She's Nude!

Stevanie named this one after a favorite Radiohead song.  And what a perfect summer look and sound!  I think berries eaten by the pool while listening to some Radiohead--in a knit bikini of course!
How's that for a title;)  Here is a sneak peek of our new colorway for Sock Summit--

Fleece to Foot Challenge Sponsors

We are getting super excited about Sock Summit!!  There is a huge pile of yarn to be reskeined at the dyeworks.  We have lots of buttons to hand out.  We are waiting on our team t-shirts to come back for the Fleece 2 Foot challenge:)  We have raised $500 so far for the American Heart Association!!  So excited about that.  Sock Summit is already a success and it hasn't even started yet.  Be sure to visit our sponsors at their Sock Summit booths and say thank you for the good they are doing.  Don't worry, you can help too.  Make a donation and let us know.  Your name goes in a drawing to be held after SS.  Your get some swag from Summit and us.

Twisted--#201&300
Paradise Fibers--#623, 625, 627, 722, 724, 726
Gardiner Yarn Works--#604
Lavender Sheep--#604

Amy Sacks Eyewear Event

Looking for something to do this weekend?  Pico Accuardi Dyeworks has teamed up with Amy Sacks eyewear for a fun party in downtown Portland!

Do you love animals? yarn? kick-ass glasses? Mingling with amazing people? Come and try on some Amy Sacks eyewear while sampling the newest Pico Accuardi yarns and colorways. Grab a glass of wine and hop into the photo booth to preview your new look.
Amy Sacks Eyewear directly supports the Pixie Project, providing food, shelter and medical care to animals in need. Pico Accuardi Dyeworks, a mainly natural dyeworks, provides spinning, weaving and needlework classes in the Portland area as well as beautifully dyed yarns and fibers worldwide.

Ann Sacks Offices
1532 SW Morrison Ste. 1000
Portland, Oregon
Saturday, July 16, 6-8pm

Fleece to Foot

Pico Accuardi Dyeworks has a team for the Fleece to Foot spinning/knitting challenge during Sock Summit!!  Team Spin U will be raising money for the American Heart Association.  That's right, the prize is $300 for a charity of your choice.  But you know us--we couldn't leave it there!  We are gathering sponsors so that we can raise even more money for the AHA.  So far Twisted and Paradise Fibers are on board!!  You can be too;)  Donate to the American Heart Association and leave us a comment here with how much so we can tally our total.  Even $1 donated helps their research.  This is a number #1 killer in our society.  And if you donate your name will go into a drawing for yarn prizes!!  At the end of Sock Summit we will draw some names for fabulous prizes.  Stevanie has been creating an entire line of red colorways that will be unveiled at Sock Summit.  They are beautious!

The Kickstarter project

We are creating a small publishing (miniature really) branch of Pico Accuardi Dyeworks.  PAD Publications is publishing a 2012 Knitters Datebook themed "Created in Oregon".  You can see the front cover on our website.  We are using what we've learned through creating the calendar to publish a book that has been milling around in Deb's head and her notebook for several years.  We are moving forward on the creation of this project, but we really need your support.  We have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds we need to pay a layout artist, a professional photographer and to keep the printing in North America.  Ideally, we want to print right here is Portland.  That definitely costs a lot more, but it supports a local company and keeps the creation footprint small.
This book will happen with or without the Kickstarter funds, but it takes so much stress off of the Dyeworks and the book will be of higher quality.  Plus it will be out by early Spring!!  Remember that with Kickstarter it is all or nothing.  So tell all your friends, relatives and strangers on the street.  lol
And just check out that site in general.  There are some amazing projects out there!  Such creative people out there in the world.  I love that this site exists to give us a chance to find them all.
 The photo is a swatch for a blanket that will be in the book.

Already July!?!

Last month was lost in trade show, fiber show and working bliss:)  So here we are into July already.  And with July we have just finished round two of our Community Sock Club (round three to start in the fall).  Our total focus is now on Sock Summit!!  Our yarns will be in the Twisted booths (#201 & #300) and so will we throughout the weekend.  You can also find Deb teaching on Saturday afternoon and there will be a PAD "Spin U" team for the Fleece to Foot challenge on Sunday.  We are super excited about the challenge.  The charity we will be raising money for is The American Heart Association.  Our goal is $1000.  Keep checking back here at the blog.  We will have our donation button up soon!  Every dollar helps.  And you know there will have to be incentives;)
Here is a pretty little colorway that you will be able to find at Sock Summit this year--

Meet Gianni

We loooove our new Wool/Alpaca Aran weight yarn!  It feels so light weight for a heavier yarn.  It has 164 yd and is cabled for an interesting look in your knits.  Deb already has a mitten design in the works.  This yarn will be great for Fall sweaters, hats, blankets.  We can't wait to see what you all come up with:)  And who is Gianni?  There are two really.  Deb has a friend in Italy named Gianni that is a wonderful man.  A free spirit that works hard in his friends wineries then is off to ride his moto guzzi around Argentina or Chili during the off season with a scarf flying in the breeze.
However, a Jonny that is closer to home is Stevanie's oldest son.  This Jonny would love to be off on that moto guzzi, but right now he is finishing high school and is a huge help to us in the dyeworks!
Our Aran weight is shown in a new colorway--Patricia--