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[trnchd]

2021 Roadmap + a FAQ of Sorts

It’s been awhile since I’ve sat down and wrote a proper blog post. Do people even read blogs anymore? I feel like everyone’s moved to Instagram to look at all the pretty photos and read/post updates. I’m guilty of doing the same thing because it seems easier to connect with people. Either way, I felt like IG wasn’t the best place to post a long drawn out thought about my 2021 plans.

This year I want to focus more on offering different bases and blends. More BFL and get into silk, yak and cotton blends and move away from the typical merino and merino/nylon. That said I’m not discontinuing any current bases in case I need to fall back on them. My supplier’s stock is still limited for certain bases, especially the less popular ones, which happens to be ones I’d like to try. (I’ve been very patient and understanding regarding anything pandemic related. There’s only so much that can be done given the circumstances and there’s no reason to risk people’s lives over trivial things.)  On the other hand, there’s less different blend options for anything outside of fingering weight so bases like Athleisure (merino/nylon sport) Selvage (merino DK) will likely stick around, plus I love both of them. There’s other mills and suppliers but I currently can’t hit the minimum wholesale threshold. It’s not that I don’t like merino, it’s a great all round fiber, but I’d like to be that tiny change that gets people excited for other fibers, no matter how long it takes for me to get the yarn. Plus I find my Staple Fingering (BFL/nylon) to be selling better compared to Casual Fingering (merino/nylon), even if it costs a little more. I don’t know if it’s because it’s something different that people want to try, they want something different or something else. Non-superwash is also something I’d like to explore down the road, but that’s harder to get.

Colors are something constantly think about and struggle with every major dye session. I shouldn’t say struggle, it’s more of a decision of whether to be business savvy and create something seasonal and/or popular or let my creativity run wild. Most of the time it’s the latter option but there’s moments where I come up with a color I love but my business brain kicks in and I’ll save it for later. Some people want seasonal colors, others will knit what they want when they want. It’s a tough balance as a tiny business wanting to grow and I know it’ll take time to get where I’ll feel more comfortable to do what I want. Don’t worry, by no means am I creating colors just to please the people, I’m keeping decent balance between the two and my tastes change over time too. Another idea I’ve had is instead of releasing 2+ new colors each month, I might do a new and an old.

Now for some general questions that pop up:

Will you offer minis?

It’s something I’m pondering about. Most suppliers don’t offer minis so I’d have to make them, which can be tedious at times, especially as one person. For now I’ll say maybe possibly in the near future?

When will color X be restocked?

Currently I’m not restocking colors unless I have a desire to do so. It’s mainly because I can’t financially buy and keep hundreds of skeins and the pandemic sometimes makes it harder to get specific bases in stock. I have custom ordering open with no minimums if you really want a color that’s currently not available. My lead time is about 3-4 days if I have the base in stock and up to 2 weeks if I need to order it. I understand some people don’t like dye to order for multiple reasons and I understand those concerns too, which is why I prefer to keep the shop stocked with ready to ship. If you rather try your luck with shop updates, drop me a detailed hint and I’ll consider it into the dyeing schedule.

Will you offer kits?

Same deal with restocks, it’s financially difficult to buy and keep skeins that people may or may not buy. Plus I rather have customers build their own kits because there could be a color they don’t like. I’ve been in that situation where there’s always 1-2 colors I don’t like in a specific kit but want the others because they’re out of stock or have a slight discount. Etsy and other shop sites don’t have great inventory management tools available to allow customers to create custom kits from what’s currently available either. If you need help with colors, please contact me, I’m always happy to help.

I want to end with a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s supported this business venture over the last year. I’ve had people tell me I should start dyeing for a few years now because I have an artful eye for color. I’ve thought about doing this for awhile and, like most new hobbies, the start cost was too much at the time. And me farting around with Kool-Aid and food coloring wasn’t cutting it so I decided to take the plunge. Granted it wasn’t the best year to start, this did beyond better than expected. The first year made me believe I could continue pursuing this thought that turned into something I love doing.

[trnchd]

Wildfire Relief

Since August 17, severe lightning has caused several wildfires to ravage throughout my home state of California. The SCU and LNU Lightning Complex fires are considered the largest wildfires combined to date. I would like to help out by donating 100% of the profits of the items shown above to Direct Relief to aid those directly affected by these wildfires.

2 skeins of Flame on Casual Fingering (merino/nylon) Handwoven scarves in Autumnal Leaves, Embers and Rosewood

I will also be donating 40% of the profits from all other sales from the shop until September 13.

[trnchd]

Not Club Yarn Collection

Introducing the Not Club yarn collection. What does that mean? Instead of the traditional yarn club where you subscribe and get an unknown yarn and/or base, you know exactly what you’re getting and can order as many skeins as you want. Why am I doing this? I’m stepping my toes into the indie dyer world and this is the easiest and financially less risky way of doing so. In the past I’ve debated whether to do this because I’ve seen so many hand dyers close up because there’s too much competition and they can’t maintain a stable customer base.

To start, I’m introducing the Staple Fingering, a 2-ply plump 80/20 SW BFL (bluefaced leicester)/nylon base, with 400yds/366m in 100g. It’s great for garments and accessories, not just socks. The name Staple Fingering comes from the trustworthy staple wardrobe items, maybe not super comfy but a go-to always reliable and goes with everything. After all, I did start trnchd as a handbag/accessories business. If you’ve never used BFL before, it’s similar to merino, little bit more woolly, very warm and squishy.

This month I’m introducing two colors, Magnolia Bloom and Plumeria Parade. Magnolia Bloom is variegated colorway that starts out with a muted pink and fades into a light pink, almost white. Plumeria Parade was my experimental color to Magnolia Bloom, a variegated bright pink that also fades to light pink/white and also features small areas of yellow.

I’m excited for this new adventure and I hope you’re just as excited as I am. For now I’m starting out with a new color or two per month on different fingering bases and see where this leads to.

[trnchd]

Birthday Bash

It’s time for the annual Birthday Bash. I’m currently battling a cold so I’m going to keep this short and to the point. This is a fairly big update. First off everything is 20% off, including all the new stuff. Also during the entire month of February, I’m donating 10% of all profits to the Australian Red Cross to aid in those affected by the wildfires.

On a different note, I’ve had to increase prices across the board. Like everything else, supplies and living expenses are getting more expensive and I’ve tried to keep things as low as I could for as long as possible.

I decided to give those older reclaimed yarns a refresh by hand dyeing them into new colors. Below are some comparisons.

Along side these refreshed skeins comes some one of a kind special reserve skeins I played around with using the leftover dye from my sessions above and some experimental tests. They’re on either a superwash merino/nylon or superwash BFL/nylon blend sock bases, 463yds/100g. I accidentally bought these several years ago when I didn’t know better regarding thinner sock yarns. You won’t see these bases again if I do decide to dye more random experiments.

Speaking of which, I’ve learned a lot about hand dyeing and enjoy the creative process. I would love to dye more, but I already have a beyond bursting sock stash and don’t need more yarn (famous last words). I’ve decided that if these special reserve skeins sell well enough, I may continue doing very small batches of 4-5 skeins every month or two on other yarn bases. I have no desire to go full speed into the yarn dyeing business, even though I’ve had a handful of people tell me I have an amazing eye for color and I should think about doing it. While I’m always flattered by the compliment, it’s a very difficult world to crack into. I guess that’s how everything is now days.

This isn’t the end of the updates. Because of my cold, I had to cutback on the workload so everything else I wanted to get done last week never happened. The second update in hopefully two weeks will have more reclaimed yarn and a Circulate update to the current offerings. Similarly to what I did with the overdyed yarns above, if there’s a wall hanging you like, grab it now before it gets changed.

Thank you to all those who’ve supported the trnchd shop over the years, I appreciate all the love and couldn’t keep the drive alive without it.

[trnchd]

New Season 2020

Hi, I know it’s been awhile. I didn’t intend on not blogging for six months (I even had a draft post from September that’s never seeing the light of day) but that’s what happens when you’re busy knitting all the things and beyond, then getting stressed out about all the things, and finally the holidays rush and post-holidays. Normally I take the week between Christmas and New Years to get everything prepared for the new year, clean out my bursting recipe saves, deleting emails, try to organize my life things. I barely had time to do any of that. One day I will sit down and at least organize my recipes. At least I’m writing this blog post, which is something.

Starting with the shop update. I’m getting ready for the big Birthday Bash starting on February 3. I’ve decided to refresh some of the current reclaimed yarn offerings by overdyeing them with new shades, maybe even completely new colors. From now until the Birthday Bash, everything currently in the shop that doesn’t have a brand new photo is up for an overdye. Fresh new reclaimed yarns will also go up in the upcoming weeks. The Circulate collection might get a refresh depending on how much time I have. As much as I love some of the creations, there’s a couple I’m not completely satisfied with anymore and need to make a few tweaks.

A big thing I’ve been needing to add (or change) is a large chunk of my personal projects. I get a lot of people asking what I’ve made and while it’s great to show them what’s for sale, it doesn’t show all the knitted garments, socks and other random things I’ve made over the years. I never landed on a great format to show those things off and have a small descriptor for each, which is why it’s taken me this long to display things. I didn’t want to blog about all the things I’ve made, that’s boring and writing time I don’t have nor want to do all the time. I think I’ve come up with a decent format and now it’s time to attempt to code it altogether.

On the knitting front I’m feeling very scatterbrained right now. For starters, I haven’t abandoned the Love for Boyland personal KAL, it’s been on pause after I finished the Zweig before Thanksgiving. I had a lot of Christmas knitting and a test knit commitment so I haven’t had a lot of ‘me time’ lately, even into the new year. The recent chill has be wanting thicker things than what I had planned for the KAL so my desire to knit those are far stronger. I’m also partaking in a different KAL hosted by Skein yarns called Knit All The Colors where you knit a specific color each month in order to force yourself to knit with colors you normally wouldn’t gravitate towards. I have all these colors in my sock stash so I decided to roll the KAL into my personal yearly goal of knitting at least 12 pairs of socks. Besides that, I realized I bought way too much yarn last year, mostly due to the Madelinetosh Final Sale blowout, so now I have even more projects all lined up. And of course there’s always new patterns I want to knit too, which poses a different problem...

I look forward to sharing all the new things coming to the shop and hopefully get better about uploading my projects over here too. 

[trnchd]

Love For Boyland

If you’re a knitter and you’ve perused around Ravelry and Instagram, you already know the love people have for Caitlin Hunter’s patterns, also known as Boyland Knitworks. I’m also aboard this boat with at least five patterns ready to knit at a moment’s notice, which is crazy. Because of this, I’ve decided to start a personal goal to knit through these patterns, as well as my yarn stash, a knit-a-long of sorts if anyone wants to join in. Very casual, make your own rules, but they must be any of Caitlin’s wonderful patterns. My one hard rule for myself is I must have one of her patterns on the needles and actively working on it at any given time. If you’d like to join in the madness, use the hashtag #LoveForBoyland and come knit along with me. I’ll be posting little updates on the shop and my personal IG accounts. You can come and go as you please, any motivation to help you or me knit through these fantastic patterns.

Here are my plans thus far. These are in no particular order and I may change my mind at any time. The list will likely grow too.

Alyeska Primrose Yarn Co - Sophia Romance Novel Copper Penny Dreadful (accent) Black Truffle (accent + cuff/bottom ribbing) Dior Crime of Passion The Picket Line or The Parade

I didn’t have my heart set on knitting the Alyeska from the start, but several events happened that caused it’s conception. I came across the Primrose Yarn Co’s Boyland Knitworks KAL in their Ravelry group and immediately wanted to join. The problem was I didn’t have any Primrose Yarn but had a ton of Caitlin’s patterns already purchased. I went seeking different options, thought about making the Tegna because buying three skeins wasn’t going to break the bank, and I rather knit a sweater than an accessory. Then I found someone selling a five skein fade set at a price I couldn’t pass up, immediately jumped on it and remembered the Alyeska was made with a gradient in mind. It was a match made in heaven. 

The original set had two colors I wasn’t fond of; bright speckles that doesn’t fit with my wardrobe. I went about looking for a couple of replacements and kinda waited patiently for Primrose to add a skein set that would suit my palette. Then the perfect set appeared, Copper Penny Dreadful, Black Truffle and Dior in the same yarn base. The first two I already wanted but wasn’t 100% sold on Dior until it arrived and faded nicely into what I had.

I’ve already started this and I’m a few rows into the first colorwork section. Not going to lie, I’ve done three-stranded colorwork before but for whatever reason I’m struggling a bit and I feel like my tension’s off. I know knitting colorwork, tension’s a big deal in order to allow those areas to stretch a bit. They feel ok while they’re on the cable and blocking should help further relax the stitches.

Zweig Madelinetosh - Twist Light in Dirty Panther Spun Right Round - Classic Sock in Boneyard

The Zweig was the starting point for the obsession. I’ve had this in my queue the longest, over a year, and I would start this first if it weren’t for the Primrose KAL. I super love the mix of colorwork, lace and crosses in the body (not super visible in the image) that should keep me occupied versus doing miles of stockinette. I’ve had my heart set on using Boneyard for the contrast, but I’ve added a few other options in my stash so plans could change before I start.

What I like most about this is how casual, easy going and fits into my daily wardrobe so well. I’m considering doing a solid version of this later because those projects look fantastic too.

Tecumseh Madelinetosh - Longrider DK Thunderstorm OOAK Rye Bourbon Horn

The Tecumseh plans grew out of left field. I’ve been trying to find a project for these four skeins of Thunderstorm for the longest time, and it’s difficult to find anything that uses 1000yds of DK weight and isn’t striped. I’m planning on doing a reverse coloration of the sample, using the darkest for the main color, white for the crosses and gold for the shields. 

Nordiska Bare Naked Wools - Stone Soup Pumice Granite Marble

The plans for the Nordiska also kinda came out of nowhere. I loved the design, especially the raglan cable detail, but never had any yarn plans. Even though it’s all hand dyed, I like the rustic tweed-like the speckled yarn was showing off and the navy and gold. I was randomly looking around for other yarn, as one does sometimes, when I came across a very good sale on the Bare Naked Wools - Stone Soup. I knew I had one skein of Pumice in my stash from a mixed bag I bought several years ago and thought it’d be a good starting point. I always planned on overdyeing the lightest and darkest colors before seeing them in real life and they didn’t appear to be that closely shaded while I was researching. Nevertheless, there’ll be some major contrasting going on.

Tenga Madelinetosh - Twist Light in Ink (tentative)

I love how classic and timeless this sweater is and works with everything. And because it’s knit in fingering weight, it’s light and I can wear it for longer throughout the year. I have these skeins of this gorgeous navy blue, but I’m not sure if I’m going to use them. Part of me wants to knit it in a different color, I guess I could knit multiple versions of this too. So many decisions.

There’s a few other sweaters on my radar with no yarn plans including Sturgill Sweater, Koivua, Soldotna Crop (but not), Navelli and Umpqua.

If you want more info on Caitlin Hunter and her lovely work, check out her Ravelry and Instagram.

[trnchd]

Made | Cicely Throw

I don’t know why, but I decided to knit a throw for my friend’s wedding gift. That’s not even the crazy part. I had about two months after receiving the wedding registry locations and not really liking the available options. After the bridal shower, she didn’t have much left available that I liked and I’ve been friends with her for about 20 years so money didn’t feel like a comfortable option. I’ve made baby blankets for my cousin’s children and heavier sweaters for myself within a month, what’s a throw in two months?

After a little searching, I landed on the Cicely Rectangular Blanket by Steve Rousseau. He’s made several geometric shawls that I absolutely love and I remembered he also created a few blankets. There were a couple of other options but I wanted something modern and timeless that they can use forever. I had some worsted weight yarn I was originally going to use for a Geometric Cable Throw by Ruth Cross that was destined for the frog pile because it became too difficult to knit. The yarn I used was Cloudborn Fibers Superwash Merino Worsted Twist in Taupe Heather. Superwash was a necessity because I don’t think my friend would go through the trouble of hand washing a throw. Even I didn’t care to during the blocking process because it was so heavy wet.

While the product was fun to make, the process was hit and miss. I worked out that I needed to knit at least 8 rows a day in order to complete this one week before the wedding. I gave myself a week buffer in case of emergencies. There were days when I didn’t want to knit this or barely got any rows done. There was the bridal shower weekend that I couldn’t work on it at all. The farther I fell behind, the more stressed I started to feel wondering if I’d ever get out of the hole I created. I’ll admit I made a few mistakes here and there, some I was able to fix on the go, others I had to rip back at least a full day’s worth of knitting, which added onto the stress of falling behind. Knitting while watching Day 3 of the Masters was a sanity saver as I was able to get about 20 rows done and somehow my hands didn’t want to fall off. Plus I was battling the weather. Mother Nature decided summer needed to start in mid to late April this year, which was close to the completion of this project, so having a heavy throw plus 78 degrees indoor temperatures (upwards to 90 outside) with the A/C running wasn’t fun. Thankfully a trick from a friend who suggested using a cutting board or Lazy Susan on my lap to offset the heat saved the day several times. At the end, my hands were done. I think I went two days without picking up any needles. I thought I either pulled a muscle in my hand/wrist or had early carpel tunnel. You can read all the gory details on my Ravelry project page.

Overall it turned out beautifully. If I had more time, I would’ve gone back, fixed my mistakes and not feel so rushed. Hopefully they won’t notice. I kinda want to knit one for myself since I have more than enough yarn leftover. I hope they like it and use it for years to come. It was truly a labor of love.

Hopefully the happy couple have opened this gift before seeing this post or on IG. If not, oh well.

[trnchd]

Time Flies

How is it already mid-April? Normally I slog my way through January and things pick up from February through March and the next I know it’s September. Not this year, sped through January, February, couldn’t even tell you what happened in March. I even had a 2019 Knitting Goals post sitting in my drafts folder that slipped through the cracks, omg. Honestly, I think the only way I’ll remember anything from this year is looking back through my knitting projects.

I’ll touch on very briefly on my knitting goals for this year, which has already changed since I drafted that post that’ll never see the light of day. I’m still suffering from “Must Knit All the Things” syndrome, which is a very infectious disease that’s spread through the knitting community like the plague. For someone who originally vowed to cold sheep (aka not buy yarn for a period of time), I’ve already broken that in January, and then again this month. To be fair, when you throw sock yarn at me at an extremely good price, I may jump on it, especially from dyers I’ve been wanting to try and on my preferred sock bases. Anyways, there’s a number of sweaters on my Must Knit This Year list including Alyeska, Zweig (finally), Tecumseh and Tegna by Caitlin Hunter (obsessed much?), Poet by Sari Nordlund and I can’t stop obsessing over Gwanwyn by Verena Cohrs for some reason. Seems like a lot, of course it is, and at least I’m motivated and have most of the yarn already. Always socks but nothing concrete except the Coffee Steam in a BFL brown and getting back to attempting the Starry Night Socks again (Centaurea Socks). The designer of the latter messaged me to say she’s included videos of how to do the flowers (stars in my case) so I look forward to checking those out because the written instructions weren’t the greatest to understand.

So what have I been up to since my last post? I’ve finished 5.5 projects and started a bunch more that I can’t handle. I’ve finished The Throwback by Andrea Mowry, which I love and will wear forever. I’m so bummed Madelinetosh discontinued the Longrider DK base (75 superwash merino/25 nylon) that I’ve been trying to acquire more, another factor in breaking my cold sheeping vow. If anything it’s caused me to look at other dyers that create beautiful tonals. I finally came around to finishing the Assam cardigan by Tabetha Hedrick I featured here almost a year ago. It needed a sleeve, lots of sewing and even more ribbing for the collar/bands/hem. Honestly, I’m surprised I made it through 4″ of ribbing with 700+ stitches without complaining. That Like a Cloud cardigan I made last year really knocked me out of my hatred for purl stitches so it made ribbing less painful and tedious. There’s also four socks, two as gifts, the others for myself, to maintain my sock quota for the year. Technically I’m still on track, but in reality I’m behind by a month since the gift knits didn’t come from my sock yarn stash.

Currently I’m working on too many things. Somehow I convinced myself I’ll knit a full throw/blanket for a friend’s wedding gift in approx two months time. Yeah, I’m that crazy. I’m about 65% done with two and half weeks left before I’d like to get it done. I could’ve been less stressed about finishing it on time if I didn’t rip back twice now because I screwed up in several places and other nights I didn’t feel like touching it. I’m also knitting a modded shrug (above) for said wedding made from a couple reclaimed yarns from my stash using a lovely delicate lace pattern. I love knitting it because it keeps me entertained and the fabric is just so soft and light. At least this one’s going fast. Also have a gift shawl and a pair of socks that are slow going to break up the monotony of the other two projects. There’s a couple of sweaters Eri and Vince that I’ve put on time out because it’s getting too warm and I obviously don’t have time for these right now. I look forward to when I can get back to at least Eri. Vince will be on the back burner until winter because all that bulky weight wool is too much.

In admin news, I’ve finally found the time to fix the blog design issues. When I first started working on revamping the blog, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, somewhat executed and got frustrated when I couldn’t fix certain problems. It wasn’t until I had to work on another site that I learned how to fix those lingering issues and I could implement the changes into this blog. I apologize if it’s been frustrating viewing the site, I shouldn’t have let these problems linger for so long. Everything should be working and displaying correctly now. There’s still things I need to add like a massive amount of knitting projects I’ve finished since I last updated that page. I can’t decide how I want to display them because I don’t necessarily want to write individual posts for each one like I have in the past. It’s not a real exciting read when it’s the same process over and over, especially for socks, and they don’t have a unique story behind them. ‘I really wanted to knit this for awhile now, took me x time and here’s the end result.’ Riveting.

Friday will be the start of the Earth Day sale thru Monday. All the reclaimed yarns will be 15% off. No new yarns will be added, I haven’t had time to unravel anything but I’ll be jumping back on that train hopefully by late May, early June. 

Have a happy Easter everyone!

[trnchd]

A Look Back At 2018

Happy New Year! Ok, so I’m a little late on that. I meant to write this sometime last week but I didn’t want it to feel forced. I purposely took about two weeks after Christmas to recharge and do almost nothing because I was incredibly burnt out after all the Christmas knitting and was in desperate need of me time. I felt so ‘lost’ on Christmas Eve that I wanted to start a new project but couldn’t figure out what until a few days later. I want to knit all the things, but the one thing I wanted to knit I couldn’t because the yarn got backordered while the company were dyeing all their Black Friday orders. That’s a clusterfuck I don’t want to get into. I also planned on organizing several things as I try to do every year during ‘dead week’ including my RSS reader, Pinterest, email subscriptions, all the things I let slip away from me and got maybe half of that done. I still can’t believe how extremely disorganized my Pinterest recipes are, even after they finally introduced sections within boards.

Clockwise from top-left: Hearthstone (Feb): madelinetosh MCN Sport - Milkshake Loulou (April): madelinetosh DK Twist - Scout Rugged Coat (Dec, sister): madelinetosh Work Sock - Reindeer Like a Cloud (Nov): madelinetosh MCN Fingering - Pavement Aibrean (Nov): madelinetosh DK Twist - Nadir

On the knitting front, I would call it successful. It was definitely the year of the garments after doubling the number of sweaters I’ve ever done in a year to five. It doesn’t seem like a lot but I forced myself to start knitting down my sweater quantities stash after some major stash enhancements over the last couple of years. Knit a longs were a big help in pushing me to knitting more this past year, really knitting more in general because the community is so positive towards helping and encouraging everyone. Even if I didn’t win any of the fantastic prizes that were offered, I still win by having a new garment to wear and enjoyed making. I made my first top-down sweaters, learned i-cord and had my first adventures in alternating skeins to keep colors from pooling and/or looking uneven.

L-R and down: Herringbone Rib Socks (Feb): madelinetosh Twist Light - Marfa Mash Potato Socks (May): madelinetosh Euro Sock - OOAK Boyfriend Socks (June): Dream in Color Smooshy w/Cashmere - Navy Zeal Beachgrass Socks (July): Woolen Boon Boon Classic - Peach Perfect Daenerys Socks (Aug, own design): madelinetosh Twist Light - Daenerys Khotan (Aug): SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock - Ginger First Star Socks (Oct, cousin): Nerd Girl Yarns Binary Sock - Vault Dweller Prismatic (Oct): SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock - Fauna Flying Dutchman (Dec): Circus Tonic Handmade Revelry Sock - Zebra Finch

Sock wise was about the same as the previous year and I still fell short of my yearly goal of a pair per month. I’m really hoping to turn that around because my sock yarn stash has truly grown out of control and I’m trying super hard this year to cold sheep (not buy any yarn, with very few exceptions, at least in my case). Because of KALs, I challenged myself more to use different yarns and patterns that I wouldn’t necessarily glaze over but attempt to pair things differently than I would’ve otherwise. Socks are the one thing I let my creativity run wild, sometimes a little too wild, but I try to keep things within some guidelines that I set per project. I mainly pair the yarns and patterns to go together and not allow one to dominate the other.

Top-down: Envol (Feb, cousin): Scheepjes Merino Soft - Degas Sugar Pop (May): SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock - Tumblestone and Party of Five Fairytale Imbue (June): madelinetosh Euro Sock - Tern and Calligraphy Strolling on Cloud 9 (Oct, sister): Northbound Knitting MCN DK - Bourbon Zilver (Nov, mother): Northbound Knitting Merino/Silk Fingering - Dumbo

Overall I completed more projects in 2018 with 24.5 (the half is for the one sweater I started in ‘17 and completed in ‘18) versus 17 in 2017, how fitting. I’ve turned some weird knitting corner, accepted to enjoy purl stitches (a stitch I’ve always hated), expanded my cast ons and bind offs, and knit a little outside my comfort zone. I even knitted a couple of shawls for myself, which I’ve never done before because I never really cared for them. Not to mention start a color swatch project for an entire community, which took off and exploded beyond my expectations. The plan for 2019 is to really start knitting down my stash, especially my reclaimed yarns I’ve been hording all these years. More socks, more sweaters, maybe another shawl. I want to get back into the more rustic yarns after dipping my toe into the superwash merino world. Nothing wrong with it, I have so many other yarns that have been sitting in my stash feeling neglected lately. I’m definitely looking forward to stepping into the world of colorwork patterns more. My knitting mojo still runs high and I want to knit all the things.

Shop wise was amazing. I saw a major increase in sales after several years of wondering if I could achieve those numbers. While I didn’t weave as much as I wanted to and started to feel a little lost and indecisive, I saw a massive increase in people looking for reclaimed/recycled yarns. I think people have realized it’s much cheaper and more environmentally friendly to buy these types of yarns than buying brand new. I plan to get back into weaving more scarves once I give the site a little refresh. I have a few ideas in mind involving different textures and color mixing that I want to try out, especially true plaids. Always more reclaimed yarns once I go shopping again, the hunt is exhilarating sometimes. If you’re looking for handbags and clutches, my sewing mojo is completely gone and I don’t know when it’s coming back. Blame all the knitting and yarns, I know I have some fabric hidden under the huge yarn pile and patterns.

As for that site refresh, it’s something I’ve been planning for awhile now, hence the lack of blogging. I’ve been trying to create a better gallery to show off all those projects I’ve been working on. Web coding has been kind of a side passion project that’s been a major learning experience every time I decide to redo the layout. There’s always Instagram but I feel sometimes that’s not enough and I’m still trying to find that good balance of showcasing personal projects on the trnchd IG account vs. my personal one. Some people don’t follow both because they’re supposed to have different content but I want to feature some of my projects even if they have nothing to do with the shop. I think I’ll forever struggle with how I share my projects on social media.

I hope all of you are well rested after the 2018 festivities and have had a great start to 2019.

[trnchd]

Holiday Happenings

With the holiday shopping season starting this week, or the beginning of the month if you’re all the retailers, I thought I should give everyone a heads up on shipping schedules and sale info before everything starts kicking off.

Holiday Shipping Schedule

Last day to order for Christmas delivery November 29: Africa, Central and South American December 6: Everywhere else worldwide December 18: US First-Class and Priority

California Wildfire Relief

For the remainder of November, I will be donating 20% of all profits to the American Red Cross to help aid those affected by the recent California wildfires. I will be adding older handmade items and donate 40% of those sales. As someone who’s lived here all her life, it deeply saddens me to see the devastation some people are going through so close to the holidays so any little bit helps.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday

20% off shop wide starting on Wednesday thru end of day on Monday.

Hope everyone has a happy, safe and stress free Thanksgiving for those of you celebrating in the US. I’m already stressed out but that’s normal no matter how hard I try not to.

[trnchd]

Handmade Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching and the weather’s finally turned cooler, why not start thinking about hand making some of your gifts? My knitting mojo is at an all time high and all I can think about is knitting things for others, and a couple things for myself. Nothing feels better than seeing the recipient open up your handmade gift and be in complete awe that you made it for them. Why am I talking about this now? If you’re a new knitter, crocheter or other crafts, it takes time to do some research about the dos and don’ts, gather all your materials and make something. This is your heads up that in a blink of the eye, the holidays are here and that panic starts to set in. Trust me, I’ve been there, we’ve all been there.

I’ll be taking more of a knitting route with this post because I have a higher expertise in it and I want to knit all the things. My list grows daily at this rate and I know it’s not going to last forever. Plus I have a lot of yarn for sale in the shop and will be adding more over the next week or two as I clear out more of my stash. There’s other crafts that use yarn like crochet, macrame and weaving that this guide can help inspire. Grab some knitting needles, crochet hook or other tools to create and start planning. If you decide to start knitting or crocheting for the first time, I would highly suggest signing up for Ravelry if you haven’t already. It has loads of free and paid patterns for beginners that are super easy to find. The pattern search might be a little daunting at first because it narrows down patterns by craft, category, yarn thickness, needle size and all the other nitty gritty like cables, lace, twisted stitches, etc.

Wheat by tincanknits | Classic Cuffed Hat by Purl Soho

A great beginner project is a scarf until you understand the simple knit and purl stitches. If you mess up, tell them it’s a design feature :wink:. Another great beginner project is hats using double point needles (DPNs). Using DPNs for the first time can be a little daunting but will get easier with practice. I suggest using wooden or bamboo ones because they have more grip and help prevent your stitches from sliding off the needles. After you’ve learned the basic knit and purl stitches, you can combine them to create texture stitches like seed stitch, ribbing moss stitch and several more. If you’re brave like me, try simple cables; they’re really fun to knit and not as hard as you think. You’re simply moving stitches around with the help of a cable needles or one DPN and when you get better, you can move them without the need for either.

Seedy Scarf by Michele Wang | Rick Rack Scarf by Purl Soho

Most of the yarns I have for sale aren’t necessarily recommended for beginners. Knitting or crocheting with thinner yarns like lace and fingering can be difficult and I would suggest using a thicker yarn like worsted, bulky or even super bulky. I have a couple heavier weights for sale in the shop but I would highly suggest combining multiple strands of yarn to create thicker yarn.

Hinagiku Hat by 87knit | closeup

If you want to give your project a little more pizzazz, consider combining different yarns for different types of effects. Using two or more yarns of the same weight can create a marled yarn, either tonally by using similar colors or go crazy with different colors. Or you can give hints of color by combining multiple strands of the same color and one different color. The world is your oyster when you’ve given more control over colors and fiber choices.

I hope this little guide gives some of you some inspiration to make your own gifts this year. I'm having a small little Halloween sale for one day only but those of you who read this the day before get an extra day. Take 20% off the whole shop until October 31, 2018 at 11:59pm PDT with code SPOOKY18. It's a great way to jump start or continue your knitting adventure. I would love to see what projects you guys start so please tag me on Instagram or Twitter so I can see your progress.

[trnchd]

Fall Prep

The calendar has turned to September, which means it’s the unofficial start to fall (in my book it’s not the day after Labor Day). I’ve been planning and then some for September 1st because I’ve kinda stupidly decided to be apart of six KALs (knit-a-longs) for the next three months. Yes six. That might sound like a lot, but I’m triple and quad dipping some, where I can use one project and qualify for multiple KALs as long as I stay within the parameters. This is the first time I’ve decided to take on this challenge that so many before me have done and some have completed. It won’t be easy because I plan to do five projects during these three months, each with their own hard deadlines. Two sweaters, two cowls and a pair of socks.

Like a Cloud by Joji Locatelli using Madelinetosh MCN Fingering in Pavement September 1 - November 30

Corrosion by Julie Nandorfy using SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Sport in Cayenne and Madelinetosh Tosh Mo Light in OOAK Plaid Flannel September 1 - 30

Aibrean by Isabell Kraemer using Madelinetosh DK Twist in Nadir September 8 - November 30

Strolling on Cloud 9 by Suzanne Nielsen using Northbound Knitting MCN DK in Bourbon October 1 - 31

TBD Socks using Nerd Girl Yarns Binary Sock in Vault Dweller Finish before early November

As of this post I’m six days in, which doesn’t seem like a lot of time has past yet I’m already feeling a little stressed out about this adventure and undertaking. I was feeling super anxious the week leading up to starting and now I’m feeling a tad behind because there’s been days where I didn’t feel like knitting as much. I’ve done the smart thing and broke down all the patterns into sections, parsed everything into a calendar and made weekly goals so I had some schedule to stick by in case I started falling behind. My biggest worry is the Like a Cloud cardigan because it’s made from a thinner yarn and smaller knitting needles, making it far more time consuming than the other projects. The competitor in me wants to be the first one to finish, but there’s absolutely no way I can compete with those who knit bulky sweaters and have all day to knit. For some dumb reason, this only fuels my anxiety to finish faster. On the other hand, I’m not going to beat myself over not finishing the two sweaters because those are personal projects. All the smaller projects are gifts with shorter deadlines, especially the socks because I’d like to finish and mail them off by a certain date and the only way I see that happening is finishing both cowls in under a month.

Speaking of socks, I’m only knitting the one pair during this time frame mainly because I don’t have time for anything else. There’s a possibility I might have four projects on my needles, which is more than I typically handle because anything more than two is too much. As much as I’d like to hit my goal of knitting a pair a month, I’ve already fallen too far behind for that. It’s just weird for me to not have more socks on the needles. Maybe this will be a good break so my sock knitting mojo doesn’t dissipate even though there’s a million patterns I want to knit.

Between all that, I want to weave a few more scarves for the shop because they bring me a sense of calm and I can typically made one in no time. There’s other reclaimed yarns I need to add to the shop as well but it’s taking far longer than I remember to process sweaters.

[trnchd]

Labor Day Sale

Labor Day Sale starts today. Get a jumpstart on your fall shopping and projects. Save 15% off all upcycled yarns and 20% off all scarves. Sale ends Sept 3 at 11:59pm PT.

shop.trnchd.com

[trnchd]

Too Much

Anyone else get that sensation of taking on too much but want to start more things? I’m currently trying to ride this wave out but the urge to start another knitting project on top of the three I currently have going has me itching to the point where it’s blowing over. It’s the equivalent of crafting ADD (not something to joke about) where I see all these new patterns coming out and the excitement and desire to knit them immediately become overwhelming. Plus all the new yarns and colorways dyers and companies release, it’s madness.

I’m currently working on my Starry Night socks that I posted on my personal IG account over the weekend. Those alone are giving me fits so it’s not fulfilling my knitting mojo. I’m about to start another pair of socks that’s apart of a KAL (knit-a-long), but those don’t need to be completed until the end of August. Ideally I’d like to get those done this month so I don’t feel behind with my yearly sock knitting. I’m trying to knit a pair a month and so far I’m at four for the year, eek. To be fair, I did knit 5 pairs as Christmas gifts late last year so I’m giving myself a small break if I don’t meet my goal. Then instead of starting new sweater, I randomly decided to finish a cardigan I started for a different KAL last year but didn’t finish in time so I set it aside. I have the sleeves and have to pick up about 700 stitches for the ribbed collar/hem. Yes that’s a lot of stitches and I’m not looking forward to any of it. The only reason I’m even considering it is I learned a new trick earlier this year of using a Lazy Susan or cutting board on your lap so all that yarn doesn’t sit on your lap and make you uncomfortable. I’ve tried it several times already and it works, so I plan on knitting more heavier things over the summer that I would otherwise leave until the fall/winter.

With all that on my plate, why would I want to start another project? Over the last two years, I’ve acquired a lot of yarn, most of it for sweaters and socks. Socks are easy and I can bang out about one per month. Sweaters take time and I find myself not being able to knit fast enough to enjoy the excitement of seeing new patterns and that desire to start them around release day. I’ve also had a big problem of using whatever downtime I have to peruse through Ravelry and pairing patterns to my sweater stash, and that’s causing me to scratch an itch that won’t go away. I feel my current projects aren’t fulfilling enough to deal with my high knitting mojo right now. Couple all that with pattern sales and forum posts that motivate and influence the need to knit all the things. Yes all the things. This is one of the reasons why I don't have a Ravelry pattern queue, the last thing I need is to feel forced to do certain projects I don't fee like doing. Sure it's useful for other things like figuring out which yarns you plan on using with specific patterns, but the numbering system would drive me insane. It's a trap, a stressful trap.

I’ve also taken on a new weight loss idea someone mentioned where she won’t start a new sweater until she’s lost at least five pounds. I thought I should do the same since losing weight has become a personal struggle of mine that I don’t talk about. I’ve yo-yo’d over the years, lost about 40lbs, then gained it all back when I went through a small mini depressive state. I thought my sister’s wedding would help me, and it did to some degree, but I physically feel like I didn’t lose anything. I know it’s a slow progression and I shouldn’t expect immediate results, which is an important part of weight loss, but I want to feel better about myself and how clothes fit me. So yeah, I’m not going to not start another sweater until I shed a few pounds, plus that’s less yarn I’ll need to use and less stitches to knit.

Plus I still need to work on this site and the shop. I’ve been working to process all the sweaters I bought a couple of weeks ago and it’s taking more time than I expected. The site’s not a mess but it’s not where I want it to be. I want to add a sock showcase page but I can’t get the coding to work right, and I haven’t had time to play around with anything. There’s other projects I’d like to blog about too that I haven’t had the motivation or time to do.

That’s kinda the state of everything right now. Maybe I need to sit down and reorganize my life, hit inbox/Feedly zero (again this year) and start fresh. There’s too many things that are in a state of organized chaos right now and sometimes there’s not enough time in a day to do everything. Sometimes I miss those younger years where I could play video games all day after finishing homework and not worry about everything.

[trnchd]

Independence Day Sale

Independence Day Sale starts now. Save 25% off all scarves and 15% off all yarn. Offer ends July 4th at 11:59pm PT.

I’ve been sweater shopping again, which means more yarn will be added throughout the sale as I get them processed. Check back often and follow on social media for all the newest listings.

Apologies for the radio silence, I’ve been busy with other projects and taking a little me time, but that doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned the shop and blog. I plan on getting back to blogging about my personal projects that I’ve put so much time and love into that I want to share them with everyone outside my knitting circle.

[trnchd]

The Long Overdue One

Oh hi there. Is this thing still on? :blows dust away:

I’ve been meaning to write some sort of blog post for months now, in fact since January with some sort of 2017 recap. Something about being a good year for the shop, learning how to weave, etc., but I became so overwhelmed with a number of projects since August that I haven’t had time. Why am I writing this now? I woke up with pre-migraine symptoms from what became a sinus headache (reason why I hate spring) so I’m taking it easy today, and I think this would be a good form of stress relief. Between weaving a bunch of gorgeous scarves to baby blankets and Christmas presents, I realized I haven’t given myself any time to do anything for me. I had a strict goal of knitting at least a pair of socks a month for the whole year and that stopped after August. I would like to think knitting 6 pairs of socks as Christmas gifts makes up for that loss, but that didn’t help my personal sock yarn stash except for 2. I’ve actually gained enough yarn from those socks to knit 2 of my own if I wanted to. Not to mention I usually give myself the week between Christmas and New Year’s to clean out Feedly (my RSS reader of choice), transfer all recipes I’ve saved to Pinterest, do all those things to gear up for the new year and I barely made a dent into that. Yeah, I’m horrible. To be fair, my cooking has suffered from it as well because I wasn’t cooking anything new and exciting, and stuck with the easy go-tos that are jogged into my memory. I also tried to create a socks gallery for this site but it’s become a coding nightmare where all my design dreams go to die.

The craziness hasn’t stopped in 2018 either. I had a couple of Christmas presents to finish up and a last minute baby blanket to knit, both those backed up everything else I’ve been wanted to do at the beginning of the year. Thankfully a couple of Knit-a-Longs have pushed me to knitting things for myself again such as a sweater in a month (a new record) and a pair of socks. I’ve got several other projects lined up for this first part of the year with loads more in the future.

What’s in store for the rest of 2018? Honestly, I have no idea. I’m on such and knitting and weaving high that I don’t want to stop, especially after all the new yarn I’ve acquired over the year and a half. There’s so many projects I want to knit this year and the list only grows every two weeks. I’ve also taken on several sample knit projects that I’ve been commissioned to do. Shop wise I don’t know what I’m doing. Besides adding more yarn from my reclaimed stash that I know I’ll never knit or dye over, I’m at a creative loss. Maybe it’s time to take a small break while I try to find it again. I would weave my way through Spring/Summer but scarves don’t sell well during those months, even light ones for the cooler evenings. Who knows, one day I might have a great shower thought or wake up feeling inspired. This isn’t the end. I should start posting my personal projects again so I have a public portfolio. I need to get my social media back into the game.

[trnchd]

It’s the shop anniversary and my birthday month so it’s time to celebrate. Scarves are 25% off and all reclaimed yarns are 15% off. Sale ends February 28. Free shipping when you spend $100. shop.trnchd.com