I am sure most knitters know the situation: you decided on a great pattern for your next sweater and have found your dream yarn and are ready to order. Oh no, there are only four skeins left in stock, but you need six for your sweater.
To prevent exactly this situation, here at SkillfullyTangled you can order as many skeins as you need, thanks to the concept called “dye to order”.
Now, before we go any further: apart from shipping times, nothing changes for you as a customer when you buy dye-to-order yarn! You put as many skeins as you need in your cart and check out, and that’s it. If you’re curious how it works behind the scenes, read on.
How does dye to order work?
I usually have most of the colorways of a new collection in stock on the more popular bases (such as Merino Fingering or DK) but sometimes you might need more of a certain yarn than what I have in stock, or you would like it on a more unusual yarn base (like Suri Alpaca).
Let’s see how it works with a little example: Sophie wants seven skeins of Occamy on Merino DK and there are only three in stock. Sophie puts seven skeins into her cart and heads to checkout. There she sees a message noting that because she has some dye-to-order products in her cart, her order will ship in 5-10 business days. Sophie is okay with that and completes her order.
Once I receive the order I plan it into my dye schedule. I dye the seven skeins of Merino DK for Sophie and let them dry. Once everything is ready, the order is packaged and on its way to Sophie. And even though I already had three skeins of Occamy in stock, I still dye the full seven skeins that Sophie ordered in one batch. This is to make sure the yarn you receive is as consistent as possible.
Can I order as much as I want of any Yarn?
There’s no limit on how many skeins you can order, so go nuts! However, for large orders, it may take longer than 5-10 days until it’s ready. If that’s the case I will be in touch with you.
Quick note: If you are looking to buy wholesale, please get in touch via email or contact form.
In general, dye to order is only available on newer collections. There are also certain special collections that are only available on a very limited number of bases, for example, the Yak collection which was specifically conceived to work with the naturally grey yak base so it’s only available on that specific base.
AVailable Yarn Bases
Colorways of newer collections can be ordered on the following yarn bases:
- Merino Fingering
- Classic Sock
- Merino Sport
- Merino DK
- Merino Aran
- Merino Chunky
- Suri Alpaca
- Kid Silk Lace
You can find more details about all the yarn bases on this Yarn Bases overview page.
If you are looking for a different yarn (maybe a nice cashmere?), let me know via email or contact form.
What’s the Benefit Of dye to Order?
Time and (storage) space are my most precious resources, and since I, unfortunately, don’t have a Tardis1) I only keep a small number of skeins in stock. Having a small inventory of popular yarns covers most orders while the dye-to-order part fulfills the more niche requests so knitters and crocheters can get exactly what and how much they want.
Questions?
Any question about dye to order? Leave me a comment below!