An Interview with Liz Valentine from gnarledpaw Yarns

We got a chance to chat with Liz Valentine – founder and Chief Dyeing Officer at gnarledpaw. It was a lot of fun – read on to hear about her business, her inspirations and even her tip on keeping yarn vibrant (hint – it has *nothing* to do with how you wash it).

When did you start dyeing yarn?

The first time I dyed yarn was in the spring of 2010 after begging my knitting instructor at the time to show me how to do it with Easter Egg dyes. Over the decades, I’ve worked with clay, with precious and semiprecious metals, with beads and of course, with yarn. When my son was little, making his halloween costumes was one of my great pleasures. So it didn’t alarm anyone that I was curious to see what dyeing yarn was all about. But that afternoon lit something in me none of those other crafts or “hobbies” had.

 

What made you want to start gnarledpaw?

Oh, Jody! Insanity? A slice of leftover pepperoni pizza eaten after too many days in the fridge?

No really, as I said, the first time I dyed yarn with the easter eggs dyes, I felt something I’d never felt doing any other hobby or craft. I was literally hungry in a completely different way and, from a practical point of view, my stash had already outstripped my ability to knit it in this lifetime. So, I couldn’t justify (or afford!) to keep adding to it by buying more beautiful yarn. What if I could make it myself?

Here’s the other thing… to me, gorgeous yarn is itself a work of art. Perhaps that sounds hugely pretentious and self-congratulatory if I say it, but I’ve believed it since long before I started to dye. In addition to those other crafts and hobbies, I’m a writer as well. I’ve always made art to one degree or another and wow, did I need to be making this art! And because I’m one of the luckiest people on the planet, I was unemployed when this fever hit and married to the greatest guy ever. He told me to go for it, and within a couple of months, the basement of our old house had become a dye studio and in the next few years, I lived and breathed dyeing. I set a test for myself to copy (or try to) all my favorite colorways purchased from indie dyers and commercial yarn companies alike. I sold off my lovely stash to finance it and then in the fall of 2012, I signed up for the Etsy store. My first sale came in 2013, a month after I added the first yarn.

To be honest, it was about six months too soon. I wasn’t quite ready for primetime but I had a very, very loyal customer who continued to challenge me. And then I had giant ‘ah-ha’ moment. It wasn’t a technical epiphany but a lesson in trusting my gut and letting go. When it happened, my confidence soared and I found I could accept commissions with delight rather than a queasy ambivalence made up of fun and terror.

My most favorite thing to do is to putter around the studio all by myself experimenting with new colorways and I can often be found trawling the scientific equipment section on Amazon for ways in which I might tweak a dyeing process. Next to that, I love, love, love it when a customer comes to me with a project, but isn’t sure about the best base or exact color. When we put our heads together to chat about color, texture, drape, hand, etc. and the project, it’s so inspiring for me and exciting for them – at least many have said so! I go into the studio on such a high wanting to make the best looking yarn so my customer can make the best looking project possible. And then, to see the finished object is so thrilling! So satisfying!

Here’s a quick example – a longtime customer, Dorothy, bought a skein of yarn from me years ago. As it happened it was a nearly perfect match to the sash of the dress her daughter was to wear as a flower girl in a wedding – Dorothy’s sister’s wedding. The trouble was, the pattern called for double the amount of yarn Dorothy had purchased way back when. So she sent back the original skein and I dyed another to match it. I think most people will appreciate that matching exactly is not possible without having the original in front of you, and then it can still be tricky if one doesn’t keep accurate notes about every skein of yarn that moves through a shop. Here’s a picture of the finished project – and I think you can see how rewarding it was to work on!

Where is your business located?

We are in Rochester, New York, where it’s gray (almost always) from November to April. Ug. My studio is attached to my house, so I don’t have a long commute each day.

Do you ship internationally?

Absolutely!

Is gnarledpaw just you? 

For the first couple of years it was just me. But I have part time help from Sara Reid – uber organizer,  yarn-prepper and artist in her own right, though her medium is paper-based at the moment. From quilling to illustrating, she’s flipping amazing and without her, I’d be lost. I also have help from Afifa, uber designer, knitter, cheerleader and co-moderator of the gnarledpaw Ravelry Group. Lastly, Mr. gnarledpaw handles a lot of the web, advertising and materials chores. Plus, he gets to schlep the bins and grids around to in-person events. Finally, there’s Shipping and Receiving…

Tell us about your dogs

Shipping and Receiving are wire-haired dachshunds. Both are 9 yrs old and both have had disc surgery – Ginny will always walk with a profound limp thanks to a partially paralyzed rear leg. And both of them are adorable nut-jobs–as most dachshunds are. Their ‘real’ names are Ginny and Harry, because there’s not enough Harry Potter ‘merchandising’ in the world, but when they were puppies, Harry Potter was EVERYWHERE and they looked the parts!

Each dog provides invaluable service to gnarledpaw. Our yarn arrives via FedEx and UPS – but either way, Harry (aka Receiving) is on top of it. As soon as he hears the truck in the neighborhood, he alerts me to be ready. And once it’s here? Let’s just say the entire neighborhood is aware we’ve restocked! Once the barking subsides, the outside of every box is thoroughly sniffed for its provenance and quality.

Likewise, Shipping our yarn can’t happen without Ginny. Each afternoon or evening, as soon as she hears the rustle of the tyvek packages, Shipping races to the garage. The post office is only a short distance away, but should anyone try to interfere with the yarn shipments, she’s on it! Ready to defend and protect the yarn. She’s like the Pony Express, except she’s the Puppy Express riding shot-gun in a Mini station wagon until we stick the envelopes into the mail slot and the USPS takes over.

How do you get inspiration?

Most of my inspiration comes from nature – I’m an avid gardener (well, I was! I haven’t got as much time to garden as I did in the days before gnarledpaw.) But I love flowers, they’re an amazing source for color combinations, shades and tints. There are photos in the Etsy shop that illustrate how a flower can become a colorway. I also find a lot of inspiration in tropical fish and birds – particularly birds from India. Wow, do they have a lot of beautiful birds there, like the Rollers and Kingfishers. If you’ve an hour to kill forget Pinterest, visit indiabirds.com/!

And finally, I keep an eye on the competition, because sometimes I’ll see something that triggers my need to compete, to do better or different! And, It never hurts to polish one’s skill and try to duplicate a colorway just to see what happens along the way. Although I always tell my clients that when they come to me for something like an existing colorway, they’ll get my interpretation of that colorway. To copy it exactly is yarn plagiarism and I’d certainly be ticked off if someone copied Smash Box, Violet Hour, Crimson Rambler, etc.

Which yarns do you think people should really look at?  Why?

We carry around 30 bases at gnarledpaw and a lot of them are luxury blends or slightly more exotic fibers than the usual merino wool. Since knitters and crocheters often make gifts for their loved ones, I like to say that you can double the intent of your gift by choosing a special yarn to create that shawl, sock, cowl or whatever with. For instance, the yarn that Afifa used for her shawl pattern in this issue – Better Boffo – it’s an extraordinary yarn! It’s got all the fluff and heft of BFL but since it’s half silk, ooooh! It’s just rich! Like a foodie’s home-made vanilla ice cream made with the finest eggs, the gooiest vanilla bean and lots of freshest heavy cream. Right? And, it shines!

Combine those fiber features with the complexity of the Smash Box colorway she chose, and you get something really special that “seals the deal” on Afifa’s great talent. Great yarn can’t save a crap pattern, but great yarn can help sell a great pattern and make a gift great!

If you’re up for something really different, give either the fingering or the DK version of Hatshepsut a go {editor’s note: read our review of Hatshepsut too}. It’s a base of 50% alpaca, 25% silk and 25% linen. It’s very different from what a lot of knitters are used to because there is no spring to the yarn. It feels different too, but it’s exotic-different. It’s tactile because its various fibers create a texture that honestly rather defies my ability to describe – it’s slippery but stiff, soft but strong, tough but elegant. It’s a contradiction from the very get-go by combining one fiber we think of as being for winter – alpaca – and putting it together with linen – something we associate with summer! I think it takes silk, the season-less fiber, to bring them together.

And, It dyes up differently most than other yarns in the shop too. It’s much more apt to be muted and quiet.

Do you have any tips for keeping colors vibrant?

Dye isn’t just sensitive to washing and detergent. Some dyes are extremely light-sensitive. The ideal way to store your stash or your finished objects is in the dark or near dark. The gnarledpaw office lives behind closed blinds and I work by the light of my screen or a desk lamp. In addition, I enclose a small packet Eucalan in every purchase with a recommendation to use it and COLD water hand-washing. While you can use the machine for most of our yarns, you owe it to your hard work to baby it a little. Use the machine when you must, but try to be kind and gentle whenever you can!

Your yarns don’t seem to pool or flash – is that intentional on your part?

Absolutely intentional! The variegated yarns shouldn’t ever pool! But the dip-dyes will pool if the circumference or width measures are ‘right.’ That’s because they’re dyed to make stripes on socks or hats – projects with smaller circumferences.

What if someone wants a special color?

Oh boy! If someone wants a special color I’m in heaven! Contact me and let’s work together to make this a fabulous colorway or solid. If you take a peak at Page One of the Current Colorways on gnarledpaw.com, Frosty Rose Variation is a customer-requested tweak to Frosty Rose. 100 Acre Wood is also a customer request. In addition to jobs like those, I’ve dyed lots and lots of yarn for people who want a contrast color to offset a yarn they bought someplace special. Or maybe they hope to match a dress or for an important occasion. And, I’ve had many customers pick one of my variegated yarns and ask me to surprise them with a contrast color for it. There are as many different reasons to request a custom color as there are colors out there. So don’t be shy! We’ll have a ball – and if it’s a gift you’re working on, how cool is it to say you had that yarn dyed just for your recipient?!

Tell us about the yarn varieties grid 

That’s a labor of love and a key reference document. We call it the gnarledpaw Yarn Consultant. Keep it on your phone or in your knitting bag. I designed it so people could see the yarn fiber up close – how it’s plied, what sort of twist it has, etc. And, I wanted to have all our yarns in one place with all the key info there – how much it costs, the yardage, blend, weight, etc.

And in particular, I’ve noticed that a lot of recent sock knitters haven’t been taught about the importance of nylon. I’m not sure how or why that’s happening, but combined with the old-school habit of using the terms sock and fingering interchangeably, there have been some very confused and sad knitters out there – justifiably so! You don’t want to find out the socks you spent three months knitting are going to wear out in the first few wearings because there’s no nylon in the yarn you used. So, this consultant will tell you if the yarn is ok for socks, too!

Also, a lot of people get confused about the order of weights- is Sport heavier or lighter than DK? This will subtly sort you out as the yarns move from light to heavy.

The Consultant gets updated whenever we add a new base or have any other change in the shop.

Do you have a favorite yarn to work with?

I really don’t – it changes depending on what I’m working with. Fickle fingers! But there are a few that are really wonderful. Splendid is a delight to knit with. It’s springy and strong! Originally the mill advertised it was fine for socks, although it’s 100% superwash merino. It turns out, it’s really not strong enough for regular day in, day out wear, but for special occasion socks or literally ANYTHING ELSE it’s utterly delightful. It’s probably my go-to fingering.

Except for Shawl For The Best. Wow, was that a surprise! I LOVE this yarn! My mom actually mistook it for cashmere – so that tells you how soft it is. I made my grandson’s baby blanket out of it because it’s, yes, soft, but it’s so lightweight it’s like air, but because it’s 100% merino, it’s also WARM! The little guy lives in the Windy City and it gets cold there! Plus, it’s durable enough to be a baby blanket – which means washing machines – and it still looks great. Then, add to that its dyeing characteristics – SFTB sucks up the dye! It’s like a starving teenaged boy at an all-you can-eat-buffet. It’s takes the stage under the spotlight and says, “Huzzah, look at me baby! Am I a stunner or what?” Or, I think it would, if it could really eat or talk…

Color?

Bright an bold. Except when I feel like light and subtle. I really don’t have a favorite color anymore. That’s funny, I hadn’t realized I didn’t anymore…

Knotions editor: Thanks for educating us on hand-dyed yarns, the process and how you do it all. And of course, a big thank you to Shipping and Receiving for allowing us to take a few minutes from your day!