I'm excited to announce a third collaboration with Ariel of Stariel Knits - and this time our friend Noriko of Norichan Knits is also joining the fun!
We're delighted to welcome Sharon of Stitchjones as our featured dyer, and with her help, we've cooked up a series of custom, Lisa-Franktastic colors to design with! We're working with her Merino Sock, a squooshy, fingering weight superwash merino base. And - who's surprised? - my custom colorway is fluorescent pink.
For our first post, Sharon has graciously agreed to answer a set of questions from each of us. Since I adore color and all of the stories behind it, I asked Sharon a little bit about her relationship with color and dyeing. Without further ado, here's the interview:
Cory: I love how bright and fun your colors are! If you could describe your color sense in three words, what would they be?
Sharon: (Thank you!) Happy, Vibrant, Childlike.
Sharon: (Thank you!) Happy, Vibrant, Childlike.
For this project, Ariel, Noriko, and I were really inspired by the fluorescent colors of Lisa Frank illustrations, which were all the rage with school kids in the 1990s. Where do you usually draw your color inspiration from?
Primarily from music and nature, although inspiration also comes to me from international culture, pop culture and fashion.
Often, artists and makers practice in several different media before they find their favorite - I started with cross stitch and drawing as a kid, then made the leap to knitting right before college. What did your path to dyeing look like, and what was the moment that you realized that it was your thing?
I didn't become an indie dyer until I was in my 50's, but I loved yarn even before learning to knit, and I did some embroidery as a child. Once my daughter was in school I became very serious about knitting. I fell in love with natural fibers and hand dyed yarns. After some experimenting with acid dyes, I became hooked very quickly! A wonderful LYS in Portland (Twisted) began selling my yarns on consignment, and Stitchjones progressed from there. I began eight years ago, what an amazing ride it's been.
I always have a new color I'm excited about - right now it's lavender-grey - but at the end of the day, pink is my first love. What's your favorite color at the moment, and are there any other colors that stick with you?
So hard to pick just one color! I'd have to say that right now, it's turquoise. I'm finding so much fascination with nailing the right concentration of turquoise dye that looks stunning by itself and also sets off the other colors around it. Pink is a perennial favorite too, I love all shades of pink, and never get tired of seeing how many different pinks I can mix up.
Thank you so much for participating in the collaboration, Sharon! I'm super excited to start the design process with my amazing pink yarn!
Thanks, Cory!
And there you have it - huge thanks to Sharon, fellow pink-lover and dyer extraordinaire! You can check out her pretties on the internet over here:
And the other interviews over here:
Happy Friday, friends!
<3
Cory
No comments:
Post a Comment