Interview with Patti from Sweet Grass and Wolf Creek Wools...and a Giveaway!

Leanne's "Habitat" in Sweet Grass
Wools Mountain Silk 2ply

We recently added Sweet Grass and Wolf Creek Wools to the JBW family and couldn’t be more excited!

  In fact, Leanne grabbed a sample skein and immediately knit Jared Flood’s “Habitat” out of it.  You can see it on the project log here.  Patti the owner and dyer behind all of the color magic is just as nice as can be and offered to participate in a blog interview with us!  Here is what she had to say about her company:   

JBW- Would you give us a brief history of Sweet Grass and Wolf Creek Wools’ and a little info about your yarns?

Patti- I bought Sweet Grass Wool around 2004 from the woman who raises the sheep. She loves the animals and never was a knitter or a dyer, and I was carrying her yarn in the yarn shop I owned at that time, so it was easy to say yes when she offered it to me. It is the Domestic wool side of my business. Wolf Creek Wools is the side of the house that carries imported yarns and fibers.

JBW- How many staff members does your company have? 

Wolf Creek Wools 

Luscious in "Lichen"

Patti- I am the only full time person. My boyfriend is the skein and label meister when I need help.

JBW- Do you have a favorite yarn or yarns that you dye? If so, what is it?

Patti- It depends on the day and my mood, if I am calm or antsy.  It also depends on the music I am listening to when I am dyeing.  

JBW- What was the last crafty project you finished (or are working on) using your yarns?  

Patti's Mountain Silk DK
Sweater

Patti- I am making a sweater out of the Mountain Silk DK, (out of a batch of yarn that is not a standard color - I grabbed the wrong dye bottle).  I am making the pattern up as I go.  Attached is a picture of what is done so far.

JBW- As a small artisan yarn company, do you have any advice for those folks out there hand-dying with kool-aid in their sinks on how to make a living doing what they love?

Patti- If you love color, keep at it.  Make sure it stays fun - keep blending the colors to see/learn what they do.
 

JBW- And now for the speed round! Where did you grow up? 

  

Patti- Cheswick, Pennsylvania (too small to be on the map, it is outside of Pittsburgh to the east up the Allegheny River).

Sweet Grass Wools Mountain
Silk DK in "Nassau"

JBW- What time do you start working on a typical day? 

Patti- What is a typical day?

JBW- Tell us about your previous life—you know, before yarn…  

Patti- Many years with the phone company, ended my career with them as an engineer in 2003.

JBW- What is your favorite hobby?  

Patti- Knitting and spinning

JBW- A little known fact about you… 

Patti- My real hair color - even I don't know it!  

Wolf Creek Wools
Bliss in "Sapphire"

JBW- Your favorite book?   

Patti- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

JBW- What was the last movie you saw in the theater? 

Patti-  Red Tails

JBW- Biggest accomplishment? 

Patti- Beating breast cancer in 2003.

JBW- What inspires you?  

Patti- Nature 

Sweet Grass Wools Mountain
Silk 2Ply in "Raspberry"

Thanks so much again Patti for giving us the inside scoop on Sweet Grass and Wolf Creek Wools!  If you’d like to learn more, feel free to check out the Sweet Grass Wools website and Facebook Pages!   

Along this this interview, Patti was nice enough to send us a beautiful sample skein of Mountain Silk 2ply in Raspberry to give away to one of our lucky readers!  It’s 200 yards of  worsted weight wool and silk goodness!  To win this skein, please leave a comment letting us know what pattern you will use it for by 11pm Pacific time on Sunday, April 1st.  I’ll choose a winner at random on Monday morning and we will announce the winner in Jeanne’s Monday blog post! 

Good luck, and happy knitting and crocheting!

Kristen

PS. Did you know that Heart Disease is the #1 killer of Women in America?  Want to do something about it?  Find out how at www.StichRed.com.