Fiber Artist Friday: Ray from Knitivity

Today’s Fiber artist is Ray Whiting from Knitivity.com. I hadn’t heard of Ray before Lisa suggested him for a feature, but I have since become very glad that she has. Not only is he a talented dyer who runs a great shop, but he also has had the life altering experience of living through hurricane Katrina.

He kept a journal throughout the event and it’s posted here. Warning, don’t start reading this unless you have some time on your hands. It’s not short but it is very compelling and poignant.

Knitivity itself has some very interesting features, for instance it has the only superwash lace weight yarn I’ve ever seen. (And now that I’ve seen, I seem to have developed a burning desire to own- such is the life of a yarn addict.) He dyes all of his yarns in really intriguing colorways; everything from Dirty Mechanic to Cats Paw Nebula. He also dyes to match artwork and photographs. You have to see the results – amazing!

Another feature that I haven’t seen before Knitivity is Dicey Knitting which is basically implementing special dice instead of a pattern. This sounds like it could be a lot of fun, but you have to be committed to it. I’m a control freak so it would take a lot of effort for me to just sit back and let the dice tell me what to do, but you know, I think I would enjoy the process.

Ray also supports local charity, and if you have a local charity you knit (or crochet) for and you are wondering if you could get a discount or bulk deal on some of your supplies, check back later on, because there are details during the interview.

Now to finish off the summary of this great guy and his lovely store, what kind of shopper would I be if I didn’t share some of the deals??

I really enjoy this stocking, it just looks like so much fun! Ray knit this stocking personally and is giving it away. To win the contest all you have to do is either buy 2 skeins of sock or lace *or* $50 worth of stuff.

The reason you only have to buy 2 skeins of sock or lace yarn, is that the 2 will no longer put you over the $50 mark because they’ve been discounted $3!

And… if you buy a skein or more of “Dura-lace yarn” (that’s the superwash laceweight I was talking about before) you can get the pattern for the Limberlost Trails Shawl free!

P.S Remember to check us out at 6pm when I have a Q&A with Ray himself!

Tags: dye, fiber artist, knitivity, ray, sale, yarn