Blue Moon…..isn’t that a title of a very popular
song in it’s time? It’s also the name of an
ever popular yarn company that makes that wonderful
yarn SOCKS THAT ROCK!!! Haven’t heard
of it, or more likely you have, but haven’t seen
it in your LYS; well, that is because it is a small
sole proprietor company that Tina Newton operates
with the help of six other wild and crazy women who
have a great time doing what they love to do!
Blue Moon Fiber Arts is located in a small quaint
town in Oregon called Scappoose, just outside of
Portland. Scappoose named “Gravelly Plains”
by the Chinook Indians and dates back to the 1800’s,
Hudson’s Bay Company and the travels of Lewis and Clark,
and is in Columbia County near the Columbia River.
BMFA went to Stitches West, launched the “Rockin Sock Club”
and in what seems likes overnight, but in reality it was
many, everything they touched turned to gold! The
memberships maxed out at 2,300 and although it is closed
to newbie’s at the moment, keep your eye on the website…..as
like everything in life; there is that constant state of
flux!
Tina is a self taught artist with great love of color and
fiber. BMFA is a custom hand paint line of yarn. It’s
a very slow, labor intense production operation that is
all performed by hand. Tina literally has her own
recipes and cooks, otherwise known as dyers, which she has
trained to carry out this process. First, they get
the yarn in from the mill, it gets bundled, then soaked;
they wring it out and lay it out for dying. Then comes
the dying process where they hand paint the yarn, it gets
bundled again, it’s steamed, then it sits for 24 hours and
then cools. It gets rinsed and then is hung to dry. This
process is all tightly controlled and is done without machines. Then
the yarn is bundled again and tagged for sale.
Tina’s company is completely hands on and that’s the way
she likes it. Yes, she could produce more yarn by
going more commercial but that’s not her style. The
colors are custom dyed, the names are unique and she comes
up with each and every one of them in unique ways. Tina
gets her inspiration from everything in life, from chickens,
to the beautiful colors of Scappoose, to pop culture to
the raven.
You might wonder if she makes anything other than sock weight
yarn and the answer is YES! Let your inspiration
talk to you – you can view the colors and weights on her website
and dream of projects yet
to knit. Please look for a retailernear you and try this
fabulous yarn. Well done Tina and staff and thank you for producing a line
where there is something for everyone!
