Direkt zum Hauptbereich

#SaturDye 31: Black Elephant

#SaturDye 31: Black Elephant
[ Werbung | ad ]
 

Today, on the 31th #SaturDye, I welcome one further international guest. It's Petra from Black Elephant who dyes wool for you in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. And yes, she is shipping her colorways worldwide. :)


I became aware of Petra and the Black Elephant yarns several years ago on Instagram. While scrolling through, I stumbled over Petra @blackelephant.uk and her hand dyed yarns on  and was immediately thrilled by her pictures.The great colors, the atmospheric pictures. I would love to reach into each of her pictures and touch the skeins of wool. 

Here we go - this is the woman behind all these awesome colors: Hello Petra!
 
 
If you want to visit Black Elephant you will find all links here:
shop 

Dear Petra, it’s a great pleasure for me to welcome you and your label „Black Elephant“ to
today’s #SaturDye.
Since when do you dye/How did you come to dye?
I came across hand dyed yarn when I visited my first ever yarn festival Yarndale in Skipton. I bought a simple kit and it kind of developed organically from a hobby to a business over time.


What do you enjoy most about dyeing?
I like when a colourway turns out exactly as I envisioned before I dyed it. It doesn’t happen very often as colours doing their own thing on yarn, but when it does, it’s totally worth it.
 
 
Do you just dye or spin/knit/crochet/weave your yarns too?
I try to knit as much as I can, and I crochet blankets. Spinning is something I would definitely love to explore more.
 

If you have to describe your colors in three words, what would they be?
rich, warm, complex


Do you do anything besides dyeing? Or are you now a full-time dyer?
On 1st September we celebrated 3rd year of full-time dyeing. It still feels unreal. Time flies.
 

What’s about your name“Black Elephant“? Is there a story about it?
For Christmas I got an A5 sized notebook from my mum, which was to be for my knitting ideas. And on the front there was a little cute elephant. Also, my mum used to tell me off for walking like an elephant in my teenage years, as we lived in a block of flats and neighbours living below probably thought they have an elephant living in the flat above. :)
My surname is Schwarcz, which means Black (in German) and some of my friends used to call me that. So
Black Elephant it was. And after some research I found out that black elephants actually exist, which is kind of cool. 
 

How much do trends in the knitting scene influence you? For example speckles, neon colors and mohair, to name just three?
I’m actually not sure. I obviously try to bring to my customers what they like, so I definitely listen to their feedback. But I think I try to dye colourways which speak to me and I can imagine wearing them myself.  Colours are still a learning process for me. There is so much more to explore. So it’s a combination of exploration and playing with my favourite colours when it comes to dyeing.
 

How do I imagine your day-to-day dyeing?
Every day is different as I still work by myself so there is no ‘typical’ day for me. Sometimes it’s entirely dyeing, sometimes it’s twisting yarns, sometimes it’s packing orders. There is always something to do, so even while the yarns are dyeing, I will be washing dyed yarns or washing pans or just developing new colourways.
 

How do you deal with social and environmental sustainability when dyeing or selecting materials?
From the beginning when I was researching resources I always questioned suppliers about where they source their wool, well-being of animals and farmers alike. Where possible I try to source wool as local as possible. There is minimal waste going out from the studio and everything that can be reused or recycled is dealt with appropriately. My partner owns a zero waste shop so we implement a low impact lifestyle not only in our personal life, but in both of our businesses. For example, there is no plastic used in packing parcels for our customers.
I try to use all the dye on yarns (let it absorb) so there is no waste dye going to water pipes.


Is there a certain color that is the best seller with your customers? Or which ones are generally very popular?
I think Gloaming, Mudbound and Arlandria are probably the best liked colourways for the last year or so.


And you? Do you have a favorite color?
I’m drawn to semi solids like Atrament or Golden Coast. With speckled ones, each week I have a different favourite. :) this week is one from my new autumn collection so it does not have a name yet.
 

If someone wants to buy your wool, where and how can they do it best?
They can buy directly from our website or check what retailers around the world stock our yarns. The full list is also on our website.

Do you have any special projects running right now that we must not miss? Or what plans do you have for the future of Black Elephant?
At the moment, I’m trying to refocus on what I like to do the best - creating new colourways. Recently it felt like I just kept dyeing the same colourways over and over so during my time off in August I decided to put some time on side each month to create again. Repetitive tasks can be quite demotivating after a while so I need to make sure that I alternate between work and fun. 

Thank you for taking the time to give us a behind-the-scenes look.
 
Petra Black Elephant even provides something for a worldwide raffle. You can win a £50 gift certificate for the Black Elephant shop. Check out our two Instagram channels @blackelephant.uk and @feinmotorik.blogspot.
 

You are also an indie dyer and want to present your label in the course of the #SaturDye? No problem at all, here is all the information. Just send me an e-mail.

And to support the general hand dyer scene a little bit you can always post on Saturdays with the Hashtag #SaturDye all your projects which you are actually working on out of hand dyed wool or which you have already finished. I would be happy if you tag me on Instagram, then I can also see and share your posts.

And if you want to browse through all previous #SaturDye dyers again, you will find an overview of the previous participants here.

Copyright all pictures: Petra | Black Elephant

meistgelesen

Socken 4.0: Toe Up Socken im Minecraft-Muster

Meine Socken-Strick-Kenntnisse möchte ich einerseits mal wieder etwas auffrischen und andererseits erweitern. Bisher habe ich in meiner Strick-Karriere 3 Paar Socken gestrickt. Ja, und auf alle 3 Paar bin ich echt stolz. 1. Paar: Spiralsocken (ohne Ferse) 2. Paar: Socken mit Ferse im Zimtwaffelmuster 3. Paar: Yogasocken mit Zopfmuster (ohne Ferse und ohne Spitze) Diesmal wird der Schwierigkeitsgrad etwas erhöht: ich stricke die Socken nicht für mich selber sondern in Herrengröße 43/44 (somit bringt es nichts, wenn ich die Socken zwischendrin selbst anprobiere) ich stricke die Socken diesmal nicht vom Bündchen zur Spitze sondern von der Spitze zum Bündchen (sogenannte Toe-Up Socken) Wolle: DAS! Sockengarn Color 313 Sockenwolle 4-fach filzfrei 50 g ~ 210 m 75% Schurwolle (superwash) 25% Polyamid Maschinenwäsche 30°C Nadelstärke 2,5 Die erste Herausforderung lässt auch nicht lange auf sich warten: wie mache ich einen Maschenanschlag für eine Toe-Up-S

Die Drei-Nadel-Technik...

... oder Zusammennähen ist ja so was von gestern. Hallo, mein Name ist Julia und ich kann nichts zusammennähen. Alle Stricksachen, die irgendwo eine Naht haben, sind mir ein Graus. Wer jetzt aufschreit und sagt "Oh nein, aber das ist doch so einfach!" dem möchte ich sagen: Nein. Ist. Es. Nicht. Es ist eine Kunst, etwas zusammenzunähen und dabei nicht zu viel oder zu wenig Fadenspannung an den Tag zu legen. Alles, was ich zusammennähe, nähe ich zu fest, sodass sich alles verzieht und einfach doof aussieht. Aber ich weiß mit meinem Defizit umzugehen. Organisation ist alles. Zuerst einmal vermeide ich alle Strickanleitungen, bei denen man etwas zusammennähen muss. Und erstaunlicherweise klappt das sehr, sehr gut. Sämtliche Kleidungsstücke (Kleider, Pullover, Strickjacken...) stricke ich in einem Teil von oben. Entweder als Raglan oder mit Rundpasse. Wenn ich dann aber doch in die Misere des Zusammennähens komme, versuche ich mir auch da zu behelfen. Vor ein paar Jahre

der #TahitiKAL geht in die vierte Runde

 MysteryKAL Ankündigung [ dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung und Werbelinks ] Uuuuuuuhhh Ihr Lieben, bald geht's los. Es dauert nicht mehr lange und wir,  Schachenmayr  und ich, starten mit der VIERTEN Auflage des  #TahitiKAL . Wir freuen uns darauf, gemeinsam mit Euch wieder ein sommerliches, leichtes Tuch zu stricken. Das diesjährige Design wird " Maluhia " heißen. " Maluhia " bedeutet in der Hawaiianischen Sprache „Frieden“. Nicht nur in der Ukraine sondern auch in so vielen anderen Ländern dieser Welt können Menschen nicht in Frieden leben. Wir können mit dem TahitiKAL nicht für Frieden sorgen, aber wir können ihn uns wünschen. Aber ganz in Ruhe, für all diejenigen, die bei den ersten drei Malen nicht mit dabei waren. Worum geht's hier eigentlich? Der  #TahitiKAL  ist ein Mystery-Knitalong. Das bedeutet, das gemeinsame Stricken einer bisher noch geheimen Anleitung. Das einzige, was bekannt ist, ist was es wird und wieviel man von welcher Wolle benötigt. Was