We are very excited to announce our 2020 Pop-Up Shop series! Each month, we will be featuring an indie yarn dyer or company, showcasing their yarn, and highlighting perfect patterns to go with them! We'll also share an interview with the owners and designers here on the blog. All photos courtesy of PassionKNITS Yarn.
This October, our latest and greatest Pop-Up Shop is none other than PassionKNITS Yarn! Operating from outside of Baltimore, Maryland, PassionKNITS is run by Ain (pronounced Ine or Ein) Munn, the creative force behind the scrumptious colorways and beautiful fades all over the @PassionKNITS_Yarn Instagram!
We had some time to chat with Ain about what makes PassionKNITS so, well, passionate! Passion-ful? Passion-y? Whatever it is, we love it! Ain shared with us some stories about her inspiration, her choices in different bases, and more!
I started PassionKNITS Yarn because after taking a few yarn dyeing classes I began experimenting more and more. I started to realize I had way more or my own hand-dyed yarn then I realized so I decided to take the plunge and open my own small business. It’s been an exciting journey so far with many ups and downs and some serious learning curves along the way.
2. Where do you find inspiration for your colors?
I loved the idea of creating different color combinations and putting together colors you would never think complement one another. My colorways are inspired by my memories and moods, infused with passion, and limited only by my imagination. My colorway names reflect different facets of my life, to include my childhood, love of music and my active imagination.
3. Is there any particular colorway that has special meaning to you?
I have two answers for this question. The first would be Vivian, which is a light pink with sprinkles of grey. This colorway is always made on a yarn base with Stellina because I love the sparkle. Vivian is named after my paternal grandmother who taught me how to crochet. She was the sweetest woman I knew and literally made from sugar and spice and everything nice. The second answer would be Twilight Sky, which is a moody skein made with blues, yellows and reds and is normally made on a stellina base as well to represent the night stars.
4. When did you first learn knitting or crocheting? Do you do other crafts with your yarn?
As a child, I learned to crochet, and fell in love with yarn, from my grandmother and aunt while growing up in Queens, NY. I fell in love with yarn again when I took my first knitting class at a local yarn shop and a beginner dyeing class at a Baltimore Yarn Store. I also love to garden, paint and occasionally fish with my husband.
5. And just for fun: If you could design a parade float that was fiber themed, what would it look like?
Whimsy would be the theme of my parade float. There would be colorways related to fairies, woodland sprites, butterflies, unicorns, mermaids and dragons. There would be plenty of purple, pink, blue and green in different shades and tones.
