Fiber Is... || #2

June 3, 2013 Leigh Martin

I found Sarah Eyre within the last couple of years on Instagram, when it was still possible to search a general hashtag (i.e. #knitting) and view photos that were posted more than an hour or two ago. I was intrigued by this beautiful, courageous lady, partly because she just happens to have my dream job.... she co-owns a yarn company called Cephalopod Yarns! Based out of Baltimore, her IG feed often includes skeins of lusciously hued yarns in dye pots or drying racks, fun mirror art in the studio, and images and words that just remind you to remain present. I'm hoping to splurge on some of her yarn later this summer---there's some camel fiber that I'm dying to make a shawl out of. It's supposedly incredibly soft! Here's what fiber means to Sarah Eyre..

About Sarah

Oh no, the dreaded introductory paragraph! I’m so awkward at this part. I’m your average cat- herding thirty-something fiber artist, living in Baltimore with my husband and daughter. I cook pretty well and play banjo very, very badly. I take endless photographs of absolutely everything. I love comic books, Victorian literature, yoga and running, and I believe every single one of us is a superhero. I teach yoga and meditation when I’m not on the road, with a focus on working with the disabled. I believe in the power of small and simple things.

Ways Sarah works with fiber, including her favorite craft:

I’m a dyer, spinner, knitter, felter, knitwear designer, embroiderer and shamefully awful crocheter. Improving my crochet skills is on my list of goals for 2013; there are just too many amazing crochet projects and patterns! In truth, I’d say I’m primarily a spinner and dyer; while I do knit, and love to knit, my primary passions are color and form.

There’s a real pleasure and peace in expressing thoughts, feelings, and experiences through color. Dyeing is a very playful form of self- expression that utilizes the both visual and the tactile. It is joyful, creative, messy, physical work. When dyeing yarn and spinning fiber specifically, we have these finished objects that are the working materials for other artisans, and that’s the most exciting part of the work for me. Seeing our yarn “in the wild”, whether on Ravelry or at a fiber show, is one of the biggest pleasures of this job! I love seeing what other people create with the things we have made.I love, love, love spinning, too. It’s my second great fiber love. I don’t actually knit with my own handspun; I really prefer handspun from someone else. I always see my handspun as a finished object in its own right, I think! I do adore handspun yarn- there’s something almost sacred about someone else’s handspun to me!- and I purchase and trade for it regularly. Knitting handspun has to be one of the sweetest things in the world- there’s just nothing quite like it.

And now for the big open-ended question. To Sarah, fiber is...

Fiber is so, so much fun! It’s earthy and light and fluffy and sensual and amazing. Whether I’m spinning or dyeing, knitting or felting, there’s this wonderful sense of both being a part of these traditional crafts and being part of a new arts and craft movement.

Fiber is grounding and uplifting: it reminds me slow down and to pay attention to the small things, like stitches or plying, but it also brings people together into common efforts, like Afghans for Afghans, where fiber artists work to create warm handmade items for people they’ve never met. My life is infinitely warmer, happier, and, well, fuzzier with fiber in it. :)

Sarah (shown below with her husband, who she works with!) blogs at On My Tiptoes and you can shop for (and lust after) some of the beautiful yarns her company creates at Cephalopod Yarns. Thanks, Sarah!

All photos courtesy of Sarah Eyre, some via her Instagram feed.