Beth Casey, owner of Lorna’s Laces Yarn, visited us last Saturday and gave us a lesson is yarn dyeing. All Lorna’s Laces yarns, the nearly-solids and the multi-colored, are hand-dyed in Beth’s Chicago studio. We carry their Shepherd Sock and Shepherd Worsted yarns – which are not only beautiful, they’re machine washable – and Helen’s Lace, a gorgeous lace weight blend of silk and merino wool. Beth also dyes our Shepherd Sock Stripe yarns for us, which are a Loop exclusive! This was an amazing opportunity to study with one of today’s masters.
Beth said it wouldn’t be too messy to dye the yarn in the store but I still covered the nearest fixture and the floor with plastic. Everyone was told to wear clothes that could get stained and we wore aprons and gloves.
Here’s Beth explaining how she came to own Lorna’s Laces and the basics of yarn dyeing.
Then we jumped right in and prepared our hanks for the dyeing process. Beth brought 6 colors for us to use; it’s amazing how many combinations you can make with just a few colors.
After we’d each dyed our hanks, Beth talked about knitting with hand-dyed yarns. She showed us some amazing samples that demonstrated how to maximize the unique properties of hand-dyed yarn.
We had to take our yarn home to complete the process. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of the end results!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I just wanted to say thank you again for hosting Beth. We had an abolutely lovely time and my loyalty to both Lorna’s Laces and LOOP is forever cemented into place. Now if I could only win the lottery and be in a position to demonstrate that loyalty we would all be happy.
Thanks, Daryl – I’m glad you enjoyed yourself! I haven’t had a chance to knit with my yarn yet. Have you?