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Hello world!

Hello world!

Hello world!

Hi Fiber Enthusiasts!

My name is Carol and I’m a yarnaholic.  I love yarn – almost all types: yarns that are highly plied and yarns that are singles; bulky through lace-weight; tonals, solids and variegated, and all types of blends.  I created Chicken Coop Dyeworks to enable my yarn addiction and to also share my vision of yarn palettes with other like minded fiber enthusiasts.

My journey into yarn dyeing didn’t come exactly naturally.  No one in my immediate family sews, knits, crochets or spins.  I had one aunt who knit and embroidered beautifully, but I never got the hang of it, nor was I particularly interested in learning to knit back then.  I was interested in crocheting, which I learned while fairly young.  I was taught how to crochet by my fourth grade teacher, Sr. Marie Cecile.  She taught one of my BFFs and I how to crochet as a reward for helping to clean her classroom on the weekends.  It is a skill that I picked up and put down for years afterward.  As a teenager and young adult, crocheting and knitting weren’t “cool” things to do, particularly in the African-American community.   After marrying, I picked the skill back up and  crocheted scarves and blankets over the years, particularly afghans for both of my sons when they were born.   But life gets in the way and working in a demanding field with a husband who was a first responder (now retired), made indulging in the time to create very rare.

When my oldest son and his wife informed us that they were expecting our first grandchild, I knew I had to pull out the crochet hook and make my first grandchild its own blankie.  Not knowing the gender, I headed over to the nearest big box store and bought some beige acrylic yarn, along with some lavender and green.  I worked on that blanket for a month and ended up with a blanket that would fit any twin size bed!  I gave it to them for Christmas that year. Lucky for me, they both loved the blankie and still have it.  But the bug had hit!  I ended up crocheting a hooded blankie and a receiving blanket as well.  My granddaughter still loves the hooded blanket and sleeps with it to this day, 6 years later.  Being acrylic, it has held up to the wear and tear of many little fingers, being dragged on the floor, being thrown into the washer and dryer countless times, and being passed down to each one of my subsequent grandchildren – even though they had their own blankie!

Around the same time, I got the urge to learn to knit.  I had been introduced to Ravelry and found so many knitting patterns that I would love to make, but I didn’t know how to knit.  I spoke about this to a co-worker, who also mentioned that she would love to learn to knit, too.  Her mother was an avid knitter and she had not been interested in learning while her mother was alive; however, the urge had recently hit her.  We decided to take a learn to knit class together.  We found a LYS near where we work and made arrangements to take classes.  Walking into that store opened up a whole new world for me!  I had never, ever seen so many shades and types of yarn!  I was overwhelmed by that little shop!  The owner, Rhonda, was the sweetest person, guiding me through the store, explaining the different types of yarn, the difference in fiber and blends.  As a crocheter, I learned to knit Continental because, at first, I couldn’t get a rhythm to throwing.  As the years have gone by, I have learned to throw and use that method for some lace work and, of course, in fair isle.

My children are now adults and I have more time to create.     I have begun knitting sweaters, hats, mitten, cowls, socks and scarves for not only my grandchildren, but for others.  I like giving hand knitted items as gifts to special friends and I have come to completely love and appreciate working with natural fibers.  I have learned that I have a passion for color in many things, including yarn.  I would go to the yarn store, looking for a particular color and couldn’t find it.  Many times I could find the color but not enough yardage.

One day, I was out in the back of our acreage with my husband.  He had just completed building a chicken coop and we had just put 10 young chicks in the coop and were feeding them.  I mentioned to my husband that I really wanted to make a particular sweater for one of my granddaughters but hadn’t found the right shade of purple for it.  Off-handedly, he said (without having a clue what it involved) why not dye it myself.  He had seen some yarn I had dyed during a demo during a yarn crawl.  He thought it couldn’t be that involved.  BINGO!!!  An idea was born!

I tossed the idea of starting this little business around with friends in my knitting group, CARTEL, and friends on a forum I participate in.  They have all been encouraging, offering all types of awesome suggestions.  The name of this little company was from a suggestion I received from a friend on the forum.  I had just shared information about the chicken coop we had just built and she thought it would be so fitting as a name for this endeavor.  She was right!

Just like our chicken coop below, Chicken Coop Dyeworks is a work in progress.  I plan to explore color and dyeing in unique and different ways.  Chicken Coop Dyeworks is an exploration for “the color in ewe.”  And just like the hens in the coop, I might lay a few good eggs!

Until next time,

Carol, aka “Mother Clucker”

 

 

Comments (5)

  1. I love you bio, and THAT is the chicken coop? I’d happily move right in – sans chickens, since I have a feline shadow. Your chickens live in the lap of luxury!

    Jessica-Jean
    Dec 2, 2017 Reply
  2. Since I am also named Carol and have chickens I was curious when I saw a post on Knitter’s Paradise showing the socks someone made from Chicken Coop Dyeworks. Your coop is much nicer than mine. It is an old one that came with the property DH inherited, but it works fine and holds more chickens than I will probably ever need or own. I knit and crochet but have no desire to dye wool or spin it.

    CarolA
    Feb 22, 2018 Reply
  3. Entertaining reading and I wish you every luck in this endeavour. I too stumble through the minefield of yarn composition and colour trying to find exactly what I want – which is how I have ended up with such a large stash. I can’t resist something that looks just right and I’m thrilled when, rarely, it turns out to be so.
    All power to your elbow – I look forward to trying your yarn.

    Kathy
    Mar 24, 2018 Reply
  4. Isn’t it amazing that the very thing that you were not interested in at all has become your passion. I love the brand name of your yarn. Should I purchase, do you ship to Canada? I began knitting when I was in High School but never followed up. However, after I got married, I taught myself to crochet just to pass the time. I crocheted with thread not yarn and made doilies, place mats etc. Years later after migrating to Canada, I picked up knitting again. I go crazy in a yarn store. I would love to learn to knit lace, but am not gòod at reading charts. May I take this opportunity to pray God’s rich blessings and success on you and your business.

    Cheryl Cheong
    May 23, 2018 Reply
    • Hi Cheryl,
      I’m so sorry I’m so late responding to your email, but I am so new at some of this technology, I never realized that I wasn’t receiving all the comments people were posting on the website! Your first sentence really hits home: previously I wasn’t interested in forming a website, either, but I have become VERY interested in making this functional since opening shop!

      In answer to your question: yes, I will ship to Canada. Shipping to Canada is a little more expensive than shipping within the U.S. Typically, I ship First Class International to Canada. I am looking at some alternatives, such as utilizing one of the shipping companies that cater to online businesses for my international shipping. They typically offer a nice discount on postage and provide alternatives to First Class International. I plan to have that in place by the beginning of the new year. So please stay tuned. More yarn is going into the shop from now through the end of the year and there will be regular updates going forward.

      If you would like to stay in touch with the goings-on in “The Coop”, please sign up for my newsletter and watch for new entries on the Blog!

      Thanks so much for visiting and I hope that you will visit often in the future!
      Carol
      Chicken Coop Dyeworks

      admin
      Dec 11, 2018 Reply

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