April sees the Indie shelf packed with shiny colour from Meraki Studio. With only 10 days left, best check in with Jo to find out what makes her tick!
When you aren't busy dyeing yarn, what do you do?
While dyeing yarn is a massive part of my life and I get withdrawls if I don't dye yarn for a couple of weeks, the majority of my time is being a Mum to two gorgeous girls (7 and 3) and all that is involved with running a household. I love taking them on adventures to the beach or into nature. Funnily enough they inspire me so much that a lot of my colourways come from things we see and do together.
What is your number one favourite part of being an indie dyer?
Dyeing yarn is an outlet me me, I need to create and being able to create something that makes others happy has got to be the best job in the world. Through dyeing yarn I have met some really amazing people and have gained some wonderful friends who have become an important part of my life.
How did you get into knitting? Are you a process or a product knitter?
I started knitting when my eldest was about four months old. We had always planned for me to be at home when we started a family but I needed to do something for me. I had knitted briefly as a child but that was a distant memory so I purchased some wool and needles and sat in front of YouTube teaching myself to knit. Being able to knit for a baby was a great help, I actually finished something because the items were small. It was only a month or so after I started knitting that I fell into dyeing and haven't looked back. I still feel great pride when I see an item I have created with yarn I have dyed.
Do you have a particular fibre or fibre blend you love to dye more than any other?
My favourite bases at the moment are anything with merino and silk in them. Such a great base to dye and they are amazing to knit with. A friend of mine shared a photo with me yesterday of a pattern she is designing and has knitted it using my Silkweb DK. It looks absolutely amazing, looks like pearls. I also still have a soft spot for my Groundwork base which is 100% wool and machine washable. When it's dyed the colours are always so vivid and it looks amazing knitted. Best of all it is milled in New Zealand.
We all have colour tendencies - what's yours? Do you find this comes through in your dyeing?
Gosh I used to be so boring with colour, now anything goes. I love trying all sorts of combinations and quite often get a wonderful surprise when colours work together than technically shouldn't. Nature and the environment are a huge inspiration for me so you will see lots of greens, blues, and landscape colours but then I will chuck in a hot pink just for fun. If you know my yarn you will know I have a sucker for rainbows too, can never go past a good rainbow.
If you could go on holiday anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
Prague and the UK. We were lucky enough to travel through Europe for five weeks before we started a family (I came home with a stowaway ;) ) Both of us fell in love with Prague, it's such an amazing city. I would also love to travel around the UK with the kids in a campervan and see where our ancestors came from.
Anything else you want to share with us?
I just wanted to thank all my supporters, I am forever grateful for being able to do what I do and I love every minute of it. Being able to create colour everyday is a dream come true. Being able to do this while still being able to be there for my family is something I will be forever grateful for.
Thanks so much Jo!
