The new dyeworks April 02 2017, 5 Comments

If I've been quiet on here lately, it's because I have some very exciting news. We've moved into a new dyeworks at World's End in deepest Berkshire. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll already have seen some sneak peeks, but here it is in its full glory.

Firstly, the wonderfully talented graphic designer, Pat Lewis of Lewis Creative (also an avid knitter and good friend) has redesigned the Skein Queen logo to freshen it up, bring it up-to-date and make it easier for reproducing in print. I think she's done a fabulous job, it was great working with her and we'll gradually be introducing it to the whole range of yarn labels, stickers, thank you cards and bags, but the original one will still be around for a while. 

So, when you walk into the new studio, the first area is the main packing area with Eliza's desk. This is where we print out orders, wrap them carefully in tissue and send them out.

On the right, is my office. Really not convinced that the Welsh dresser sits as well in here as it did at the old studio - much too country cottage. If I get a chance, the white paint will be coming out or maybe some Annie Sloan.

But this is where all the admin gets done - bookkeeping, PAYE, organising security, bins, fire safety, health and safety policy, signage, paying bills, plumbers and all the equally dull stuff. But also some nice stuff - writing blogposts, photography and writing the inspiration sheets.

Next to my office is the drying room. The yarn is spun once it has been rinsed, so by the time it gets here, it's almost dry - usually just needs one more night to dry completely. Having a space to do this is invaluable. Previously I used my dining room - so this is one of the biggest improvements that the rest of my family will appreciate the most!

Opposite my office is the kitchen, shower room and loo.

 And behind the packing desks is the door to the workshop area, with a handy dandy mezzanine level.

Eliza and I laid a rubber floor last week to protect the concrete floor from the occasional splash. Just got the tricky bits to cut with a Stanley knife but that's a job for next week.

The existing workbench and sockets (with 3-phase power) are ideal for the dye pots and the cupboards above house the dyes.

There was no water or waste source into the warehouse, so I arranged for the plumbers to come and install two double pot wash sinks. Who knew there were so many tap options! You wouldn't believe the toing and froing of emails I had with the "taps expert" but so pleased with the final result. 

They brought the water over the mezzanine level, installed a Saniflo pump between the sinks to pump the waste back up to the mezzanine. It works perfectly and is super quiet. I also had them install a hose tap on the water pipe itself, so we can fill more buckets to soak the yarn.

Up on the mezzanine, we built some racking for undyed yarn storage. We'll also use the industrial winders up here to skein up the semi-solid colourways. I invested in a yarn twisting machine from Marcin Lorkowski of Martin's Labs who brought it all the way over from Poland to give to me at Edinburgh Yarn Festival. Can't wait to get it up and running to give it a try (and Eliza's very excited about this too).

We built three industrial tables which have proved invaluable for setting out trays of cooling yarn.

The plan is to create a range of 16-20 staple, reproducible colourways (which you'll know if you've been following Skein Queen for a while, is not something we've done before). Eliza will take responsibility for dyeing some, if not all, of these once we've finalised the recipes in the Big Dye Recipe Book, so she's currently in intensive training to expand her skills into dyeing. Once the range has been developed and finalised, we'll be able to start offering it for wholesale to retail shops on a couple of yarn bases.

I'll still be creating the unique, much loved, different-every-time variegated and semi-solids, so nothing will change there - shop updates may be a little more regular and contain maybe 10 of the same colourway instead of five. There'll still just be the two of us doing all the admin, dyeing, winding, labelling, packing and customer service between us. So although we've moved to a more light industrial setting, we're still very much a tiny indie dyeing company.

One thing that has changed along with this growth is that I've had to register for VAT. This means an accompanying rise in yarn prices - I haven't whacked on the whole 20%, but hand-dyed yarn prices have had to increase. I've kept all other prices the same - so no increase on Koigu, Jamieson's, stitch markers or anything else in the shop for the time being. And if you pre-ordered yarn at EYF for the Traquair set, I will hold it at the pre-VAT prices and cover the VAT for you.

Finally, I thought you might like to see where I've been working these last few years (eight, I think - before that, used the kitchen for a couple of years). This was our converted garage where I had one pot - ONE POT - for variegated colourways! As you can see, these changes were long overdue, but slightly delayed until the children were old enough.

And this was the beloved attic studio over at Lower Henwick Farm. I may have shed a little tear as I locked up for the last time - it looked a little bare and forlorn without all the woolly haven-making paraphernalia. It served us well and I loved going to work there. 

But ultimately, it's time to move onwards and upwards and thank you for sharing this journey with us and for making it possible. Here's to MUCH MORE YARN!