My passion for knitting, yarn, fabric and fiber arts began as a little girl.  My aunt and great-aunt were influential in teaching me how to sew and knit.  From that exposure I gained the confidence to tackle new techniques and projects on my own.

Somewhere along the way I took the plunge into the world of color and dyeing.  I started out by dyeing yards of fabric and clothing - everything from underwear to towels.  It didn't take long before I started to dye yarn.  Dyeing yarn opened the door to another creative passion.  The possibilities are endless when you're playing with color.

In 2007 I joined forces with another knitter and fiber enthusiast to form Dye Dreams. That business dissolved in the summer of 2010, but I was still passionate about color and the dye pots.  Dirty Water DyeWorks was born.

I use various dyeing techniques to create unique, nearly solid and subtly variegated colorways. And every once in a while I go crazy and create multicolor combinations.

A note about the yarn names.  When I started this venture, I had four yarn lines and was casting about for names.  For inspiration I considered various names - everything from mythology to rivers.  One day my sister tossed out the idea of women's names - our grandmother and her three sisters.  All four women were strong, independent and creative in their own way.  The idea clicked.  And so the first four lines included -

                              Paula - my grandmother
                              Bertha - the great-aunt who taught me how to knit
                              Julia - my great-aunt
                              Lucia - my great-aunt

Since then a fifth line, Lillian (also a great-aunt), has been added with more in the works. 

Special thanks to Irene Friedman for her help with the photography.

I thoroughly enjoy creating these colorways.  I hope you have as much fun working with them as I have dyeing them.  Thanks for stopping by.

~Stephanie