We Interview Lilypond Yarns

As we recently had a fresh delivery of gorgeous locally-hand-dyed Lilypond Yarns in, we though we’d ask Fiona and Abby a few questions about their yarn, their inspirations and their brand.

Firstly how long have you been dyeing your own yarn for and what got you started?

Fiona and I have been friends for many years and both love craft. I spotted a yarn dyeing workshop at one of our local yarn shops and asked her if she would be interested in attending with me. She said yes and that is really where it all started, it was like a lightbulb moment for both of us as we both loved it so much! We started dyeing yarn simply for ourselves until our stashes started becoming unmanageable! It was at this point that we decided to try and sell some of it simply to de-stash. Fiona had experience of running an Etsy shop so we set one up for this purpose. We were surprised at the response and wondered if there may be a business opportunity there hence…Lilypond Yarns was born!

What’s behind the name “Lilypond Yarns?”

Lilypond Yarns is so named as one of us lives in Lilypond Lane! It’s a lovely name and actually will be the future address of the business as we are having a dye studio built on the premises.

We know you’re local ladies, but tell us a little bit about where you live. Does it inspire any of your colourways?

We both live on the outskirts of Exeter and own dogs which means lots of walks in the surrounding countryside. We are also inspired by the Devon coastline and Fiona spends quite a bit of time on the North Cornish coast. All these lovely views inspire a lot of our colours.

What other inspirations do you have for your shades?

We are inspired by the changing seasons and tend to dye new batches of yarn to welcome in the new season. Sometimes we have no plans when dyeing so music and our moods play a part in what we produce.

How do you choose your lovely yarn bases, and what are your personal favourites to knit with?

This was down to experience really, we have tried various different yarn bases. Our suppliers have such a wide range it was very difficult to choose what we considered to be the nicest and most saleable. We have ended up with a mix of bases we prefer to knit with ourselves as we don’t like to sell anything without trying it out first. Sometimes we will try new yarn bases because there is a pattern on Ravelry we want to try or any other pattern of interest to us. We love knitting with high twist yarn because the stitch definition shows off hand dyed yarn beautifully. We also love our DK superwash merino as it’s a pleasure to knit with and so soft to wear.

How do you think up the names for them?

That is easy, Abby is bonkers! Plus a lot of them come from the objects/situations/views which inspired us to dye the yarn in the beginning.

What’s your favourite thing to knit, and what would be your dream project/colourway combination?

Fiona loves to knit sweaters and shawls whereas Abby prefers smaller projects like hats, one skein shawls and socks. Fiona’s dream project would be a cabled jumper dress held with a beautiful suri silk alpaca or mohair and it would be in a blue or dark red combination. Abby is a lover of neutrals. We are planning to knit the same thing for our next projects – the Weekender sweater by Andrea Mowry, as a little knit along through the Autumn.

What are your hopes for the future of your Lilypond Yarns?

As mentioned earlier we are having a dye studio built. We have been expanding our business over the last few months and are still expanding. The dream is to concentrate on Lilypond Yarns as full time jobs and a enjoy a wonderful crafty life!

Well, thank you for answering all our questions and we hope your yarny dreams come true! The skeins have certainly been a hit in the shop.

We’re currently stocking a number of shades in their Merino/Silk blend which has a beautiful glow to it. If you’d like to buy some, just pop into the shop or give us a call on 01626 836203.

Spin A Yarn talks to….Lorna’s Laces

Lorna’s Laces are the newest addition to the shelves of Spin A Yarn. Joyce chose their hand-dyed Shepherd’s Sock range as she loved how their fresh, bright and contemporary range of colourways shine on their beautiful quality sock yarn.

LORNA'S LACES

We know this company is new to many of you, so we asked owner Beth a few questions – and hope you enjoy her replies!

1) How did Lorna’s Laces come about – how did you get into yarn dyeing? How many people now work with you?
Lorna’s Laces began life on a small hobby farm in California in the 1990’s. The original owner had a couple of sheep and a few angora rabbits whose wool she spun and dyed.

As time went on, she began buying commercially available yarn and dyeing it for her local market. And people loved it! Slowly but surely, the yarn became more well known and the company grew. But, her true love was designing patterns rather than dyeing yarn, so she decided to sell the company. That’s where I come in.

I worked for many years in publishing. It was a great job, but I knew there was something missing, passion. I left that job in 2000 and went on a search for it. I studied bread baking at the French Culinary School in Manhattan and worked some odd jobs here and there, but nothing was quite right.

Maybe I should back up a little here and tell you how I came to become a knitter. I don’t have the classic story of learning from my mother or grandmother. When I first started that job in publishing, I had just moved to a new city and didn’t know a single person. I worked from home, so things were very lonely. One day, I met with two of my colleagues and they were both wearing hand knit sweaters. I was intrigued. So, the next day, I went to my local yarn store and signed up for a class. I was immediately hooked. Not only did I love to knit, but I had found my community. I wasn’t lonely anymore. I was home.

Lorna's Laces owner, Beth

Lorna’s Laces owner, Beth

So, we’re back to the part of the story where I’m tying to figure out what was going to be next for me in terms of work. It is the fall of 2002. One evening I was thumbing through a knitting magazine and ran across one of those small classifieds in the back. There was a yarn company for sale and I replied to the ad. We spent the next couple of months negotiating the contract and in January of 2003, I became the owner of Lorna’s Laces.
We are not a big company, just seven of us. We all wear many hats. You likely to find me answering the phone or up to my elbows in dye. It’s all in a days work.

Lornas Laces stand

Lornas Laces stand

2) We love all the unusual colourways and their equally fun names. Where do you find the inspiration (for both!)
Colorways come from many places, but mostly from keeping my eyes open and paying attention to the world around me. Let me give you a couple of examples.

– One Fall evening I was walking home and noticed a big terra cotta pot of yellow and orange mums on a neighbors porch. The next morning I went into work and put dye to yarn and created Glenwood. It’s a lovely multicolor with orange and yellow for the flowers, a sage green for the leaves and brick for the pot.

Glenwood

–  Another time I was shopping for bath towels. Instead of walking in and just grabbing the color I needed, I stopped and really looked around at the way the different colors played against one another. Some of them spoke to me and a 10 minute trip turned in an hour. I moved things around, made piles and more piles, took some pictures and put everything back. That trip gave me inspiration for a few different colors.

– The last thing I want to share with you is the power of serendipity. We had a batch of a color that turned out badly. Some yellows and purples got mixed up and looked just awful. They were so bad that I didn’t even want to throw them in the millends box. I had some leftover dye from another color I was working on. I just poured them all together and tossed in the ugly yarn. Lo and behold, Lakeview was born. I had to do a little reverse engineering to figure out how to recreate it, but it was worth it. Lakeview is always one of our top 10 best selling colors.

lakeview

We really try and have fun with the names. We generally pick a scheme for the season and go around the table and everyone gets to pick a color and match it to a name that fits the scheme. We’ve done Gentleman’s Haberdashery, Favorite Chicago Landmark, Chicago Mayors, Silly Monsters….

3) What’s your favourite base yarn to dye, and how do you go about selecting unusual new yarns and fibres to add to your collection?
That’s a bit like asking “which is your favorite child”? Can I pick two? I love dyeing Shepherd Sock because it behaves very well. It’s the child who does what it is supposed to and is a bit predictable. It drinks up dye and almost always turns out the way it is supposed to. Haymarket [single ply 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool] is a bit more feisty. Colors are bolder and even though we sometimes get a surprise that extra depth of color is always worth it.

630 Bittersweet

Shepherds Sock

4) Is there a style of dyeing you most enjoy? We love your speckle and splatter shades and think they must be great fun to create!
Right now, I really enjoy dyeing SplatterShot!. I think that’s because it is new and a bit of a challenge. I have been doing the traditional multis and nearly solids for over a decade and this brings something fresh and fun to the day.

Lorna's Laces Splattershot style yarn

Lorna’s Laces Splattershot style yarn

5) For a customer new to Lorna’s Laces and wanting to try them out, what would you recommend as a great project to showcase one or two skeins of your yarn?
There are a few things that have caught my eye lately. Reyna from Noora Laivola is a lovely shawl that makes multicolors sing. Sarah Abram’s Sigrim is a great one skein project as well.
Fine Kettle by Jeanette Cross requires a third skein, but I wear mine all season long.

Fine Kettle shawl by Jennette Cross

Fine Kettle shawl by Jennette Cross

Vashti Braha’s Bare Bones Scarf is nice for crocheters. It’s so hard to narrow things down when it comes to socks. You can’t go wrong with classics like Cookie A’s Monkey Socks or Grumperina’s Jaywalker. I also like to check out Hunter Hammerstein’s offerings. Her Pelagia Noctiluca and Singularly Disenchanting are both really nice. [Note from Spin A Yarn – click on the pattern names to go and check them out on Ravelry! And if you have any trouble accessing Ravelry, we’re always happy to help you get set up.]

Jaywalker Socks

Jaywalker Socks

6) We currently stock Shepherd Sock… increasingly, many of our customers use sock yarn for knitting shawls and other accessories. What type of project do you particularly enjoy making yourself, and love seeing your yarns knitted up as?
I always have several projects going at once. Usually one that is simple that I can toss in my bag and go and another that requires a little more attention. I’ve been on a small project jag lately making lots of shawls and socks. But I’m hearing the siren song of the sweater lately. Maybe it’s because fall is right around the corner. Sweaters are substantial and there’s nothing quite having someone admire one and being able to answer “Thanks, I made it myself”.

Ripplerock Wrap

Ripplerock Wrap by Allison LoCicero – knitted in Shepherds Sock, from the latest Twist Collective pattern collection.

7) What was the inspiration behind the brand name Lorna’s Laces?
Sorry, I don’t have a good story here… The company was named by the previous owner. When I bought it, it was an established brand and I decided to leave it alone.

8) And finally, we’re great animal lovers here at Spin A Yarn. Tell us a little bit about Sam!
When I bought Lorna’s Laces, my husband and I had two Great Danes, Hank and Pearl. Isn’t if funny that I ended up working in yarn? Anyway, after we lost Pearl, we took a couple of years off. When we decided we were ready for another dog, we decided that we wanted something that would live longer than 7 or 8 years. We also talked about getting a mature dog. One that would be house trained and quiet. We even tossed around the phrase “old and fat”. Well, let me just say that plan didn’t quite work out. We went down to the animal shelter and immediately fell in love with the five month old bundle of crazy we named Sam.

lornas laces Sam

I had his DNA tested and it turns out he’s 1/2 Boxer, 1/4 German Shorthaired Pointer and 1/4 American Staffordshire Terrier. We love him to pieces and wouldn’t trade him for all the yarn in the world.

Thank you for answering our questions, Beth!

You can view the yarns on our website here or pop into the shop and ask to pet them 😉

Exclusive interview with Iris Schreier of ArtYarns

Spin a Yarn talks to...

Our long-awaited delivery of ArtYarns skeins from the US has now arrived! Opening the box is always like opening a treasure chest full of silky and soft yarn, hand painted in jewel tones, sparkling with sequins and murano glass beads.

Art Yarns Group Shot

Who are ArtYarns?

The company is the brainchild of designer and author Iris Schreier, who started the company in 2002.
We were lucky enough to be able to ask Iris some questions recently – and her answers are fascinating.

Spin A Yarn: Where did the inspiration to start ArtYarns come from?
Iris: I was working on my first book Exquisite Little Knits, and I couldn’t find certain yarns that I wanted to knit with, so I created them myself. Examples: a lightweight silk that would be perfect for scarf designs without being too heavy knitted up—this became Regal Silk; a hand-dyed cashmere that was carefully dyed in sophisticated colors—this became Artyarns Cashmere 5; A beaded yarn that would not have any synthetic in it—this became Beaded Silk Light. Stores because interested in these yarns I developed, and Artyarns was born.

Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier

Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier

Spin A Yarn: What is your favourite source of inspiration for the beautiful hand-painted colourways?
Iris: I mostly approach color ways as a designer—I think I am inspired to design certain pieces and develop colors that will work with my designs.  Our latest collection of Cosmic Colors inspired by the randomness of the constellations, helped me develop one of my favorite new pieces the Swirl Tee, which needed a fun, bright, multicolored yarn that would not pool and interfere with the pattern.

ArtYarns Shades

Spin A Yarn: Our favourite ArtYarn blends are Beaded Silk Sequins Light and Beaded Mohair & Sequins, do you have any favourite patterns which you think showcase these yarns particularly well?
Iris: Both these yarns are embellished and knit up like lovely jewelry.  We have put huge collections of patterns free on the yarn label, mostly 1-skein projects.  Look at the Beaded Silk & Sequins Light Collection of 10 patterns, free on the Beaded Silk & Sequins Light yarn label—I love the Silk Bouquet Scarf.  Also refer to the Beaded Mohair & Sequins Collection, free on the Beaded Mohair & Sequins yarn label—this contains 6 lovely patterns, including the Raspberry Stitch Mini Shawl designed by a very talented designer in South Korea.

Beaded Silk and Sequins Light Patterns

Spin A Yarn: How long does it take to produce a batch of hand-painted yarn?
Iris: We have a group of dyers working all day every work day, and we can produce several hundred skeins per week.  Some colors are more complicated than others and take longer.  We have a video of how we actually do the dyeing of certain multis – please click here to watch the delicate process by which the skeins are hand-painted: Shade 501 Hand-Dyeing Process.

ArtYarns SSL Shade 501

And here’s what the finished yarn looks like!

Spin A Yarn: We’re always impressed by your dedication to sharing your work and helpful hints on social media – what do you most enjoy about relating to other ‘yarn addicts’ online?
Iris: I love testing yarn colors by posting them and getting reactions, and also the encouragement of my peers when I show designs in progress.  It helps me focus on those projects that will be most appealing, at the same time including our social media fans in the process of our development, what we produce and what we design. Nothing is more appealing than seeing others’ photos of what they have created using my yarns and designs.  Therefore, I constantly run knitalongs, where we knit as a group.  You can find out about these on my Ravelry Knitalongs group here: ArtYarns Knitalongs

ArtYarns Knit-a-longs on Ravelry

Join ArtYarns Knit-a-longs on Ravelry

You can reach Iris through Facebook, Ravelry or Instagram. She also has a Craftsy class in Modular Knitting, click here for a the link to sign up and receive $20 off coupon

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Iris!

You can find her yarns on our website here: ArtYarns available at Spin A Yarn, or pop into the shop and ask Joyce to show you the ‘treasure chest’ of skeins! We can help you find suitable patterns and provide you with the beautiful free patterns which come with the yarn when you buy it.