Swapless Inspiration Swap

A while back, my friend Alicia (Purple Goddess Design) invited me to participate in a very special indie yarn swap. It is a swapless mini swap, done with inspirationally dyed skeins. 19 people join, and each person purchases a skein of yarn from the chosen indie dyer (In this case, ME! Wishfox Dyeworks) and posts a photo that they like. The dyer uses the photos as inspiration to dye each skein, and then all 19 skeins are split into mini skeins, and each participant receives one mini skein from each of the 19 colorways.

So needless to say, even in the 100+ degree heat we've been having here in KY, I've been dyeing like a mad woman, and sadly neglecting my shop updates just a bit. As of right now, there are still 2 slots left, if anyone would like to check it out or join in the fun!

Here are two of the inspiration skeins I've dyed! If you see one you love, get in touch with me, and I can dye you a full skein in any of the swap colorways :) I'll be posting photos of the others as they are dyed.

This colorway was based on the description of 
 one of our participant's dearly departed mother.










And this one was a photo of some beautiful flowers. I believe they were pansies of some sort, but I'm just a fiber artist, not a botanist!

Spinning the Night Away

About 2 weeks ago, I got together with Nellie (Yarn Sweet Yarn) for a dyeing extravaganza. It was intended to be a few hours, and ended up spanning 5 consecutive days. More about that another day, but one of the things we dyed were these gorgeous Teeswater locks.

I sold half of my portion of the locks to another good friend, Paula (Mad Angel Creations), who couldn't resist beginning to work with them immediately. She chose to flick hers out, though I can't even imagine doing that to something with such amazing structure and curl! Here's the photo she sent me today.

I also couldn't resist beginning to work with my remaining locks last night. They are still on the bobbin of my super amazing Majacraft Rose spinning wheel, but I'm really thrilled with how they are coming out. I also dyed a braid of BFL top to match my locks, and I'm spinning a single from the bfl, and adding the curly locks to it as I go. My intent is to make the first single with locks on it, and make the second single without, then ply them together in such a manner that I get dangly curly bits.

I got to this point last night before I was so tired that I was just breaking the single all the time. Single breaks 5 times, and its obviously time to go to bed! I'm thinking I should make some decent progress on it tonight, or maybe I'll just play RockBand with the hubby instead.

Festival Hoarde

I have a really busy couple of months ahead, preparing for my very first festival as a vendor. I will be joining Stephanie from A Tangled Yarn in Nicholasville, KY and Johanna of Ever Improving Me in Lexington, KY at the Kentucky Wool Festival in Falmouth, KY the first weekend of October.

One of the things I am doing in preparation for my first festival, is knitting a mountain of chunky handspun hats and cowls for sale. I find them fascinating to make, partially because handspun yarns are so much fun and so unique between skeins, and partially because they are great "instant gratification" projects for someone like me who usually knits socks on us1 needles!

Here are the first couple that I have finished :)

This cowl is the first one I made, from my own super chunky artsy handspun, and the one that started the whole idea for me. It doesn't look very tall, but its the perfect height once you put it on to keep your neck warm without taking up too much room inside your coat. It doesn't have any buttons, but I still love it.

This blue cowl is the one that has me on the hunt for awesome buttons for these cowls. I picked that button up at the KY Sheep and Fiber festival this year, but sadly, I don't remember what booth I bought it from. I just love how stockinette really shows off handspun to the fullest!

This brown cowl was done in seed stitch, from my own handspun, with super awesome buttons from Karen of StarryRoad Studio. I've decided to keep this one for myself, since the buttons are so amazing and it matches my winter coat flawlessly :)

I actually spent this morning knitting this cute, stripey, pink hat from some yarn sup by my friend Nellie from Yarn Sweet Yarn. It ended up sort of a weird size, in that it feels too shallow for an adult head to me, but too wide for a small child. It will probably get frogged and reknit. Its much easier for me to rip out a project like this and do it over again than most other projects because they just don't take very long to complete, so I don't feel like I have a million hours wrapped up in it!

This last one feels like an "Ugly Duckling" story to me, because I spun it and plied it with some random shiny commercial something, which I almost never do, and I really wasn't thrilled with how it looked in the skein. But when I actually took the time to knit it up, I feel that it has vastly improved, and I don't find it in the least repulsive anymore. I'm still looking for the perfect buttons for this one, but I'm sure they will expose themselves in plenty of time for the festival!

What is your favorite place to get buttons online? Leave a link in my comments, and I'll check out all of them!

From the Top

Hello out there, everyone! I'm Kit, owner, fiber processor, spinner, and dyer of Wishfox Dyeworks. I've been meaning to start a blog for a long time, but I think I was never really sure what to say. There's been a lot going on here on the business front lately, so this seemed as good a time as any! I feel like most things should begin at the beginning, so for your amusement, is the story of how I got started!

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When I was 15 in 2005, my Nana taught me to knit one summer. I made a couple of scarves, got bored, and quit, since it never occurred to me that you could do anything else with it. In 2009 I found out I was pregnant, and picked up knitting again because I barely felt like getting out of bed, but wanted something to do that felt productive.

Since then, I've stayed home with my son, expanding my knitting skillset, learning to spin, then to process and dye my own fibers and yarns. I wanted to feel like I was contributing more to the household, and have my own money to buy Holiday gifts for my family with, without having to ask someone for money. It is a little depressing when you get a really cool expensive gift, and only manage to give a $10 one.

So in January of 2012, with $100 of Christmas money to my name, I decided that this year instead of just hoarding every penny I could, I'd make an effort to grow that money, and Wishfox Dyeworks was "born." I spent that first $100 on a kilo of the silk laceweight base that has become my best seller, WishSilk Lace.

Over the next few months, I put every penny I made back into buying more base yarns and dyes. I now have 8 yarn bases, as well as combed tops, and raw fleeces to work from. I was even able (with a small loan from my grandfather) to upgrade my wheel this year, and now I'm actually turning a profit, however small after expenses.

I have met so many really amazing people through the start-up of my business, and feel very privileged to have the opportunity to make the activity I love most into my profession.