There was so much to see at Stitches West! As I said before (when I shared pictures of our booth), I only saw a small portion of the booths that were there. And when I went to look through my pictures, I realized I didn’t take all that many, I wasn’t looking with my camera lens most of the time. A friend described Stitches West as crazy and overwhelming. Yet also wonderful, of course. I agreed. So much yarn in one place? It filled my senses, seeing all that color and touching all those fibers. (And that bag? Someone wore it in our booth and it made me laugh.) I noticed, as I always do at fiber festivals, that I tend to gravitate towards the yarn dyed with natural dyes. I love bright, vibrant colors, but there is something about the natural hues that just pulls me in. They can still be bright and vibrant of course, but there is something about them that feels more gentle and subdued, something grounding and soothing. I don’t know how else to describe it, my body just gravitates towards them like a magnet. And speaking of natural dyes…

I stumbled upon A Verb for Keeping Warm‘s booth. I thought the name sounded familiar and figured that a pattern I had knit had recommended their yarn or something. Later, when I found out that the owner, Kristine Vejar, was the author of The Modern Natural Dyer, I asked if she had written any articles for Taproot magazine. When I found out she had indeed, I had an aha moment. After reading one of her articles (which I realized is where I recognized the name from), it inspired me to finally do some natural dyeing myself. What a small world! Bracken had been begging me to do a natural dyeing project and I distinctly remember her article giving me that final push to just do it already and get the ball rolling. Then I had a friend to help guide me, which I felt so grateful for.

I’m excited to announce that you can now find WoolyMossRoots buttons at A Verb for Keeping Warm’s brick and mortar shop in Oakland, California! The shop looks amazing and I wish we could have had the pleasure of visiting during our time in California, but perhaps another time. If you are in the Bay Area, be sure to check it out!