But the yarn mentioned in the last entry is now listed for your bidding pleasure! I would like to direct your attention to the mohair in particular, since it turned out to be such a nightmare to work with that I won't be dyeing it again, and so this will be your only chance at it. There's also two species of worsted merino, some laceweight, and huge skeins of superwash sock yarn, so go to it! ;)

Just placed an order for more yarn, so that should be here in a few days, then maybe a week to dye and dry it -- Watch This Space for another batch of auctions coming along toward the end of the month. I've settled on a product line now, so I can tell you that what's coming in will be:

New batch of yarn is listed, which should be the last of the "experimental subjects" done with, hurray! I was sufficiently flustered by the new Selling form that I didn't remember to put in care instructions until I'd already listed all the laceweight, which meant going back at the end and revising, oh, about 20 out of 23 listings, darn it. I need a helper-monkey.

There is yarn in the house. Oh, yes, there is yarn in the house. This should be the final round of testing to determine which base yarns I'll be concentrating on dyeing; so far I've already had one surprise, in that I much prefer my results with the plain-merino I tested over the fancier alpaca-blend option in the "OK, how about a worsted-weight offering?" category, and I suspect a similar finding awaits once I decant the rest of the contestants in the laceweight division. Unfortunately, I ran out of soap in the middle of the rinsing-out, and I'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to get a better look at what's still lurking in the dyepot. One result that is not particularly surprising is that the entrant in the "novelty" category has found its way into the "...Y'know, I ought to keep that one and knit it up as a sample" pile in my own knitting-basket. This happens more often than it really ought to, but fortunately it tends to be self-limiting as I am A) too badly in need of the cash to tolerate a very high rate of "shrinkage", and B) only have two hands to knit with and have probably already gotten to the point where my stash will eventually outlive me.

Overall, I am Pleased with the results so far, and I've gotten the process worked out for "input X to achieve output Y" to a degree that satisfies me so far as Making A Real Business Of It is concerned. I'll be listing skeins here and at my Etsy account (halftoneyarn) as seems appropriate for each individual piece; some will jump up and shout for attention in the Gallery-listing scrum, some will wait more demurely for that special knitter, and some may even hold out for the day when we storm the racks at my LYS (or yours) with those troops who show best in-person. The batch currently in-house should be showing up after the holidays, since it's not as if anything could get shipped for xmas delivery anyhow by now...

All right, so, this is the specialty blog, not to be confused with the blog where I ramble on about the kids on my lawn and make vague threats against the government. This blog is to promote the brand that is As Yet Unnamed Artisan Handpainted Yarn Business Combination #57 Happy Fun Super Yes! Enterprises, which, at the moment, is me standing over my kitchen sink scribbling business plans on the back of an envelope while I wait for the kettle to boil. Starting in 2007, I hope to grow AYUAHYBC#57HFSY!E from the occasional "...Well, that doesn't work for me, but maybe somebody on eBay will want it" outlet for my experiments in yarn dyeing into a real formal business, with permits and wholesale numbers and all that good legal stuff. Judging from your feedback thus far, my product line is promising, and I hope that you'll follow along as I venture farther out into the waters of the brave new sea of e-business. Now if you'll excuse me, those darn kids are on my lawn again...