sweetgeorgia

SweetGeorgia Studio Opening!

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time out of their busy days (it was civic election day!) to come down and visit the studio this past Saturday. I was overwhelmed with the support of old friends, new friends, old weaving classmates, pharmacy colleagues, dancers, online knitter friends, and family. Half an hour into the opening, we were standing pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder in the space and my heart was so happy but also racing. Here are a few photos from the afternoon:

I feel so very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends… none of this would have been possible without them. My mom baked all the cookies and cakes and prepared all the nibbles and drinks so that I could focus on getting all the new loom equipment built and arranged. Friends came over to help label yarn, move the heavy things and fix up the studio. It was really quite amazing.

Finally, after all these years, Kim Werker of Interweave Crochet and Crochet Me fame and I met up for the first time. She is hilarious, generous and so engaging… especially the bits about Joss Whedon. I’m looking forward to hearing her interview soon!

Donald from WeaveThings also came up from Washington to visit me! I’m humbled by the efforts people made to come visit for the afternoon. Thank you so much.

Shop Update!

Lest you think I have forgotten about the online shop, never! I’ve just posted an update today and you can find some of the new yarns and fibres that I’m going to be stocking regularly:

Superfudge: The ultimate super skein. It’s 100% superwash merino wool. It’s 1/2 lb… that’s 1120 yards in 225g of light fingering weight wool. Make some super long knee socks or knit a substantial and squishy shawl or scarf.

Heartcore: A huge 1/2 lb (225g) skein of light worsted or DK weight yarn. 55% mohair and 45% wool with approximately 485 yards per skein. Knit a hat and matching wrist warmers… or some warm, hardwearing socks for winter.

Superwash BFL: It’s superwash. It’s Bluefaced Leicester. It’s the best of everything rolled in one. And it’s seriously the softest and fluffiest fibre I’ve ever seen.

As for the studio, I will be posting about the facilities there soon. We’ll be offering the space up for people to reserve dye workspace, the new Schacht Baby Wolf loom, the Leclerc Nilus 36″ loom, and all the carding and warping equipment.

For now, if you would like to come visit, we are officially open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 6 pm. Come visit us at 4th and Main.

Studio Opening + Shop Update

We have been busy dyeing, moving looms, and getting set up … and now we hope you will join us at the opening for the SweetGeorgia Yarns Studio! It’s a weaving studio… it’s a hand-dyed yarn shop… it’s a production dye studio… come see for yourself! We’re located at East 4th Avenue and Main Street in Vancouver.

Saturday, November 15, 2008 from 2pm to 5pm
401 – 228 East 4th Avenue, Buzz 32
Vancouver, BC

The online shop has been updated with a few new yarns including CashSilk Lace and Big Buttercrunch. CashSilk Lace is 55% cashmere and 45% silk 2-ply laceweight in 60g skeins. Big Buttercrunch is a chewy, sproingy 100% silk boucle in 50g skeins. Also in this shop update are freshly dyed Superwash Sock and Speed Demon Sock yarns, and 20/2 Silk yarn. Your feedback and comments on these yarns are welcomed!

Now that we’ve got more yarns dyed up, the online shop updates should be more frequent. Also, Vancouver residents will have the option to skip shipping fees and arrange to come pick up your orders. We’ve also set up Visa and Mastercard processing in case you prefer not to use PayPal. Please let us know if these new options make a difference for you or if you have any new suggestions on how we can improve things.

And finally, one important note… I am out of town from Sunday until October 30th and so all orders will ship during the first week of November. I hope this doesn’t cause anyone inconvenience and I appreciate your patience as I get my schedule more organized. In the meantime, I hope to find some lovely things to write about during my travels and I hope to see you on November 15th!

Ideal space. Studio space.

Time and space to breathe now. I have, indeed, secured an absolutely gorgeous studio space that is the studio space of my dreams. SweetGeorgia is now officially housed in a two-level studio loft with 18′ ceilings and a spectacular 4th floor view of the North Shore mountains and downtown Vancouver. The place is flooded with natural light via floor-to-ceiling windows on North and West sides. I will have more and more details about the space soon, but first I’ll be moving in this weekend…

… and then I’ll do more dyeing…

Here’s a teeny glimpse at the space and the iron spiral staircase…

Finally, we have a properly equipped studio space where dyers, spinners, weavers, knitters, crafters and fibre artists can converge, work, teach, learn, interact and innovate with other designers and artists and the community. Everytime I visit the space, I think it’s breathtaking. I can’t wait to be here.

Supernatural SweetGeorgia

There’s more than one way to get colour on yarn.

Tomorrow when we re-open the shop, we’ll be offering a collection of yarns and fibres under the name “Supernatural SweetGeorgia”. Natural and plant dyes create some of the most beautifully nuanced and luscious colours in our history. These colours are full of life and energy. Supernatural SweetGeorgia is our collection of yarns and fibres from organic, sustainable and renewable sources that are hand-dyed with natural and plant dyes. Multiple overdyes and multi-step processes… there’s a whole lot of love in these yarns.

As a knitter, spinner and weaver, I am well aware of the beauty and benefits of using natural fibres like silk, wool, or linen. But then things became more a little complicated with the release of products like soy silk, bamboo, ingeo, organic wool, and organic cotton. What’s good to use? What’s responsible to use? How do I sort out the options? I am, more than ever, conflicted about the choices.

We are inundated with publicity about “green” products and “sustainability”… just this month’s Knit.1 mag is entitled “The Green Issue” in which they discuss knitting, eco-activism, and organic yarns. Vogue Patterns’ April/May 2008 issue has an article called “Sewing Green” which describes all eco-friendly fabrics. Rowan’s latest magazine features their new “green” line called PureLife. There is Amy Singer’s book “No Sheep For You” which details all sorts of alternative natural fibres… and also Shannon Okey’s new book “Alt Fiber” which delves into even more obscure alternative fibres like pineapple ramie and kenaf. You can’t escape what seems like the immense pressure to make the right and responsible choice.

Treehugger simultaneously evangelizes about the benefits of bamboo textiles while also considering that maybe bamboo textiles aren’t really sustainable or organic. Confused? Yeah, me too. I think it’s all too easy to idealize any one particular “new” fibre or textile and to put something on a pedestal without investigation or scrutiny. In no way do I believe that I have the answers… but I am committed to looking at and studying different options while also encouraging everyone to do the same. Be open and vigilant. Here are some places to start:

• Sustainability in Textiles: An Overview (Worsted Witch)
• Greensleeves: Sustainability in the Fiber & Textile Arts (Worsted Witch)
• Eco-Tip: Mini Directory of Green Fabrics (TreeHugger)
• Sustainable Clothing: Emerging Standards (OrganicClothing)
• Tencel: Sustainable but not necessarily healthy (OrganicClothing)
• Bamboo: Facts behind the Fiber (OrganicClothing)
• Green Knitter: Natural, Organic and Eco-friendly Yarn Chart

In tomorrow’s update, we’ll have some naturally dyed bamboo and silk yarns. And in future updates, we’ll also have organic wools in worsted weight. I’ve just dyed some in pomegranate and it’s lovely, squishy stuff. Pomegranate-dyed organic merino yarn might not entirely save the world, but hey, I’m trying.

1% of the proceeds from the Supernatural SweetGeorgia collection will be directed to OnePercentForThePlanet, an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet. Members donate at least 1% of their annual net revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.

Screw it, let’s do it.

Okay, enough waiting. Enough hemming and hawing and fussing with my skirt hem. Friday, April 18th sounds like a good day to re-open the SweetGeorgia Yarn shop… so we’ll open up at 9 AM PST. I still have a bunch of work to do before Friday (like sorting out shipping costs and such) and I’m sure there will be some growing pains, but there’s no way to know without going ahead and trying.

If you visit the shop site now, you’ll see that it’s still password-protected. No worries, there won’t be any password required on Friday when we open. See you then!