Fiber Conversations: Brenda Pirie of End of the Row Yarns

Welcome to Fiber Conversations, a series of interviews with creative fiber folks. Today's conversation is with Brenda Pirie. Brenda is a longtime knitter from Annapolis, Maryland, and an active member of the Ravelry Blue Peninsula group. She recently opened an Etsy shop, End of the Row Yarns.

Bonnie: Hi, Brenda! Thanks for taking the time to chat about your new Etsy shop, End of the Row Yarns. Could you talk a little about how you began dyeing yarn and what lead you to open a shop?

Brenda: Hey Bonnie! Great to be chatting with you. The first time I dyed yarn was some 10 years ago. After a trip to my grocery store, armed with Kool-Aid, I dyed a couple skeins of self-striping sock yarn. I enjoyed the process but the colors weren't too exciting. So I ordered some acid dyes and tried it again ... better color intensity but not quite what I wanted. I didn't do more than a skein or two of solid colors ... not sure why, probably that thing called "life" got in the way.

Fast forward to a few months ago. I really wanted to try dyeing yarn to get that nice tonal color we all know and love. I always wondered, how do they do that?! So I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, got some bare yarn donations from friends, together with a skein or two of bare yarn from my stash, and started dyeing! I really just jumped in ... and found that I really had a knack for making pretty yarn. I figured out that whole tonal yarn thing, too!

My friends in my knit group have been so supportive. Their encouragement and excitement over my yarn made me think I could actually open a shop and sell my yarn. On a personal note, I'm at a point in my life where the nest is close to being empty. I've been a stay-at-home mom for 21 years and my youngest is only a couple years away from graduating from high school. I really wanted to do something for me, something I love to do and of course, something knitting related!

Bonnie: You offer fingering weight (sock) yarns in both variegated and tonal colorways. Tell me a little about the differences between the two. What kinds of projects do you think they are best suited for?

Brenda: Tonal yarns are basically one color but the tones of the color vary from light to dark. I think tonal yarns work well with most patterns and will show stitch patterns quite well. Variegated yarns have more than one color. Some can be more subdued and others quite wild! The more colors, the more your stitches will be hidden, meaning when your project is finished the design of the stitches will be hard to see. Most knitters have discovered this issue and search for patterns that are designed to work with those wonderful handpainted/variegated yarns. Sometimes I do that, and sometimes I knit whatever I want with the yarn I love, regardless. 

I dye my variegated yarns in a random way that creates little to no pooling. Pooling is when colors clump together and knit up into pools or splotches of color. I'm discovering that some of the dyes actually separate (break) colors in the dyeing process and create a skein with more than one color. Being somewhat new to this world of yarn dyeing, I find that so cool! Usually when I get a new dye color, I'll dye a "tonal" skein, just to see what the dye will do. Dyeing is such an adventure!

 

Bonnie: In your Ravelry profile, you say you started knitting in your 20s when you saw your mom teaching herself how to knit. Did she teach you, or did you decide to teach yourself, just as she did? Have you knit ever since then? Did the two of you ever knit the same patterns?

Brenda: Little did I know how much saying, "I want to do that!" would change my life! My mom showed me how to knit that day. We both made slippers with scratchy acrylic yarn, complete with pompoms! We were so proud of those silly slippers. We found a knitting "workshop" class through our local adult education community. We took that class over and over for years! This was in the 80s, when knitting was just starting to come back into popularity, so I guess you can say that class was my first knit group. We knit the "class project" together sometimes and also did our own thing. You could come to class and just knit your own project—that was perfectly OK. From there, we each took a different path with our knitting. She excelled in making her own patterns for sweaters. We learned Elizabeth Zimmerman's Percentage System in class and mom just took the ball (of yarn!) and ran with it! I used to call her the Bionic Knitter. Me, on the other hand, I like to follow a pattern. I'll make modifications, but creating my own pattern from scratch isn't my thing. And when I learned to Continental knit, my knitting speed took off like a rocket! 

I remember a few years after learning to knit, Mom came to class with a skein of sock yarn and these impossibly tiny needles, ready to embark on knitting her first socks. I said, "What are you nuts?! That yarn is so skinny and those needles?! It'll take forever!" I then uttered four words that to this day, I can't believe I ever said, "I'm never knitting socks!" But of course, I did. I didn't start making socks till the 90s and now in some circles I'm considered the Sock Queen. Ha-ha! I usually have at least two or three pair on the needles at any given time. I did take some time off from knitting to have babies but returned as soon as possible. My mom still knits quite a bit, but she says that I'm the Bionic Knitter now. Mom and I are on opposite coasts, so I miss hanging out and knitting with her. 

Bonnie: What are your favorite kinds of knitting projects?

Brenda: I really love to knit all kinds of projects. I like to have multiple projects going so I can switch projects when I feel like it. I’m somewhat impulsive when it comes to starting new projects. As long as I have needles available, I’ll cast on. Then sometimes I feel overwhelmed with WIPs and start a finishing spree. I’m equally excited when starting a project as I am when finishing. I love to make shawls and socks most of all. Hats are another favorite, especially worsted weight with cables. I made toys for the first time last year, and I plan to make more now that there are a couple babies due this fall in my extended family. I also love to knit the same pattern over and over again. I like the familiarity, like reading a book I loved over again or listening to a favorite song. I think I’ve knit [Cookie A’s] Monkey Socks 10 times.

Bonnie: Do you have any favorite fibers or weights that you find yourself going back to again and again as a knitter?

Brenda: If you were to analyze my stash, you'd probably find mostly sock yarn and worsted weight yarn. I really love fingering weight yarn! You can make anything with it ... socks, shawls, cowls, sweaters, mitts, gloves, hats or scarves! (Did I miss anything?!) And I think I've knit just about all of them, too. Worsted weight is another favorite. I love making hats, cowls, and mitts with worsted yarn. They go so quick! I know that when I walk into a yarn shop I can find one skein of fingering or one skein of worsted and I know I’ll find a pattern that will use just one skein. Also, I usually don’t have a very big yarn budget. Being a one-income family, spending a ton of money on yarn just isn’t possible. So instead of getting 8 skeins for a sweater, I can get one skein and be perfectly happy, dreaming about what wonderful things I can knit!

Bonnie: I know you’ve only just opened your Etsy shop, so maybe this is premature … but I’ll ask anyway! What’s on the horizon at End of the Row Yarns? Can you share any plans for future new colorways or yarn bases?

Brenda: Yes, I did just get started but of course, I’m thinking ahead … dreaming of all the possibilities! I’ve been ordering different bases in single skeins and sort of test dyeing them, just to see what they will do. I would love to add an 80/10/10 (superwash merino/silk/nylon) base and a 50/50 merino and silk base, both in fingering weights. I have dyed both in current colorways and love the look. I’m hoping to add them in the not too distant future. The biggest challenge for me is repeating the same colorway. I’m working on ways to keep track of my process so this will get easier. I dye one skein at a time and I am always adding new colorways. My daughter, Justine, helps with me come up with colorways and names. I dyed one last light that is variegated with earthy browns and greens; I named it Mother Earth. I would also love to create a yarn club or partner with a designer on a pattern someday. Right now I’m still working on getting the word out about my shop. 

Bonnie: It’s been great learning about your knitting and dyeing adventures, Brenda. I wish you all the best on your new shop. Thanks for chatting!

Brenda: Bonnie, thank you for including me in your series. I had fun answering your questions and doing my first interview! 

Fiber Conversations: Christine Link of Skeinny Dipping

Welcome to Fiber Conversations, a series of blog interviews with creative fiber folks. Today's conversation is with Christine Link, owner of Skeinny Dipping. Christine dyed the yarn I used for my On the Other Hand fingerless mitts.

Bonnie: Hi Christine! Thanks for taking the time to chat. Let's begin by talking about dyeing yarn. How did you get started?

Christine: It was a gradual process. Like a lot of people, I started first with Kool-Aid for my own use, but I wasn't getting the colors I wanted. I eventually took a dyeing class at Rhinebeck with Gail Callahan and it taught me the basics I needed to get going. 

Bonnie: What do you like most about dyeing? What do you like the least?

Christine: I love the process of dyeing. I love taking dyes apart to see what individual pigments have been combined to make the dyes that I order from my suppliers (this is something I learned from Gail). This is the part that keeps me up at night—I'll have a color on the brain and then I just start mentally going through all of my dyes to think of combinations to try. I have a lot of notes on my phone, and in my Moleskine that I keep with me. Who knows if I'll ever get through those lists, but they're there. I do want to experiment with more pastel colorways. I'm not a pastel person—I'm just too pale to carry it off. But I'd like to see if I can do something in that area that I could wear. What I like least is definitely the reskeining!

Bonnie: In your Ravelry bio, you say your grandmother taught you to knit when you were seven with pink acrylic from Woolworth’s. Would you like to talk about your grandmother and her influence in your life?

Christine: I would LOVE to talk about my Grandmom. First of all, my Grandmom is not my grandmom by blood—she was my mom's first boss once she finished school to become a psychiatric nurse. But to her, I was her first grandchild. In the summers when I wasn't in school or in camp, I would go to work with my mom. During the morning meetings with the nurses, my Grandmom would always be knitting or doing needlepoint. I eventually asked her to teach me, and like most kids I got the hang of it and then put it away for about 20 years because it took too long to make progress. Then in the Peace Corps in Kenya, I picked it up again and have been doing it ever since. Every time we would visit, we'd knit together or go yarn shopping. 

I recently visited my Grandmom, now 91, after a bad bout of health that put her in the hospital. As you can imagine, her memory is beginning to go a bit and she is in the early stages of dementia now. During our visit with her, I was knitting on a pair of socks. I noticed her recognition of who I was while in the room with her was strongest when I had my knitting going. So I kept it going. I also brought a shawl that I had made for her, and some mitts that I had dyed and knit for her as well. I made sure to tell her that none of this would have been possible had she not taught me to knit all those years ago. I'm sure she knew that already, but I wanted to reiterate it; I had a feeling that that was probably going to be my last visit with her with her memory that strong. She has been much more to me than a knitting teacher. As she admitted during my last visit with her, "I used to meddle a bit regarding you." I honestly don't know what kind of person I would be had it not been for her "meddling." My father had died when I was nine and my mom was so overwhelmed with grief from that that I was more or less left to my own devices. But she was always there. 

Bonnie: About that pink acrylic … I imagine acrylic is not one of your favorite fibers these days. Or maybe it is? :-) Anyway, which fibers do you especially like to knit with? What about to dye?

Christine: Haha, no, acrylic is not my favorite fiber. But at one time it was all I could afford, and it was all I could find in Kenya when I picked knitting up again in my stint with the Peace Corps. Since becoming a spinner, I've found that my fiber preferences have changed. I had no idea that different wools had different properties, nevermind that those different characteristics lended themselves to being better used for certain projects. For example, I love bluefaced leicester (BFL) for socks. I wish more people would use BFL for socks instead of merino. Merino is great, but BFL is so strong and lustrous and is perfect for something that will get a lot of wear. I have a pair made in the same base that I carry and they are several years old and you can't tell.

As for dyeing, superwash of course takes color beautifully. But frankly, I don't personally like superwash and I don't like the chemical process of how superwash wools are made. Of course it does come in handy for baby gifts that might get thrown up on or for gifts to non-knitting friends who are mortified at the thought of handwashing.  Fiber is a wonderfully natural thing if you let it be and know how to care for it. I'm hoping to add a non-superwash BFL yarn to the shop at some point, but it can be hard to get people on board.

Bonnie: I love your “dye splash” logo as well as the name “Skeinny Dipping.” How did you come up with them?

Christine: In 2010, when I finally decided I would start my own business, we started brainstorming with all of our friends for something catchy. Nothing really struck me as something I would be OK with for a long period of time. On the way back to Boston from Rhinebeck, "Skeinny Dipping" came to me as I was dozing off in the car. Luckily, I told my husband before I fell asleep, otherwise who knows if I would have remembered it later on. Once I had the name, I contacted my friend and fellow knitter, Caro Beine, aka strickonaut on Ravelry. She is an amazing graphic designer (as well as an awesome knitter, weaver, spinner, and baker), and I let her get as creative as she wanted. She created the custom dye splash you see on all my labels and business cards. She created my new band labels as well, including adding the ruler on the back side of the label. I don't know what I would do without her!

Bonnie: She does great work—your logo and the name "Skeinny Dipping" are just perfect! Christine, it's been so nice talking with you. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts—I've learned a lot! 

Christine: Thanks for having me. It was fun!

You can find Christine's yarns at fiber events and in her Etsy shop, Skeinny Dipping. She's heidelblogknits on Ravelry and skeinnydippingyarn on Instagram.