Knit Stars 5.0 Fiber Artists

Meet the Fiber Artists

The thing that really makes the Knit Stars experience special is our community and our shared *L*O*V*E* of yarn.

Each Season, our new Stars each partner with an independent yarn dyer to create a class project or commemorative kit that really expresses their creativity and love of color.

It's always important to remember that these special yarns and kits aren't at all required to derive maximum learning and inspiration from Knit Stars. In fact, as we near the fall, we'll provide a Season 5 materials list so you can "shop" your stash or favorite yarn source.

But as the world's largest online yarn festival, we know that a Knit Stars-exclusive yarn marketplace can really pump up the fun! 

These special Season 5 yarns will be offered in two "Waves" - Wave 1 for those who've already purchased in the Earlybird signups, and Wave 2, right before the event in the fall.

Regardless of your yarn plans, we thought you’d love learning a bit more about the special fiber artists of Knit Stars 5.0!

Yarn Dyer: Neighborhood Fibers (@neighborhoodfiberco)
Location: Maryland, USA
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Gayle Roehm

Dyer Story: "Neighborhood Fiber Co. started in the kitchen of my Washington, DC basement apartment," says artist and entrepreneur Karida Collins. "Inspired by all of my surroundings, I set out to provide the world with hand-dyed yarns and fiber inspired by and named to reflect the natural beauty and diverse neighborhoods found throughout the nation’s capital. I am proud of the texture, loft, and sheen of our many yarns, from the finest lace-weight silk-and-mohair to the loftiest thick-and-thin wool."

"Since I seem to move around A LOT, you’ll see colors inspired by neighborhoods in Washington, DC, Columbus, OH and most recently, Baltimore, MD."

The Yarn: Our Star, Gayle Roehm will be guiding us to explore beautiful Japanese Stitches from charts and has chosen NFCo's single-ply Rustic Fingering base to make your stitches pop. Made with 100% Merino wool, it has enough yardage for many shawlette and accessory patterns. Since it is not superwash, this yarn feels a bit softer, blooms more, is easier to block into shape - especially with lace - and smells sheepy in the best way. 

Karida will be dyeing two Knit Stars exclusive colorways - a mossy green and an icy blue - two colors that will show the vivid imagination and passion of this fabulous dyer. The green is named "Nippori" after the fabric district in Tokyo, and the blue is named "Tokushima" after the town that is the birthplace of indigo dyeing in Japan.

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Yarn Dyer: Lolabean Yarn Co. (@lolabeanyarnco)
Location: Georgia, USA
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Gaye “GG” Glasspie

Dyer Story: "LolaBean Yarn Co. (formerly Adella’s Crochet Cottage) began 5 years ago with a single stitch; that quickly turned into a thousand stitches as I contemplated on what I would do to pass time while my husband was away in Afghanistan," says Adella Colvin of LolaBean.

"I first learned to crochet and knitting soon followed. I became obsessed with all of the different colors, textures and compositions of the different yarns I’d come across. One day, I came across a YouTube video of someone dyeing yarn, and I thought to myself 'Hey, you should try this!' So I did. Dyeing came very naturally to me and I was encouraged by my friends and family to start my own business and sell my hand dyed creations. The rest is history."

"After the birth of my daughter, I realized that I had much more to live for and be grateful about. I decided to rebrand my company in honor of my little princess, in hopes that one day I would be able to pass something down to her and keep the legacy alive. As a woman of color, I want to show my daughter, and hopefully inspire others, that we can achieve success regardless of the circumstances."

"I look forward to growing and expanding my brand, not only for my daughter, but for the future generation of independent fiber artists."

Yarn Story: If you are a follower of Gaye “GG” Glasspie (@GGmadeit) you *know* what exclusive color we have on the way for Knit Stars 5.0! 🧡🧡🧡

Adella is dying a special batch of Citrus Sunrise - a speckled sport weight that imparts the warmth of a sunny day in just a glance. We are so excited to share this merino/cashmere/polyamide blend with all of you!

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Yarn Dyer: Mitchell's Creations (@Mitchellscfiberarts)
Location: Louisiana, USA
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Tian Connaughton

Dyer Story: "For those that don’t know, my name is Terra and I’m the dyer and everything else behind Mitchell’s Creations. I’m a 40 year old Georgia girl who now lives in Louisiana, 11 years now. My family is still in Georgia so we visit often. I am married with two kids and we always have a dog or two to keep us company. Besides knitting, crocheting, and yarn, I love to bake and am a self proclaimed foodie. I’ve always been that quiet one that doesn’t have much to say but will give you a smile."

"In 2016, a pattern came out that I wanted to make and I wanted some really nice yarn to make it. I started looking online but since I didn’t know too much about indie dyed yarn I was nervous about buying it online. I then ventured to my local yarn shop and looked around. I was in there a long time and while they had pretty yarn the fingering weight section was small and I didn’t see what I was looking for. I really wanted to make this shawl so I started researching dyeing yarn."

"One time after all the bills were paid and there was extra money left I took $136 and bought a pack of yarn and four or five dye powders. My first colorways were Who Said Unicorns Aren’t Real, Golden Ochre, Maci Grey and Zombie Butterfly. The last three were the ones I used in my shawl. At the time I felt bad about spending the money, not realizing it was an investment into what turned into now a full time business! I love that I get to use yarn and color as my interpretation into how I see things."

"Don’t ever not try if there is something you want to do...failure is only an option if you don’t try or quit. You have everything you need right now to do the things you want to do. Don’t ever stop dreaming or let someone talk you out of going after your heart's desires." 

Yarn Story: Knit Star Tian Connaughton is teaming up with Mitchell's Creations to bring us a beautiful and bouncy worsted merino. Terra is known for her multi-dimensional hand-dyes and this year's custom color won't disappoint. Our Knit Stars exclusive "Peanut Butter Blondies" colorway is a vivid neutral with all the speckles and freckles you could dream of. It's sure to be an inspiration on your needles.

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Yarn Dyer: Rohrspatz & Wollmeise (@rohrspatzundwollmeise)
Location: Germany
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Åsa Soderman

Dyer Story: "In real life I’m Claudia Höll-Wellmann but in 2002, when our company “Rohrspatz & Wollmeise” was founded, I became “Wollmeise” (Wool Tit). Although the “Rohrspatz” (cheeky sparrow), my husband, no longer makes his lovely wrought-iron pavilions, devoting his energies to the wool, we have become very fond of the name and we’ve kept it."

"Knitting was at the start of my career in handicrafts. I was always searching for suitable materials, patterns and, above all, colours for my designs and I very quickly arrived at the limits to the colour-ways available on the market at that time. So I dyed my own wool – and a whole new world opened up for me. There are endless possibilities when playing with colour and I hope to make yet more new and exciting discoveries."

"My aim is to dye quite specific shades. I allow myself to be guided by nature, by things I come up against or by moods: Spice Market, Stormy Skies (Gewitterhimmel), Dance of the Mice (Mäuseballett). For a long time, for example, I tried to create the incomparable velvety lilac blue of violets and not just the ordinary lilac colour. And one of these days I’ll get that really special essence of Red Cabbage (Blaukraut)! I’m still working on it … ;-)"

"When it comes to quality I’m a perfectionist. I select my materials very critically and I am passionate about delivering the best-possible goods. We work to a very high standard of quality, which doesn’t always make life easy but I won’t accept anything less."

"Up until a few years ago it was still possible for me to run the dyeing plant and everything else alone. However, thanks to the increased demand from our customers, we have now become a small family-run enterprise. When our products please so many people then it proves to me that we have taken the right road."

"I’m particularly pleased that one of my children, my son Tobias, has joined the company. At the moment he is specialising in management and logistics, which he runs alone, full of enthusiasm."

The Yarn:  Åsa will be teaching you her genius Ziggurat sweater method using your choice (or both!) Crave Caravan (see next yarn story) or the Rohrspatz & Wollmeise base "Blend." "Blend" combines the best of three lovely materials; a fluffy merino, a soft cashmere, and a strong nylon, to create the perfect sweater yarn. And our custom Knit Stars 5.0 colorway, "Goblin's Gold," is a perfect color pop for any day - rain or shine!

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Yarn Dyer: Crave Yarn (@Craveyarn)
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Åsa Soderman

Dyer Story: Crave was established in 2013 as the heart child of its founder and creator, Amor, a fiber lover in Santa Fe, NM, who decided to claim her passion for hue, texture, and playful luxury through artisan color creation and color story curation.

Since then Amor has built and evolved Crave yarn with the goal of delivering fine luxury yarns that are difficult to put down, yarns that want to be caressed — that will caress you in return when transformed into hand knit or crocheted fashion pieces. In perfect complement to these delectable textures, Amor creates deeply layered and rich colorways that mesmerize.

​Through the years Amor’s passion has continued to evolve and her fiber adventures have taken her more deeply into the areas of marketing, pattern design, and color development, and away from day-to-day dyeing. In 2020, as the result of a long term collaborative friendship, Amor transferred her brand and dyeing expertise to Hanna and Patti in Rochester, NY.  Amor continues as part of the Crave team working collaboratively to continue to grow Crave Yarn and dream the next brilliantly colorful and luxuriously soft chapters in store for this amazing brand.

All in all, Crave yarns make you anxious for those glorious moments when you can steal away to your favorite chair to hold these delectable strands between your fingers and create lusciously threaded masterpieces.

The Yarn: Our Knit Stars Crave base is Caravan -- a hand-dyed, custom-milled combination of fine merino, cashmere, camel, and mulberry silk with a twist that adds strength without compromising the hand or drape of the fabric. Our exclusive colorway, "Interlude," is a stunning grey that will keep you gazing at the lavender overtones.

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Yarn Dyer: Dye Hard Yarns & Kitty Pride Fibers (@Dyehardyarns_op & @kittypridefibers)
Location: Illinois
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Francoise Danoy



Dyer Story: Like so many dyers, Chastity Dunlap lives to share her craft with others. As the owner of the shop Dye Hard Yarns in Oak Park, IL, she is leading a growing community of crafters and artisans with a beautiful store and a Community Dye Studio, where dyers can experiment and learn together. Chastity's own hand-dyed yarn line is Kitty Pride Fibers - with a portfolio of hues to brighten any cloudy day. 

"I love color. I have a huge passion for the fiber arts and I love sharing my art with other people. I generally play in the dye pots whenever inspiration strikes me."



The Yarn: Chastity is dying us a batch of a gentle hue - Truest Lavender - her subtle tonal colorway in 100% superwash merino DK. Knit Star Francoise chose this * drapey * squishy * lavender * love * to walk you through her design process with her Whiria Te Tāngata - Weave the People Together pattern; a bottom-up bandana cowl featuring intertwining cables and textured stitches, drawing inspiration from song and culture.


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Yarn Dyer: DanDoh (@dandoh.designs)
Location: Arizona
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Yumiko Alexander



Designer Story: "My design ideas come from what I want to have in my closet. Since I live in sunny and warm Arizona, I select fibers that work well for this climate. 

I was born and raised in Japan. I got married and moved to America in my late 20’s. I have really enjoyed my time in the US and I am so happy I have been able to share my knitting and crochet designs through individual patterns and books. I have enjoyed communicating with people and expressing myself through my design work, and I have met many wonderful friends through knitting and crochet. Knitting and crochet have made my life in the U.S. very beautiful."  



The Yarn: Love of linen can change your life -- it opens up entire seasons of projects and fashion! And watching these natural fibers soften and swing while you wear them is a precious experience.

Dandoh's Linen base is a 100% pure linen fiber that's spun into a unique chain ply structure. It knits up into light and provides dramatic drape. This Japanese linen in a DK weight knits quickly and has a soft handle that gets better every time you wear it.

Our exclusive Knit Stars 5.0 colorways are Steel Gray and Steel Blue. Yumiko will be introducing a new, Knit Stars exclusive sweater design using this yarn in her Season 5 workshop.


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Yarn Dyer: knitcraft & knittery (@knitcraftandknittery)
Location: Ohio
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Tina Tse



Dyer Story: "My name is Morgan and I am the owner and founder of knitcraft & knittery. I am a scientist by degree, but I have found that nothing can compare to being your own boss and getting to create something magical. I consider knitting to be an art form and I love creating rich colorways inspired by nature."

"My inspiration comes mostly from my nerdy side. I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and most of my colorways draw inspiration from the clothing, architecture, and settings of Peter Jackson's films and Alan Lee's artwork. I mostly work in earthy, deep colors, but sometimes I can't ignore an exceptionally beautiful pastel yarn! Every colorway is then named for something or someone in my life that has inspired me. The names are carefully chosen to celebrate the things and people I love - the weirder the better!"

"This business started on a small island off the coast of Australia and has grown out of a love for handmade, eco-friendly, and sustainable products. Although we now operate out of the United States, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge my Australian customers' support and encouragement to make this business what it is. Because of this, I continue to support Australian businesses through my wool and dye sourcing despite operating from the US."

"I currently stock two wool bases: one is 100% sustainable Australian Merino and the other is 100% New Zealand Corriedale. The dyes I use are sourced from a Tasmanian-owned company. My packaging is all either recycled and recyclable or biodegradable with most products being made in the USA."

"I try to be as environmentally conscious as possible in my business practices, whether that is through my dyeing habits or my choice of fiber. To dye my wool, I use acid dyes which are concentrated pigments that require acid to properly attach to the fiber. Although "acid dye" can sound like a scary concept, this is referring to the small amount of acetic acid (vinegar) that I use to soak my wool and ensure the color is taken up by the fiber. I have calculated my dye quantities so that the dye bath completely exhausts leaving the water clear and I rinse out all of my equipment into my dye pots to ensure dye doesn't go down the drain. I also use an all-natural eucalyptus wool wash to rinse my fiber and all of my disposable equipment (eg: gloves) is made from recycled material."



Yarn Story: We are tickled pink to share the *three* custom colors in knitcraft & knittery's Knit Stars 5.0 kit! This squishy DK 100% non-superwash wool comes from farms dedicated to taking care of their land and their animals in a sustainable, ethical, and environmentally-friendly way and do not practice mulesing. 



Each kit has three skeins, one in each of our custom colors: Mum's Glow, Garden Blossoms, and Beautiful Spring. They look yummy enough to eat. :D

*****


Yarn Dyer: Magpie Fibers (@magpiefibers)
Location: Maryland
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Jacqueline Cieslak



Dyer Story: “Sometimes things just fall into place in delightful and unexpected ways. My introduction to knitting was that way. I moved to a beautiful new town and decided to take a knitting class at a brand new shop that had opened the same week I moved in. Between a life long love of crafting and Fashion Merchandising & Apparel Design at the University of Maryland, I don’t know how I’d never learned before, but I was instantly obsessed."

"My jewelry business took a backseat to endless hours of knits and purls, and before I knew it, all those hand-dyed colors on the walls of my LYS began calling to me. With tons of support and encouragement from the amazing Frederick knitting community, I started experimenting with dyeing, the art and chemistry of it endlessly fascinating."

"Magpie Fibers was launched December of 2014 at The Knot House in Frederick, Maryland. To be building my business in this amazing community, connecting with so many wonderful creative people and meeting fantastic knitters across the county and around the world is the greatest blessing. I hope you love knitting with Magpie Fibers yarns as much as we love creating them.”



Yarn Story: Knit Star Jacqueline Cieslak had so many yarns to choose from, and she picked Magpie Fibers' Nest to compliment her classes. Nest is a light, fluffy, 100% non-superwashed Corriedale wool and its 3 plys give this worsted weight yarn a beautiful round profile. Nest is created for Magpie Fibers by a small, local, family owned and operated mill. Our Knit Stars 5.0 colorway, Twilight Marl, is a natural, marled yarn with beautiful texture and stitch definition.


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Yarn Dyer: Loops Luxe
Location: Oklahoma
Knit Stars 5.0 Partner: Tatiana Sarasa



Yarn Story: For Knit Stars 5.0, our Loops Luxe yarn is an undyed Natural so *you* can be your own dye artist. Knit Star Tatiana Sarasa will be working with this chunky Royal Alpaca/silk blend to show you how to dye and experiment with local plants.

Tatiana says:
"Through my work as an artist and natural dyer I try to share with you my passion for natural colors, their magic, vibration and energy, reminding us that nature means "life".

"Working with my hands – dyeing, knitting, spinning or weaving – has also showed me the importance of time."

"That not all things have to go fast."

"That we need time to explore, to learn, to make, to touch, to feel and share what we learn and love with others."

This Loops Luxe Alpaca Chunky will be your next step toward beauty - toward an opening of creative energy - an experiment of where that next step can take you!




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All of the yarns shown above, along with some other surprises, will be available to all Knit Stars 5.0 Earlybird enrollees for (optional!) ordering, from June 7-15, 2020. Any questions? We're always here to help at [email protected] :)