Everything is Happening

I've had a reprieve from surgery on my shoulder. It is very inflamed and the Dr gave me a cortisone injection, some anti-inflammatory pills and I need to start physical therapy next Tuesday. I see the Dr in 3 weeks to see if things are any better.

I have to say, I did not enjoy the injection and my shoulder is very sore at the moment.

But, work goes on. The Needlework Show has started and I've had over 1000 entries so far for the competition for the set of silks. Thank you to everyone who entered and I'm sorry but I'm not able to acknowledge all the entries. Most I've seen are correct but I did have a few entries that made me laugh at the silk names they came up with.

My Limited Edition Fall pack is in the works. I have the silk dyed and hope to have everything ready to ship by the first week in November. I'll be taking names until November 4th or until sold out.

The packs are $26 and for this you will receive 2 Limited Edition silks, 2 Limited Edition stranded cottons, a piece of 18 x 13 hand dyed fabric, a small design and I always add something extra to all the packs.

If you would like to reserve a pack, e-mail me at jo@dinkydyes.com

It's Been So Long

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged. As I am sure you can probably guess, life has been hectic and there hasn't been enough hours in the day.

There is lots happening at Dinky-Dyes, but I am supposed to be slowing down. I've injured my shoulder and need to see an orthopaedic surgeon this Friday to see about getting it repaired.

Of course I have way to much to do and have tried to put aside some things but I've been as busy as ever. I'm working on the new Nashville release colours and developing new silks for Janie to use in the new LE packs we'll release at Nashville.

The Fall Collaboration packs are shipping this week. What a gorgeous lot of goodies we have for you. There is fabric from Country Stitch, Polstitches and Jayne's Attic, cotton threads from Ozark Sampler and Carrie's Threads and of course silk threads from me. The guest designer is Marc from Needlemania and he has created a lovely design for us. There is also a small design from each of the dyers taking part in this pack so over all, real value for the $48 price. I still have 2 packs remaining if anyone is interested.

The Needlework Show opens tomorrow, Wednesday and I have a great line up of products in the show. In fact everything on my website can be ordered during the show.

We have released many new products over the past month and will be releasing 4 new silks at The Needlework Show.



Once again Dinky-Dyes is donating a full set of silks to a lucky shopper but there is a question you must answer correctly. Make sure you log onto the show for your chance to win.

You can find all the latest news from Dinky-Dyes by following the 'Latest News' link on our homepage.

We have new releases!

My friend Janie from The Cat's Whiskers and I have another Collaboration pack. It is Christmas Ornament pack and it contains the charts for an ornament designed by Janie and one designed by me and all the silks needed to stitch them.



If you would like a closer look, go here

I have also released Lightning Ridge, which is the 4th in the Quilt Block series.


The others are Southern Stars, The Dreaming and Terra Australis.
The 5th in the series, The Min Min will be in the September issue of The Gift of Stitching magazine.

Our new Lapel Pins have arrived! I love collecting different pins and decided I would have Dinky-Dyes pins made. We also now have fun multi-coloured Dinky-Dyes pens.

I will have these lovely pins on sale at Hershey but if anyone not going to Hershey would like one, just send me an e-mail.

Yarn Dyeing

Dyeing yarn is so slow. Since I'm not set up for dyeing yarn the way regular yarn dyers are, It's been slow going but I have made some progress. I dyed striped sock yarn yesterday and really like the end result.

Here is a photo of some of the yarn on the drying rack.



The violet yarn at the top is Wool, Mohair and Polyester and the blue yarn next to the violet is Superwash Merino and Nylon sock yarn. On the next row is a variegated tan Merino and cotton yarn and the striped yarn is a Merino, Silk and Nylon sock yarn with a silver thread through it. The silver adds a nice shine that can't be seen in the photo.

The striped yarn below this row is the Superwash sock yarn again and beside that is turquoise yarn with the silver thread and a blue and turquoise variegated yarn which is 100% superwash Merino. It feels wonderful!

Now it is dyed I'm not sure how to prepare it for sale. Maybe I'll just tag it and wind it back into a skein. I do have a ball winder so that is another option.

What I've been up to

I've had a productive weekend. Ian was taken on a fishing trip by a business associate (and came home with about 50lb of fish) so I had the house to myself and managed to get quite a lot done.

I caught up on all my silk dyeing, sorted out a huge bag of silks for the winding ladies, dyed the first of the box of yarn I have and even managed to do some stitching.

I have dyed some yarn before but forgot how different it is to dyeing silk. You have to be really careful not to felt it but you also need to turn it to make sure there are no white spots. Yes, I have a few white spots on the blue yarn so will need to re-dye those patches tomorrow.

There is a variety of yarn but my favourite is the merino and silk sock yarn with a silver thread running though it. I dyed some a variegated turquoise colour today and I love it. I plan on having a variety of different yarn for sale at Hershey CATS. If I remember correctly I have quite a few different hanks of different silk blend yarn. Well, of course everyone knows how much I love silk!

Oh yes, the stitching. I have been working on Love by Papillon Designs. I love the way this design flows and I am using 3 colours of silk. A new variegated silk #137 Riverina (combination of #119, #132,#136 and blue) that will be released in October, 139 Boulia (a deep purple) a Nashville 2008 release solid silk and #136 Sea Grass. I love the way these colours look together. Riverina was dyed especially for my friend Debbie from My Big Toe Designs and will be seen in a design that will be released in October.

Back to the dyeing. I recently dyed a Limited Edition silk to celebrate our 5th birthday in business. A special promotion began in The Gift of Stitching this month and you will find out more about the LE silk next month. Don't have a subscription? That can be easily fixed. Just follow this link or have your needlework shop contact me about subscription cards.

Last week I had a couple of visitors from College Station. I won't mention any names because I didn't ask if I could do that but I did see some wonderful stitching that used Dinky-Dyes silks. The following designs have either #85 Fantasy Blues or #96 Christmas Pines in them. They are Majesty, part of the 'Legends of the Dragons' collaboration by Teresa Wentzler, Jen Aikman-Smith and Karen Weaver, Dragon Dreams 'I Believe' and a lovely Celtic knotwork piece whose designer I don't know, sorry.





Oh, did I mention that I don't eat fish???

And the weeks disappear

I always intend to blog more often but I'm always too busy doing something else. So what has happened lately?

Our Green Cards were approved. My husband and I are now official permanent residents of the USA. No more leaving the country every 2 years to renew our visas. It also means that my husband isn't tied to working for the company who sponsored our visas. If a better job comes along, and they will, he can accept it if he wants to.

I am now distributing for Judith Tuttle from Twisted Oaks designs. I'll have stocks of all Judith's new designs for your LNS to purchase.

Janie and I are releasing a Christmas Collaboration pack next month. No photos yet, but there will be an ornament design from each of us as well as the silks needed to stitch both designs.

I guess the big news is that Dinky-Dyes will have been in business for 5 years this October. I have been working with Kirsten from The Gift of Stitching, who I also represent here in the US, on a special promotion in her magazine. It all started this month with the announcement of a design competition for magazine subscribers.

The prizes include a full set of Dinky-Dyes silks as well as charts, fabric and threads donated by my friends in the needlework industry. Total of all the prizes is around $1000 so well worth entering.

If you are a subscriber of The Gift of Stitching, get designing. If you don't have a subscription, why not? You are missing out on a great magazine, some fantastic upcoming designs and some wonderful happenings over the next 3 months.

Ask your local Needlework Shop if they sell subscriptions for The Gift of Stitching Magazine and if not, ask them to contact me so we can get you in on all the fun.

I have found my helpers

I had many replies from ladies who have more thread stash then I am sure they could use in a lifetime and I have chosen two to help me. One has an amazing personal thread stash and the other works at an LNS that I know stocks just about every thread there is, so I'm well covered.

As soon as they have conversions worked out, I will post them on my website and BB. Of course not every conversion will work for every design so if anyone needs a final opinion, I will always be available to help.

The Limited Edition Summer Pack is all dyed up and the threads ready to be wound. I will start shipping at the end of next week.

I just LOVE some of the colours in this pack and perhaps a similar thread will find it's way into the regular line at a later date.

Here is a sneak peek of the threads and fabrics. I have also designed a cute Summer book mark to go with the pack.



There are still a few packs not spoken for, so if you are interested, e-mail me.

On a personal note, my only daughter is getting married at Easter 2008. She is the only girl amongst 4 boys in our family so I am very excited. I will be making her wedding dress with Fran's help and I can't wait to get started. My daughter isn't a girly girl but has found a photo of a dress she loves and I am going to be stitching on lots of crystals and beads to make sure it is just right.

AND.... My second son and his wife are expecting a baby in February and this will make grandchild #6. I have a feeling this one will be a girl and if so, we will have 3 girls for me to spoil with lots of pretty things and 3 equally spoilt boys.