Hand dyed yarns….. oh how I love you…..your endless, beautiful, and sometimes downright bonkers colour combinations, you are always totally OOAK and you contain something else special – the joy and creativity that the independent dyer has poured into you.
As I get to know the yarn industry more over the months since taking over the Basket I’m getting a good handle on ‘the big boys’ (*not a euphemism) – I mean the well-known, reliable UK yarn brands we all love. Your West Yorkshire Spinners and Stylecrafts and King Coles and the like. I’m pretty comfortable with my mainstream suppliers and their wares, and their products trip in and out of my shop regularly like happy campers. What I’ve wanted to find out more about since I owned a yarn shop is hand dyed yarns. And to find an opportunity to support ‘local’. And ‘independent’. The proper grafters.
So I was delighted to meet the owner and then stock Chazamakes hand dyed yarn. Our local maker has her own little flock of sheep but also sources lovely merino and bamboo for her DK and sock weight yarn. Her palette is bright and quirky and keeps you guessing with every new delivery, I love unpacking them and oohing over the unusual colourways.
In complementary contrast my other indie yarn dyers are Kosy Kitchen Fibres whose soft and blended tones are also a joy to the senses. Hailing from Devon, they are not quite Cotswold ‘local’ but they have produced for us an exclusive ‘Bourton-on-the-Water’ colourway after holidaying here and being inspired by the colours of beautiful Bourton. It’s super popular with international visitors and I love the thought of these carefully crafted skeins going home to Holland or Hobart to remind the buyer of their holiday in Bourton.
So we’ve added a few pops of indie colour to the Bourton Yarn Basket and it seems to be going pretty well so far.
Happy hooking 😊
