Imagine walking into a colorfully immersive environment made entirely of fiber, exploding with vibrancy and texture. As you walk from room to room, new adventures await you in art installations you can’t help but sink your hands, and mind, into.
The Craft Yarn Council is excited to announce a new partnership with Dallas’ premiere experiential art exhibit, Sweet Tooth Hotel, to bring an immersive fiber experience to audiences across the country. The new installation, titled “Intangible,” opened June 2020.
“Intangible” showcases an all-female lineup of some of the top fiber artists from around the United States, including yarn-bomb extraordinaire London Kaye (Los Angeles, CA), Fiber Artist Niki Dionne (Dallas, TX), Muralist and Illustrator Alli Koch (Dallas, TX), Fiber Artist Jackie Lawrence (Denton, TX), Installation Fiber Artist and Yarn Bomber Hannah Busekrus (Austin, TX), Crochet Designer Twinkie Chan (San Francisco, CA), Textile Designer Molly Sydnor (Dallas, TX), Dallas Yarn Bomber Co-Founder Sally Ackerman (Dallas, TX), Knit Artist Joanna Lin (Dallas, TX) and Embroidery Artist Kara Herman (Denton, TX). Each artist has been given a dedicated space to create their own whimsical world completely made from fiber and are the first cohort for CYC AIR (Craft Yarn Council Artist-In-Residence program).
Since each of the artists used large quantities of yarn for their installs, we wanted to do a special series of Happy Place blog posts to dive into how each of them stored and organized their yarn. Read on for our first CYC AIR Happy Place with none other than London Kaye and check out her Happy Place blog post from last year too!
How many skeins of yarn did you receive for your Sweet Tooth Hotel installation?
I received 978 skeins of yarn.
What brand and fiber content did you use in your installation?
Lion Brand Yarn.
What colors did you use for your installation?
Every color you can imagine!
What system did you use to organize your CYC AIR yarn for Sweet Tooth Hotel?
I organized my yarn by color.
What furniture or storage systems did you use to organize the yarn you received?
I use an Ikea Kallax Unit and an entire couch is always filled with whatever piece of the project I am working on at that moment.
Do you or have you ever found it difficult to manage or organize your yarn?
I have a good system in place. I put away, by color, whatever yarn I am working with at the end of each day. This keeps things organized and the yarn manageable.
Knowing the amount of yarn you were going to receive, how did you find an organization system that worked for you?
I made sure to clean out an entire section of my yarn stash to make room for the amount of yarn I was going to receive. I also kept a couple of the Lion Brand boxes the yarn was shipped in to hold whatever did not fit. But it is amazing how many skeins of yarn you can fit in one square of the Ikea Kallax.
How do you like to de-stash?
I do crazy street art all made of yarn. This is the perfect way for me to use the extra yarn and finish off small amounts of colors that may be left over. I also think that sometimes the most beautiful creations come from a variety of colors, so I like to force myself to use everything before purchasing more.
Do you work in the same space where your yarn is stored? Why or why not?
I think it is so important to be able to see all of the colors, textures, and options you have when creating. It's great being able to mix and match yarns as I work. I always have a plan in mind, but color is so inspiring, that having it near by is necessary.
How important is a well-organized yarn corner/office to your mental wellbeing?
I have a work/live loft. So I need to keep my yarn organized in order to have my home organized. It took time to figure out the system that works for me, but now my yarn is something that is never out of place.
Where did you purchase everything shown in the photos you submitted?
Two IKea KALLAX Shelf Units white, 71 5/8" x 71 5/8 "
Share any tips or advice you have for someone who is trying to reorganize their stash.
I recommend you go through ALL of your yarn and roll it up properly. Start with the largest skeins and work to the smallest. Separate it out by color, and then find a proper space for each. I have a specific sport for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Black, White, Brown, Tan, and Multicolored.
All photos courtesy of London Kaye.