can't say that self-striping will be a regular thing you'll see in the shop, but I still have plenty of colorway ideas. If you want one of the above colorways and it's gone before you get to it, contact me at gynxyarns@gmail.com and I'll happily dye one up for you.

In regards to yesterday's post, you might be interested to know that I decided to go with Ino (the purple). A lot of my fall/winter clothes are neutrals, and I wanted to shake it up a bit. Wolf and Catbus will find their way onto my needles for other things, I'm sure.

Color Choices.

The knitting group I go to on Thursdays (the one that meets at MadTosh Crafts) is going to start a KAL (knit-a-long) this week. The pattern the group is knitting is the Vitamin D cardigan. I knew that casting on yet another sweater would probably not be the best idea, since I already have three on the needles, two of which are for other people. And then there's the whole Holla Knits KAL I'm doing. I didn't want to be left out though, so I'm going to attempt to fit this one in as well.

Now, there's the matter of picking a yarn. I'm going to be using my Gynx Sock base, and after narrowing my selection down to nine colors and thinking on it for a bit (thanks Twitter friends), I have it narrowed down to three colors.

The color I'm most leaning to is my Ino colorway. Is it the most versatile color? No, but I don't have a single purple cardigan or long sleeved shirt.

Another colorway I really keep thinking about is my Wolf colorway. I fell in love with this colorway as soon as I pulled it out of the dyepot, but it hasn't gotten a whole lot of love from others. I adore the very subtle layers of tan and gray. Versatile? Check. Although, I already have several white and off-white long sleeved shirts/cardigans/sweaters, and I don't know if I should add another. This colorway might be better added to my wardrobe in the form of a shawlette.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Catbus. When I posted my top nine choices on Twitter, this colorway was tied with Ino in votes. This one is also versatile, and I don't have any cardigans this color. I do have a sweater, but it isn't one that I wear often.

I really can't decide! I think I'd love all three equally. Do you have any opinions? Please share them in the comments section below.

Coming tomorrow: I'll be introducing my self-striping line to the blog and the shop, so be sure to check in.

FO: Spectra

Before we get to our regularly scheduled blog, I have some exciting news to share with you all! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you might already know this, but Gynx Yarns is in its first brick and mortar store! I am very excited to say that MadTosh in Fort Worth is the first store to carry my yarn. I adore MadTosh and it's where you can find me on any given Thursday evening knitting away. If you're in the DFW area, you should definitely check it out!

Now, back to what this post is about: My Spectra is finished! I felt like it would never be finished, and I struggled to knit three of the little color wedges in a day. I really wanted it done by September 29th, since that's when I'm taking Stephen West's class (at MadTosh!), so I pushed myself to work on it a bit each day.

This past Sunday was different, though. Jose was gone most of the day, and all I felt like doing was knitting. I watched a movie (Paprika) and some random shows on Netflix, and suddenly. I had knit at least twenty color wedges, and had less than ten left. I plowed through the rest on Monday and it was finally done, over a month before I had originally hoped.

Specs:
Pattern: Spectra by Stephen West
Yarn: madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in "Orchid", and Noro Taiyo
Needles: US 5
Ravelry Project Page: Link

Go!

Yesterday was the first day of the Tour de Fleece. As I said in my last post, I'd like to finish my braid of fiber by the end, but my ultimate goal is to spin at least half an hour a day.

Day 1: 32 minutes

And boy, was it hard. Othello was in a strange mood yesterday, and wouldn't leave my spinning alone. He was either on the floor batting at the drop spindle rather forcefully, or sitting in my lap trying to block my hands from doing anything.

 In other news...

Gynx Yarns is having a Pink Sale for the duration of July (while supplies last)!  It's rare that Gynx Yarns has a sale, so be sure to check it out. There's no need for a coupon code; prices already reflect discount. Click the picture below or this link to see the yarns that are a part of the sale!

My Gynx Yarns Picks for the Color Affection Shawl.

Chances are, if you're a knitter, and especially if you're on Ravelry, you've at least heard of the Color Affection Shawl by Veera Välimäki. You might also know it as the "Color Addiction" or "Color Infection" shawl, because this pattern has captivated tons of knitters. As of right now, there are over 3500 Color Affection projects listed on Ravelry. I went to a new knitting group at the MadTosh store last night, and there were not one, not two, but three people working on this shawl.

While I haven't been "biten" by the Color Affection Shawl bug, I thought it would be fun to come up with a couple different color combinations using Gynx Sock.

Left to Right: Margarita on the Rocks, Electric Strawberry, Ulquiorra

I wanted to pick one set that used some neons, as they seem to be pretty popular right now and I love them. I keep thinking about a shawl using Margarita on the Rocks, especially after Kristen of the Yarngasm podcast used it for her Harmony on the Rocks shawl.

Left to Right: Catbus, Natsu, Ulquiorra

The past week or so I've had fall colors on the brain (which has been coming out in a lot of the colorways I've been putting up lately), and I wanted to build a color scheme around one of my new favorites, Natsu. I liked how it looked with Ulquiorra, even though I used it in the first color combo. After I put this together, I realized they were all anime-inspired yarns, so now it goes together even better.

There are lots of other color ideas I had, but I wanted to try to only pick colorways that I currently had in stock in sock yarn. What Gynx Yarns colorways would you put together for a Color Affection?

Recycled Gynx Yarns on Clearance!

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I currently offer two different kinds of hand dyed yarn in my shop: new organic merino wool and wool recycled from sweaters. I have lots of exiting plans for Gynx Yarns in 2012, and while I like the idea of recycled yarn, it just doesn't fit into my plan. I will instead be focusing completely on organic wool.

What does this mean for you? It means you get to help clear out my stock of recycled yarn for a really discounted price! If you head over to my Etsy you'll see a new section called "clearance recycled yarn". All of this yarn has been marked down 40%!

I hope you're all as excited as I am to see the new things I have in store, but until then, happy shopping!

Yarn Shop Sale!

As I'm sure you know, today is the first official day of autumn. In honor of that, all of my recycled yarns in the Etsy shop have been marked down 20%. These lowered prices will be available through September 30th, so grab what you want now!

Here's a link to all the recycled yarns in my shop: Link

-- Laura

Cake Adventures and a Yarn Shop.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend (who was my yearbook adviser/teacher back in high school) at my favorite restaurant: Spiral Diner. Spiral is 100% vegan and everything is so delicious! My favorite thing to order is a Spiral burger with a nut patty plus cheese with potato salad on the side. Yum!

Jose and I are getting the wedding/grooms cakes there, and because they don't do cake testings I snagged one of each flavor they offered today: red velvet, chocolate, and strawberry. I knew we didn't want chocolate or strawberry for the wedding, but it was an excuse to eat cake ;) I think I'm going to ask if they can make chai cupcakes, so if they do I'll have to special order a dozen so I can taste them pre-wedding.

After Spiral, my friend and I headed over to JenningStreet Yarns, which is only a few minutes away from Spiral. My friend is going to become a grandma in November and wanted to find some cool (i.e. not pastel and pink) yarn to make things for her future granddaughter. I didn't know what I wanted, but I had fun fondling every skein of yarn.

I had been to JenningStreet before, but it had been a couple of years so it was fun to re-explore. That is probably going to become my local yarn shop when Jose and I move in January (I don't have one now in Denton). I found this super soft yarn that I fell in love with, and even though it was in tiny skeins I decided that I didn't care how much it cost, I wanted one or two. I flipped it over to see the contents, and it had bison, cashmere, and I think silk. I flip it a bit more, and each of the tiny skeins was $52! I know I said I didn't care about the cost, but there is no way I could make something with just one skein. I "settled" for some Cascade Heritage Paints sock yarn in Londonberry. Yep, more sock yarn. That seems to be my go-to lately when I don't know what to make.

Until next time,

Laura