During the KCYC, I purchased some beautiful yarn from 316 Dye Studio at Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS. I reached out the Jenny Brown, the owner, and she graciously agreed to answer my interview questions.
Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background in yarn dyeing.
“Hi everyone, I’m Jenny Brown, the one woman show behind 316 Dye Studio. I’ve been dyeing yarn and fiber for about 10 years now, which is sort of wild to think about because it doesn’t feel like that long ago. When I first started dyeing, it was out of the kitchen of our previous home with just one dye pan and a handful of dye colors, but now I now have a full on working home studio which I was fortunate enough to be able to design from the ground up. It’s where I spend a majority of my time as a full-time indie dyer.“
What inspired you to become a yarn dyer?
“I’ve been interested in the fiber arts since I was fairly young. In middle school, my friend taught me to cross stitch, which I did religiously until college. At 18, I taught myself to knit (this was before YouTube), then started spinning after I graduated grad school at 24. Dyeing was something that I always thought sounded like a lot of fun and naturally seemed like the next progression.
It was also during a time when Wichita was without any LYSs, and I thought I could fulfill a need in our fiber community here.“
Please walk us through your dyeing process. What materials and techniques do you use?
“I feel like a lot of indie dyers can echo this sentiment in that with yarn dyeing, it’s like 90% prep and 10% actually dyeing the fiber.
Most of what we stock for yarn is a merino or merino blend. I have both superwash yarn and non-superwash – for those that like a more natural, less processed fiber. All of my spinning fiber is non-superwash and we carry some staples like Polwarth, USA grown Targhee, and Cormo, but also some luxe blends with silk or cashmere. In spinning fiber you’ll find lots of different blends of animal fibers and it’s fun to experiment with those because they all take dye differently.
The process for yarn and fiber is essentially the same to dye. Because wool is initially hydrophobic (repels water), it needs a thorough soak in water before dyeing to wet it out. Once that process is complete, you can move on to dyeing.
I dye all of my yarn by weight of fiber (WOF) meaning I measure out my dye recipes to a hundredth of a gram to get my batches as similar as possible. I use professional acid dyes that are color and light fast, meaning the color won’t wash out or fade. The term acid is important because animal fibers need to be in an acidic environment to be able to absorb the dye, so it’s key you’re using the correct dyes and a form of acid like vinegar or citric acid in your dye baths. Although technically, you can use fiber reactive dyes (used mostly for dyeing plant fibers like cotton, linen, hemp, etc.) on wool. It does work as long as you’re using an acid in the dye bath. It does not go the other way though — acid dyes will not give you saturated colors on plant fibers.
Once all of the dye stock is mixed and my acid is added to my dye pans or dye solution, I then dye all of my yarn. Over the years, I’ve learned several techniques that yield different results, so depending on how I image the finished yarn to knit up is how I determine how I want to dye the yarn. The yarn is then heat set on my stove or my commercial proofer cabinet to set the dye. I know the yarn is ready when it has absorbed all of the dye, and the water left in my pans is clear.
The fiber is then cooled down to the point where I can handle it without burning myself and washed with a fiber wash. It gets rinsed to wash out all the soap, then spun in my hand-dandy spin dryer to remove excess water and then hung to dry before being twisted and labeled.“
What challenges do you face in the dyeing process, and how do you overcome them?
“I would say the largest challenge I deal with is the consistency of dye powders. Dyes from my supplier are mixed in batches and sometimes reformulated, which means I either have to discontinue colorways or reformulate my recipe. Sometimes dyes also take differently when being heated slowly in my proofer oven vs. more quickly on my stove top. Large batches of yarn have had to be discounted because my proofer yielded a different dye result than my stoves.
My second biggest challenge I would say are those pesky yarn ties! I know, they keep your skein nice and neat, but they can be the bane of my existence. Sometimes you can have a beautiful even dye all over your skein of yarn, only to realize one of those ties was too tight around the skein and left a BIG, white, noticeable resist mark. I wish there was a better system for allowing the yarn to move freely in the pans while still maintaining the integrity of the skein without using ties.“
Where do you find inspiration for your yarn designs and colors?
“Inspiration is all around you. I get a lot of colorway ideas from nature, or other works of art. It could be the way a group of colors sits next to each other on my shelf, or a curated palette of colors based off a season or emotion. Certain songs, or TV shows that I’m interested in that I think would make a fun collection also work their way into becoming colorways. I feel like my colorway inspirations are all completely random and curated at the same time.
I do tend to lean towards bright and bold colors though, so really anything that grabs my attention is in the running for a potential colorway.“
Are there any particular artists, nature elements, or cultures that influence your work?
“I released a collection a while back called the Happy Little Yarn Collection that was completely inspired by Bob Ross. I watched him all the time growing up and was in awe of how he could capture the beauty of nature. Each colorway was inspired and named after one of his paintings, and it is one of my favorite collections I’ve developed to date.
I loved his sentiment that anybody could be an artist as long as they took the steps to get going and just practiced. I believe that wholeheartedly there is an artist hidden among everyone, but they just need to discover their medium to be able to express it.
There are also a handful of other dyers that I admire dearly. One of them being another Kansas native, Aimée Gille of La Bien Aimée. Her color pairings and dye style are something to really admire. I also adore Hedgehog for her bright and bold colors, House of A La Mode leaves me envious of her micro speckles (they’re seriously so amazing!), and Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia Yarns.
I tell people I learned to dye from Felicia. When I started dyeing, people were not showing their processes on YouTube or social media and really gate-keeping their trade secrets. Felicia had just published her book, Dyeing to Spin & Knit, which was such a great resource as a newbie dyer. She was so generous in sharing her techniques and information at a time when nobody else was. I give her all of my credit for the dyer that I am today.“
How has the yarn community influenced your journey as a dyer?
“I’m sure many will agree that social media has its positives and negatives. On the positive side, I love connecting with other dyers on their processes and seeing what inspires them. Sometimes it sparks an idea of my own. I also love seeing all the color pairings of WIPS and finished items people make, and the new designs being released. These all fuel my creativity to create kits, develop colorways or try something new.
On the other hand, as much love as I have for our fiber community, it can sometimes be a toxic environment. People can be so hurtful and cruel behind the thin veil of the internet. People will leave comments and opinions as if they’re experts on things they know nothing about. So maybe these particular circumstances don’t influence my dyeing so much, but definitely act as a reminder that we’re all just trying our best. Just be a good human and be kind to others.“
What advice would you give to someone interested in starting their own dyeing business?
It’s not as easy as some make it look, but definitely give it a go if it’s something you’re interested in! Lots of the equipment I use for dyeing comes from restaurant supply stores, and you may be able to find some things second hand at a big discount.
Also be safe. Research the proper safety equipment you’ll need like a respirator and heat resistant gloves. Keep all of your dye supplies and equipment completely separate from items that you use to prepare food.
Don’t get discouraged if your yarn doesn’t come out like it did in your head. This still happens even to me. One way you’ll hone your skills is learning from your “mistakes”. Rarely I’ll nail a colorway on the first time. Usually, it takes me two or three times to refine proportions or color value to elevate it to the point where I’m happy with it.
Are there any resources that you would recommend for aspiring dyers?
Yes, absolutely! I already mentioned Felicia Lo’s book, Dyeing to Spin & Knit, which I cannot recommend enough. She also has online courses through the School of Sweet Georgia which are fantastic. The school also has a community forum for people to post and share about things they’ve made as well as weekly maker meet ups.
ChemKnits on YouTube is a fantastic resource on just dye experimentation. She has hundreds of videos experimenting with different techniques and all sorts of yarns. Still to this day, I’m learning from watching her videos.
Paula Birch at pburch.net has anything and everything you’ll ever want to know about how dyes work on a more scientific level. Her website was (and still is) a fantastic resource when I first started dyeing! There is a plethora of information on dyeing animal fibers, plant fibers, natural dyeing, techniques, as well information on any chemical you could ever imagine using in dyeing. I also own The Complete Color Harmony, Pantone Edition. It’s a fun book with lots of color pairing suggestions to get your juices flowing.
What trends are you noticing in the yarn dyeing world?
“It seems to me that over the course of the last year or so, demand for farm raised yarns, less processed yarns (like non-superwash) and custom yarn blends that incorporate waste yarn scraps from the dyer are becoming more readily available and I’m here for it. Fast fashion creates so much environmental pollution and waste, and I love seeing more support for our growers who utilize regenerative and sustainable farming practices in their business model.“
What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects or new product lines you can share?
“Although I haven’t touched on it throughout the other questions, I’ve really become enthralled with natural dyeing. I have my own dye garden where I grow flowers that I use for our Knit & Bloom line, which is our line of naturally dyed products. I grow, harvest and press all of the flowers myself and it’s a true labor of love! I never thought I would have gone down this road, but here we are.
And I just signed up for a year long study on making different artist materials out of natural dyes. I’ll be learning how to make inks, watercolors, crayons, pastels, screen printing ink and much more during the study and I’m just so jazzed about it! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to expand our Knit & Bloom line soon with more of these natural products.“
How can readers support your work? Do you have a website or social media where they can connect with you?
Yes! To purchase products you can visit our website, 316dyestudio.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on events, classes or new product launches at the bottom of the homepage. You can also contact us directly through the website for wholesale and teaching inquiries.
We’re also @316DyeStudio on all platforms to connect via social media.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?
Thanks so much for taking the time to learn about me and my small business. If you’re a maker of any kind, please connect with me on social media. I would love to check out what you’re creating. It’s also a fantastic way to share cat photos with me. 😊
316 Dye Studio, LLC
http://www.316dyestudio.com
Owner – Jenny Brown
Thank you for spending time with me today.
~ Belle
P. S. Hello again! Rio here, Belle’s daughter. Once again you’ve seen one of my projects throughout this blog post, so I thought I’d give you a little more information. I purchased some of 316 Dye Studio’s “Lite Brite” fingering yarn at Yarn Barn during the KCYC and I used it to create this pair of socks. It was my first attempt at making socks (well technically the second, but more on that in a moment) and the pattern I used was Heart Hook Home’s Herringbone Crochet Socks.
I had originally tried to make another pair of socks and got one sock completed, but it just didn’t look like how I had hoped, so I ended up frogging the entire sock and starting over from scratch with this pattern. I can say that not only did the yarn hold up well, but also the color is just as bright and lovely as before I started. I can’t wait to hopefully work with more 316 Dye Studio yarn in the future! Thanks for checking out the blog!
