olga buraya-kefelian

If you`ve ever tried your hand at dyeing yarn, you know that it is a very meticulous process. Creating beautiful colors and dyeing them consistently from batch to batch is no small feat. Jill gave us a peek at how her yarns are dyed, using only 5 dyes!

Making yarn takes time, money & energy and has become more difficult over the years for small brands like Jill`s with limited numbers of US sheep farms producing wool and even more limited options for turning that wool into yarn at smaller scale.

Jill says "In the 15 years I`ve been making yarn in the US it has only gotten harder every year. As with all things, costs have gone up, but in addition to that, mills and farms have closed, leaving so many fewer options for onshore manufacturing, even as people seem to be more interested in domestically produced products."

We`re celebrating LYS Day this weekend, so our class schedule is a little lighter than usual. Join us for an independent study or learn to knit a lace blanket! We`ll be back with more classes next week, but in the meantime earn double rewards on Saturday and join us for a day of fun in space!

Book your spot: http://fibrespace.com/classes/

We asked Jill Draper what she`d like people to know about her work and here’s what she said, "A thing I think makes JDMS yarns special is that I design each one from the fiber up. I buy the wool directly from the people that raise it without middlemen, assuring they get the most money/pound for the hard work they do. Then I work with the mills on the twist, plies & even grist. Having a degree in Fashion Design & many semesters of Fabric Science set me up to be able to have the exact yarn I want made into reality."

If you`ve stitched with any Jill Draper yarns, you have seen this level of care and attention to detail firsthand. If you haven`t, that`s what you`ll see when you join us on Saturday for Local Yarn Store Day! Come sample JDMS yarns and snag a few skeins of your favorites!