Hey there, it’s been a while since my last post – time always seems to fly by, especially towards the end of the year!

I’ve spent the last weeks knitting like crazy, working on many new and exciting projects, and I’m looking forward to bring these to you within the next weeks and months.

But for today, I have something different for you.

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We all love to try out new yarns from time to time, don’t we? I’d like to show you Dandelion Yarns, a new-to-me dyer I came across, and some of her yarns that found their way into my stash. Anna Strandberg, who runs the dye studio, was so kind to answer a couple of questions to me.

Hi Anna – thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me today! For getting to know you a little better, tell us a bit about yourself! Who are you, and how do you spend your days?My name is Anna, I am a mother of two boys, and I work as an Art Director when I am not dyeing yarns. Haven´t had the guts to take the big plunge yet, mainly because it is inspiring to work as an Art Director too.

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You’re living in Stockholm – is there a lot of knitting going on in Sweden? How does the knitting scene look like?
There is a lot of knitting going on here too. Many different directions. Some (like me) knits mostly from Ravelry, from both international designers and domestic. Others are highly inspired by our own old knitting traditions. I did do a bohus sweater in the beginning of the year though, which is a sort of old tradition, started in the 30th.
I think knitting in general has become a bit of a movement, and I love this community around me. It is so great to meet new knitters that I have met over Instagram.
How did you first get into dyeing? What got you started?
A couple of years ago I felt a strong urge to start working with yarns. So I had an idea of starting an organic web shop.  Then I noticed how hard it was to find organic hand dyed yarns. But I found the Rosy Green Wool yarn base early on and decided to give it a try dyeing myself. And the snowball quickly went rolling. It was so much easier to sell my own dyed yarns than the other qualities I had bought. So I decided that having a yarnshop wasn’t anything for me. And went over to only dyeing.
I’ve seen your beautifully dyed Rosy Green base – why have you decided to use this yarn? It’s one of my very favorite ones, and offering it with that lovely touch of hand-dyed yarns is great, I think!
At one point I felt that I couldn’t continue buying yarns where I didn’t know if the animals were treated well or not. So I searched the web for that perfect yarn – and found Rosy Green wool. And I love it so much. Both to dye on, and to knit with.
Rosy Green yarns are GOTS certified – how important is this for you?
For me the care of the animals is most important. But it also feels really great that no pollutions are spilled and that those who work with the wool/yarn are treated fair too.

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You’re also offering mini-skeins in gradient colorways – can you tell us a little about your process for making these?
I asked the same spinnery that spins Rosy Green wool to spin a fingering yarn, in organic merino/mohair, but in smaller skeins.
This summer I knitted the shawl Aranami, and the idea to make gradient-kits came to me. I start with mixing the color in a glass. Then I have a formula of how many percentage each skein needs, adds the amount of color in the pot, and dye the five separate skeins.
Can you give any advice to someone who has never used hand-dyed yarns before? Is there anything to consider?
Alternating skeins. Not only because of the risk of pooling, but also because it gives a great marled effect.
What is your favorite piece that you’ve made with yarn that you dyed yourself?
On top of my head, I come to think of two things. One is my Vouvray (that I have made two of, and thinking of a third), and the other is my Boxy. I practically live in them, and need to make more of both. The next Vouvray must be in worsted as given in the pattern. Mine is in sport, and perfect too.
You can find Anna on Instagram, Facebook and on her website.