a little bit about Eclipse colourways 🌑
If you are new to Viola yarns, you may not know what Eclipse colourways are. Even if you are not new to Viola yarns, you may still be puzzled when we throw up 10 different Eclipse colourways in an update. I don't blame you.
Next week's update will be chalk a block with Eclipses, and it's time for a proper explaination of just what on earth an Eclipse colourway is. So here we go...
Eclipse colourways often are my favourites. They are, essentially, a colourway that cannot be reproduced. It's a one-time, special event, never to be seen again colour that at least one of us here at VIOLA HQ thinks is the best. They spring into existance rather more often than a solar eclipse for a number of different reasons...
- Experimenting with new colourway ideas. Creating a new colourway is a long and drawn out process. It takes a lot of trial and error to get to the finished product. Along the way, lots of colours are created that are just a little too green or pink or, you get the idea. These may be similar to a future colourway, but won't be dyed again.
- Overdyeing a batch that just wasn't right. This happens more often than you might think, and it truly makes the best colours. We are super duper picky about missplaced blobs of dye and light spots that can appear in skeins (due to ties pinching the skein when it's dyeing). Any skeins that don't make the cut are set aside to be overdyed, and just about always become my new favourites.
- someone has been a bit too heavy handed...or not heavy handed enough with mixing dyes and accidentally created something that's awesome...but not an existing colourway.
These are the main reasons why Eclipse colourways appear in shop updates. We tend to add many Eclipses at once because we've been saving up skeins for overdyeing and their turn has at last come up in the dyeing rotation.
I am sorry that I cannot turn my favourite Eclipse colourways into repeatable colors. On the other hand, I love the magic of experimenting, taking a chance on a wacky combination of dyes. It's so exciting to wait and wonder how a certain overdye will turn out, and through this experimenting we have discovered so many new colour ideas and techniques. I dye yarn to create beautiful colours that have meaning, and I don't mind if I can't figure out how to dye them exactly the same again next time. Viola is, and has always been about creativity. Even the oldest colourways that I've dyed 1000s of times change from season to season, and I like things that way.
So, for anyone who has been frustrated, or confused by Eclipse colourways, I hope that this helps to clarify why they exist. We didn't just get bored of coming up with colour names, and we're not just flinging dye around with our eyes closed either. They are a crucial part of the process of developing new colourways. Sometimes, they're just about appreciating a good thing when it happens.
If you missed out on last week's newsletter, I'll be updating the shop on November 21st @ 4pm EST. I sent out a little update on our progress with the new online shop. We have made some improvements, but there are a few things that are going to take a little more coding muscle...and time. Here's what to expect on the 21st...
- item quantities CANNOT be displayed on the shop page. This means, you'll have to click on each individual product page to find out the quantity in stock.
- if an item becomes sold out while it is in your shopping cart it cannot be automatically removed from your cart. You will have to remove it manually before being able to check out. This is a bummer, and we're still working on it. In the mean time, take comfort in the fact that we will be offering combined shipping as usual. So check out as many times as you need to and sit tight because we will ship all your orders together and send a refund for overages paid on shipping.
- Prior to the update, the shop page will be password protected. Don't panic. This is so that we can make last minute edits and double check that things are (really, really) working properly before the shopping begins. At 4pm, we'll remove the password and the shop will be visible to everyone.
- When an item becomes sold out, it will be displayed loud and clear on the shop main page to save you clicking on it and wasting precious time.
- the shop will not be in test mode 😉
Stay tuned for the usual previews leading up to the update.
Emily xo