Why?

Probably not a good idea to start a blog at 2AM, but hey, what the heck?

The first question everyone asks is: What made you change from engineering to dyeing?

I think I give out a different answer every time, but I’ll try to sum it all up here. I’ve always itched under the “normal” work routine – get up, work all day, go home, hoard your precious vacation hours so that you can get out and see someplace beautiful for a few days before going back to the grind. It doesn’t help that I have a serious addiction to mountains and climbing, and that I regularly go to places so beautiful that it makes me ache to leave them. Well, last fall the itch turned into a severe rash (think fire coral or poison oak) and I just couldn’t keep going to my gray cubicle with a good attitude. I came to the realization that no amount of money was going to make me happy, and it was just time for a serious lifestyle change. I know the grass is always greener, but time has always been far more valuable than money to me. It’s been two months and I don’t regret a thing.

Enter the yarn addict part. I had been knitting and crocheting for a few years, quickly found out about “real” yarn and “real” yarn stores and had to squoosh the latest beautiful mix of color & fiber ever since. Then I found Ravelry and a harmless hobby became a complete obsession. Enter the ISO & Destashing Forum and the Karma Yarn Swap group, and suddenly I was aware of a whole new world of indie dyers, squooshability, and color that I had only briefly glimpsed before. And did I mention the part about my boyfriend’s grandparents having sheep? Corriedales to be exact, and around the time that the job rash was becoming unbearably itchy, I received the dirty fleece I sent to Morro Fleece Works back in the form of creamy white roving. (Which still sounds a bit dirty….hmmmm…..) And about that same time I met Tom & Mette who have a small mill called Ranch of the Oaks. I realized that I could actually produce my own yarn – born and raised in California.

Once I had a focus for the itch, there was really no looking back. I started to learn everything I could about fiber, fleece, natural dyeing, and running a business. There are more stories – I promise I’ll be back with pictures and more over the next few weeks. But it’s 2AM now and I’m finally getting sleepy again.