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Visit Ancient Arts Yarns + Dye Studio - 607 Manitou Road SE, Calgary, Alberta

Visit Ancient Arts Yarns + Dye Studio - 607 Manitou Road SE, Calgary, Alberta

Blog Posts - Ancient Arts Yarns

One of the most fun jobs I have with Ancient Arts is to plan new yarn bases. I’m always on the look out for a great yarn mill with something super yummy to offer. It can be a challenge at times as there is so much wonderful yarn out there (and so much not quite …
CYO Caroline A few days before Christmas the ladies of Ancient Arts were discussing the Christmas break and what we should be doing, both in our personal lives and for the business during that time. Being as we are a yarn company, blog posts and knitting are never far from the discussion, and it occurred …
One of the times of the year that is most fun is colour development time. I am lucky enough to be able to do some of this throughout the year for a variety of reasons including clubs, custom requests by a LYS, special events etc., but once a year I choose an overarching theme that …
Fall is in the air (and on the ground where I live) and that means this dyer’s heart turns to new colours! Every change of seasons leads to me wanting to capture something about them in yarn. Autumn is my favorite season and always makes me very nostalgic. This year is no exception and several …
A question I am often asked is “What is it like to be a hand dyer?” I think there can be a lot of mystery and mythos around hand dyeing as a career. Some see it as being very artsy, ethereal, and connected to a higher creative plane. Certainly one of my friends who finally …
I am often asked where I get the yarn that I dye for Ancient Arts. One would think it should be a simple process. Go to the yarn store, choose something nifty and nice, buy it, take it back to the studio, dye it, and start hugging it! Alas. It isn’t anywhere near this easy. …
Hunter Hammersen’s newest design, Tacit, features beautiful zig zag cables which are mirrored on each fingerless mitt. In today’s post, Caroline talks about how hand-dyed colours evolve over time in the Ancient Arts palette. We also have an interview with the designer herself to share an inside peek into how a pattern goes from concept …
People often ask me where I get my inspirations for colourways, and it can be hard to answer that question as they come from all over! Some of them just pop into my head, some of them are more deliberately planned, and of course sometimes people challenge me to take on a particular concept. The …
‘Silky’ may not always be a term you reserve for a superwash Merino/Nylon yarn, but our fingering weight yarn spun from 80% Merino and 20% Nylon recently received a little upgrade in the form of an even better grade of Merino! Today, Caroline shares an inside peek to the development process from her unique point …
  • 4 min read
I have steadily and firmly resisted the siren song of many hobbies over the years as I simply don’t have time for them all. However, anything to do with fibre fascinates me, and that means that I have dabbled throughout my life with embroidery, hardanger, bobbin lace, crewel work, rug hooking...
Today I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the lighter side of a dyers’ life. When I first started dyeing professionally, people told me many things about what the business would be like. They warned me about the long, long hours, the back breaking physical work (who needs a gym …
  • 8 min read
Earlier this fall, our BFL fingering yarn base made its triumphant return after a hiatus. We couldn’t be more pleased! On today’s post, we’d like to offer both Caroline’s and Barb’s thoughts on what makes this yarn base so special, and why we are celebrating its return with cartwheels and backflips (well, in our minds, …
  • 5 min read