We’re so excited to welcome Skein to Doodlebug! Hand dyed by the lovely Kristen in Australia, Skein is known for beautiful, unique color combinations and luxury bases. We are currently carrying bases. Top Draw Sock is a wonderfully soft Merino and Nylon blend, perfect for soft yet durable socks. Merino Cashmere Fingering is an incredibly soft 80% Merino, 20% Cashmere blend that is oh, so soft. Perfect for luxurious socks, shawls and lightweight sweaters. The silk content of the Merino/Silk Sport makes this yarn glow as if lit from within. I had a chance to talk with Kristen about her life as a yarnie……..
How did you get started? It all began about 3 years ago with a fun dying experiment using Kool Aid and from there quickly grew into a genuine interest. I was smitten right from the beginning and, after buying some professional acid dyes, started experimenting with application techniques as well as colour combinations. I found that there was not a lot written about how to dye yarns so most of my techniques have been rather creatively ‘invented’, but they work for me. Anyhow, after about a year of experimentation I realized how much hand-dyed yarn I had accrued and began thinking of selling on-line, and that was when the idea for Skein began. Since then I havent looked back.
How do you create new colors? What is your inspiration? Inspiration comes from everywhere! I love photography and images, so some of my colour ideas come from art works or images in magazine or on-line. I also find a lot of inspiration comes from the environment around me, simple things like moss on a rock or grafiti on a wall, just simple things that all of a sudden trigger a response in my brain which scream colourway. Sometimes I get obsessed with a certain colour and start thinking of all the different combinations this colour might look good in. It’s funny because then I see this colour everywhere and in everything and that’s when I head to the dye studio and start my experimentation
Your bases are so lovely. How do you select them? I always select yarn bases that I would want to use, so they must be lovely and soft, high quality yarns with an interesting blend of fiber. I think its important to offer a good selection of yarn types and weights as well, something for everyone. I am in the process of having yarns custom spun, so these new yarns will be exclusive to Skein, which is really exciting.
What makes Skein unique? I think what makes Skein unique are the colourways, people are really drawn towards the unique combinations of colour found in the Skein colourways. For instance the semi-solid colourways are dyed in layers which give the finished fabric depth and interest, and the variegated colourways blend well in a finished fabric, even though contrasting colours are dyed together, the colours have a ‘dappled’ appearance which looks interesting without being overpowering.
Do you have any tips for working with multicolored and variegated yarns? Its good to know what projects work with variegated yarn because, lets face it sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t, it all depends on stitch pattern and design and the type of variegated yarn you have (ie. short or long colour repeats). An excellent resource is ‘Lorna Miser’s Guide to Hand-Dyed Yarns’, also check other peoples projects on Ravelry by using the yarn search. But I say, just go for it! Cast on a swatch and see what you think, you’ll know if its not meant to be, and if you don’t like it you can always rip it and try something different.
What’s your average day like? Busy! He-he! I get up around 7AM and check my emails while having breakfast. I then either head to the Post office to drop off orders or straight to the studio and start preparing the yarns and mixing the dyes for that day. I tend to do all my dying in the morning and finish by early afternoon and, after I’ve packed up/ cleaned the studio and had lunch, I either put together orders, label and skein up yarns, put together advertising banners, photograph yarns…there is always something to do! Im currently working on my new website, so that takes up most of my evenings. I usually work 6 days a week and around 10-12 hours per day, sometimes more, its a lot of work but I LOVE it, I really do.
What’s your favorite thing about your job? Anything you wish you could delegate to someone else? Favorite thing is dying the yarns, I absolutely love the creative process involved with dying. I’m actually very keen to try some natural dyes, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve also met some really lovely people as well, both customers and people involved in the fiber arts world…seriously the knitting/fiber arts community is just the best!
I could happily delegate bookkeeping, its something I always put off, even though I know I shouldn’t, its the least fun part about my job.
Kristen, thank you you so much for giving us all a glimpse of your creative process and your world of color! I can’t wait to start working with these beautiful yarns and I hope you all enjoy them as much as we do.
