Have you heard about Salty Blonde Fine Fibers? Ryan Page Haas is the creative mind behind one of the newest hand-dyed brands on the market, which is actually a re-brand of a yarn we know and love – Knerdstring. Ryan began running Knerdstring in 2022, and after a year of this new adventure made the decision to make the brand more reflective of herself as the brand continues to grow. We are so excited to have Salty Blonde Fibers in space, and wanted to re-introduce this wonderful brand to all of you. Read on to get to know Ryan and her team, and be inspired!
What inspired you to take over Knerdstring?
“I met Renee Magee (the original creative mind behind Knerdstring) at our local yarn shop years ago. Renee was making the cutest bags and tees, and I was a big fan of both her art and humor. When Renee began dyeing yarn, I became a big fan of that too!
Renee created colors that were earthy and beautiful and just had a natural eye for what she was doing. In late 2018 Renee asked me if I would be interested in working for her: doing her social media, packing orders, skeining, and labeling. I didn’t think twice – jumping in to help with social media and spending time in the studio wherever I was needed.
Renee reached out to me in early 2022 to let me know she was going to retire Knerd…. unless I was interested in buying the company. I called my husband, and he didn’t even think for two seconds before saying, “Yes! Let’s do it!” The rest is history! I feel honored that Renee asked me if I would be interested in keeping the Knerdstring brand going, which has given me the inspiration I needed to keep growing.”
A bit about the inspiration behind the rebrand:
Ryan really struggled with whether to rebrand or not, and originally hadn’t intended to be anything other than Knerdstring. Renee is really cool. She made Knerd the cool sassy brand that it is, and everything fit her so well because she poured her heart and soul into it.
However once Ryan started to incorporate her own colorways into the brand, she felt conflicted. She was torn between wanting to keep it Knerd but also felt like Knerd was not reflective of her as a hand dyer. Mulling over what it might be called should she decide to rebrand, one word kept resurfacing.
“I did have one word that I kept coming back to and that was “salt.” Salt, as you know, is a flavor enhancer. I want to add to and enhance Knerd. And I like how people can interpret “salty” as someone who might be coarse, tough, or aggressive. I can be some of those things sometimes, but salty is also lively and colorful. Salt is necessary to our well-being; kind of like yarn. So after thinking about the word “salty” in those terms, it was an easy decision to use it in some form.”
Blonde came about next because, Ryan jokes, she’s been known to have “blonde moments,” and it is a very fitting description of her. The combination seemed kismet, so that’s how it happened!
How does she conceptualize colors?
Ryan loves choosing photos that have beautiful palettes in them and creating colors based on those. She could be inspired by just about anything – nature, people, art, or even food. Ryan shared:
“I never know what exactly will inspire me. I’ve had times when I thought a collection was going to go a certain way and ended up following a different path.”
So Ryan finds herself choosing based on feelings and things I love, and she has quite the collection of micro skeins hanging out because she tests every shade on yarn before putting it in the pot or pan on larger skeins.
What makes Salty Blonde Fibers unique?
Ryan thinks that Salty Blonde Fibres is unique because it is the blending of two people – both her own creative vision and that of her predecessor Renee. Ryan shares:
“I have Renee’s palette which I lovingly refer to as the Knerd Palette, and then I have the colorways that I create for seasonal collections. Salty Blonde has become two souls synthesized and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now if I didn’t know Renee’s methods and techniques.”
The colors Ryan creates are the way they are because of what knowledge Renee passed down to her. Ryan shared that both Renee and herself are lovers of music and nature and she hopes that those two things are always evident in the shades behind the label.