As you read this, Alice O’Reilly is setting up the Backyard Fiberworks booth at the Indie Untangled yarn show in Kingston, New York.
Indie Untangled is where Kay and I met Alice last year, as she presided over a booth where her sophisticated hand-dyed yarns rapidly disappeared. The scene was a little nuts—pretty much a koi pond after the five-year-old empties the whole bag of fish food.
In the year since then, we have had the great pleasure of getting to know Alice and her mad scheme for world domination, one dyepot at a time.
OK, her mad scheme is actually pretty sane.
Alice would be the first to tell you that “Backyard Fiberworks” is not exactly a multinational conglomerate.
It is small.
It is Alice, basically, working at her home in the Washington, DC area. She will neither confirm nor deny whether the backyard is actually the scene of all her dyeing. But it is clear that the spirit of a backyard enterprise is at the heart of what she’s doing.
And that’s why we are so delighted to share with you a project she has been working on all summer long.
It’s a set of colors she created exclusively for MDK. There are eight. This is the fingering weight we can never get enough of. It’s 100% merino superwash.
When the boxes of Backyard Fiberworks showed up at MDK World Headquarters, we had a moment of reverent adoration.
this is Inkling.
In her quest for a batch of colors that would work together or alone, Alice had the luxury of time to think about these colors.
Jamberry.
She tried a bunch of colors. She tweaked. She mulled.
Pepper Sprout.
It’s odd to think that a gently shifting color can lift a person’s mood, but it does.
LOCAL HONEY.
One of the great things about hand-dyed yarn: the color shifts in quiet ways. You knit faster so you can see what happens next.
ONE THIN DIME.
This pale gray is a deliciously cloudy day.
PATIO.
This aquatic blue is quick trip to Miami Beach, basically.
PUMPKIN.
And Pumpkin may be my favorite: a rich, deep, shifting orange.
WINE DARK SEA.
The stuff of odysseys. Homer wishes his fingering weight yarn were as wine dark as this.
We see pullovers, colorwork, shawls, scarves, cowls, and mittens. I have in mind a project that I’ll write about soon that will use all eight shades.
Please consider Alice’s exclusive MDK colors a virtual Rhinebeck for you. In the Shop, we have all eight shades in limited quantity, and we hope to heck you have fun figuring out your own mad scheme for world domination—which of course should involve yarn from Alice at Backyard Fiberworks.
I met Alice at a Trunk Show at my LYS and not only is her yarn a delight, she is genuine, unassuming, and down-to-earth. Yanked up 2 skeins and they’re a joy to work with. Lovely colors here too. Will muse this weekend which to add to my armory.
One Thin Dime! I’m a sucker for grays and clever names.
That’s the one that grabbed me, too! Love the name and the color.
Yowza, with colors like that, Alice will have trouble taking over the world! I’m drooling on my keyboard.
I think the Pumpkin is my favourite too. Gorgeous colours!
I fell for n love with Backyard Fiberworks at MDSW! Her greens are fabulous!
Oh you have to stop this! You are killing me with beautiful yarns in sublime colours that I want to buy all of. But I can’t knit fast enough and the import taxes are too much to make this a habit. I guess I have to give up my job and move to the US then? Got space in your spare room, I’m only small?!?!
I was introduced to BackYard Fiberworks and Alice at MDSW. She is absolutely delightful and her yarns are sublime. There is something magical about the yarn in hand and the beautiful saturated colors. I am hooked. I just finished a shawl and can’t wait to cast on the next project. Don’t miss out!
I’m going to call my Stashes Anonymous sponsor. You guys are such enablers. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
I agree that Alice is as appealing as her yarn!
Her talent for saturated color is outstanding.
I have an assortment of her colors (and bases) in my stash and love each and every handdyed skein
So beautiful! Pumpkin is my favorite, too! But Wine Dark Sea is also lovely, and how about that Inkling?
Local honey — she’s paired the perfect name with a gorgeous color… I am smitten!
So glad those of us not at Rhinebeck have these beautiful alternatives – love these colors!
Have you seen “Mittens from Around Norway”? O.M.G.—all of these colors are crying out to be knit into very traditional Norwegian mittens.
Egads… heartstoppingly gorgeous!!
I didn’t know anything about Alice or her work until I saw her at Stitches Midwest. Her colors are fabulous (and so is she). I bought Deep Creek, a luscious blue, for a lightweight poncho. It’s a joy to knit and to admire while it’s resting in my knitting basket.
Great names and so glad to see a decent green. Well done!
Pumpkin is luscious!
These colors are soooooooo luscious. And so nicely coordinated, too. Yum!
I totally agree! *Sigh*
Interestingly, Homer’s winner dark sea was blue, just like ours, there just wasn’t a word to express that color. The research on how languages as color names is fascinating.
https://youtu.be/gMqZR3pqMjg
Love blues! Inkling is it!!! As in…I have an inkling!!!
Pumpkin, wine dark sea, honey.
I love the pumpkin. We have earth tone colors. Still looking for the perfect pillow to make.