Year End Reflections

The Future of Seawall Fibres

Well, our newborn indy dyer company has been in business for 6 months and we thought it was time
for a little reflection.

First, to those who have supported us in so many ways, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
To say that Seawall Fibres has been successful beyond my wildest dreams would be an understatement since even I don’t have dreams anywhere as wild as this!

We have sold much more than we thought possible and we now have more than 700 followers on
Instagram and over 60 members of our Ravelry group.

Our baby is growing!

Probably the most gratifying is the 30 five star reviews we have on Etsy.

We are now shipping orders all over the world! Thank you internet!

Several retailers have asked to carry our yarn in their stores and we have collaborated with several
designers.

There have been some growing pains but all in all we are very proud of what we’ve done and
especially the product we have presented to you.

All of this has caused us to reflect on our original goals and what we want to see in the future.
Initially, we wanted to be a small, niche company. Now, we see that we could be a much larger
company. But we have decided to stay small.

The Original Seawall Fire Agate Trio

I started Seawall Fibres because I love knitting, I love dying yarn and I love knitters. I wouldn’t have
nearly as much fun administering others and I would lose contact with you- my customers and friends.  It is so much fun reading your comments on instagram and communicating directly with you via the ravelry threads and I would never want to give that up.

Our Malachite Trio on Pumice

But the realities of being small mean that we can’t be all things to all people. We are in a fashion driven market where colours change and we have to reflect that and the only way to do that is to constantly introduce new colours and retire some others. There are a few colourways that have proven to be extremely popular and we will keep these going forward. For instance, our Fundy Storm pretty much sells out every time we dye it.

So you are likely to see more “Sold Out” signs on Etsy and some colours will disappear. We are
considering a sale in January to kick this phase off.

But we know knitters and for some, a specific project may just scream for a particular colour and weight. So for you, we are going to develop “The Yarn Barn” which will be hosted on our blog www.seawallfibres.blogspot.com. Here, you will find all our discontinued products and if you really really want more and are really really nice to me (ie. Order a minimum of 3 skeins, pay in advance and wait a little longer for delivery) I’ll dye a batch just for you.

Also, while I love all the great reviews, I really value your feedback of all sorts and so we are going to start a product feedback thread on Ravelry for this purpose. If you are not already a member of our
group, I would really encourage you to join. I promise you you will have a blast and meet some very
“interesting” fellow knitters (or hopeless fanatics as my father calls us).

So, for better or worse, we will stay small, capping the amount of yarn we will dye each year, doing all the dying personally and taking care with the shipping of each order.

The Artist's Mark on Digby Neck

Seawall Fibres Yarn will be available at one retail shop only- The Artist’s Mark Shop on Digby Neck, Nova Scotia (you really should plan a vacation to this area and visit the shop).

So again, thank you all for your support. I am a people person and want nothing more than to get to
know each of our customers and share with you the fun of our wonderful obsession.

Hurricane Matthew, Fall colours and clubs and Black Friday Sale!

Well you may not have seen us on here for awhile and wondered where we went!  We have been so busy that we have neglected this blog and its followers and for that we truly do apologize.  There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything we set out to do.  Anyone else find this to be true?  But just because we haven't been posting doesn't mean nothing has been happening!  So, let's get to the good stuff!

7 weeks ago today we were hit hard by Hurricane Matthew.  That was one mean storm! We lost power, phone, cable and internet and are still not 100% back to normal.  We got our power back almost 4 weeks later and just got cable a week ago!  Still no phone but hey....who needs a phone anyways these days!

As soon as we got power back we started dyeing yarn again.  Our new fall colours are luscious and I will admit they are pretty hard to part with.

We have been pretty active in our Ravelry group.  If you haven't joined us yet....well, get on it people!  LOL!  We have had 2 KAL (knitalongs for the non knitting fiends out there) and have given away so many prizes!  We are almost done our Seawall Storm Shawl KAL (a collaboration with Webster Street Knittery) which has honestly been a blast!

Luxe Club in Silk and Merino Fingering

Bold Club in Quartz Sock

Classic Club in Quartz Sock

Classic Club in Worsted

Bold Club in Worsted

We had a fair number of people say they loved the kits we offered for the KAL as it took the hard work of picking complementary colours and did it for them.  So we decided to take that one step further.  We would like to introduce to you our Quarterly Yarn Clubs.  We plan on doing this 4 times a year.  What we are doing is putting together 3 or 4 complementary colours on a few yarn bases and opening them up for orders for a week.  When the listings go down, we then dye up the yarn and ship it out.  The clubs that are for sale now will be shipped before January 1st.  Check them out, there are 5 clubs available, Our Classic Club and our Bold Club on either Worsted or Sock and our Luxe club which is a Fingering weight yarn made of the most decadent 50/50 blend of superwash merino and silk!

And yes, you read the title of this post correctly!  Our huge Black Friday weekend sale starts tonight at 6.  So shop early!  This is a "The more you spend, the more you save" kind of sale.  Spend up to $50 and get 10% off, spend between $50 and $100 and get 15% off and spend over $100 and get 20% off.  The new yarn clubs are included but must be purchased as a separate order due to the processing time!

Ok time to sign off for now but we will be back.....I promise!

Lisa
Seawall Fibres

We're back!

Well summer is finally over and what a summer it was.  We weren't very active on here and I do apologize for that.  But we were keeping busy don't you worry!

I had the chance to spend a wonderful month in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia, visiting with family and friends.  Any time I get to spend on the neck in Digby is wonderful!

We had so much fun combing the beach over and over again in search of the elusive (to me at least since everyone else seems to be able to find it all over!) amethyst, and even though it took the whole month I finally found some!  We found tons of agates and other stones and minerals....enough to keep the rock guy pretty happy all winter I believe!

We had some spectacular meals....oh who am I kidding, all the meals were spectacular!  Vickie at the Artist's Mark is quite the chef!

For years Vickie has been trying to get me out of my comfort zone in the studio and has goaded and prodded me to finally let go of my anal retentive and OCD ways and just let loose.  So this summer I got to turn the tables on her and got her to dye her very own yarn.  It was hysterical to see how scared and nervous she was....but after a pretty intense hand painting experience (yes she sat there with a tiny little brush and tried to get the dye to do according to her bidding....silly Vickie, don't you know the dye is the boss not you?) the inner scientist came out and before you knew it she was mixing her colours and adding a little bit of this and a dash of that and honestly came up with some pretty spectacular yarn!  Of course they are OOAK as there is no way I will ever be able to replicate what she did, even with her notes!  But at the end of the day everyone was pretty happy with the results and we may even have a budding indie dyer on our hands!

We ended our trip with a terrific whale watch....anyone who gets out that way must do it!  We had a blast and saw some very active humpback whales!

So much has been happening behind the scenes here at Seawall Fibres and I promise now that fall has arrived I will be posting more regularly and will get everyone up to date with all the great news!

I will sign off for now but check back in a day or two so you can hear about the wonderful collaborations we have been busy with here at Seawall Fibres.

And if you are itching for a yarn fix, there are some very yummy squishy yarns available online at www.seawallfibres.etsy.com and in the Artist's Mark store if you are fortunate enough to be local or in the area!  New colours are coming in the next week so keep checking in!

Ta ta for now everybody!

We have reopened!

Due to what we were told was the pending Canada Post strike we had shut down our etsy store and were waiting with baited breath to hear what was going to happen.

Well it seems like the two sides are back at the negotiating table and postal service is still going on so we have decided to reopen for now and just keep a close eye on things. 

So head on over to Seawall Fibres and check out our lovelies!  Also keep your eyes and ears open, we will be having a huge restock next week at the latest!

Also apologies for not having Mineral Monday for a couple of weeks.  We have had some family health issues but things should be back on track!

Don't forget if you are in the Digby area to drop into the Artist's Mark shop.  There not only will you be able to fondle the scrumptious yarn (yeah, we know you do that!) but you will be able to see the wonderful stones and minerals being cut and polished by the ever so talented stone guy and some gorgeous purses, paintings and wearable pieces of art by the amazing in house artist!

Mineral Monday - Amethyst

Good Mineral Monday all!  Today I want to talk about what is in my opinion a very royal gemstone, a deep and mysterious mineral.

Amethyst is a variety of quartz and its colour can vary from very light pink to deep violet with secondary hues of red and blue.

Why does it vary so much? Because amethyst is simply quartz that has been exposed to radiation or contains iron impurities or trace elements. In fact, amethyst can be made synthetically by simply radiating quartz.

Because of its origin, the violet colour may only be on the surface and the colour may even change when the stone is heated!

Nova Scotia amethyst tends to be light in colour but, as can be seen by the photos, may be dark as well.

Amethyst gets its name from two greek words meaning "not" and "intoxicated" from the belief that it protected its owner from drunkenness. In fact, it was often used for drinking vessels.

Here are some examples of some light amethysts we found on the beach by our home. 

You may not know by now but my fave colour is green.  Next to that is amethyst.  I find it so peaceful and elegant.  You can find some examples of it in our store and in the next few months we hope to have more.  It is such a versatile yarn colour, can go with so many different colours for that "pop" where you might need it. 

I would love to hear what you guys think....what is your favorite colour or mineral?

Mineral Monday - The Bahamas

For Mineral Monday this week we are going to do something a little different.

Some of you might not know but I am a transplanted Canadian who has lived in the Bahamas for the past 13 years.  I love my adopted home and am very fortunate to enjoy the beauty of life on this island every day.  I wanted to come up with a colourway that was a tribute to the beauty of the Bahamas.  

The Bahamian colours are turquoise, yellow and black.  The black color represents the strength and will power of the people, yellow the sandy beaches, and the aquamarine blue symbolizes the spectacular Caribbean Sea.   

I think I have come up with a beautiful representation of these and am going to do something a bit different with these colourways. Since they are a special group and not part of our permanent lineup (at least not yet!) I am going to do this via pre order.

The three colours are as follows,

Bahamaland, a gorgeous turquoise melding into a deep gold with black speckles

Bahamian Islands, turquoise and gold with some beautiful greens as well

And lastly we have Bahamas as One, a beautiful amalgamation of all the Bahamian colours, very reminiscent of our beautiful waters here.

All three colours will be available on a variety of bases so there should be something for everyone.  They would make amazing bright winter accessories and on the fingering bases some kick butt socks!

Check them out at our our shop and act fast as they will only be available to pre order until next Monday.

In other news it looks like there is going to be a postal strike next month.   If you are thinking of picking up some of our yarn is would recommend ordering asap so we can get it out to you before there are any issues.  We have looked into other means of shipping and will be able to use FedEx but it will be a greater expense and might not be cost effective if you are looking and purchasing a skein or two.  We will keep you updated here and in our shop announcements!

As always we love to hear what you think so feel free to post a comment and let us know how we are doing!

Mineral Monday - Obsidian

Picture yourself watching a volcanic eruption. A blob of liquid lava flies out of the volcano and lands in the frigid water just in front of you. After it cools, you pick it up and to your amazement, you find yourself holding a piece of black glass! You’re actually holding obsidian.

Obsidian is formed when lava cools so fast that the atoms don’t have time to arrange themselves into a crystal structure. While obsidian is most often black, it can be brown, tan or even colourless since the colour comes from flaky impurities frozen at different angles in the rock. It’s pretty amazing since the chemical composition is often identical to the pink granite that forms from the same flow.

Obsidian is found all over the world, wherever there has been volcanic activity but if you have a piece, enjoy it now because it is unstable and in a couple of million years it will probably become very mottled!

When obsidian fractures, it can form extremely sharp edges and because of that, it was one of the first things man actually “mined” to use as cutting blades and spear heads.  Obsidian can actually be thinner and sharper than surgical steel and is still preferred today for scalpel blades used in delicate procedures.

Capturing obsidian’s beautiful black colour is tricky because, since it is actually a glass, there is a  translucence that lets light through and creates a beautiful, shimmering effect. This is what I have tried to do with our Obsidian colourway.  If you have seen our yarn in person you will see we are not aiming for a single colour, I want to see the different tones in my yarn.  To me the depth you get the way we dye our yarn really pops when it is knit up!  Let us know what you think!

Mineral Monday - Bay of Fundy Agate

Bay of Fundy Agate

Through a geological quirk, The Bay of Fundy area of Nova Scotia has become world famous for its agate. In fact, there are varieties of agate found here that simply don’t exist elsewhere!

The whole north mountain range that runs right behind our Artist’s Mark Shop is a basalt massif that runs all along the Fundy Shore from Blomidon to the tip of Brier Island. Originally, it was molten and when it cooled, cracks formed. (Interestingly, if the basalt cooled quickly enough, gas bubbles got trapped before they could get to the surface and became “frozen” in the hardened rock. There are some beautiful examples of this in the shop).

Since nature abhors a vacuum, these cracks and bubbles eventually were filled by material carried by and precipitated from hot, pressurized, silicate solutions as they cooled. So agate is a silicate. The beautiful colors and patterns are caused by the different impurities carried in the solution, which change over time. Since there is a lot of iron in this area, you find beautiful banding ranging from black to red/ orange/ brown and even yellow!

Agate is so hard and beautiful that it can be polished and made into awesome jewelry and if you stop by our shop or visit the blog you can see some gorgeous examples.

Matching yarn color to this was a priority for us as we felt it was important to showcase the beauty that can only be found here.  Nature is amazing and we can only try to imitate it, never getting it perfect, but I think we came close!

Bay of Fundy Agate

Golden Flame Agate Trio

What do you think?  Did we nail it?

Check these beauties out and other awesome yarns in our shop at www.seawallfibres.etsy.com  and if you can, please pop into our store The Artist's Mark on Digby Neck.  You won't be disappointed!

Yarn and stone display at The Artist's Mark

Mineral Monday - Yarn bases

Well that weekend went by quick!  So here we are with another Mineral Monday.  Instead of covering one particular mineral I thought I would tell you all about the yarn bases we carry now.  Of course there is some rock talk involved!

We carry 4 bases at the moment so without any further ado here they are!

First of all we have our Metamorphic yarn base.

Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The original rock (protolith) is subjected to heat (temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C) and pressure (1500 bars), causing profound physical and/or chemical change.

Our Metamorphic yarn is a worsted weight with 218 yards of 100% Superwash merino wool per 100g skein.   It is an 8 ply yarn that is super springy and squishy and would be wonderful for all of your winter accessories, including hats, mitts, scarves....the list goes on!

Next we have our Igneous yarn base.

Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. Igneous rock may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks.

Our Igneous yarn is a single ply, bulky yarn with 76 yards per 100g skein.   It is made of 80% soft superwash merino and 20% nylon.

Perfect for those big chunky knits!

Now onto our fingering weight yarns!

First of all is our Pumice yarn base. 

Pumice /ˈpʌmᵻs/, called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals.

Our Pumice yarn is a light and super soft yet strong single ply fingering weight yarn with 400 yards of superwash merino wool in every 100g skein.  When dyed this wool has such depth, it just draws you right in.  Perfect for lightweight shawls, sweaters, t-shirts....to be honest this is my fave yarn we carry!

Lastly we have our Quartz sock base. 

What do you get when you combine the strength of granite and the beauty of marble?  You get quartz, a very strong and gorgeous mineral. 

Our Quartz base is a fingering weight yarn made of 75% Superwash merino wool and 25% nylon. It is a soft, springy yarn that shows stitch definition really well. Whether you want long lasting socks or a well wearing cardigan, this is our strong, long wearing fingering base.   It will be available in multiple colourways and makes a great first introduction into the yarn bases we carry at Seawall Fibres. 

We plan on expanding into other yarns in the future including some sport and Dk weights.  Some silk and cashmere will be available soon!

Have you checked out our new Etsy shop yet?  There are some really beautiful yarns still available.  If you follow our shop you will be one of the first to see the new yarns in the next update!  

Also, if you haven't had the chance yet there are still a couple of days left to enter our big giveaway on Instagram.  A pack of 3 skeins of our sock yarn is up for grabs!  Don't miss out!