Mary Dillon

HOW DID YOUR BUSINESS GET STARTED?

byTeDiJansen

Ewe2me2u came into existence

8 Years ago. I broke several discs in my back (2 different times) from a work injury and had several surgeries. I needed to do something during the recovery so went back to knitting, which I always loved but did not have the time to do and added crocheting and then and then...fell down the rabbit hole as they say ...I decided I wanted to travel so I took my time and drove from Chicago area to Mexico . (I have family in California and Mexico) Along the way, I visited sheep and alpaca farms. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the different breeds and the fibers they produce. I left with my car pretty much empty but came back with it pretty much full.. (of fibers)

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS'S MISSION?

I love color. I love seeing people purchase my dyed fibers and create amazing sweaters, hats, shawls etc. I love when they share what they create. To put it simply...it inspires me to do more and do better. My business has opened up a whole new life for me. It is work but this is something I absolutely love to do. The problem it solves is that it gives me great joy.

WAS THERE SOMEONE WHO INSPIRED YOU IN YOUR FIBER ARTS JOURNEY?

I had a very good friend John, who has since passed on who was so encouraging to me. He bought me my Hansen E-Spinner when he realized that using a spinning wheel was difficult for me. He always told me I could do anything I set my mind to doing. Also, my daughter, Elizabeth is a huge supporter of me and of my business. She always is encouraging me to do better, be better and to succeed. She is my very own cheering team.

HOW DID YOU LEARN YOUR CRAFT?

I was an original tie-dyer from many, many moons ago. To get up to speed with indie-dyeing I took a dyeing class from Tammy at TLD Designs. The rest is history as they say. Actually, I feel like this is still a learning process. I am amazed at new techinques that I learn all the time.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BASE/ BLEND/ FIBER? WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT IT?

WHAT MAKES WAFA SPECIAL FOR YOU?

The people. It is that simple. Ellen Zawada has created such an amazing group. The admins are all so helpful. WAFA is a safe haven for all of us Fiberista's. Everyone, including you, TeDi, are always so willing to help each other. There are so many people who give their time to teach all of us whether it is better ways to dye fiber or to spin or how to use a peg loom etc. I have learned so much from this amazing community.

This is a hard one to answer. I love so many of them but as a favorite I really like superwash merino, cashmere & stellina blend. It is so smooth and soft and takes dye well and spins so easily.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS?

I am a one- person operation, I do the dyeing, spinning, weaving, knitting...however, I have a wonderful friend who names all of my braids, helps with my live sales and who is always willing to go with me on my Out and Abouts. I like to drive around to local spots ( some not so local) to look at nature and get color inspiration. I then like to go home and dye fiber to match the beauty that I saw. Or she finds photos of beautiful colors for me to dye. On her recent trip to Florida to visit her son, she came back with photos to inspire me.

We started with 2 boys over 16 years ago

We now have a variety of color in our herdsolid white to solid black, patterns and shades of grey or brown! Our focus has been on fiber from the beginning. The ranch name comes from the miniature horses that we had prior to owning alpacas. We added an alpaca to update the logo. We’ve recently sold our miniature horses to concentrate on fiber, alpacas and llamas. We added Belfast Mill equipment to our ranch about 3 years ago, so now are able to make rug yarn as well as create batts and rovings Dryer balls remain one of our hottest sellers - Larry makes abut 8,000 a year.