I achieved STABLE long ago (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy). If I stopped buying yarn now I’d have enough to knit with for years. The problem is, yarn is pretty and soft and colorful, and I am absolutely not going to stop buying it. Yarn is my happy place…er, thing.
Yarn makes me joyful. I like knitting with it. I like squishing it at the yarn store. When I need to relax mentally, I look at yarn on Instagram.
That’s exactly how I found these indie dyers that I absolutely love. These dyers are so cool that I just had to share them with you.
My favorite find from last year is Mitchell’s Creations and her unicorns collection. Check out this amazing rainbow yarn:
On the left we have Drunken Unicorns and on the right, Unicorns Unite.
I love Mitchell’s Creations use of rainbows in their variegated yarn. It’s happy and fluorescent and harkens back to my 80’s childhood. Their other colors are also stunning. I picked up this set to make a fade shawl:
Left to right the colors are: Funky Cold Patina, Under the Willow Tree, Oh Marie and Crab and Corn Bisque.
I might also try Tunisian crochet for the first time and attempt this Entrelac and Key shawl. Part of the fun of buying new yarn, for me anyway, is trying to find the best pattern for it.
After the Neflix series Bridgerton came out, lots of indie dyers were inspired to make Bridgerton-themed yarns.
That’s how I ran across Teeny Button Studio and their gorgeous yarns. I gave into temptation and ordered these for myself.
The skein on the left is Most Enchanting Indeed and the skein on the right is A Worthy Suitor. I knit a lot of socks and because these have such light, delicate colors they’ll go great with a lacework pattern.
I’ve also been working my way through 52 Weeks of Socks and I thought this yarn would make a great pair of Toivoharju socks.
Speaking of socks and shawls, I really love fandom-themed colors which led me to Lady Dye Yarns. This indie dyer does tons of clubs for everything from Schitt’s Creek to Bridgerton to Anne of Green Gables. I just splurged on their Hight Tea Time Club which comes with yarn and a shawl patter, stitch markers, a shawl cuff, tea and a project bag. The yarn and pattern are a total surprise. The clubs sell out fast, but often include yarn (obviously) plus treats like stickers, stitch markers and bags.
I recently bought these two skeins from their Black Panther collection. On the left is Ruth and on the right is Lupita.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve also been thinking about this Bridgerton themed yarn called Penelope A LOT.
I typically knit with fingering weight yarn because I make a ton of shawls and socks, but my holiday knitting needs sent me in search of a nice worsted weight yarn in Christmas colors. Neighborhood Fiber Co. had some gorgeous jewel-tones in a worsted base, so I snagged them right up and made these hats.
The yarn I used for these is Organic Studio Worsted. The red hat is a heavily modified (I fucked up the pattern and improvised) Antler Toque in the colorway Station North. The green is Maldonado in the colorway Juneteeth.
Finally there’s Round Mountain Fibers. Their patterns are inspired by nature and they have a whopping five releases a month: botany, entomology, aquatic, geology and ornithology.
I especially love their aquatic colors and buy that release pretty much every month from my local yarn store. It has a lot of speckling and bright colors. It’s always fun to see the pictures that inspire the yarn as well.
Right now I’m working on a pair of basic socks in their bobtail squid colorway.
These are my socks:
Please note that if you order from these dyers (or any indie dyer) they are experiencing the same pandemic related stress and constraints as the rest of us, and the USPS is still having issues and delays. So please be patient (even though we all want our yarn right away!).
Have you find any cool indie dyers this year? Please share in the comments!
Yaaaas! Thank you for this post. I love yarn and love the STABLE acronym. That’s what I aspire to! Thanks for your recommendations! I just came across Destination Yarn (destinationyarn.com) that has space (solar system) inspired colorways (haven’t tried this store before but love the color combinations on the website). I’m also a fan of Anzula Yarns (anzula.com).
I also have achieved STABLE and yet keep buying more yarn. One of my favorites is Goosey Fibers (gooseyfibers.com). Caitlin does a lot of book, movie and TV show-inspired colorways, and has such fantastic color sense and depth.
Check out Toad Hollow and Destination Yarn.
Sigh. Check out Toad Hollow Yarn and Destination Yarn. And if you want to fix the above links, that would be great.
STABLE is most definitely achieved for me! And yes, I’m still buying yarn, though I am currently on a yarn diet. I’m only permitting myself to buy new yarn when I’ve finished an item – a cardi came off the needles yesterday, and the same should happen with a shawl today.
I have a number of indie dyers whose yarns I adore! One of my absolute favorites is DyeDianaDye (https://dyedianadye.com/ ). I also have a weak spot for Mad Scientist Yarn (absolutely love their product names, though the colors of the yarn is the most important thing for a knitter, of course) (https://madscientistyarns.com/collections/in-stock )
My favorite indie dyer is Dyetastic at https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dyetastic. I also like Primrose Yarn Co at https://primroseyarnco.com/collections
No worries Miranda – all fixed!
The beautiful colors! I don’t knit or crochet and still covet that yarn. I do have a loom my husband got me years ago that might come in handy.
I have achieved STABLE with my bead and beading supply stash already but am unable to resist – labradorite is sooo pretty, and I’m sure I need that bronze clasp…
I am not yet at STABLE, but I have bought a lot of indie yarn over the past year. I am currently knitting a shawl in two colorways inspired by the Princess Bride (Mawwige and Guilderland) from Toad Hollow yarn, and I just ordered a large amount of Lord of the Ring (and Hobbit) themed yarn from Woolberry yarns. Also, the yarn is very difficult to get, but Lolabean yarns are absolutely amazing.
Thanks! Toad Hollow has a Bridgerton collection!
Just wow. Those colors. I can’t knit to save my life, but I can admire and rejoice in all this glory. My eyes thank you.
I’m definitely at STABLE (something I have not let my husband know, though I think he suspects). I’m trying to do more out than in this year, so I can buy more, but I have to get at least that amount, if not more, out of my stash. Your post on Twitter about Teeny Button Studios’ Bridgerton colorways did not help, as I now have a set of half skeins, a set of mini-skeins, and a full skein each of Most Enchanting Indeed and A Worthy Suitor. Fortunately, I know what all are going to be used for. I just need to start knitting them.
The only thing holding me back from the Penelope yarn is that it’s DK, so I’m not sure what I’d use it for. But looking at all the pretties, I have a feeling more squishy mail is in my future.
I will take the Fifth when it comes to amount of yarn owned. I moved last year, and let’s just say that the extent of my collection became known to me… There are so many amazing yarns to try! Ancient Arts Fibre is one of my faves and I honestly feel like you can never go wrong with Koigu. Neighborhood Fiber is terrific (owner is a Black woman so extra good to support). Hedgehog Fibers is great too.
Is it okay to do a self-promotion? My book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn may be of interest….it contains a section on pooling and other tips for working with handpaints. (:
I retired at the end of last year, and this means I’ve started trying to organize the yarn I have. I’ve found some surprises – things I had entirely forgotten about. I’m pretty sure I’ve achieved STABLE level, but I am wildly attracted to all things colourful. Your post and the comments have me thinking I need to investigate! Often things sell out before I can decide to purchase, which keeps me from overspending (mostly).
Feel free to write more about fiber arts anytime!
I can’t resist buying yarn, and I am mediocre at crochet (at best) so it will likely never all be used. However, my teenage daughter is a talented crocheter and can go through yarn like a house on fire. She’s planning a senior year project that involves crocheting various wildflowers, probably for an afghan, and I’m hoping she uses up lots and lots of the odds and ends of yarn we already have. Also, it’s funny, when you have someone who crochets in the house, when people clean out their craft closets and find yard that they won’t use, they give it to you. So we have tons. Anyway, I enjoyed this post.
I am book STABLE, so I can appreciate those who have similar talents in yarn acquisition. What a lovely post, Elyse; I drooled even though I neither knit nor crochet.
I had never heard the term STABLE before, but that’s what I am in my quilting fabric.
I have a question for you yarn junkies out there: do you still want to make something with it years later after you bought it? I’ve found that with fabric, it’s definitely gone in and out of trends and looks so something I bought over ten years ago doesn’t really appeal to me now (some of it I still adore).
It seems as though you might incorporate more of your senses with yarn than fabric (the touch feel of it for instance, although there are some quilting cottons that feel better than others); I was just wondering because I actually want to destash a lot of my fabric and wasn’t sure if it would be the same with yarn.
I”ve been STABLE for a very long time.
I love those green socks, What is the name of the pattern, please, and where might I find it? Ravelry?
beautiful yarns.
Gloriamarie, the sock pattern is on Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toivoharju
Looking at new yarn (when I haven’t finished my current projects) has been a relaxing thing for me the last few months. The dyers I’ve been looking at are Naima Bond/Sister Ananse Yarn, a Black visual artist and Independent dyer in Chicago who has beautiful color ways including a few based on space/nebulas, and the other is Badsheepyarn in Alaska who also has beautiful colorists with inspiration in nature.
@Gloriamarie if you search “ Toivoharju” in Ravelry the pattern should come up. I think you can buy it solo without buying the book
I am OBSESSED with Little Skein in the Big Wool (https://www.littleskein.com/)! Her yarn is often book-themed, she has ongoing clubs based on Anne of Green Gables and Beatrix Potter, the yarn itself is ART (gorgeous hand-painted watercolor-like speckles that make the yarn look semi-solid from far away but rich and complex close-up. All of her yarn skeins and clubs are my favorite pandemic purchases. She’s also very progressive, which I love, and kind in all my interactions with her.
Also want to double down on the awesomeness of Neighborhood Fiber Co (RECENTLY BOUGHT BY MADAM VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS – https://mailchi.mp/909e4c272552/vp-harris-buys-her-yarn?e=cea489dd7c) and their gorgeous unique colors and quick shipping. Big fan as well of Miss Babs, La Bien Aimée (despite being in Paris, this INCREDIBLE yarn is as inexpensive to buy from them directly as from any American yarn shop and they have occasional great sales, and the owner is an Asian woman and their patterns are SIZE INCLUSIVE and I love it) (https://www.labienaimee.com/) and tiny Indie dyers Speckled Finch Studios (https://speckledfinchstudios.com) and Meg & Co (https://www.megsandco.com/).
I may have finally acknowledged that knitting is not my hobby, yarn buying is
Thank you, @Elyse… it is not as though I need another sock pattern…LOL… WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT GOES.
In reply to to spinster.revival, there is a bit more of the “fashion” aspect to fabric. Then again, a quilter friend of mine has designed a whole raft of new quilts inspired by some of her oldest fabrics. Here’s a link, if you would like to see them:
http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/lapquilts.cfm
@GHN Thanks. I found it, bought it, and have downloaded it.
My favorite indie dyer company is Expression Fiber Arts.
Their yarn is great, I like their patterns, and the tutorials on YouTube helped me learn how to crochet.
@Liz, My MIL used to knit hats for preemies to donate to her local hospital. Like your daughter, sometimes she would open the door and find a donation from someone – yarn found when cleaning out an attic or other decluttering. Her challenge was to combine colors and weights in an attractive manner. Sometimes her combinations were seasonal, such as orange and black before Halloween.
Your daughter’s senior year project sounds amazing, if she can crochet flowers that are identifiable as specific wildflowers.
My favorite yarn was Mountain Colors’ huckleberry, https://www.mountaincolors.com/. My MIL knit me a tunic length sweater, and nothing keeps one warm in the winter the way a sweater knit with love does!