Name: Karen Bachman
Business name: iKNITiatives
Website(s): www.iknitiatives.com, Etsy Shop

What kind of items do you make?
I currently offer hand-dyed yarns and fibers.

How long have you been in indie artist?
1 1/2 years

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I have a cosmetology background and was already addicted to knitting and crochet. So my knack for combining color and artistry was already present. However, it wasn’t until I dreamt about making my own yarn that I became interested in spinning and dyeing my own fibers and yarns. I am also a self-starter and am very much an entrepreneurial spirit. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Operations & Information Systems Management from Penn State. I feel like all of the above has contributed to creating my small business selling my own artisanal hand-dyed yarns and fibers.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I love that there are no boundaries as to what I can create. I choose to make mostly one of a kind hand-dyed yarns and fibers in hopes of inspiring a really great finished product that is unique in its own way.

What most inspires you?
I get inspired by all of the beautiful hand-dyed yarns and fibers made by other indie dyers. I love the energy and uniqueness they all bring and I hope to provide the same to my customers.

What makes your creations unique?
Having experienced some pretty extensive color training as a cosmetologist, I feel my use of certain colors and techniques make my creations unique.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I am currently loving my repeatable colorway Electric Youth.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
Unique hand-dyed yarns and fibers and wonderful customer service. I feel the two should go hand in hand. My customers are wonderful!

Does being an indie fiber artist affect other aspects of your life?
As a wife, mom of a pre-schooler, and team leader at my day job, I wear so many different hats. But, I absolutely love it. It keeps me on my toes and I hope to one day be successful enough to do my yarn dyeing full time.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
My fiber arts superpower is my unique sense of color combining.
How is the fiber arts world different for youtoday than it was five years ago? It’s different for me today vs. five years ago mainly because I’ve added spinning and dyeing to my repertoire. It was March 2013 that I purchased my Schacht Sidekick and got into the world of spinning and dyeing my own yarns and fibers. It also seems that both spinning and dyeing are so much more prevalent than ever before. It’s great to see so many successful indie dyers and spinners out there.

Name: Maggie Broderick
Business name: Lyrical Yarns
Website(s): www.lyricalyarns.com

What kind of items do you make?
I dye wool yarn in various weights, from lace to heavy-worsted. I also wrote and published my own book, “Knitting Wool Diaper Covers from Start to Finish.”

How long have you been in indie artist?
Since 2005

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I have knitted and crocheted since I was a child. When I became pregnant with my second child, I really got excited by things like knitting wool diaper covers, designing my own patterns, and dyeing unique wool yarns.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I love teaching others and seeing their excitement for the things that I love in the fiber arts world.

What most inspires you?
Teaching

What makes your creations unique?
I like to help people learn to use the yarns that I dye and to dye their own yarns, so I’ve created things like “Learn to Dye” kits. For me, it’s all about sharing my love of fiber arts with others.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
When my children were younger, I used mostly worsted yarns for making wool diaper covers. Nowadays, I enjoy working more with sock yarn and lace yarn. It’s fascinating to see how the colorways work up differently with different weights of yarns, patterns, etc.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I think that the idea of “community” is what I strive for, actually!

Does being an indie fiber artist affect other aspects of your life?
Writing my book really went along with my parenting journey. The fiber arts have always been there for me, and they are also a part of my parenting and my teaching.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
Teaching others about the love of the fiber arts!

How is the fiber arts world different for you today than it was five years ago?
I used to be exclusively online, and now I am almost exclusively at local shows. I feel like I’ve come full-circle, from starting small here at home, going “global” online, and finally settling in back at home. There is so much more warmth in face-to-face interaction with people, even though the online world can be amazing. I like being at a show like Indie Knit and Spin, where everyone is experiencing the fiber arts together in real time and in real life.

Name: Allena Williams
Business name: StarKnits
Website(s): www.etsy.com/shop/starknits

What kind of items do you make?
I like to consider what I make project support! I make bags, crochet hooks and stitch markers for helping your knitting, spinning and crochet adventures.
How long have you been an indie artist? I’ve been sewing and making beaded bling for about 8 years now.

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I got interested when I started knitting and I needed bags to carry the projects around in b/c walmart bags weren’t that pretty.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I love color and fabric. I love to match and coordinate and contrast fabrics together. I love making bags that bring a smile to your face every time you take them out to use them.

What most inspires you?
Everything from nature to tv shows.

What makes your creations unique?
I think there are few things that make my bags different from other bags you see out there. I look for fabric everywhere and pick up some of the neatest designs. The shapes are similar to what you see but I try to put pockets in most of my bags and I have a variety of sizes. Also most don’t have exposed seems and I take great care on each and every bag.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I’m in love with Gnomes. and also my geeky items.

Does being an indie fiber artist affect other aspects of your life?
Yes! My house is filled with yarn and fiber and fabric

What is your fiber arts superpower?
Stopping the shopping bag dreariness by bringing excitement to your craft! No project goes un-bagged! (I think I need a tiara or something! )

How is the fiber arts world different for you today than it was five years ago? Being online connects people from all over. That makes fiber events a place where you can meet up with your Ravelry friends, bringing the events to a whole new level of fun!

Name: Kenneth Moore
Business name:

Website(s):
thehomesteadhobbyist.etsy.com

What kind of items do you make?
I hand-dye fiber for spinning. Sometimes, I can’t help myself–I have to spin some of those braids myself, so I make some handspun skeins of yarn for sale as well. Occasionally, I also make dryer balls.

How long have you been in indie artist?
Only half a year! I opened shop in March 2014. I’ve been a crafter all my life, but I’ve only recently entered the “indie artist” category.

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I have an insatiable appetite for learning how to make and do everything. Years ago, I started gardening to grow my own vegetables; then I started canning jam, salsa, pickles, and more. A few years ago, I decided to grow cotton–a friend asked me why I was growing it, and I said “I dunno, maybe I’ll make yarn from it?” A few questions later, she realized I had no idea what I was going to do with it and she “came out” to me as an avid spinner. She showed me how to spin the cotton I grew, and I fell down the fiber rabbit hole with incredible speed: I bought a raw fleece before I bought my first wheel, and I started dyeing shortly after.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I most enjoy seeing what spinners turn my hand-dyed braids into! I really enjoy the dyeing process as well–but seeing my braids “grow up” is extremely rewarding.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I don’t have a favourite colourway–there is just too much lovely to pick only one! I do have a favourite fiber–yak! I love yak so hard that I had a custom blended top created for me: Polwarth/Yak/Mulberry Silk 50/25/25. It is a decadent blend beyond description, it takes dye gorgeously, and it spins like a dream.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
With my hand-dyed fiber, I strive to offer unique, saturated colourways dyed on quality fiber for any purpose. I have several main bases I offer: Falkland, Rambouillet, Bluefaced Leicester, Yak/Silk, and my new custom blend, Polwarth/Yak/Mulberry Silk. I also offer quality roving from fleece hand-selected by me at local farms and fiber events.

Does being an indie fiber artist affect other aspects of your life?
Does it ever! Storage space? Filled with fiber. Social life? Scheduled around dye nights. Coworkers at the regular job? Think I’m a little off-centre. But I love dyeing and spinning and wouldn’t have it any other way!