FO Friday 84

Hi everyone! I'm going to keep this short, because I honestly almost forgot to post! I'm going to be updating/telling you all about my trip very very soon. I'm working hard right now to get Candy Skein up and running again with all new yarn for purchase. I hope to have it up and running again before or on May 1st, just in time to start the Effie Socks KAL on the Candy Skein Addicts Ravelry group! More on that later!

I had an amazing time in Oregon, but am so tired (and sick) I can't even explain to you! I hope you all have a great weekend. Here's a quick picture of part of the Candy Skein booth from the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival.

I just have to say, for the people who use Blogger, what do you think of the new formatting? It's bizarre and will take some getting used to for me. I hate change!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 90

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week. As you read this, depending the time, I'm either waking up somewhere in Northern California and am on my way back home, or even closer to home! The plan is to be home and in my own bed tonight, so keep your fingers cross. I'm also hoping (as I type this before I even leave for the trip) that I have a LOT LESS yarn coming home than I did going there.

Obviously, nothing new from me today. Again, if you want to follow my journey to the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival and back, my twitter is @tamiklockau.

See you (in real time) on Friday!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

FO Friday 83

Happy Friday! Today is the big day, as the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival marketplace starts this evening at 6pm Oregon time for a 2 hour preview night! Hopefully I'm there and setting up by now (depending on what time you're reading this!).

Obviously, no FO pictures from me today. Don't forget, for updates on my trip and the fiber festival, follow me on twitter at @tamiklockau

Share your FOs!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 89

Hi everyone! Depending on when you are reading this today, I'm probably on the road on my way to Oregon (for the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival). We leave (hopefully) around 8am, and are going to drive as far as we possibly can before we tire out. Our goal is to at least get 10 hours away, as we'll have another good 7-8 hours tomorrow. Yes, California is REALLY REALLY big/tall. It doesn't help I live in San Diego which is only about 30 minutes from the border of Mexico, so we'll be driving the whole length of the state. Hope for good weather and a safe trip for us!

While I'm gone, I'll have posts scheduled so that you can still participate in WIPW and FO Friday, but obviously I won't be commenting. I won't be returning home until late next Wednesday, so there will be a FO Friday without me, as well as another WIPW.

That being said, if you'd like to follow my travels, I'm sure my twitter will be on fire (when I'm not the one driving) with pictures of the scenery on the way up through CA and Oregon, as well as the booth at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival. My twitter is @tamiklockau (or you can just click the little bird icon on the left sidebar of the blog.

Now to WIPW:



Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on my Effie Socks as much as I'd like. It's SUCH a fun fun pattern to do. I'm using Butter Mints, the April '12 Candy Skein colorway. It feels good to work on a pattern that ups my skill level, as this one does, and it is working great with the yarn. I plan to be doing a KAL with this pattern on the Candy Skein Addicts Ravelry group starting May 1st through the end of June. More details to come! (Don't worry, since my shops are now closed until May 1, I'll be selling Butter Mints through May as well)





I've started working on my Devil Snare socks made from Candy Skein Yummy fingering in Leprechaun Lollipop (March '12 colorway) again. I'm hoping to finish one sock in time for the beginning of the Fiber Festival Friday night. I need to do two more leg repeats before starting the heel flap/turn. It's funny how your perspective can change. When I started these socks, I was finding it impossible to remember the pattern repeat/chart. After working on the Effie socks, this pattern seems so EASY, it made me laugh. I should be able to cruise on these, and work on them in the car when I'm not driving. :)

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great rest of the week, weekend and first part of next week! Off to Oregon I go!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

FO Friday 82

Happy Friday everyone! I have to admit, I'm so busy right now I almost forgot what day it was! My sight is set on Wednesday, the day I leave for Oregon and that's it. As you can imagine, I don't have a typical FO post, as I don't have much time knitting right now, and what time I do have I'm working on the Effie Socks (if you didn't check out the post from yesterday, just follow the Effie Socks link!) as I'm test knitting them as fast as possible.

Instead, I bring you my FO from the past few weeks....

No, I didn't make that huge 45 gallon container monstrosity on wheels. Instead I made what's inside!!!

I give you over 200 skeins of Candy Skein yarn. About 230 to be exact, and more to be added (but probably in another container because this puppy is full to the brim!

That's it for me today. Have a brilliant weekend!

Share your FOs!

A Few Candy Skein Announcements

Hi everyone! Before I get to the Life as an Indie Dyer post for the day, I needed to get a few very important Candy Skein announcements out of the way.

First off, since the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival is April 20-22, and I have to travel to Oregon, I will be closing the shop from April 17-April 30th. This gives me time to travel home, take inventory of what remains (hopefully not much!), order new yarn and also update the website.

The great news is, in that time I hope to also convert the website so that you can check out (securely of course) straight from Candyskein.com and you won't have to worry about going to Artfire or Etsy. I will still be keeping the Artfire and Etsy shops, this will give you one more option.

Don't worry though, due to closing for almost two weeks and the new Hunger Games inspired sock pattern that will be released soon for this yarn, I will continue selling Butter Mints through May, as well as sell a May '12 Sock Club colorway. I will also still be taking custom orders at this time, and you can email me at candyskein (at) gmail (dot) com for any inquiries.


In other big news, due to the price of Merino wool going up for the second time since I've opened Candy Skein's virtual doors, I will be raising prices on all yarn with Merino bases on April 15th. I just found out about the large price increase from my yarn supplier last week, and knew that I couldn't absorb the higher cost like I had last year. I have kept the prices still extremely competitive to all indie dyers online. I hope you understand and continue to use Candy Skein as your indie yarn shop.

The new cost is as follows:

Yummy Lace: $22
Yummy Fingering: $20
Yummy DK: $18
Yummy Worsted: $18
Yummy Chunky: $18

Tempting Sock: $23

Ripening Tonal: $22
Ripening Gradient: $24

The price of the Delicious yarns will stay the same, as the price is not increasing for alpaca/silk/cashmere.

FO Friday 80

Okay, I lied. I haven't finished my fingerless gloves yet. :( Unfortunately, I haven't even knit on them really since Tuesday evening at my crochet/knitting meet up so they don't even look different from the picture on Wednesday. Sad, right?



I have been busy with fiber arts though! As you can imagine, my life revolves around the fiber arts, with Candy Skein and all, and this week wasn't an exception. I've been working on my first post for Life of an Indie Dyer, so I won't share too many details of what I've been up to, so as not to spoil the post that should be coming up either this weekend or Monday. I have however decided to spruce up this boring post with a picture (posted above, sorry for the crappy lighting) of what I completed today (yesterday for those reading this). Here are 13 of the 15 skeins of yarn I re-skeined for the upcoming fiber festival I'm taking part in, the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival in Hood River, OR (more on that in the Life of an Indie Dyer post). To say that this doesn't even make a dent in what needs to be re-skeined is putting it lightly. The number is probably around 80+ skeins that are dyed and just waiting to be re-skeined and tagged and climbing daily. Yikes!

Anyway, that's enough from me today. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and look for my post in the coming days to kick off my new series, Life as an Indie Dyer!

Share your FOs!