Self Striping or Jacquard yarns were originally milled into sock yarns … and we loved them!!! I personally have worked up several brands and fiber combos into sock applications such as entrelac, chevron and ripple. SSYs are fun and fast because you always want to get to the next stripe to see what it will look like. Working up entrelac socks gives squares of different colors without having to change the yarns. Besides who wants to hide all those ends or have 2 or 3 thicknesses under their feet? But we don’t have to limit those yarns to socks…lets try hats, mittens and yes, neck ties!

Universal Yarn came out with a Self Striping yarn in a worsted weight called Classic Tapestries. It has the practical blend of 25% superwash wool, 75% acrylic making it excellent for children’s wear and blankets, outer wear and Uncle Joe who doesn’t care how he washes his clothes. Milling it in worsted weight makes it practical for afghans, hats and mittens.

Ear Flap Hat

Petal Afghan

Pillow Top

Tie

All of the attached pictures represent patterns I have developed for SSYs. I will have patterns posted on eBay over the next month. You can request them as PDF files or I can print them out and snail mail them to you. The tie is worked up on sock weight yarn and has some cotton in it. The afghan pattern is from the 50′s or 60′s with a 21st century kick. The earflap hat only takes one skein, is worked on dp’s and circulars and involves NO sewing … because I am lazy.

If you have any other SSY applications, let me know or send pictures to share.

At long last, we will be joining those ‘other stitchers’ in Texas. Gary has accepted a position at First Baptist Church in Marble Falls, Texas. That means the store will be moved in its entirety by April 1. To save on moving costs, I am putting lots of yarn, fabric and patterns on sale through eBay. Nathan has also made an edict that Etsy items will also be reduced. If you want to come by the brick and mortar store, I will also be in the mood to take offers. As luck would have it, I have orders coming in from Brown Sheep and Crystal Palace. Although there will be no deep reductions on these items, I would still rather sell them than move them.

Address Changes Of course, we will have phone numbers and physical address changes. The new physical address of the store will be 248 Highview Drive, Marble Falls, TX, 78654. Currently, my email address is tied into a local server. Nathan and I will change it this week.

Thanks so much for New Mexico’s local support. I look forward to serving you from Texas.

My most popular handspun yarn is dog hair. Many of my customers ask what it takes to have their favorite pet spun up. The following answers most questions.

What breeds are best? The best breeds to spin leave the soft under-coat such as huskies, chows, ruff collies, samoyeds etc. If the hair does not fall out naturally, it is usually too slippery to work with.

How much hair do I need to make a project? One to two ounces will make a scarf. Four to six ounces will make a pillow. I blend dog hair with non-itch wool in a 50/50 mix. If used by itself, the dog hair will either ‘shed out’ or felt and lose it’s size and shape. Blending the dog hair makes the finished piece last longer. Since I blend it with wool, it will also felt as easily commercial wool yarn. I keep several colored fleeces around if you want the wool to match the color of the dog hair.

How do I prepare the dog hair to be spun? Dog hair should be combed or brushed from the dog. It should be relatively free of grass burs and other large vegetable matter. Matted hair (usually around the neck, back of the ears and belly) should not be included. Anything shorter than 3/4 inch should also be discarded. You may wash and dry the dog before harvesting the hair, but do not wash the hair once it is off the dog. That will felt the hair and make it impossible to use. The harvested hair can be placed in a paper or plastic sack. Paper sacks breath better and the dog hair retains less of it’s odor.

Will it smell when it is finished? All natural fibers such as wool, silk and alpaca have a distinct odor especially when heated or wet. However, I run all dog hair yarn through a final rinse of OdoBan which leaves your yarn smelling a little flowery and removes the doggy odor when dry.

What about color? Dog hair can be dyed but does not come out as intense as a wool or mohair. If I try to dye it a darker color, the finished yarn may look a little frosty because the dog hair does not take the color the same as the wool. If you want it to be left ‘a naturale’, please bear in mind that a white dog is not really white – there are shades of white even in a samoyed. A black dog’s undercoat will be more of a charcoal gray. A red chow’s undercoat will be at least 3 or 4 shades lighter than the guard hairs.

What can I make out of dog hair yarn? My finished dog hair yarn has the properties of wool with a little bit of loft or fuzz. Dog hair scarves and hats are very popular. A pillow may also be made from dog hair using the dog’s tag as an embellishment like a button or charm.

Will I get my own dog’s hair back? When a custom spinning order is received, I take the hair out of the box/bag in small batches, process it and return it to the exact same box. I am the only one working on yarn so I can guarantee quality control and origin of the yarn. The yarn will be measured, weighed and tagged before it is sent back to you.

If you have more specific questions such as turn-around times, please feel free to contact me.

We hope that this new design will make the search for what you need at least a little bit easier. The page that you are probably going to want to visit the most is our Listings page. There you will find all of Sharon’s latest listings on both Etsy.com, and ebay.com. The store can be a little hard to find if you don’t know where you’re going, so we’ve got a map next to this note that shows you exactly where we are located. You can even get directions from the map if you need them. If there is something that you don’t see on the site that you either have seen before, or would like to see, head on over to the Contact page to let us know how we can better suit your needs. Coming in the not so distant future, Sharon will be offering tutorial videos to help you learn the things you’ll need to change the face of the knitting world… or maybe just what you need to start that sweater your husband has always wanted. Either way, it’s just another way that that Three Stitchers provides for you in the hobby community.