Saturday Spotlight: Introducing Lady Dye

It’s Saturday and I have another spotlight for you guys.  Most of you are like me and always happy to find another yarn dyer. So grab your weekend beverage and let’s meet Diane.

1. Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight! Tell me your story. What is your name? Where do you dye from?

My name is Diane Ivey I live in Boston Massachusetts. I am originally from the suburbs of Chicago as well as the suburbs of Atlanta. I moved to Boston about 13 years ago and I’ve been knitting for about 15 years. Growing up I’ve always been crafty. I used to sew my dolls clothes. But as I got older I kind of took a step back from that and focused on academics, sports, and having a good time.

2. Well hello Diane! What is your craft of choice? Do you knit, crochet or both? Who taught you and how long have you been creating?

I learned to knit when I was in Rhode Island doing City Year which is an AmeriCorps program. One of my corps members and I were on the bus back to Providence and she pulled out a ball of yarn and knitting needles and she told me that she’s going to teach me how to knit because I always asked her what she was working on. I picked it up right away and I never stop. I actually do it all. I dye yarn, knit, crochet, sew, weave, Spin, felt, etc. Overall I am a fiber artist.

3. Wow! You do all of that? You are right fiber artist is the better title. You have a company and you sell yarn. How did that come about? How is that going?

My background is not in the arts, it’s actually in the nonprofit sector. I have my undergrad degrees in Political Science and Journalism and I have a Masters degree in Public Administration with a Concentration in Nonprofit Management. I worked for several nonprofits in Boston. I did the whole 9-to-5 job, complete withwhite walls and cubicle spaces. The work I was doing was meaningful but I was not happy in the work environment and I realize I was much more happy being around my knitting friends and doing crafty things.

I took a yarn-dyeing workshop years ago I think it was around 2005-2006 and I loved the concept and I love creating. I started to dye yarn on my own for my own personal use. I remember taking some hand-dyed yarn to my knitting group and someone asked where I got it from and I told them I did it. The following week they asked to buy some from me. I remember someone telling me I could make money on the side doing this and so I started. I joined a local artist group that helped me get organized and taught me how to sell my yarn. One of my first shows I practically sold out. I took a risks and left my full time job, switched careers around 2011 and I became a full time Fiber Artist. I didn’t take dyeing the yarn seriously until about 2014.

The business is going great! When you first start it’s very rocky because you are learning. I’ve finally settled in for the most part but there’s always challenges that need to be solved. Starting a business you have to be a problem solver and take risk. Everyday.

4. Great story, I am happy things worked out! When you started selling yarn, was it always dyed by you?

YES! 🙂 and it still is but the business is growing so I’m looking for interns or two part time people to help. Particularly for this summer.

5. What is your best selling color yarn?

This is tough because it’s not necessarily a color. I forgot to mention all my yarn is graffiti art inspired. My popular Colorways are Coppola, Wingkersheek, Charcoal, Kermit, and Elsa. As well as lot of our bright solids. Too many to choose from. I love variegated Yarns.

6. I get that! Ok can we talk about your logo? I love the sheep with the Afro. What inspired that design?

Okay…I love my sheep fro. She is a badass knitter and represents not only me but all the sistas in the knitting world. A lot of people go online to find a logo. Being in Boston and surrounded by so many artists I reach out to someone and asked if they could illustrate a logo for me. Originally the sheep fro logo was my avatar. But over time people love my sheep fro more than my spray can logo. I told the artist at the time to take a sheep and Pam Grier and put it together. And this is what he came up with and I love it! It’s original and it’s mine and it represents so much more than Lady Dye Yarns Business. It represents people of color in this industry and it represents just black girl magic!

7. I had the pleasure of meeting you at VKL, thank you for the lovely gifts. How was your first experience as a vendor? Would you do it again?

So last year I took a little back seat from the business to redo my business model. I could talk about this for days about the industry and what the trends are and how the industry is shifting and where it should be shifting to you. We can’t help but notice that this country is becoming more diverse And if you’re in the business you have to know how to reach out to different types of groups of people. Being in New England, there’s far and few in between in reference to people of color. Don’t get me wrong we are here but when it comes to the crafting world it’s few and far between. Going to Vogue Knitting Live in New York was absolutely amazing. It’s all walks of life. I did really well and I was able to showcase my creativity not only with my yarn but other products such as my mason jar mugs kits. And let’s not forget those project bags! 🙂 Those were a huge hit at the show and I was actually quite surprised. We did well with the project bags and I’m looking forward to next year I will absolutely do it again. Now that I know how the show goes I will be back. I look forward to showcasing even more creative stuff.

8. Great I’m sure I’ll see your there. What advice would you give someone looking to start a business in this field?

The advice I would give to someone who wants to start a business in the crafting industry is that this industry is huge it’s also very saturated. So you have to think about what you bring to the table that’s different from what everyone else is doing. Also you have to put the work into your business. It’s not going to grow or your idea won’t grow unless you put the work in. I joked with someone and I said that I don’t know when the weekend is because every day is a day. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have work-life balance, it’s just that I might take Monday off or Thursday off one week but have to work seven days a week one other week it just varies. There’s no dull moment. The other thing to note is raising money as a female entrepreneur is very difficult. That’s why it’s very important for women to support women in businesses. I can’t stress this enough with the ideas that I’m trying to do with my business and trying to get into investment it’s few and far between we have to learn to work with each other if you want the businesses to grow.

9. My Saturday Spotlight is how I support. I like spreading the word about folks I meet. How can my readers find you in this cyber world?

I’m on all social media under ladydyeyarns and our website is ladydyeyarns.com

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Diane. I wish you continued success with your business. Wait you currently have a mini kit club that is inspired by Black Panther. Go check it out she is still taking subscriptions.

Knit on my fiber friends…knit on

GG