This is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada!
To celebrate, all yarn in my shop is currently 20% off until end of day Mountain time on October 14.
The sale is available worldwide!
There will also be a new colorway popping up at some point over the weekend so please keep an eye out for that!
I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving. Happy stitching!
That is the question. On July 9, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman sent this letter to all Etsy sellers. The gist of it is this: Etsy has decided it’s in everybody’s best interest if they prioritize sellers offering free shipping on orders of $35 or more to US buyers. This decision took effect on July 30. What it means is, if you happen to live in the United States and search for something on Etsy, the listings you’ll see first are going to be from sellers (who could be located anywhere in the world) who charge $0 on the shipping line of whatever it is you’re shopping for if that item costs $35 and up.
I really was not thrilled to get that letter. Many other sellers weren’t thrilled about it either. Here’s why.
The other day I was asked why there’s, well, non-yarn stuff in the Twitter timeline for Incyanity‘s brand account. It’s a fair question, especially for anyone who has only recently become aware of my content via my yarn, so I thought I’d take a moment to talk about it.
I’ve been running this website since 1999—which I know is basically the dawn of time as far as the internet is concerned! Back then it was on the Area 51 section of GeoCities (if anyone remembers that!) and it had a different name. Eventually, I moved to a hosted domain, adopted the title Incyanity, and here we are. From the beginning, my goal has been to create a space where I can share my interests and adventures with anyone who might care to spend time on them. I like a lot of things. As a result, over the years I’ve had a lot of different types of content on this site and undoubtedly always will! A great deal of the old stuff is archived because of course over time projects are abandoned, interests change, and so on. Nevertheless, the core of the goal remains the same: Incyanity is about my creative insanity.
This FAQ is an extended version of the one that can be found in the shop.
That’s right! I opened my yarn shop today! Woot! It’s been an amazing first few hours too, with lots of support from family, friends, and followers, and even my first few orders (omg!!). All the feels!! ♥
It took a little over a year to get here. The journey was challenging and sometimes fraught with doubt and fear, but worth it! I’ve learned a lot. There will always be more to experience and I’m looking forward to these first few steps into actually running my business!
Top row: Amethyst Sky (silk), Canyon Cascade (nylon), Petalicious (bamboo)
Bottom row: Canadian Fall (silk), Into the Blue (nylon), Amethyst Sky (bamboo)
I’ve opened with six (technically five, I guess!) colorways on three bases. My silk yarn is 4-ply 50% Grade A mulberry silk and 50% superwash merino in fingering weight. The next one is 25% nylon and 75% fine superwash merino, also in fingering weight. Then, last (but not least!) is the super fun 50% bamboo and 50% merino in sport weight. (The bamboo yarn is amazing, so squishy and soft, and shiny just like silk! I’m so glad I can have it available.) I also have some mystery yarn posted so if you like surprises you should try one of those skeins! Over time I plan to add many more colorways. After all, I have zillions of photos to choose from!
Did you notice the new logo? Yep, there’s a little bit of Incyanity rebranding going on too! My original dragon is still going to stick around the website—I’m too fond of him to let him go—but for the shop and a few other places, I’ll be using the new dragon! The shop logo morphs the dragon’s head into a camera shutter that is cradling a ball of yarn with a crochet hook and two knitting needles in it. The dragon head is the same one that I used to represent myself in my engagement announcement last fall. (Oh yes, I got married on May 24! I’ll share some photos from that adventure Soon™.)
The link for my shop is incyanity.net/shop or you can use the “Shop” link in the menu above. Now that I’ve officially launched, there will be a few layout changes around Incyanity coming soon too.
I’m using the hashtag #incyanity on both Instagram and Twitter and hope everyone who makes something out of my yarn will use it too (and tag me) because I really want to see all your pretty projects!
Shop updates will be announced here as well as on Instagram, Twitter, and in my Discord community. Be sure you’re subscribed, following me, and in my community so you don’t miss anything!
Even a little bit of progress counts!
It’s March! Time has really flown by. In a way, it’s a bit scary. I could have sworn yesterday was still December. Guess not. On the other hand, I can also look back at the last six months or so and see how far I’ve come in many areas, particularly with my mental health. There are still days where I struggle a lot, but strides have been taken, challenges are being worked on, and generally speaking I am starting to feel a lot better. My family, friends, and doctors say my improvement is noticeable, which is reassuring (especially on days when I feel as if I haven’t made any progress at all).
Progress has been made in other areas too, specifically with respect to my yarn shop and creativity. Seeing tangible results in these areas helps reinforce the strides I’m making with my health, which is great. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Here are where things are at:
I have a lot on the go! Planning my wedding, spending time with my fiancee, getting the shop open, dealing with my day job, keeping up with crochet projects, editing photos, writing, gaming. Whew! It’s a lot and I’m behind on some things (most especially the temperature blanket but also the Myst series roleplay and the photoblog of my trip to New Zealand) but despite the struggles I’m currently facing, I’m still determined to forge ahead. Here are some updates on things I’ve been working on today:
Hanks of Incyanity yarn, ready for selling!
I originally announced my new yarn venture at the end of May. Now it’s September! Time has really flown by. I’ve been working on my yarn and some folks have been asking when the store will be open, so I wanted to post an update to let everyone know where things are at.
I’ve run a home-based business before (close to 20 years ago now, yikes) but that was a whole different ball of wax compared to this! Back then I was freelance editing science fiction and fantasy novels which meant I didn’t have to worry so much about a tangible product—because the “product” I was selling was me, and all the work I did was completed via email. Having a portfolio website with testimonials and some referrals was just about all I needed. For dyeing? There has to be actual yarn! Shipping agreements! Shipping supplies! And so on and so forth. There are a lot of things I still have to take care of to make sure everything is on the up and up. But, obviously, the most important thing for customers is the yarn.
Yarn in a dyebath.
I have a lot of interests: gaming, writing, art, reading, photography…lots of stuff. On Incyanity I explore them all, and recently it’s been pretty obvious that crochet has been at the top of my list. Crochet is a hobby I didn’t expect; it came out of nowhere at Christmas in 2015 and I’ve really taken to it since then, particularly with Pod Pals and other cute amigurumi. Something else happened too: I developed a love of pretty yarn. As I started to expand into making clothing, I left acrylic behind and began buying “real” yarn, either 100% merino, or merino blended with other fibers. I’m particularly fond of merino/silk and merino/tencel.
During my trip to New Zealand last month I had the privilege of visiting a farm where a very nice lady dyes yarn. All I really wanted was to treat myself to some locally-dyed yarn while I was in the country, but she happily told me why she got started doing it… As we talked, I started to feel wheels turning in my head.
The truth is, in the last two years I’ve bought a ridiculous amount of yarn. Yarn makes me happy. Another truth? Yarn in blends and colors I really love have not been that easy to find. The dyers I buy from come close…but not always close enough.
I thought to myself, What if I dyed yarn in colors I really love?
Then I thought, How many people out there are like me? Maybe they’re looking for the same yarn I am!
When I got home, I started researching. I read so much and watched so many videos about dyeing that I started to dream about it. The more I learned, the more excited I became. Maybe I really could do this. Maybe it could become a new career path! (I’m definitely ready for a new career path.) I talked to some people, I ordered some supplies…and then, last weekend, I was finally able to test it out for myself.
Hi! I’m Cheyenne (aka Shai or Sakaane). Welcome to Incyanity! I love nature and am a proud Canadian, born and raised in Calgary. Cyan is my favorite color. Steak, nachos, and jumbo sour keys FTW. I enjoy video games, writing, crochet, and photography. Drawing? Web design? Editing? Camping? Fishing? Reading? Aquariums? Yes, those too. I probably have too many hobbies. Completely yarn obsessed!
Share your creativity with other artists, gamers, photographers, writers, and yarnists in Incyanity's Discord community. I hope to see you there!