Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez with Mitchell's Creations!
For two years, I had the opportunity to live in New Orleans. My husband had gotten his first job and I was so thankful to go somewhere—anywhere—other than Houston. We never wanted for visitors; everyone wanted a spot on our couches!
NOLA is gritty and vivid. It stimulates all your senses. I've never experienced another place like it. If I were a dyer (like Terra Mitchell of Mitchells Creations, for example,) and I spoke color with intuitive fluency (like Terra does. . .) I would surely understand how insistently the colors of The Crescent City must speak.
That Louisiana influence is what attracted me to Terra's yarns. She creates a wicked variegated skein: bold and striking, yet balanced. I get the feeling that it's all a bit of playing around gone right, kind of like New Orleans.
It seems to me that Terra works very intuitively, not always sure where the dyeing process will take her, but recognizing a good result when she gets it, though that recognition comes at different points in the process:
“Believe it or not sometimes you don’t know. It’s funny because colorways that I questioned myself over and over again—telling myself that this will be a one time thing, when it’s gone it’s gone—they’re the ones that people seem to love and snatch up. But there are also times when you just know. When you’re looking at it in the pan or pot in amazement that you did that, like for my March Yarn Of The Month colorway, “It Blooms In Spring.” There are also times when I don’t know until it’s dried and in the hank, and I go to take pictures and look back at them and I’m like, “you did that!””
I think my colorways are total opposite of the shy, quiet, introvert that I am. They allow me to speak out loud, if that makes sense. I like seeing what colors look like together or how they will interact during the process. So, I guess I’m a little all over the place for now, and one day I’ll figure out my style. For now I like trying things and doing what I like and hope that others do too.
—Terra
Terra is originally from Georgia, but has lived in Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, for ten years. Louisiana culture, especially the richness of The Crescent City itself, has a huge influence on her colorways.
“When you think of New Orleans there are somethings that just come to mind: good food, music, Bourbon Street, The French Quarter, Mardi Gras, and VooDoo. It’s hard being around such a vibrant city and not interpreting these things into colorways.”
We often go to New Orleans to find the good places to eat and riding down the street, you see color everywhere; on one block you can see ten different color houses from bright blue to butter yellow. I’m always looking for color now.
—Terra
I was initially drawn to the “Zombie Butterfly” colorway because it is unapologetically saturated. This is a perfect example of Terra's superpower color sense speaking loudly! The pinks are so saturated that my DSLR had a little trouble handling it, I kid you not. I don't know how such magic is created with acid dyes, but I'm sold.
“Zombie Butterfly—” I wasn’t too sure about until after it dried and immediately thought of Zombies for how gory they look, and butterflies because, regardless of how pretty they look, they still creep me out.
—Terra
I was surprised though, that “Voodoo Potion” became my favorite of the set. (I guess I'm still excited about the neons in my LolaBean Bananarama yarn . . .) “Voodoo Potion” is a cool mix of pretty neutral gray with neon green and pink overlays that knits up in a swirly mix that really does evoke a potion.
For “VooDoo Potion,” I knew I wanted a solid base with speckles. When I dyed it up, it made me think of what a little bottle of magical potion might look like.
—Terra
These colorways are offered in individual full skeins, but I purchased them in a set of minis that feature Terra's most popular offerings: “CATastrophe,” “Zombie Butterfly,” and “Dreamin’ of Rhinebeck.” “Cuppa Love” was one of her club colorways from last year. “Voodoo Potion,” Terra says, was thrown in for a little "Louisiana flava."
Yum.
left to right: “CATastrophe,” “Dreaming’ of Rhinebeck,” and “Cuppa Love”
I chose the set because I couldn't settle on a single colorway. I just couldn't do it. Oftentimes, I find myself drawn to a dyer because of one colorway, or I can choose one that represents their style, or they have one with a great story . . . but Terra's yarns kind of just all did that. The mini skein option saved me hours of fretting! I made fade socks already this year, with a mini set from Six and Seven Fiber Yarns, so I wanted to do something different to highlight the uniqueness of each of these yarns. I settled on the idea of multi stripes alternating with a neutral base color . . . but, now another decision: which neutral? Terra was wonderful and patient at helping me decide which colorway would work best as a base for my project, sending me photos of the combinations lined up until I picked “Silver Lining.”
It really ties the socks together.
I am amazed by these variegated colorways but my heart absolutely melts at how pretty “Silver Lining” is. Like, I think it's the color angels are made of.
I wanted a very light ,silvery gray, so I tried a few times before I got the one I liked. I was having one of those days and often if it’s quiet while I’m dyeing, I’m all in my head and thoughts. And one of my thoughts was that things will get better because there's always a silver lining.
—Terra
And really, aren't the socks so cool? I decided that the reason I wasn't a Cool Kid in high school is because I didn't have these socks. But now I have them, and I am expecting immediate elevation in my social status any minute now.
I made a mistake in the sequence, can you see it?
Terra's work is getting more and more (deserved!) attention lately; mine is the third blog so far this year to interview her! I asked if she felt like a rock star and she humbly responded with a resounding, "OMG No! Grateful, yes!!! But it is awesome that people are starting to get to know me and that you guys are giving me the opportunity to tell my story (even though it maybe boring) and let people in on Mitchell’sCreations."
Her story isn't boring in the least, of course, though I find it has similarities to other dyers' beginnings—I think there is a shared need among creative people to get ideas outside their heads and into reality. Like other dyers before and after her, Terra went looking for hand-dyed yarn at her local yarn shop, but couldn't find what she was looking for. "At the time I don’t think I trusted ordering yarn off the internet yet and for the price it would’ve cost me to purchase three skeins, why not try it myself and see if I could produce the vision I had in my mind." She posted her first attempts in the fall of 2016 on her Instagram feed and started receiving questions about where her yarn had come from. And as the saying goes, the rest is history . . .
The knitting community has meant a lot to Terra, as it does to all of us. Like the other indie dyers I've spoken to, she told me about the support and friendships she finds in the community, and it's often online, with fellow fiber nerds reaching out to one another through Instagram, blogs, and Ravelry and crafting real friendships from a starting point of images and words. I love, love, love that she says she gets to be herself in this community. Because fiber lovers get it, this love of making things with our hands out of beautiful materials made by other peoples' hands:
“The knitting/crochet/maker community is awesome. Through this community, I have met so many amazing people and learned so many new things. I have made some lasting relationships with people that I would now call my friends. And although I may not see them or even have met them, we talk both on and off social media. It allows me to have the knitting/maker friends that I otherwise don’t have. The community allows me to be me. I can be the quiet one, do what I love, and chime in when I want to or as needed.”
I asked her about running her business, because in reading her posts and interviews, she seems to pay a lot of attention to the process of developing as an entrepreneur. She brings intention to her endeavor, gleaning lessons from every opportunity:
“Every day I learn something new. And different opportunities that I’m offered teach me how to do something better or different the next time around. But one lesson that I’ve learned and have to remind myself is, that although you want everyone you come across to like what you do...you can’t please everyone. Everyone is not my customer.”
When she's not dyeing yarn, you might find her reading about running a business. Or collecting Hot Wheels.
“I actually haven’t had much knitting time lately as I’m still trying to find that work-life balance. But I see that when it’s your own business, if you don’t do it, who will? But if I’m not knitting, you’d probably find me either cuddled up on the sofa or enjoying the outside air (only if it’s not hot...Louisiana heat is not people friendly, lol) reading a book. I’ve recently gotten back into reading and while most of it is about my craft or how to grow my business, I’m always up for any kind of good read.
”
We’re getting to the Hot Wheels . . .
“The Hot Wheels! . . .
It started because of my son and his love for cars. From a young age, we would go into a store and could not leave without going to the car aisle. He could barely talk, but could tell you what kind of car it was! I’ve always had a fascination with cars that I cannot (at the moment, who knows what will happen) afford like Porsche, BMW, Audi as well as older cars from before I was born like Novas, Datsuns, Chevelles. . .
At nine, he still has the same love for cars and has hundreds of Hot Wheels, but he doesn’t even have to be with me now for me to go on the aisle and see if there’s something I can add to my collection.”
Another look at “Zombie Butterfly”
Terra is never short on ideas, probably because she's always thinking about ways to grow her business. That, and she's an Idea Machine! Mitchell's Creations has started including some neat club opportunities. Terra resurrected a Yarn of the Month club in January of this year. What's unique is that she lets customers vote on the inspiration photo: "My thought was, if I give 2-3 pictures to choose/vote on then it would allow my followers to not only get engaged in what I was doing, but if they wanted, that month's Club it could possibly be based off the inspiration photo they voted on. I love the engagement and to be able to give my followers colorways that they want."
Terra also contributed a custom colorway to Anne Vally's (@littleskeinanne) "Diverse Yarn & Books Club," which is perhaps one of the most stunning skeins I've seen. Ever! (Seriously, follow this next link.) The colorway is called "Finding Her Voice," and is a gorgeous contribution to the current move to create more diverse opportunity in the fiber community.
“I am glad that Anne considered me as a BIPOC indie dyer to be a part of not only what she is doing, but ultimately part of the bigger picture of diversity in the fiber community. As a black woman, even before I started dyeing yarn and was just a fellow knitter/crocheter, and as an indie dyer as well, I’ve had unpleasant experiences . . . Creating “Finding Her Voice” will always be a special colorway to me because we all experience pain at some point, and through the pain, it’s important to find your voice and speak to what you believe...your truth. Don’t let anyone else tell your story or your truth.”
Terra offers many dyed-to-order colorways—keep an eye on her Etsy shop for when those are open. Right now she is working on rolling out a "Flower Fields" collection (and the "Poppy Fields" colorway that's kicking it off is another super-saturated red/pink that's out of this world) and she tells me there are more Louisiana-inspired colorways to come, as well. (I'm loving that "Ponchartrain Beach" she just posted on her Instagram feed. WOW!)
Terra will be at Fiber Fun in the Sip Festival in September and if you go, perhaps you can ask her about her Hot Wheels collection! Or just chat and maybe she'll give you a bit of life wisdom.
Hand-dyed yarn can be anything you want it to be. It’s not just for sweaters, shawls, blankets and such.
—Terra
You can shop Terra’s yarn at her Etsy shop, MitchellsC.
Follow Terra on Instagram @mitchellscfiberarts .
Read Terra’s interview with Gaye Glasspie on ggmadeit.com.
Read Terra’s Interview with Monica Rodriguez on knitsallfolks.com.