Finally! My inventory clear out sale.

Hi everyone! A little later than anticipated, but here is my final inventory sale! Here is how everything is going to work:

~ Free USA shipping on orders over $50
~ 5% off orders over $100, + free USA shipping
~ 10% off orders over $200, + free USA shipping.

Please email your order to Ourhumblecastle at Gmail dot com, and make sure it contains the following information:

~Your paypal email
~Your zip code or country (for orders under $50/international orders so I can give you a shipping quote)
~ The products you would like.

I will fill orders on a first come, first serve bases, and will keep this post updated with current inventory as things sell. If something has already sold and you order it, I'll make sure you know that item is sold out before I send you your invoice, in case you want to add something different... you know- to get the 10% off or something. ;)

The close out sale will run from now until Tuesday, May 21rd, and then will be suspended until we get settled into our new home in Minneapolis, MN. If anything is left at that point, once I find it again after we unpack, I'll post it back up for sale again. Thanks again everyone for being so supportive of me through this transition.

Item:                                                                 Amount:                   Cost:

LAST FEW THINGS!!!!

Silk pocket square                                    1                                         $5
Silk Tie                                                    2                                     $5


*BFL fingering cone, 2000yds/lb                         One 3lb 12oz cone $84.00
80/10/10 M/C/S 400 yrds/ 115gm Sk                2  $8.5
BFL cross locks                                          One 15+ oz bag                 $45/bag
MI wool                                                    1lb 1oz                          $6/ ball
MI wool                                                      1lb 4 oz                         $6/ ball





2nd BFL fingering cone 2000yds/lb                       One 2lb 13 oz cone      $61.6
BFL fingering skeins 500yds/ 115gm sk                 2                           $5.6
100% SW Merino Fingering, 407yds/ 115gm sk   4                      $6
80/20 SW BFL/Nylon 407yd/115 gm sk          6                                $5.6
Merino- 2/1ply non/superwash 400yds/ 100gm sk  4                              $5.5

100% SW Merino lace 968yds/ 115gm sk         1                             $6.25
75/20/5 SWmerino/nylon/stellina 438yds/100gm Sk 5                            $8.5
55/45 SW BFL/Silk 438yrd/100gm sk                4                             $13.3


BFL fiber                                                   One 4oz braids                      $3/braid
Shetland                                                    Five 4oz braids                        $3/braid



Citric acid                                            ~1or 2oz            Free to first person to claim it

14(they might be 16) quart SS stock pot 2 $25.00
36 quart SS stock pot 1 $75.00
12 quart enamel stock pot 1 $10.00
Plug in elements (for heating pots) 2 $10.00
8oz squeeze bottles w/ yorker spouts (NEW) 6 $1.00
16oz squeeze bottles w/ yorker spouts (new) 6 $1.00
Fricke heavy duty adjustable skein winder  $270


Powdered Jacquard Dyes                                      (weight includes container, which is ~2oz)
638 silver Grey                                            7oz                                        $3.83
621 Sky Blue                                            9 5/8oz                                 $14.08
600 Ecru                                                     4 3/4oz                                 $1.82
622 Sapphire blue                                       8 5/8oz                                  $15.54
624 Turquoise                                            8 7/8oz                                  $14.45
632 Chestnut                                            8 1/4oz                                  $13.84
639 Jet Black                                              8 3/8oz                                  $9.71
627 Brilliant Kelly Green                            9 1/8oz                                  $20.24
637 Gun Metal                                            8 oz                                  $12.64
635 Brown                                              8 7/8oz                                  $14.07
618 Fire Red                                            8 7/8oz                                  $12.80
611 Vermillion                                            9 1/4oz                                  $20.95
601 Yellow sun                                           9 oz                                       $13.06
636 Gold Ochre                           Almost full 1/2oz bottle                     $3
620 Hot Fucshia                           Almost full 1/2oz bottle                     $3


(The winder is the on at the bottom of the page here. Original price is $278 + shipping. Mine is $270, plus you'll get 10% off since it is over $200, plus free shipping!)

*The coned BFL yarn is this one here.

(p.s. sorry my columns aren't lined up the best. Blogger isn't being very kind to me tonight. :P )

Last Chance

ORDERS ARE NOW CLOSED- Thanks so much everyone!!!

Last Chance Custom Orders Extravaganza!

Please see my newsletter for more details.

How to order: Please send me an email at Ourhumblecastle@gmail.com  and include:

~The type of base you would like

~What color you would like (see my flickr page for images of most of my colorways- be sure to choose one that is labeled "repeatable")

~Your paypal email

I will get back to you right away with a paypal invoice. Shipping will be a flat rate of $5.00 shipped to the USA. International orders will pay actual shipping + $0.25 handling, and I will email you a quote before sending you the paypal invoice.

Fiber: (All fiber is sold in 4 oz braids of roving or top.)

Michigan wool (Roving)            Units left: 5      Retail price: $10        You pay: $8

Gray Jacob wool                       Units left: 0      Retail price: $17        You pay: $13.6

Alpaca                                       Units left: 1      Retail price: $20        You pay: $16

Merino                                      Units left: 2      Retail price: $14        You pay: $11.2

Supper wash Merino                Units left: 0      Retail price: $15        You pay: $12

65/35 SW Merino/silk                Units left: 4      Retail price: $20        You pay: $16

BFL                                           Units left: 5      Retail price: $15        You pay: $12

Soy-silk fiber                            Units left: 0      Retail price: $17        You pay: $13.6

Shetland                                   Units left: 6      Retail price: $17        You pay: $13.6

Superwash BFL                        Units left: 2      Retail price: $16        You pay: $12.8

Yarns:

BFL Fingering                   Units left: 52    Retail price: $22        You pay: $17.6

    100% SW BFL 

    500yds/115gm ** Machine wash

    6-7 st/in ** US size 0-2

Extravagance fingering            Units left: 3      Retail price: $28       You pay: $22.4

    70/30 SW Merino/Silk

    378yds/115gm ** Machine wash

    6-8  st/in ** US size 1-3

Swagger Fingering                  Units left:  0    Retail price: $26        You pay: $20.8

    80/10/10 SWMerino/Nylon/Cashemere

    380yds/115gm ** Machine wash

    6-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

Soy Beautiful Fingering            Units left: 6      Retail price: $21        You pay: $16.8

     100% Soy Protein Fiber

     378yds/115gm ** Machine wash

     8-9 st/in ** US size 1-3

Corazon Lace                           Units left: 1      Retail price: $23        You pay: $18.4

     100% SW Merino

     968yds/115gm ** Machine wash

     8-9 st/in ** US size 0-2

Corazon Worsted                    Units left: 0      Retail price: $22        You pay: $17.6

     100% SW Merino

     200yds/115gm ** Machine wash

     4.5-5 st/in ** US size 7-9

Andrea Worsted                     Units left: 0      Retail price: $18        You pay: $14.4

    100% Peruvian Highland Wool

    220yds/100gm ** Hand wash

    4.5-5 st/in ** US size 6-9

Sparkle Fingering                   Units left: 6      Retail price: $30        You pay: $24

    75/20/5 SW Merino/Nylon/Stellina

    438yrds/100gm ** Machine wash

    7-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

Bfl silk sock                            Units left: 6      Retail price: $36        You pay: $28.8

    55/45 SW BFL/Silk

    438yrds/100gm ** Machine wash

    7-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

M/C/S                                       Units left: 7      Retail price: $30        You pay: $24

    80/10/10 SW Merino/Cashmere/Silk

    400 yrds/115gm ** Machine wash

    7-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

Twist sock                                 Units left: 4      Retail price: $21        You pay: $16.8

    Unsuperwash and superwash wools

    400 yards/ 100 gm ** Hand wash

    7-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

Shalom                                      Units left: 9    Retail price: $21        You pay: $16.8

    80/20 SW BFL/Nylon

    405yds/115gm ** Machine wash

    7-9 st/in ** US size 1-3

Corazon Fingering                   Units left: 12    Retail price: $22        You pay: $17.6

    100% SW Merino 

    405yds/115gm ** Machine wash

    7-8 st/in ** US size 1-3

Ready, set,

Go!

First off, thank you to everyone who made my sale awesome! I still have a lot of stock left that is put away until fall, but I want to thank those of you who made purchases. I really appreciate the support!

My new prices are live in the shop as of today, and I'll have a shop update here in a little while.

I've tried to leave on of each category in the shop so that you can see the new prices, but I thought I'd list them here for easy reference:

BFL worsted ....................................... $22.00
Andy/Andrea  .......................................$18.00
Calcaneus .............................................$24.00
Swagger ...............................................$26.00
Soy Beautiful ........................................$21.00

Untreated BFL fiber............................. $14.00
65/35 SW Merino/silk ..........................$20.00
Untreated Merino (22 micron) ...............$14.00

I've got another wholesale order placed, and as you might have noticed (especially those of you who spin & have been closely watching the fiber I carry) the Untreated merino will be new to the shop. I'm also getting a couple new fingering weight yarns to play with, along with Swagger lace- As I play with them I'll have a couple of trial skeins up in the shop, and depending on how well they are received we might be looking at adding them as new lines for the fall!


I'm off to post today' update- I hope you have a wonderful day!

Changes around here

Hi everyone!

If you've been following my twitter, Facebook page, or Ravelry group, you know that yesterday I gave a heads up for a big announcement regarding OurHumbleCastle. Ready for it?

This week, there will be a clearance sale at Ourhumblecastle at never seen before low prices. Once the sale is over, all the yarn & fiber dyed before May of this year will be gone until the fall. The shop will be closed the day after the sale, and will re-open with new, lower prices on almost all of our products.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about why I dye yarn- about what is important to me. I haven't had as much time to pour into the business since summer started, with all the outdoor work to do on top of my regular schedule. This has really pushed me to evaluate why I do what I do. I started to dye yarn & fiber because I love having the freedom to play with color- mixing new shades, coming up with awesome color combinations, & simply watching how each yarn takes the colors differently depending on it's own personality. I continue to dye yarn & fiber because people have let me know how much they enjoy my product. I love watching projects pop up on Ravelry, and hearing tales of appreciation- such as one customer's husband saying that one of my colors was one of his favorites of all the yarn his wife has purchased- it's the best part of my job. Early in this career choice of mine, a good friend & fiber mentor gave me the advice to not undersell myself, or my product. I totally agree, and while I do honestly believe that my yarns are worth every penny of their current price, I also have decided that I'm willing to work with a lower profit margin in order to make my product more accessible. The joy of seeing people use and love my product is way more important to me than the money.

Well, fellow fiber lovers, there you have it. Thank you for your continued support as I work out the exciting future of this business, one step at a time.

~Sarah-Ashley Ortiz

Spring Fling tomorrow!

Super fast post to let everyone know about the spring fling multi vendor even that I am participating in tomorrow. Details:

SPRING FLING MULTI VENDOR EVENT

Thursday March 17th – 3:30 – 6:30

In the Cricket Ridge Office 

(4465 Cricket Ridge Drive, off Aurelius in Holt)

Lia Sophia Jewelry – Try on before you order from the new catalog; super buys on retired pieces; drawing for a free piece of jewelry.

Handpainted yarn from Sarah-Ashley (OurHumbleCastle on Etsy)– she dyes the most luscious palette of yarns in all weights. Your fingers will be itching to start a new knitting or crochet project.

Jane’s Silk Flower Arrangements – it’s springtime all year round with these lovely accent pieces.

Erin (Rosie & Peni.etsy.com) brings Crocheted Cuties and Gorgeous Gift Cards to this sale

Come and look; have a cookie; go home with something pretty and unique.

Questions? Call Sharon at 694-9036

Or email sharonslp@ameritech.net

I meant to blog about this sooner, but I've been so busy dyeing up some beautiful new yarn for tomorrow that I haven't had the time. Funny how that works eh?

FO Duet

I have a new FO to show off- my Summer Squiggle Socks. These were part of the July sock club kit from Rae's Yarn Boutique. The pattern was designed by LynnH, and the yarn is Summer Love by Rita at the Yarn Hollow. 

I had finished the first sock last summer while we were on our mini vacation as a family, but once we got home (we're talking August) Christmas knitting sort of took over. As part of my self imposed sock of the month challenge this year, I decided to use February (the shortest month) to finish up the second sock. I didn't quite make it by the end of February, but it was close. My official finish date (ends woven in and everything) was this past Friday, March 4th. 

I'm pretty happy with them. It's nice to have a second pair of hand knit socks- my first ones could use some darning.









The second FO that I get to show off is not my own. It was knit by one of my customers out of some laceweight I had in the shop back in January. She knit up a beautiful morning dew (ravelry pattern) out of a skein of  "candy mountain" single ply laceweight.

I know some people don't like pooling that much, but look at those sleeves! I love the way the colors play in them.

A few more pictures of her modeling it:

Gorgeous lace isn't it?

Her husband says that he loves the colors of the yarn that "it's the nicest you've bought!" I thought that was a great compliment. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see finished objects that people have made using what I've created. Pure bliss!

And on that note, remember the sherbet fiber I showed you in a previous post? The one on merino silk? I  gave it to a friend of mine as part of a care package a group of us put together for her. She stopped in today and showed me this:

she got 558 yards of near laceweight single out of 4 oz of fiber!

She's looking for a pattern for it- if you've got any suggestions I'll be sure to pass them along. I'm pretty sure she'll let me blog about her FO when it's done too!

That's all for tonight. Happy Tuesday!

Lights!

Lights.

My dyeing studio is in the basement, where there is no natural light. (not like it would make a difference, most of the dyeing I do is at night once DJ is asleep) I've been working with one little light bulb...

...and not only that, but that little light bulb is located behind my back as I stand at my table. I have to lean to the side to cast any light at all on the project!

I've had two sets of florescent lights above the table, but they don't turn on when I flip their switch. My wise dad suggested that I try plugging a hair dryer into the circuit to see if the problem was the power source or the bulbs. It was the power source, which actually works out nicely for me. All I needed was to rig some extension cords and plug the lights into a wall socket, and:

I have light!

The dyeing table before:

The dyeing table after:

You can see the difference- even with the camera automatically adjusting for the different light levels.

That's my tale about light.