November 01, 2023
I thought it would be fun to take a look at the way October House began and the transitions it has gone through over these past ten years.
I started out hand dyeing spinning fiber one day a week (I was working 4 days a week at a regular job), with just a bit of yarn added after a while. I was doing a lot of hand spinning in those days and I loved experimenting with the different sheep breeds and natural fibers. I still think braids of fiber are beautiful (and very photogenic):
I started a monthly fiber club and it was a lot of fun. Playing with color in that way is completely addicting! I loved it! It eventually got just a bit too big for me to handle by myself (and working in my home kitchen). But the fiber was wonderful to work with, and I loved creating new colorways and finding or making little goodies to include in each month's shipment.
...oh...still so pretty to me :)
Gradually the spinning fiber decreased and the yarn increased. We attended a few fiber festivals and found some wonderful customers. I think it helped a lot that I had a bit of a different take on color than some of the popular dyers at the time. Deep, bright and saturated colors were easy to find, but I have always preferred more muted, softer and "quiet" colors.
Not that I don't love a good juicy color, but my bread and butter turned out to be the softer and subtler colors. I had a yarn club going for several years, but in 2019 I changed it up a bit and it became a very popular club:
(Patisserie was one of the all-time favorite clubs, with all the yarns from this club eventually becoming bestselling regular colorways.)
I had introduced my cross stitch designs in 2017 with a few yarn and knitting themed designs, which were quite successful. That made my transition away from full-time yarn dyeing an easier adjustment, and it certainly made things smoother when I hurt my neck/shoulder and had to take a big break from dyeing yarn in 2021.
I had to take a break from knitting during that time as well, and the fact that I could cross stitch completely saved my sanity! We'll look at our cross stitch journey next time!
November 04, 2024
October 30, 2024
I'm Robin, the designer behind October House. You've found my blog, where I ramble on about stitching and sewing and anything else that catches my fancy!
I love quiet colors, gentle stitches and making things by hand.
"My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read." - Abraham Lincoln