This is the fourth in a series of blog posts featuring the fabulous sponsors of Indie Untangled, taking place on October 18, 2024, in person in Saugerties, NY, and online. In-person tickets are available and selling fast! You can also register for the free online event here.
Debbie of Murky Depths Dyeworks has been dyeing yarn since early 2018 and joined us for her first Indie Untangled a year later. She recently expanded her product line to include fiber — despite vowing never to learn to spin! — and non-Superwash yarn.
Learn more about this expansion that will be debuting at this year’s show.
Why did you decide to start dyeing fiber?
I promised myself I would never, ever start spinning (no more yarn I don’t have time to knit), but a dear friend brought her little Electric Eel Nano e-spinner over and I was instantly hooked. I immediately purchased my own with the justification I could eventually start dyeing fiber to sell. Sort of the opposite of monetizing my hobby, it was more like picking up a new hobby by telling myself I could monetize it. Now if I could figure out a reason to find time to use the three knitting machines sitting untouched for year!
What kind of fiber are you offering?
I’m dyeing all combed top and for the Indie Untangled trunk show I’ll be bringing all non-Superwash bases. BFL, Targhee, Polwarth with silk and some Rambouillet. Everything will be offered in 4 oz. braids.
How are your hand-dyed colors different on yarn vs. fiber?
I’m doing something a little different as a fiber dyer. Rather than hand painting, or dropping dry dye powder on my fiber in a dye pot, I’m mimicking some of my favorite variegated yarn colors. I’m immersion dyeing using four to six different custom color formulas, and letting the colors mingle and overlap. When spun up, while they aren’t a direct mirror of my matching yarns, they come surprisingly close. It’s more like the yarns I’ve been dyeing for years, with my emphasis on optical blending, or what I like to call a wall of color, have been a foreshadowing of the spinner I didn’t know I’d become.
Tell me about the breed-specific, non-Superwash yarn you’ve started offering.
I’m debuting my first custom-milled yarn, a 3-ply Cormo non-Superwash sportweight. The yarn was processed and milled in Wyoming, from flocks raised in Wyoming and Montana. I’m super happy with how it came out — it’s nice and plump, next-to-skin soft while still being robust, and has really great stitch definition. As a non-Superwash, it’s most suited to solids, so I’m having fun mixing up a range of colors for it and throwing in a few old favorites as well.
