April 23, 2002

Greetings, fiber friends!

Spring is here in Mississippi and seems like we went from overcoats to shorts overnight!  Everything is getting a fresh coat of paint including my dye room.  Work should begin any day to enclose my studio.  The added space will provide more space for new yarns and fibers!

A bunch of new things are arriving during this time of spring cleaning and painting, so bear with me and check back often for pictures that are not up yet.

Dyeing to weave, knit and spin,
Margaret

In This Issue:

• Yarns Ready to Ship
• Faux Ikat
• Alpine Cotton and 5/2 Mercerized Cotton
• New Colorway - Plum Parfait
• New Colorway - River Bend
• New Colorway Collection Thoughts
• New Tencel Colors
• Tencel Tip
• New Pages
• Proportion Change Treadling/Tromp as Writ, Rose or Other
• Shopping/Contact information

Yarns Ready to Ship

I  am currently adding to retail stock in order to offer you yarns that are ready to ship in some colorways.  Current stock ready to ship is posted at The Hand Painted Yarns.  Hopefully, in the near future I will be offering secure service in order that you may use your credit cards on my site.  Until then I encourage you to use PayPal  for your credit card needs at Shopping and Order Information or you may email your telephone # to Margaret@heritageyarns.com and I will be glad to contact you for credit card information.  Alternatively, you may pay by check or money order in U.S. funds.

Faux Ikat

The knitted scarf kits using retailer, Jackie E-S's patterns have been a huge success!  Jackie's patterns are easy to follow and the drape of the hand dyed silk/rayon is wonderful.  Selection at Knitting Kits includes 8 colorways in 4 available patterns.

I recently took part in a faux ikat learning exchange with Handweavers Guild of America.  I used the silk/rayon in Spring At Rocky Springs colorway as the faux ikat warp and commercially dyed tencel as the weft.  The scarf wove up beautifully using a 4 oz. skein and a small amount of 10/2 tencel.  I knew that other weavers would love using this yarn in the faux ikat process.  So, plans are in the process!  The first scarf is pictured at Weaving Kits.

A few of the things you might see are scarf/scarves/shawl/cocoon jacket patterns calling for 1-4 oz. skein of silk/rayon and 1-4 oz. skein of tencel for 1 scarf, 2 skeins of silk/rayon and 1-4 oz. skein of tencel for 2 scarves or the shawl or 4 skeins of silk/rayon and 1-8 oz. skein of tencel for the cocoon jacket.  Silk/rayon will be offered in some of the Tone-On-Tones Collection for optional stripes.  Hope this has whetted your appetite for more. (-:

Alpine Cotton and 5/2 Mercerized Cotton

Check out these 2 cottons for your spring and summer knitting and weaving needs.

Alpine Cotton is a delightfully soft unmercerized cotton with a light sheen, ideal for cool summer tops or nice, soft baby blankets.  In addition to the dyed stock remaining, it will be offered in a limited number of colorways:  Black and Gray in a Rainbow World, Blue Bayou, Red Bluff, Sagebrush and Summer Haze.  Suggested sett for Alpine is 6-8 EPI with gauge at 5 stitches to an inch on a size 7 needle.  See Alpine at The Hand Painted Yarns.

5/2 mercerized cotton is a basic that every fiber person needs in their stash.  In addition to the dyed stock remaining, it is available in all the colorways except for the silk cap and Confetti colorways.  5/2 hand dyed cotton is available at The Hand Painted Yarns.  Suggested sett is 14-20 EPI or knit 2 HeartStrings market bags with 8 oz.  See the market bag pattern at Knitting Patterns.

New Colorway - Plum Parfait

Designs for Plum Parfait are almost finished with a little more sampling to go! (-: Those of you who have liked Wineberry in the past will love this!  Look for pictures soon at The Tone-on-Tone Collection.

New Colorway - River Bend

River Bend is a new colorway that is very much like America, America for those of you who want more of a tone-on-tone look.    Hint:  the splash of Apricot Ice is missing that is present in America, America.  It will be part of the Mississippi Delta River Collection seen at Mississippi Delta River Collection.   Look for pictures soon.

New Colorway Collection Thoughts

A fellow weaver and I have been pen pals for a while now and are enjoying sharing ideas about yarns and color.  Iridescence has been fascinating to me for some time and she and I have shared thoughts on this phenomenon.  We may have hit on a formula. :-) This will hopefully lead to a future collection of iridescent colorways.  I will keep you posted as to my progress in this pursuit!

New Tencel Colors

New colors are here in 10/2 tencel and are currently being skeined.  The new colors are Adobe, Cobalt, Acorn, Silver and Seafoam Green.  Like the other 10/2 tencel, they will be available in 8 oz. skeins for $16 per skein.  Look for pictures soon at Mill Dyed Yarns.

Tencel Tip

If using a fringe it should be twisted or braided as an untwisted fringe will start to disintegrate after a few launderings.

New Pages

Two new pages have been added to the website for your use:  Get Ready, Sett, Gauge has most of the gauges and setts needed for yarns in the Heritage collections.  In addition, there is a reed sequencing chart for your convenience. Frequently Asked Questions is a page that will be updated periodically with questions from you and answers to share with others.

Proportion Change Treadling/Tromp as Writ, Rose or Other

Pattern and tabby

Weaver pattern and tabby in your choice of tromp as writ, rose or other treadling but weave 2 picks of tabby between pattern.

Ex:  Pattern/1-3, 2-4/ Pattern/1-3, 2-4

Shopping/Contact Information

Yarn shipments are limited to the U.S. and Canada. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada and would like to place a pattern order, please inquire at Margaret@heritageyarns.com.

Visit Knitting Patterns and take a look around at the wide selection of downloadable patterns from HeartStrings.

Purchasing options:  by PayPal shopping cart, Visa, MasterCard, personal check or money order.

Margaret Pittman
Heritage Yarns
5875 Baxter Drive
Jackson, Mississippi  39211-3317 USA

Telephone - (601) 956-1478
Email - Margaret@heritageyarns.com
Fax - (601) 957-2963
Celebrating color in hand painted skeins and warps since 1994

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