In honor of our grand opening we  will be running 3 contests starting on opening day:

1. The first 100 customers will be placed into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate towards a future purchase from Pulling at Strings
2. Anyone who signs up for the Pulling at Strings newsletter between October 31st and November 7th will be entered into a drawing to win a free pattern of their choice up to a $7 value
3. Comment here on my blog between October 31st and November 7th with your favorite item in my store to be entered into a drawing for free shipping on any future order from Pulling with Strings

Now, its time to meet one of our artisans, Katie of Wool Food Market.  I have long admired Katie’s work and have quite the collection of her wool food for my little ones.  When she wrote her wool fruit felting tutorial earlier this year, I knew that I definitely wanted to carry it in my store.  Luckily for me, she agreed.

Here’s Katie!

When and why did you start felting?

I’d been introduced to felting by an on-line friend and fellow crafter.  However, she was a needle felter and I preferred the wet-felting process.  I had a rather large bag of wool roving that I started rolling into balls.  As I stood at the sink rolling wool in soapy water, I lingered on what I could make from the balls.  Most of the colors were fruity in nature and wool food was born.

What do you use for inspiration?

A farmer’s market or the produce section is where I get most of my inspiration for food.  I try to replicate the hues and variations of the fruits and vegetables.  Pineapples still escape me.

When I make playscapes, I love to create what one might imagine is hiding on the forest floor.  A gnome, troll, critters…a secret home in the base of an old tree stump.

What is your favorite item you have felted and why?

I really enjoy felting up wool tree stumps.  What exactly emerges from the water bath is always a surprise.

What are your favorite colors?

Orange and avocado green

Tell us one secret:

Tell us one secret: A washing machine is more forgiving than your own hands when wet-felting.  It’s not discriminating and felts evenly on all sides.  Our heads, via our hands, try to manipulate the wool.  A washing machine allows the wool to do what wool does…felt.  My greatest works would have never happened if I’d hand felted them.  Unwrapping them after a run through a washing machine allows the wool a certain amount of freedom that usually works.

I also understand that I’m working with a natural element so it’s not always going to work out as I envisioned.  I go into it every time understanding that some days the wool just isn’t going to work with me and I have a willingness to scrap disasters.

Before I ran the contest, I was bouncing name ideas off the members of each of my congos (an online conglomorate of artisans.)  Yarn This, Yarn That, Yarn Thingamabob, Yarn Whatsit. . . as the names got more and more random, I jokingly attempted to type “I am pulling on strings here.”  However  dealing with a lack of sleep and two toddlers adamantly demanding to go outside, I wrote, “and pulling at strings here.”  My friend, Amy Sue, just loved Pulling at Strings, as did most of the other artisans in each congo.

But I slept on it and the skein of yarn in my dream told me to like it so onto the name poll it went. (Yes yarn speaks to me in my dreams!  Don’t even pretend like that’s never happened to you).

Anyways, got a little sidetracked there, you came here to find out the winner yes? Being the eco-conscious little yarn lark that I am, instead of writing down numbers on little scraps of paper for my kids to eat, tear, or maybe. possibly. HAND to me so I could pick a winner, I went to my favorite little random number generator and entered in the numbers.  Lovely little device isn’t it?  I like it too.

#59. Goddass101  (I will email you shortly)

Now I bet you all are wondering what exactly she won, right?

Why hello there

Meet Firefly, deliciously dyed on 4oz of light weight SW merino.

And now that you’ve met Firefly, meet her mama, the wonderful and talented Lisa of Becoming-Art (formerly of Selah.) Lisa is a dear friend and one of the many talented and wonderful artisans whose yarn I am proud to carry in my store.  And here’s Lisa!

“Hi, I’m Lisa.
Aside from a wonderful life with a great guy and young boys, I am a yarn/fiber artist and a person with mulitiple interests. Currently I am on a new expedition with a solo business on etsy. Hoping for limitless inspiration to take hold and see what I create.”

When and why did you start dyeing?

“I started dyeing fabrics and clothing when I was 14. It began at a local art studio in the small town I went to school. We’d go to dance class and then make our way to the batik/tye dye classes after school. It was a fun hobby and way to express ourselves in a positive way. After many years, I turned the fabric dyeing into yarn dyeing in order to make some special items for my kids and for other ppl’s kids.”

What do you use for inspiration?

“The best inspiration to me is when it’s totally spontaneous. Something unexpected, something I would have never considered any regular day. If I am under pressure to be creative, I like to use nature or things that evoke emotion or have meaning in my life.”

What is your favorite colorway you have dyed and why?

“Hmm, I think my favorite is Rich. That was a spontaneous day, new colors and new ideas. Rich was a no rules colorway.”

What are your favorite colors?

“Olive Green, Dark Red, Deep Plum … but paired with any other color there are many beautiful possibilities!”

Tell us one secret:

“Growing up I had a huge crush on Rodney Mullen…. okay maybe I still do.”

Thank you Lisa!  Now off to pet my yarn stash