Interview with Jamie from Suenosdejmi

Here's the next amazing fiber artist in my regular feature. She is another one of my fellow Etsy Off the Wall Ladies so you never know what you'll hear from her next.

Meet Jamie of SuenosdeJmi

Blue-Green Knitted Cowl

Where are you from and where are you now?

I'm actually from where I am now, small town east Tennessee. I was born in the same city I'm living in now, but I grew up about 2 hours north of here near the VA border.


How did you get started working with yarn?

There's always been someone in my life who works with yarn. My mom and my paternal grandmother both crocheted when I was little, so I've known how to crochet for as long as I can remember. I crocheted randomly through my childhood and teenage years, and then picked it back up again about 4 years ago. I was in college at the time, and two of my weekly classes were at night, so I started making scarves in class. And before I knew it I was knee deep in yarn and scarves, and I found my way onto Etsy from there.


What inspires you? What inspires your work?

I'm inspired and uplifted by a lot of things. Sunsets, a gorgeous cloud-filled sky, wind, rain, snow...music, poetry, those life insurance commercials where there's a chain of people helping each other. When it comes to crafting, color inspires me more than anything. I love to get the brightest colors I can find, and then mix them together to see what happens. I really enjoy mixing colors that others wouldn't mix, and it's rare that I'm displeased with the results. I often find myself trying to capture color patterns I see in other places, like a fall centerpiece or a colorful set of summer plates.


What pieces in your shop are you most proud of and why?

Lately I'm really proud of my knitting. I only learned in August after several unsuccessful attempts over the last few years, and I've had a blast exploring this new craft. I recently used colorwork to put text in a pair of gloves, which was really neat! I only have a few knitted items right now, but there are several more coming.


What handmade items do you admire or want to try making?

I really lust over yarn that's handspun or handdyed. Spining is still quite a scary concept to me, but I have plans to experiment with my first overdyes in the next few weeks. Those yarns will find their way to my shop as something soft and rainbow colored, and I'm really excited about that. Eventually, I would like to have a small line of handdyed yarns for sale, but I'll have to get tired of keeping it all first, and that might take a while!

I also really admire people who are skilled seamstresses, because I'm definitely not one, and I love some of the gorgeous sewn things I find on Etsy!

Rainbow Wool Fingerless Gloves

Fiber Artist Interview - Involution

I've met some amazing artists on Etsy and what better idea than to share them with the followers of my blog. I'm introducing a regular feature of interviews with some great fiber sartisans from Etsy and beyond.


To begin this feature, I interviewed one of my favorite fiber and jewerly artists on Etsy. In the process of interviewing I found out we're practically neighbors!

Let me introduce Jessica from Involution.

Before you read on check out these amazing earrings.

All the Tea in China Earrings

Where are you from and where are you now?

I grew up on a sleepy, beautiful island off the coast of Maine. Since I am something of a quiet, stay-at-home-and-make-cookies type, I may find myself back there some day. But for now I am in my beloved city of Durham, North Carolina. My boyfriend and I have just finished renovating a historic house there that had been abandoned for decades, and I'm very excited to be there.



How did you get started working with fiber and jewelry?

Like all my best ideas, it sort of swept me away before my logical side had a chance to protest. Although I've always loved the arts, starting a crafting business had never, ever occurred to me. But one day I happened to see a beautiful, hand felted throw, and something in me said, "I'm going to do that now." So I threw myself gleefully into it, and one thing led to another--I couldn't have seen it coming, but here I am making fiber jewelry.


What inspires you? What inspires your work?

Boldness and audacity in every form. I've held a lot of limiting beliefs in my life about what can and can't be done (which is probably why it never occurred to me to do something like this for a living). So when I see people doing outrageous things because they simply refuse to believe it's not a good idea, I get excited. I think every last one of us has unspeakably beautiful and unique things inside us, and if we would only trust ourselves enough to express them we'd all be a lot happier. So that's what I try to do, and when I manage to pull it off, it feels like flying.


What pieces in your shop are you most proud of and why?

Hmm, that's a hard one. I like the All The Tea in China earrings and the Molecular Bond pendant, just because I particularly love the way they turned out. But I love them all...answering this is like picking a favorite child (not that I would know--I have no children and only one dog. He's definitely my favorite).


What handmade items do you admire or want to try making?


Right now I have a fascination with handmade shoes. There's an almost unlimited creative potential there! But such a demanding practical aspect to their construction also, because few other fashion accessories are repeatedly slammed against the pavement. I plan to try making some prototypes this spring, and I'm very excited about it!

Molecular Bond

Be sure to check out more of Jessica's work at
Involution.etsy.com

Santa's Planning Something Special

I have it on good authority that Santa is planning to bring me a drum carder for Christmas. He and I have been discussing the possibility of a purchase for awhile now and it seems like he's warmed up to the idea. I'm excited by that idea since that opens a whole new world of fiber craft for me. I'll be able to make my own batts!

In the short term I received some beautiful superwash wool from Sheep Shed Studio this weekend and began spinning some of it. I posted some new yarns yesterday so you might want to check them out at the shop, but here's a sneak peek.

Olivia - Superwash wool and nylon 2 ply Bulky Weight.

Melon Salad - Superwash Wool single, Aran/Bulky Weight