Introducing Crazy 4 Dyeing

I've been getting requests for a hand dyed sock yarn done in unique, vivid nearly solid hues and after intense searching I came across a US hand dyer from Jefferson, Maryland, Ellie Putz of Crazy 4 Dyeing. Ellie has been playing with color for as long as she can remember, her background as a quilter helped develop her natural eye for color.

Ellie specialized her own dye technique called "Pseudo Solid," which is her way of mingling colors in a single skein, either slight variations of the same hue or a delicate mix of complimentary shades. Each hank has subtle color variations that play off one another and look especially lovely knit up in lace or in patterns with lots of texture, allowing you to create a knitted fabric with the nearly solid, or slightly variegated look, you've craved.

LuxeSock in Purple Gala

Ellie has paired this special hand dyeing technique with superior fibers and offers these two lovely yarn lines, introducing LuxeSock and BellaSock. Add a touch of luxury to your next sock or lace project with LuxeSock. This decadently soft yarn is crafted of 10% cashmere with 80% merino wool and 10% nylon. Each generous hank is put up with 400 yards, making this luxurious yarn very affordable.

BellaSock in Smile

And BellaSock is crafted of a soft and bouncy 100% superwash merino wool. It's excellent stitch definition, easy care, plus the 480 yard hank will make your sock or lace knitting projects a dream.

One skein of LuxeSock or BellaSock is enough to knit a shawlette or a pair of socks, making these yarns a great value for your money. Please enjoy a skein today.

Meet Ellie Putz of Crazy 4 Dyeing: This is an excerpt from an interview Ellie did on July 31, 2009 for the Yarn4Socks blog:

How long have you been dying yarn?
I’ve been dyeing yarn for two years now.

How did you get started?
I only started knitting a few years ago, but I have been a quilter for a long, long time. One of the compliments I always got about my quilts was my good color sense, so after buying a few hand painted yarns from Etsy, and being particularly unsatisfied with one skein that I bought that did not have even color through the skein, I thought I could do better, so I gave it a try!

What motivates you?
My grandmother taught me to sew on her old foot treadle sewing machine (which I still have). The first thing I made were some horrible looking pot holders. My grandmother was so proud of me, she made me take the pot holders to our family reunion and I sold them all for $5 a piece to various aunts and cousins (big Italian family). I couldn’t believe someone would actually pay me for something I made, especially when I thought they were ugly. Sometimes I still can’t believe it! The lessons I learned from my grandmother so many years ago about trying new things and that I could do whatever I set my mind to; these are the things that motivate me today, and I think of her every time I pull a new skein from the dyepot. She would be so proud!

Please share with us a zany or interesting thing about you. It does not have to be fiber related.
I had to get advice from my daughter on this one because I just couldn’t think of anything! So she was happy to point out a few things about me:

a) “Mom- you are a complete Trekkie. I am surprised that you haven’t named yarn after the characters on Star Trek!”

b) “You cannot swim! Remember how we always laugh at you trying to dog paddle across the pool.”

c) “You are working on rediscovering your long lost green thumb this summer. Long live zucchini!”