Name: Rebecca Shepler
Business: Dusty Tree Soap
Website: www.dustytree.com
on Facebook as Dusty Tree Soap

I’m so excited to be a part of Indie Knit & Spin again this year. It really warms my heart and makes me smile to see all the friendly and familiar faces who return each year. I’m not as much of a transient vendor as some of my counter parts….I do my local Farmer’s Market (Ligonier Country Market) most Saturdays in the Summer and here – the Indie Knit & Spin ……..so it is always nice to hear people’s comments and kind words about my products….THANK YOU!

Speaking of which, I make small batch, vegan, earth & people friendly cold processed soaps. I use edible vegetable oils and simple things to make you a fantastic bar of soap. I leave out all the weird nasty stuff like parabens, synthetics, preservatives as well as scents, dyes & colors. If a soap is scented I use a therapeutic grade Essential Oil and for coloring I use clays, food (yes! food – pumpkin/cucumber/bananas oh my!) & plants (like mint or lemon balm) from my organic garden.

As for knitting, I took a class almost 20 years ago and walked away not having learned a thing, but was super determined to knit. I NEEDED to knit so I taught myself from books at my local library (this was years before YouTube). For the Indie Knit & Spin, I’ll have with me at my booth some fantastic handcrafted ceramic buttons made by my lovely & talented Mother. She does an amazing job and I would keep them all for myself if only I could ‘knit all the things’ faster. I also sew and will have a very small offering of medium sized drawstring project bags.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading about me and my business, Dusty Tree Soap! I look forward to meeting you and seeing all of the other fantastic vendors this year…..PEACE!

Name: Jess Pflueger
Business name: Fiddlehead Fibers
Website: www.etsy.com/shop/FiddleheadFibers

Want to experience using different wools (Shetland, Polwarth, etc.) in close to their original state without having to buy and/or process an entire fleece? This wool is perfect if you’ve got a small project in mind, want to try spinning from the lock, or want to try fiber prep (combing, carding). Packaged by breed and individual fleece in 2-ounce or larger amounts.

Names: Jill & Nicolas Duarte
Business: HipStrings
Website: hipstrings.etsy.com

Here at HipStrings, we are obsessed with bringing you beautiful tools for knitting, spinning, crochet and weaving. We’ll also be bringing some of our favorite fibers and yarn – breathtaking luxury blends, gorgeous custom blends, a cornucopia of cotton (including weaving cotton!), sturdy sock yarn, and unique hand dyed treasures.

Name: Karen Bachman
Business name: iKNITiatives
Websites: iknitiatives.com, Etsy Shop

iKNITiatives offers artisan hand-dyed yarns and fibers. Since last year’s Indie Knit & Spin, I have added hand-spun yarns for sale along with my ombre gradient and gradient dyed sock yarns. iKNITiatives ombre gradient yarns are also now being sold at Natural Stitches in East Liberty.

As an indie dyer, I love that there are no boundaries as to what I can create. At iKNITiatives, you will mostly find one of a kind hand-dyed yarns and fibers, however, I have now begun to offer more repeatable colorways. iKNITiatives goal is to continue to offer customers the best in customer service and wonderfully colored yarns and fibers in hopes of inspiring really great finished products that are unique in their own way.

Names: Karen Cuffaro and Rebecca DeSensi
Business: Amelia and Wiggles
Website: www.AmeliaAndWiggles.com

Our yarn company, Amelia and Wiggles, was named after Rebecca’s daughter and Karen’s pit bull mix. We hand-dye yarn and our bases are named after things dear to Amelia and Wiggles. Pink Bear, a worsted 100% superwash wool, is named after Amelia’s favorite stuffed bear! She loves snuggling with him and loves him just as much as Mommy and Daddy. Orange Ball, a 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon sock yarn, is named after Wiggles’ favorite toy. She loves her orange ball! Made of orange rubber with a blue stripe, she carries it everywhere and chews on it as if it were bubble gum.

This past year, we introduced Snacks, an 80% Merino wool, 10% Cashmere, and 10% Nylon fingering sock yarn. It joined Little Pink Bear, just like Pink Bear but a DK weight, and Wet Kisses, a 100% DK weight Wyoming Merino wool. Can you guess who’s favorites these other yarns are?

Also this past year, we teamed up with Robyn Chachula of Crochet By Faye for another beautiful kit! Robyn designed the Schenley Park Shawl to use two skeins of Little Pink Bear for a stunning crochet motif shawl that can be worn a multitude of ways! Please stop by our booth to see these new items, as well as the Posy Patch flower, 3 Little Hat Family, and Butler Street Cowl kits.

Name: Jeanne Stevenson
Business: Destination Yarn
Websites: www.destinationyarn.com www.destinationyarn.etsy.com also on instagram and ravelry as @destinationyarn

Destination Yarn
Hand Dyed Yarn, Inspired by Travel

Destination Yarn is a small, independent, hand-dyed yarn company founded on a love of travel, photography, color, and the fiber arts. Each colorway is inspired by travel.

Several dye techniques are used by Destination Yarn. Hand painted colors are used to describe specific places such as Lake Erie and Provence.

Kettle dying – allowing for the colors to mix and bleed – is used to create skeins inspired by travel experiences such as a campfire.

Recently Destination Yarn has been exploring stipple dyes – creating bright, spots of color – in colorways such as Color Run and Summer Wedding.

Destination Yarn also has several patterns and kits for sale including the new Chasing Rainbows shawl – this shawl uses the variegation of the yarn to create an interesting texture.

Using travel as inspiration is a fun starting point and a unique way of looking at the hand-dyed yarn process.

Bio:
Destination Yarn owner and dyer Jeanne Stevenson was educated as an architect and always loved to travel. Although she grew up around the fiber arts she didn’t discover her true passion for knitting until 2004 when she finished graduate school and had free time again. Destination Yarn allows Jeanne to merge her passions combining travel and architecture with fiber and knitting. This unique point of view lends itself to creating vibrant and interesting colorways.

Name: Leigh Koegler
Business Name: Wren House Yarns
Website: www.wrenhouseyarns.com

What kind of items do you make?
Hand dyed artisan yarns and fiber.

How long have you been an indie artist?
Deep down I’ve been an “indie” artist for as far back as I can remember, mainly with illustration and watercolors. The transition to fiber happened about four years ago.

What got you interested in your art of choice?
It all stared with wanting to learn to knit a pair of fingerless gloves. Then I stumbled upon a spinning class and learned to use a drop spindle. Next came Kool-aid dying, a spinning wheel, acid dyes, carding, and weaving…it’s a slippery slope!

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
From start to finish I love every part of the process. A little piece of me goes into every step from business cards and dye applications, to packaging and photographs. Being a part of the craftsmanship allows my personal style to shine through.

What most inspires you?
Mother Nature. Hands down.

What makes your creations unique?
Each piece is a miniature work of art. While items may look similar they are truly one of a kind.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
If I had to pick a favorite it would have to be the dye itself. For me it’s like watercoloring on wool. I’ve fallen pretty hard for all natural dyes. It is so rewarding to see natures true colors come through.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I want to offer products that inspire others to be creative while staying true to my own aesthetic.

Does being an indie fiber artist affect other aspects of your life?
Being an indie fiber artist keeps centers me. Teaching natural dyeing and weaving workshops this year has been a wonderful addition. It is so much fun to share what I’ve learned and ignite that spark in others. Creativity keeps me grounded and fiber is the perfect outlet!

Name: Allena Williams
Business name: StarKnits
Website: http://www.StarKnits.net

I create what I call project support. Quality project bags in fun fabrics, fun stitch markers (both knitting and crochet) and custom crochet hooks. I love helping to organize and protect your projects as you carry them around.

Name: Sarah Jordan
Business Names: Knit/Wit Designs (knitting patterns) and Fluvial Fibers Handspun (handspun yarn)
Web site: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sarah-jordan (and Ravelry group at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/knit-wit-designs-fans)

Leventry (green/gray shawl pattern), Ravessa Shawl (brownish gray shawl pattern), Schmur (colorwork hat pattern), and two skeins of handspun (blue is Border Leicester and reddish/green is Falkland)

I have been designing knitting patterns for about four years now. I mainly focus on accessories, and my passion is shawls. I like to play with color and texture in my patterns, and many of them incorporate more than one technique (cables and lace or colorwork and lace, for instance). All the things I design are things I like to knit and wear — classic styles and shapes that are engaging but not so complicated that you can’t knit them while watching TV or chatting with friends.

I have been spinning four more than seven years now. I spin primarily animal fibers (mostly wool) and tend to favor thinner yarns (generally DK weight or finer). In the past several years, I’ve had the chance to try many different breeds of wool and learn about their properties, so you will see more than the ubiquitous merino in my skeins. Most of the dyed skeins you will see in my selection were hand dyed by independent dyers, though there are also some naturally colored skeins spun from fleece.

Name: Lisa Beamer
Business name: Fibernymph Dye Works
Website: fibernymphdyeworks.bigcartel.com

Fibernymph Dye Works is now in its fifth year, and I continue to love what I do and enjoy the chance to share what I create with all of the yarn and fiber enthusiasts I meet at shows. This will also be my fifth time vending at Indie Knit & Spin, and I’ve loved watching the show grow with each passing year.

Since last year’s show, I’ve added a number of new colorways to my line up, including several new six, seven and eight striping colorways. These larger striping sequences are more of a challenge to dye, but the results are so worth the effort!

I’ve also experimented with new color block gradient combinations that feature more color segments, and I’m always adding new color combinations to my Inversibles collection.

I have a new sport weight yarn base that has really become popular, and I’ve added a number of new dye colors, expanding my colorway and semi-solid palettes even further! Also this year, I’ll have a new yarn/pattern kit available for my recently released Rambler Cowl.

I’ll see you in November!