Tisbury Sock - Mossy

Where do you ship to?

We ship anywhere Canada Post can ship to. All shipping is tracked, and you will be provided with a tracking number once your order is ready to ship.

Please note there are extended delivery windows for custom ordered products and Ashford products that are not normally kept in stock.

Do you offer free shipping?

We now offer free shipping to Canada and USA for orders over $200.

I don't see gauge information anywhere, do you provide this?

We do not provide gauge information for a few reasons:

• Tension can vary greatly between people, and the same needle or hook size can result in significantly different gauge swatches. 
• The same yarn in different patterns could use much different gauge -  a drapey, lacy shawl will use a much looser gauge than a pair of socks, even though both may call for the same yarn.

Do I need to wind my yarn? How do I wind it?

Please visit THIS LINK for more info.

Do you use dye lots?

While each skein is considered unique, we have been including a manufacturing code on yarn manufactured since about November 2021. These codes mean that the yarn was all dyed at the same time, so anything influencing the final product, such as water (which can sometimes change dye colour) or technique should be consistent. 

This DOES NOT mean each skein will work up the same - we highly recommend changing skeins every 2 or so rows when using multiple skeins in a project to ensure the best blending.

Some skeins may have a coloured dot or may be missing the manufacturing code - this is because when we changed our labels in September 2022, it was too cumbersome to input each code. To simplify the process, if there were any yarns from a different dye lot than the majority, we added a coloured dot. We may also do this if we need to replace damaged labels.

How do I care for my hand dyed yarn?

Please visit THIS LINK for more info.

Do you make up samples of your colourways?

We don't and there are several reasons for this:
1. The cost associated with doing this would cause the costs of  products to go up. We have focused on creating a large variety of colourways on a large variety of bases, but this means the batches are often small, usually only 4-8 skeins of a new colour are dyed at one time. We simply can't afford to remove a skein for each new colourway/base combination to make into samples, even with volunteers knitting the samples (we don't have the time).

2. Factors such as gauge, needle size, circumference/width of project, starting point on the yarn, and knitting in the round versus knitting flat will affect how the colours may pool, especially with colourways that have a high likelihood of pooling. Different stitches will also affect the outcome. 

3. As each batch, and even each skein within a batch, is unique to some degree, the sample done may differ from other skeins of the same colourway. This is why it's recommended to alternate skeins every few rows when using hand dyed yarns (if using more than one skein).

If you are uncertain about how to "read" a skein, feel free to send us a message. I've also included a generalization of how the colourway should behave in each listing: tonal, variegated, pooling, and gradient. We also periodically teach a class called "Working With Hand Dyed Yarns" which will help you know what to look for when buying hand dyed yarn, and how to use up skeins that might not have worked up the way you anticipated.

Are custom orders available?

Most repeatable colourways have an option to custom order 3, 4, or 5 skeins, so you can order the quantity needed (for example if you needed 9 skeins, you could order one each of the 4 and 5 skein options, or three of the 3 skein option).

We do custom orders of several colourways. This allows you to request the right number of skeins you need for your project, or select a different base than what is currently ready to ship. Please note that we do not offer custom colour requests nor will we try to reproduce another dyer's yarn.

Dyed to order and custom orders may take between 4-6 weeks to be ready to ship out since yarn or dyes may also need to be ordered. There are also periods of time where we can't add any additional dyeing work to our schedule - in this case, we put a notice up on the home page of the website sating when dyed to order and custom orders will resume.

Click on THIS LINK for more information about custom dyeing.

How often are shop updates?

Shop updates are every other Friday, at 12 pm mountain time, which is when we release any new yarn. We also restock as freshly dyed yarn becomes available - if there is something you are looking for that we don't have enough stock in, you can opt to receive an email when the item is back in stock - this also lets us know that someone is waiting for it to be restocked, so we might be able to bump the item up in our dyeing schedule.

Want early access to brand new yarn? Subscribe to our newsletter, and see and purchase the new items from 6 am to noon before everyone else can!

Do you do gradients or self striping yarns? What about countdown calendars?

Not yet, but there are plans for this in the future! Keep an eye on my social media accounts or sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know when these are available. Newsletter signup is at the bottom right of each page of this website.

Washing & Care Instructions

Handwashing with a small amount of gentle handwashing liquid in cool to cold water is recommended to keep your items looking their best:

• Add the handwashing liquid to cool water and gently mix
• Add your item, gently swish it in the wash
• Allow to sit for 15 minutes
• Drain wash, and rinse in cold water if desired (some handwashing liquid, such as Soak, doses not need to be rinsed
• Do not wring excess water out, instead, gently squeeze to get most of the water out and then roll in a towel to remove more
• Block your item if desired.

Superwash can go in the laundry machines, but will hold up better with hand washing.

We do our best to remove any excess dyes, however, our washing conditions and yours may differ. If you are worried about colour bleeding, here's what you need to know:

• Animal fibres, nylon, and silk is dyed using hot water and an acid .
• Dyes have varying levels of colorfastness. Some colours such as turquoise, reds, and hot pinks/purples are known to be troublesome.
• The heat helps to move the dye, the acid helps to lock the dye in place.
• if your wash is too warm and/or too alkaline, some dye may break it's bond with the fibre and release into the water.
• Cool to cold water helps prevent this, but adding an acid (we recommend a generous pouring of vinegar, about 1/4 cup for a bathroom sink sized wash) will really help to keep it in place.
• If you are concerned about how colour work will be affected, you can wash the skein with your usual method before using it to be sure. Untwist the skein, tie a contrasting string around the loop to hold it (or use a zip tie or shower curtain ring), and wash, holding the loop to keep the yarn controlled. If you notice no bleeding, you are good to go. If you notice some, repeat the wash with vinegar added to the wash and rinse to see what happens.

Store your yarn in a place where animals and bugs cannot get to it, and away from sunlight, which over time may fade some colours.

Hand dyed yarn will need to be wound into a ball or cake before use. There are several methods available, and there are multiple videos available on YouTube to show the various options and how they are used.

Most* of our yarn is made into a skein by us, and is in two-three sections, held together with 2-4 figure 8 ties (figure 1), with the end and beginning of the skein tied together (figure 2).

Figure 1 - A figure 8 tie, showing the three sections the skein was wound in.

Figure 2 - Knot tying beginning and end of skein together.

To start,  open your skein and make sure no sections are crossing over (figure 3), find the beginning and end of skein knot (usually this is at the end of the skein that was covered by the loop that holds the twist in place), and place on a swift with the knot facing outwards and the figure 8 ties still in place (figure 4).

Figure 3 - A section is crossed over another. You will need to straiten it out so it looks like Figure 1.

Figure 4 - The yarn placed perfectly on the swift.

Have a look at your skein - everything should be lined up nicely. If you see anything that is twisted funny (figures 5 & 6), now is the time to fix it before cutting the figure 8 ties.

Figure 5 - Notice the twist in the entire skein at the upper right and lower left.

Figure 6 - Notice that the upper section is twisted at the peg closest to the camera.

Locate the beginning and end of skein knot, making sure it isn't crossed under any other yarn, and cut.  Try unwinding from one end for several rotations of the swift. If it unwinds smoothly (figure 7), you likely have the end that was wound on the skein last, and is the best end to start with. If it seems to catch from underneath other strands (figure 8), wind it back onto the swift at either the bottom or top (so it's not going to overlap anything), and try the other end.  

Figure 7 - The yarn is pulling smoothly and not catching on other strands.

Figure 8 - The yarn is catching on other yarn as it is coming out from the inside of the skein out.

If neither end is winding off nicely, you likely have a section that is twisted on the swift or may just have it on the swift too tightly or too loosely. Have a look at your set up, and adjust what's needed. 

If your skein is too large for your swift, you just need to increase the circumference of your swift - on an umbrella swift, try wrapping a towel around the mid-section to make it bigger; on an Amish-style swift, you can wrap the pegs with washcloths or use a cut up pool noodle over the pegs.

If you're using a winder we recommend using a slight bit of tension, just enough to the tension even on the cake (figure 9). Use a steady pace - it's not a race. Uneven tension can result in "yarn barf" from the centre of the cake if you decide you want to pull from the centre while using the yarn - when in doubt, pull from the outside. 

Figure 9 - Just a gentle hold of the yarn - as much pressure as if you were holding a baby bird.

*Mill-wound skeins are not wound into sections and usually one of the figure 8 ties is made using the beginning and the end of the skein along with another figure 8 tie. Place your skein on the swift so that the tension around the skein is an even as possible - most will wound skeins have a smaller circumference inside the skein than on the outside, as the yarn stacks on itself more while being wound.