---

Building a Yarn Stash:

I live in a relatively small town in SE Colorado. I have learned to be creative in finding yarns that are more varied than knitting yarns and cotton floss. I use lots of wool--tapestry and 3-ply crewel--also a great variety of weaving wool. When I am somewhere that gives me the opportunity to buy, I invest heavily! I also buy textures in white/off-white to dye. I keep a few weaver friends for "thrums"--the loom warp ends which they cut off--they are about 3' long and marvelous! Check weaving shops. I almost never by via mail...I like to see it up close.

Thousands of people buy kits--few finish them! Often these poor orphans contain very good quality wool. If you do the "seconds" market for fun, check out the possibilites. Also look for beads, trinkets, possibilites.

---

Learn to "Ply"
Sometimes you can manufacture your own unique yarns by adding a glint of metallic or over-dyed yarn, or both. I usually make up about 25 yards in 3-4 shorter skeins of a mixture. To avoid a "tweedy" appearance, they should have the same grey-scale value.

---

Yarn Dying and Yarn Painting --messy, fun, worth doing!

1) I save buying "mistakes" and overstock for over-dying. You throw it all in a single pot of dye and get related colors.
2) I purchase white/light yarns in a variety of textures and dye or paint with any number of techniques.
3) For over-dying, I use numerous tall thermal cups.
4) Natural dying produces wonderful colors that mellow out over the years, but do not mix with commercially dyed
yarns.They do not "mellow".
5) Read all cautions when selecting a dye product and follow all handling directions--many ingredients are very strong or toxic. I like to use a hot dyepot with a simple "set" to the dye. I also choose one that will dye a range of fibers. Although synthetics do not dye well, they will usually dye in a much paler shade than animal fibers--handy!