Hmm, how we gonna do this?

Okay, everyone, I need some help. I'm launching a new line of yarns called Nightfall. It's a superwash sock yarn that's dyed in such a way that the beginning and end of each skein is black, and blends into a color in the middle. Here's a photo of a shawl I knit from it; I started at the center of the top edge, and bound off along the bottom edge:

To show off this effect in the yarn, I think I need to sell it in the center-pull balls rather than in skeins; in skeins it just looks like black/color variegated yarn, you can't really tell there's anything special about it. My dilemma is, I plan to offer it in not only a 4oz ball but also sets of two 2oz balls so people can make things like socks and have them match. But how would I package two 2oz balls together for shops? I don't like the idea of putting them in a plastic bag because that inhibits petting, which is a very important part of the yarn-buying process.

Please leave a comment with any ideas you have on how I could package two together so that they'd be visible, pettable, but would stay neat and attached to each other. I'm kind of stumped!

New Things and Back to the Old, Too

I've been branching out again...introducing my new hand-dyed laceweight yarns!

This one is Berry Bright

and this is Carousel, which has already sold

These yarns are 100% merino wool, 2 ply, and their softness and springiness is very pleasant. I can't wait to dye more, and to someday have the time and patience to use some to make one of those amazing "wedding ring" shawls I so admire!

In other news, I have lifted my self-imposed forum ban. I calmed down, recentered myself, and cautiously waded back in. (So far so good.) Another reason that I returned, though, is that during the ban I made absolutely no sales. When I went back, the sales returned too. Good to know, but it also tells me that I am not doing enough off-Etsy promotion. That's going to be one of my big goals for the next year.

Trying new things

I started out a knitter. Then I learned to crochet. After that, I took up dyeing superwash wool yarns. So, I've now taken the next step in my fibery journey: dyeing non-superwash wool roving! This is something I've wanted to try for a while, but after an early bad experience in which I attempted to dye a skein of non-superwash wool yarn and felted it into one big useless blob, I was a bit daunted. But I read lots of tutorials, and worked up my courage, and finally found a good deal on roving so I had to try it. The result:
The colors didn't turn out exactly as I'd intended, but I'm still very pleased with it. I'm not sure why the colors did that but I suspect it has something to do with the (lack of) superwash treatment on the yarn. My biggest moment of accomplishment, though, was when I took it out of the steamer and saw that it didn't felt!
So, hopefully soon I'll be offering rovings in my Etsy shop. The bit of roving shown in this post is only a quarter of the one pound lot I got (and that was huge, let me tell you!), So hopefully I'll have continued success and be able to share it with my customers.

It's pretty...and I helped!

Not too long ago I began playing around with dyeing yarn. It's addictive, let me tell you, especially for someone as color-obsessed (and yarn-obsessed) as I am. I discovered three things. First, I love the process; second, I don't have nearly enough time to knit/crochet with all the yarn I dye; and third, I can't afford to dye all this yarn and keep it for myself. The obvious next step was to start selling it in my Etsy shop, so I began listing it.

Now let's flash back a bit further. I don't remember quite how I discovered her (Etsy's forums are a good guess), but I'd run across an artist who goes by the name TotusMel. She makes stunning needle-tatted jewelry and accessories, and I quickly added her to my list of favorite sellers.

Flash forward again. I wake up one morning to discover that I've sold my first skein of yarn, and whaddya know, it's TotusMel who bought it! Yes, I giggled, and although I will neither confirm nor deny it, I may or may not have squealed a little. She was even kind enough to later share pictures of the scarf she made with it (which you can read more about in her blog post here).

I must say that of all the great experiences I've had through Etsy, having another artist (particularly one so talented) make something so beautiful out of my materials is the biggest thrill.

(Thanks again to TotusMel for allowing me to use her photographs in this post. She retains all rights to them, so don't go getting any ideas.)