Merging Passions: A Journey Through Yarn Dyeing and Knitwear Design

It has been quite a journey since I began my adventure with yarn dyeing, aiming to blend my two passions into one cohesive craft. I launched my fiber arts business in 2019, initially focusing on knitwear design, and expanded into yarn dyeing in 2022.

Now that I've established myself in both areas, I am finally reknitting all of my designs using the yarn bases and colors my business offers. Although I felt apprehensive about starting this project due to a lack of knitting motivation, it has truly reignited my passion for the craft! I kicked things off with the delightful Maid You Dream Blouse, crafted in our Liquid Pearl Lace base, in the colorway Periwinkle—one of our best sellers. Additionally, after shedding a considerable amount of weight over the past year, reknitting this made-to-measure design felt fitting since my existing samples are now too large for me.

Here I am in my Maid You Dream Blouse in "Periwinkle" on our Liquid Pearl Lace base at the Rose City Yarn Crawl, where I hosted a trunk show with my favorite, Ritual Dyes!

After returning from RCYC, I quickly immersed myself in planning the booth for Flock Fiber Festival. This year, the focus is on my knitwear designs, so I structured the booth around each yarn base and the designs that will showcase them. Honestly, this proved to be quite challenging at first. oSHen Fibres offers a vast array of colorways, and I have 30 knitting patterns to consider. Being just one person, I needed to streamline my choices, especially since I'm responsible for dyeing all the yarn for the festival as well as knitting the samples—while also balancing my full-time job with NOAA. At first, Becca, our shop manager, and I listed our customer favorites for colorways, but the sheer number and lack of coordination were overwhelming, creating chaos in my aesthetically driven mind. After days of grappling with various designs, I took a step back and posed a crucial question:

What is the theme of this booth?

The answer became clear: a return to my roots as a knitwear designer, finally merging my two passions. Over the years, we have introduced numerous collections and colorways, and it dawned on me to revisit my origins in yarn dyeing. This led me to create my first official ocean-themed collection—All Things oSHen—featuring Tropical and PNW colorways. These collections laid the foundation for my brand's ocean-centric identity, introducing beloved colorways like Tidal Pools and Plankton Mandala that helped many of you discover and fall in love with oSHen Fibres. We even have a dedicated wall at our shop, showcasing all 20 rainbow tonals from these collections, and I designed the Stocking 4 Rainbows around the original tropical tonals. It felt like a perfect fit!

I will be presenting four variegated colorways from both the Tropical and PNW collections, alongside four of our most cherished tonals to complement each variegated option. With seven bases for each color, I have a significant amount of knitting ahead of me! One sample is already completed, and I am currently working on two more—both new designs in bases I have yet to experiment with, which is incredibly exciting. I aimed to finish these two before diving into older designs to ensure ample time for testing and finalization.

The first design is a long-sleeve version of the Mt. Hoody Vest—Mt. Hoody in our Arklow Aran base, featuring the new colorway "Nuclear Sunsets" from our PNW collection. Interestingly, it served as the first rainbow layer for our "Hippocampus" colorway in the new oSHen Mythology collection, and I instantly fell in love with it. "Tidal Pools" was originally intended to be the rainbow colorway for the PNW collection, but it turned out green-dominant and didn't quite convey that rainbow vibe, although it remains our number one seller! This cashmere blend Arklow Aran is an absolute dream to knit with—perfect for a cozy project, especially since I'm working on the body in the round, creating endless meditative stitches.

Here’s my new design, Mt. Hoody in "Nuclear Sunsets" on Arklow Aran

The second sample, which I’m alternating with the Mt. Hoody, is an innovative vest design that I'll pair with a matching skirt in our oSHen Bubbles DK (boucle) base. Many of you have been curious about how it knits up, and I finally mustered the courage to tackle the boucle! Initially, I made a swatch and found the experience unpleasing, thinking the swatch looked unattractive. However, after steam blocking it, the results were astonishing—the softness, texture, and drape were incredible! I felt a surge of excitement, and now that I'm halfway through the vest, working with the boucle has become much more enjoyable. I recommend using metal needles since the texture creates a bit of friction, and holding your work up to a lit window can assist in reading your stitches or rows.

Here’s my new design, the Bubble Net Vest in "Stormy Seas" on our oSHen Bubbles DK

I am genuinely looking forward to the next four and a half months of sample knitting. This focused approach has rekindled my knitting passion, and it feels wonderful to finally have the mental bandwidth to merge my two greatest loves. I can't wait to reveal the booth space to all of you this August!

Flock Fiber Festival is a celebration of all fiber arts and creators, founded in 2023 by Jess of La Mercerie. This year, it will run from July 31st to August 2nd, and you can find tickets at flockfiberfestival.com

This will be our third year attending, and we always have a fantastic time connecting with everyone!

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