This is the fourth in a series of interviews with the fabulous sponsors of the 2015 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.
While there’s no shortage of indie dyers you can buy from online, there’s really no replacement for a great local yarn shop — especially if they have a fantastic selection of hand-dyed yarn. Susan Post opened A Good Yarn Sarasota in Florida in 2009 and she’s done some unique collaborations. Some of her shop’s exclusive colorways — dyed by such indies as Dream in Color, Handmaiden, Lorna’s Laces, Sweet Georgia and Zen Yarn Garden — are inspired by underwater photograps that Susan’s husband, Murray, takes while traveling (it’s a tough job — in the description for the shop’s Sea Slug Glitter Sock, he mentions making 21 dives and taking nearly 2,000 photos to get just the right one of a pink, orange and black flatworm).
Here, Susan tells us a little more about how she started her LYS and about the shop exclusives:
Tell me how you came to open A Good Yarn.
I always wanted to own my own business and an opportunity presented itself.
What did you do before you became a yarn shop owner?
I was a stay-at-home mom raising three children. I have a degree in marketing from the University of Arizona and when the youngest was in high school I started to think about what I might want to do when he left. I went to work at a couple of LYSs, but found they didn’t carry the kinds of yarns I wanted to knit with. I was ordering yarn online. I started to think I couldn’t be the only knitter in Sarasota who felt that way.
How did you decide to turn your husband Murray’s underwater photographs into yarn colorways?
His pictures are beautiful, and I was looking for a way to make us unique.
What is the process like for developing the custom colors?
We send a picture to one of many dyers and ask them to come up with a color. They will usually send me a sample, from which we might tweak.
Are there plans for custom colors based on other photographs?
Strictly underwater or marine life.
Are there any indie dyers you’re particularly interested in collaborating with?
I love them all. We keep expanding to include new ones.
When and how did you learn to knit?
I learned to knit in high school while volunteering after school in an assisited living facility.
Who are some of your favorite designers?
Olga, Shellie Anderson, Romi Hill… so many.
Do you enjoy any other crafts in addition to knitting?
I have quilted and done needlepoint. Still love them both.
