In honor of Mother’s Day, we wanted to do something extra special -- so we turned our Thread & Maple Maker Spotlight on a few amazing women in the fiber arts community who are not only talented indie dyers and makers, but also share their creative journey with their children by their side. Talk about a dream team! Throughout May, we’ve been sharing the stories of four inspiring mother-child duos who are blending business, bonding, and a whole lot of color. From dyeing skeins with tiny hands helping mix the pots, to packing orders together and dreaming big as a family, these makers remind us that creativity and connection go hand in hand. In this post, we’ve gathered all four spotlights in one cozy place, so you can get to know these incredible moms and their co-creators. Prepare to be inspired (and maybe a little misty-eyed)! Let’s dive in and meet the teams behind the magic! 💕 First up in the spotlight is Judy of @7thFloorYarn: ❓️ Please introduce yourselves! Who is on the 7th Floor Yarn team? How long have you been "officially" working together? "7th Floor Yarn kicked off in 2017 as a mom-and-daughter team, Judy and Amanda. We ran the show together until January 2025, when it segued to a mom-and-son duo. Even though Amanda isn't hitting the festival scene anymore, she’s still around for brainstorming and whipping up color recipes. Currently Steven has taken over as my right-hand man. All our dyeing happens on a four-burner stove in our cozy 7th-floor apartment in Westchester County, NY. We’ve got a knack for tonal colors and offer several different fibers and bases, from lace to chunky, both non-superwash & superwash. You’ll find yak, silk, merino, alpaca, and nylon in our lineup. Plus, our cool laser-cut and UV printed wood products come from Laser Life Design, which is a small business owned by my husband. Check out our unique yarn boxes, gauge squares, and knit/crochet signs." ❓️ What does a typical workday look like for you as a team? "A typical day at 7th Floor Yarn, Inc. goes something like this: We prepare yarn for dying, mix the colors we are making that day. Presoak skeins, then dye them. Rinse, dry, wind and label. And just like that, they're ready to find a new home." ❓️ What advice would you give to other family members thinking about starting a business together? "One essential piece of advice we can offer families considering starting a business together is to have a business plan. Also, it makes sense to have a general idea of each person’s responsibilities and how much time they are able to commit to the business." Meet @AppleBlossomYarn! 🍎🌸 🧶 ❓️ Please introduce yourselves! Who is on the Apple Blossom Yarn team? "Our names are Kristen and Sari, and we are the co-owners/dyers of Apple Blossom Yarn! We both work full-time jobs as well as running this business together, not to mention both being busy moms. Speaking of which, Kristen is Sari's mom! We have a large blended family, so Kristen has six adult children and one teenager still at home, as well as seven delightful grandchildren. One of those grandchildren is Sari's daughter, Zoe! Our team also consists of one minion - Kristen's youngest, Skye! Skye is a delightfully quirky unicycling teenager, who helps us out quite a lot when their busy schedule allows - especially when they are trying to save money for a new unicycle!" ❓️ How did you first decide to start dyeing yarn together? "We both had independent fantasies about having some kind of creative business, especially related to yarn. We've both been knitting and/or crocheting for at least 10 years, and longer for Kristen especially. Ever since we were introduced to the hand-dyed yarn world, we have been fascinated by the process and day-dreaming about colorways we would try to create if we could. However, it always felt like such a hurdle to get started, especially with the equipment needed and some fear of putting ourselves out there, too! Then, about 8 or 9 months ago (we don't actually know the official date), Sari started tallying up a list of what it would cost to get some bare minimum equipment, and Kristen impulsively went out and bought some bare yarn and dye! From there we ended up just diving in! So to be honest, it was a long-time dream that was impulsively acted upon. We both work in burn-out heavy fields in our day jobs (nursing for Kristen, and education for Sari), so our impulsivity was definitely spurred on by a desire to do something more creatively fulfilling. " ❓️ Do you have a favorite memory from a fiber festival that you’ve attended together? "Oh gosh, neither of us like picking favorites! However, attending Flock Fiber Festival together for both years, and feeling that magical Disneyland-esque euphoria when you're surrounded by people who all love the same thing is definitely high on the list! Kristen especially enjoyed seeing Sari have a nervous breakdown and be moved to tears when meeting Toni Lipsey last year at Flock." ❓️ Please introduce yourselves! Who is on the @ScrumptiousPurl team? "Scrumptiouspurl began about eight years ago, sparked by Samantha’s desire to dye her own yarn. Her curiosity quickly led to learning how to create self-striping yarn—and once our  knitting friends saw the socks we were making, they immediately wanted some too! That initial interest caught the attention of the yarn shop, which saw the potential for a unique new yarn line and placed an order. At that point, Samantha realized she could use some help—and I was more than happy to say yes. Everything came together naturally. We have  always been very close, so working together felt like a seamless decision. The only adjustment we had to make was setting boundaries to separate work from personal time, since we found ourselves talking about yarn even outside of work! Eventually, Samantha took the exciting next step of starting a family and embracing that role fully, while I took over day-to-day operations and dyeing. Samantha still plays an important part behind the scenes, always offering her insight and input into the business." ❓️ If you could dye yarn inspired by any vacation or place you’ve been together, what would it be? "For a while now, we’ve wanted to create a Disney-themed Colour Club. Disney holds so many magical memories for us -- from childhood visits with my parents, to taking my own kids, and now watching Samantha’s little ones experience the magic. The inspiration is endless, and we’re excited to bring that joy into our yarn. Maybe it’s time for another trip -- for research purposes, of course!" ❓️ Please introduce yourselves! Who is on the @FrankieGreyFibers team? How long have you been "officially" working together?⁠⁠"Hi! We’re Jodi [@jodibrowndesigns] and Jordyn [@jordyndanyluk], the mother-daughter duo behind Frankie Grey Fibres. We’ve been creating together for over five years, and every day is a joy. We’re a small business dyeing all our yarn out of our kitchen—for now!—and we pour our hearts into every skein."⁠⁠❓️ Do you have specific day-to-day duties, or do you each do a little bit of everything? ⁠⁠"While we both know the ins and outs of the entire dyeing process, we each have our specialties: Jodi brings the magic to our solid colorways, and Jordyn is the mastermind behind most of our speckled yarns. Everything else—well, that’s a true team effort." ⁠⁠❓️ Where do you find inspiration for your colorways? Do you each have a different creative process?⁠⁠"Our color inspiration comes from the little moments in everyday life. It might be a vibrant sign on a city street or a beautiful image we stumble upon while scrolling Pinterest. Jodi gravitates toward bold neons, deep tones, and heavy speckles, while Jordyn is drawn to soft pastels and dreamy palettes. Together, we strike the perfect balance—blending our unique styles to create yarns that are as varied and creative as the makers who use them."⁠ Whether it’s dyeing yarn, packing orders, or dreaming up the next big idea together, these moms show us that running a handmade business doesn’t have to mean doing it alone. Sometimes, your greatest collaborator might just be your kiddo with dye-stained fingers and big ideas of their own. To all the amazing maker moms out there: thank you for inspiring us with your artistry, your heart, and your hustle. And to the next generation of fiber artists growing up in dye studios and craft rooms: you’re already making the world a more colorful place.  

Silbia Ro is the color curator, dyer, and hand-spinner behind Camellia Fiber Company, and we're delighted to feature her beautiful work in December 2024's Maker Spotlight.

The July T&M Maker Spotlight is on Karina Moore, creator of @louielolayarns in Tasmania. Karina brought Thread & Maple to knitters of Australia and we've developed a long-distance, yet close friendship since :)  Karina not only runs her own LYS, she also dyes an exquisite palette of complimentary tonal and variegated colourways on a range of gorgeous bases, including our fave Merino Silk Yak Fingering which we couldn't resist carrying in our own shop. She's recently had her first release of hand dyed spinning fibre as she continues on her fibre craft journey, learning to spin, weave and crochet. Karina is a true inspiration for us, as she is a talented creative spirit, skilled businesswoman and local community icon. L&L have been selected as Australia Post's Local Business Hero for 2022! Together with Tracie Millar, we have collaborated on two breast cancer fundraisers, which has been a true highlight for all of us. Karina brought together the Australian fibre arts community to raise over $20,000 for breast cancer research! We are fortunate and honoured to have connected with Karina has kindly shared some insightful Q&A's with the community. Q1: What advice would you give to someone starting to learn the dyeing process?Most definitely it would be to take detailed recipe notes for your colourways.  Whilst there's certainly creative value in dyeing just for fun and and by feel (and these can always be one-of-a-kind skeins) - it's often those OOAK colourways that you love the most and want to repeat, but without detailed notes they can be a challenge to replicate.  I think it's also about getting to know your dye pigments intimately.  One of the best pieces of advice I received from Hannah of Circus Tonic Handmade who taught me how to dye, was to stick with one dye brand and get to know how the strength and properties of each dye.  Every pigment will have it's own concentration and special properties.   Some will be more granular and others more powder like.  Some will be more concentrated and others easy to 'break', whilst others not so much.  It's about getting to know how each of your pigments will behave and which ones will be better for certain dyeing techniques such as speckling.  Developing an intimate understanding of your dye pigments will help in developing new colourways and achieving the results you are after.  I think it's about having fun and developing your own dyeing style & colour palette.  Dyeing what you love and what you are proud of is also important - you can't be everything to everyone, so getting to understand your own style is important and will bring you more creative fulfillment. Also appreciating that it's a creative journey, that there will be mistakes and that you'll evolve and change over time.  I look back now at some of my earlier colourways and ask myself 'what was I thinking' - but we all start somewhere and it's only through learning and spending time on developing our craft that we can later step back and appreciate the evolution in your own work and dyeing style.Q2: What do you find most rewarding about running your own business?I would say a couple of things.Firstly, it would be having the freedom to set my own creative direction and establish business processes that work best for myself and my customers - such as having fortnightly shop updates where I focus on dyeing up a complementary palette on one main yarn base, alternated with yarn club dyeing and dyed to orders.The other would be developing friendships and gettting to know customers, suppliers and others in the fibre community.  Given how passionate we all are about our crafting and the fact that we're located all over the world and what we've been through over the pandemic - having the opportunity to make online connections in the fibre arts interaction is more importrant now than ever.  Despite living and working from home in North West Tasmania, it's great to feel more connected than ever with our community and hearing that our yarns have brought enjoyment to people's projects and crafting is definitely the best part of being an indie dyer for me.Q3: What has been the biggest challenge for you and how have you tackled it?Trying (and failing) to teach my partner how to skein yarn, LOL!  Let's just say we gave up on that idea after a few weeks!Actually it was probably convincing him to let me take the plunge of quitting my full time job - to being self-employed and focusing 100% on Louie & Lola Yarns, but we got there in the end!It has also been learning to balance the demands of a small business with also setting aside 'off' time for myself.  When you work from home it can be all too easy to let your business take over your entire life, as there's something to be done - your to-do list is always there.I guess particularly in the early years when trying to build the business and get into a routine, my biggest challenge was learning to manage my time effectively - whilst also ensuring I set aside 'creative play time' in the dye pots and also time for my own personal crafting projects. ------------------------- Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, Karina! We’re so happy to have had the opportunity to get to know you and work with you, you’re a true inspiration!Stay tuned for next month’s edition of Maker Spotlight! Meanwhile, check the L&L blog for our Q&A in reverse with Karina, where she turned the spotlight back onto us!