Starting off on the ‘Road to Rhinebeck’
Around this time last year, when I first started organizing the 2014 Rhinebeck Trunk Show, I got in touch with Maria of the Subway Knits podcast. I had just started getting into knitting podcasts, which I discovered were perfect to listen to when I wanted to work on projects away from the TV, and here was one that was produced just across the river from me in Astoria, Queens!
Maria and I first met for a delicious lunch at Taverna Kyklades,…
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Untangling: caterpillargreen yarns
When I think of the process of hand dyeing or hand painting skeins of yarn, I usually envision something fairly artistic, or sometimes I picture a mad scientist working in a lab coat. When I heard that Catherine Gamroth of caterpillargreen had used her engineering and computer science background to create a more efficient way of creating self-striping yarn, my mind went to some Rube Goldberg-esque contraption. Turns out,…
Untangling: The SkeinMinder
The knitters I know do so many amazing things when they’re not creating garments out of sticks and string. My friends include lawyers, editors, techies, teachers and at least one neuroscientist. Carrie Sundra of Alpenglow Yarn had a career designing and building electronics, until about five years ago, when she decided to do a complete about face and become a natural dyer. But Carrie didn’t leave her fascinating background far behind,…
Untangling: Eden Cottage Yarns
I first discovered Eden Cottage Yarns when I was doing a Yarn Hoars swap on Ravelry and my swap partner, the lovely muggleknitter/Cary, mentioned this new dyer she’d like to try. I headed over to the ECY website and fell in love with everything I saw. It was a wonder that the two skeins I bought (Pegasus Lace in Clematis and Titus 4ply in Dark Oak) actually made it to Cary,…
Pre-Rhinebeck Untangling: Rochelle of Lucky Lucille
Each time I visit Lucky Lucille, I’m instantly struck with the urge to take out my sewing machine and start whipping up cute 1940s-style dresses. Never mind the fact that I can’t sew a straight line to save my life, and that I consider fabric glue one of my best discoveries this year, but in the meantime, I can live vicariously through Rochelle New’s crafting blog.
Rochelle also recently took up knitting (she even created her own pattern),…
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Untangling: Queen Bee Fibers
Lexi Parisse has been on a bit of a journey since starting her career in the NYC fashion industry years ago. While working as a design and sales consultant for knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki, Lexi took a drop spindle class and fell in love with the more hands-on process — enough to leave her job and go to work on a Long Island, N.Y., fiber farm.
After becoming fully immersed in the world of sheep and wool,…
Untangling: Lakes Yarn and Fiber
Just like the semisolid skeins she dyes in the kitchen of her 100-year-old cottage in the mountains of northern Idaho, Ami Volz of Lakes Yarn and Fiber has many interesting layers. Growing up in Coeur d’Alene, a small town on the north shore of Coeur d’Alene Lake, Ami followed her grandmother, aunt and dad into nursing. When she’s not creating colors inspired by the natural beauty surrounding her in Idaho’s lake country,…
Untangling: Astral Bath Yarns
As an artist, Ridgely Schantz has long brought colors to life on paper and canvas. A few years ago, she added wool to the list, unleashing such striking and complex colorways as Famous Blue Raincoat and Scheherazade on the knitting world. (Seriously. The names of her colors — inspired by mythology, alchemy, movie titles and many other things — are almost as awesome as the colors themselves.)
Only weeks after learning to knit,…
Untangling: Berry Colorful Yarnings
We knitters tend to like to try out new hand-dyed yarns “for science.” Michelle Berry’s science background came in handy when she decided to launch Berry Colorful Yarnings.
Michelle spent several years as a dental assistant, and also helped out with her husband’s California construction company. While homeschooling the couple’s two daughters, she discovered knitting. Then, in 2011, she decided to try her hand at dyeing and,…
Untangling: That Clever Clementine
While the main goal of Indie Untangled is to keep you up to date on the latest news from your favorite yarntrepreneurs, I also want to help you get to know these talented makers a little bit better. My first “Untangling” Q&A is with Vicki of That Clever Clementine, a great friend who has been a huge supporter since I first came up with the idea for this site last year….