Yesterday was my interview on Diva Lounge Radio and I have to admit that it was a lot of fun. I mean really, really, fun. I have a tendency to step in it, put my foot in my mouth, make an ass of myself (how many terms for that are there?).  So, I was committed to myself that I was going to be really mellow and professional like the people on NPR. And the show starts and we’re laughing and talking like we’re having a couple beers.  I mean it's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere kind of thing.  Of course I try to compensate for my nervousness by joking and I let loose some that even at the moment I know are going to get me in trouble. Like describing natural colored mohair locks as "looking like you tackled a little old lady and shaved her head." (YIKES!!) But it was fun and we even had a listener call in. So, if you want to check it out you can go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/DivaCraftLounge

Go down to the first On Demand Show. It will be labeled FIBERS AND WINE. Once there, you can either hit PLAY to listen to it on the site or download it to your Ipod.

Tomorrow is Friday, May 1 and at 6:00 we will both be at Unwind located at 818 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank CA 91505. They are having a book signing party with author and designer Cookie A. I’m pretty excited and I don’t even knit. Since I’ve been stalking Ravelry looking for pictures, it’s amazing how many sock patterns this woman has out.

So, be there and you will get to get your book signed by Cookie A! We haven’t written any books, so you will have to settle for seeing yarn that we will bring. I’m sure that our friends at Unwind will be happy to take your orders for any of our fiber products that they don’t have in stock. And I’ll be autographing Head Shots and CDs of my Diva appearance. (NOT)

On our website, I’m pleased to report that our IT guy has corrected an annoying little glitch we had. On the yarn photos page, it seems we could only enlarge the thumbnails and go to the slide show from the first line of photos. Any farther down, clicking the photos wouldn’t enlarge them. Say you were at colorway 28 - Turquoise and you wanted to see it closer. You would need to click on colorway 1,2, or 3, and do the slideshow until 28 came up.

With the correction, just click the thumbnail and the big picture pops up. Thanks to Buddy G. - Mr. IT. He has also updated the "Where to Buy" section so we should have most of our retailers listed. My next assignment: updating the creations photos.

So, today is the day that we are doing Diva Craft Lounge. Last night I got a reminder e-mail that I owed them a head shot to put on their web site. Head shots?!?!? Head shots!!!???!!! I don’t have any head shots.

So I start looking for photos of my head and I discover that at some point I have gotten old and fat! So I get this idea that if I take a photo of an old photo, that would work. Kind of like this:

Sorry, it looks like I took a photo of a photo that was taken 10 years ago. Maybe a more recent. Robin and I had a photo at a country themed birthday. That would go with the Pagewood Farm name.

But I just can’t bring myself to go with that deception. After all, what happens when you do actually see me at TNNA? How about blowing one up of me by the dye pots?

No. It’s not working. Now I look old, fat, and in bad sunlight. So I asked Robin to take a more recent one. And they all make me look like my dad!! In a booking photo. She is cracking up so much she can’t keep the camera steady.  Stand still prisoner 24601.

Finally, we are able (without flash) to get a decent (read that "only mildly horrible") photo.

But I look like something or someone you would keep away from.  I think I need to lose weight and next time I need a face shot, use the Joan Collins "gauze in front of the camera method".  In the meantime, if anyone Googles me for a photo, this is what they'll get.  Sheesh!.

Catch us on Diva Craft Lounge.

Speaking of color variations as I did yesterday, did you retailers know that Pagewood Farm can do custom colorways? Yep. There are minimum order size requirements (as in it has to be fairly large). We also have to have enough notice so that we don’t have to rush it. And once you have approved the colorway, all sales are for sure final. So who wants custom colorways?

Well, Robin recently got a call from an area knitter who was doing costuming for a remake of a neo-classic horror flick. It’s not my genre but I’m told that the slasher’s trademark was a sweater. Hand dyed yarn for a slasher’s sweater? Sounds crazy to me too. But, while it was too small an order and too short a completion date, the lure of movie credits reading "Hand dyed yarn by Pagewood Farm" was beguiling. Who knows how many new knitting customers you could get from a slasher movie? The movie lady found a commercial source and my dreams of glory were slashed.

Robin doesn’t share my desire for glory. Her creative juices are stimulated less by the audience of the creation and more by the creation. So when they needed Laker purple yarn to knit ties for a Colorado high school basketball team, Robin made the match. A yarn shop catering to Washington State football supporters who knit? No problem. State rivals Washington Huskies? Can do. Seattle Mariners for stitch and pitch. Sure. Seahawks Football? OhhhhKaayyy.

Or the ultimate creative assignment for Robin: "I need a new color for our sock yarn club. You pick Robin." Just remember that there are requirements for us to do a custom project. There has to be a fairly good size order (40-50 skein minimum). We have to have enough time (allow several months). And once you have approved the colorway, no returns.

Now, for upcoming events. Tomorrow, April 29^th at 12:05 (noonish) Pacific time, Pagewood Farm will be interviewed on Diva Craft Lounge Radio (http://www.divacraftlounge.com). Robin is too modest to do it, so it will be me.

Next, on Friday, May 1^st at 6 pm, we will both be at Unwind located at 818 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank CA 91505. They are having a book signing party (Not mine, Cookie A.’s). So, be there and you will get to get your book signed by Cookie A! We haven’t written any books, so you will have to settle for seeing yarn that we will bring. I’m sure that our friends at Unwind will be happy to take your orders for any of our fiber products that they don’t have in stock.

Hope to see you.

One of the saddest things about this business is having a customer contact us trying to match the colorway of a current project. They didn’t buy enough yarn and want to know what the lot number is. Others, customers and retailers have asked the question about the variations in a colorways of Pagewood Farm Hand Dyed Yarns. And I have to admit that there are variations in our colorways. Aside from the variations that come from hand dyed yarn, there are a number of reasons for the variations.

One reason is because of the different fibers used in different blends of our yarn. Put our different blends in the dye pot for the same length of time and you will get different colors. This is because different fibers absorb the dye in their own unique way. What do I mean?

Merino wool will absorb the dye very quickly. As a result, our 100% superwash merino blends (Chugiak 2-ply tight twist; Glacier Bay 3-ply tight twist; Willow Creek Lace Weight; Kiana Light Worsted) tend to be a darker, deeper, richer shade of the colorway. In contrast, when dyeing Denali (80/20 Merino Superwash/nylon) the 80% merino will absorb quickly while the 20% nylon does not absorb the dye very much. This gives a lighter, softer color. In the Yukon (70/20/10 merino/bamboo/nylon) 70% of the fiber is merino which absorbs quickly. The 20% bamboo absorbs at a different rate and the 10% nylon at a much lower rate. On top of this, the bamboo has a "sheen" to it which further affects the color. St. Elias (80/20 Bluefaced Leicester/nylon) with its 80% BFL has still a different absorption rate coupled with the 20% nylon at a far lower rate. And don’t even ask me about the Tundra with its silk/camel blend.

Another factor in color variations is the volume of yarn dyed. A large mechanized production dyeing plant will dye large quantities of yarn in a huge dye lot. Here at Pagewood Farm everything is done using traditional hand crafting techniques. Our "dye lot" is a one pound super skein. This super skein will yield 4 dyed skeins. Even then, there will be slight variations from the outside of the skein to the inside of the skein.

Still another factor in color variations is the condition of the yarn and weather at the time of dyeing. Various aspects of the raw yarn that we dye will have an affect on the color absorption. If the yarn is dryer is will absorb more. If it has more moisture it will absorb less. Atmospheric conditions will also affect the absorption rate.

Still another factor (probably the biggest) is the process that we use to dye our yarn. I can’t tell you the process. It’s a secret. Robin developed it over the years. It’s the reason that Pagewood Farm Hand Dyed Yarn is so different from many other hand dyed yarns. That difference is a two edged sword. The same process that yield such beautiful, complex, and unique colorways makes it difficult to duplicate them.

Let me give you an example. Many hand dyers use a "dip dye" method. They take the skein and dip a section into the dye pot. Then they rotate the skein and dip the next section into a different color dye. They repeat the process until all the sections of the skein have been dyed. You can see this process in the pattern of the dyed sections. This gives you a fairly predictable pattern and can sometimes lead to pooling.

Early on in her dyeing progression Robin tried this method and rejected it. Not that there is anything wrong with "dip dyeing." She just didn’t enjoy the process. And that was enough to motivate her to develop the process she uses. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Robin spends an incredible amount of time dyeing. Hours and hours. Part of what allows her to work so long and hard is that every skein is its own unique creative process. She truly enjoys taking a natural skein and making it into a work of art ("work of art" my pride in her talking, not hers). I think that if we didn’t have the business she would probably spend her days creating new colorway after new colorway.

So, next time you are looking at a skein of Pagewood Farm Hand Dyed Yarn, know that you have a unique creation that is different from any other skein. And, a little advice: if you are planning a bigger project, make sure to buy enough for it. It’s better to have some left over for another small project than to try to match it.