More hand-dyed rovings!

Learning to dye has been a hit-and-miss process for me so far - figuring out how to achieve the effects I want and how to work with each type of fiber to enhance their good qualities and avoid felting! It's been a bit slow-going but a LOT of fun and I think I'm narrowing in on a method that will work for me consistently. Updates to the shop so far have been pretty small, as a result I've got a basket of almost-perfect fiber ready to be spun, so keep an eye out for lots of hand-spun yarns coming to the shop!

Today I did another small update, with 2 Super Fine Merino and 1 Merino roving.

Super Fine Merino 4.3 oz

Merino 4 oz

Super Fine Merino 4.5 oz

I'll have some more Merino, as well as some BFL coming soon. I'm hoping I'll be able to do bigger updates as I fine-tune my process!

Official Guide to the Black Mustard Newsletters

As promised, here is the run-down on the various newsletters available through my mailing list. This is to let you know what will be covered in each of them so you can decide which ones interest you. Feel free to sign up for any (or all) of them by entering your email address in the sign-up form over in the right sidebar. Just leave the boxes checked for the newsletters you'd like to receive and uncheck the ones you can do without.

First we have the general "Monthly Newsletter". This is a basic update that lets you know what's happening at Black Mustard Fiber Arts and Colorworks. It encompasses both shops, so you'll find information about new products from knitwear to handspun yarn to new types of hand-dyed fiber. This is also the place to find out about sales, promotions and contests. Also, check out the "What's coming" section of the newsletter for a teaser about the next month's theme or focus. This newsletter will be sent out on or around the 1st of each month.

Next up is the "Handspun Preview". This is for anyone who'd like to receive a heads up whenever I have a new handspun yarn available. Generally I will send this alert out the day before I plan to list the yarn in either of my shops. It will include pics of the yarn and all the stats, along with the date and time you can expect to see it in the shop. Yarns spun from my own hand-dyed fiber will be for sale at Black Mustard Colorworks, while those from fiber dyed by others will still go into the original shop. This newsletter covers both.

And finally, for the new shop we have the "Hand-dyed Preview". Much the same as the yarn alert, this newsletter will let you know when I plan to have new hand-dyed fiber in the shop. Following the same format, it will have pictures, a listing of fiber content, and the details about when it will be listed. This one will only apply to Black Mustard Colorworks.

Well, that about sums it up! I'd be glad to hear any questions or feedback anyone has about these newsletters, or ideas for future editions. Thanks for reading!

Grand Opening - Black Mustard Colorworks!

I'm so excited to announce the launch of my second Etsy shop - Black Mustard Colorworks! This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, and I'm really happy to have it up and running. In the new shop you'll find hand-dyed rovings as well as yarns I've spun to showcase my dyed fiber. It's a little sparse at the moment but I'm busy dyeing away to get it stocked up and keep new rovings coming! To celebrate the Grand Opening, I'm offering FREE SHIPPING on all rovings (withing Canada and the US) from May 4-18th!

I'll be happy to combine shipping between shops, and items from either shop can go towards my Buy 3 Get 1 Promotion. For now I will have rovings available in the following fibers: Merino, SW Merino, BFL and SW BFL. In the future I plan to get into different blends, and I'm also hoping to experiment with natural dyes at some point.

Hand-dyed BFL top - 4oz.

You may notice a third sign-up option for my newsletter over on the right. I've started a new mailing list for those who'd like advanced notice of updates to the new shop. If you'd like to receive this newsletter, feel free to sign up again, leaving just the "Hand-dyed Preview" box checked. Otherwise I can add you to the list manually if you'd like. Stay tuned for a run-down of all the newsletters and what they will include.