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Issue 001 — Ladders, Leaky Dye Sheds & Jack the Ripper
Welcome to the first issue of "A Little Unraveled" — a peek at the yarn, projects, mishaps, ideas, and general nonsense happening behind the scenes around here.
Some weeks around here are all pretty yarn and new colorways.
And then there are weeks when one member of the family is dyeing Jack the Ripper yarn in a leaky shed, another is two stories up on a ladder, and I’m trying to figure out how to write a true-crime podcast without using half the words you’d normally use in a true-crime podcast.
Welcome to Southern Skeins. 😂
About a year ago, Tyler bought his first house. Since he now lives about an hour away from us, we decided it made sense to set up a second little dye studio at his house.
In theory, this was a great idea.
In reality, we’ve been working on Tyler’s dye studio for approximately one year. 😂
Tyler has put so much work into his dye shed. Bless his heart.
It also leaks.
Now, did his mother perhaps have thoughts about the type of shed he should buy in the beginning?
Yes.
Did he listen to those thoughts?
No.
Are we going to dwell on that?
Also yes.
Because every mother deserves the occasional I TOLD YOU SO.
The good news is that the air conditioner works! The bad news is that this is Florida, so even with an air conditioner, it’s still too hot in there for him to comfortably dye during the middle of the day.
And then Tyler accidentally made a slightly horrifying discovery.
His dye cabinet gets so hot in the Florida summer that he can dye yarn in it without turning it on.
YIKES.
Apparently we’ve discovered solar-powered yarn dyeing completely by accident.
So we’re working around the heat, he’s doing a lot of dyeing during the cooler hours, and I’m doing what mothers do best: making sure he has a ridiculous supply of electrolyte drinks.
All of this is happening while Tyler is working his way through dyeing the 13 colors for this year’s Serial Skeins: Jack the Ripper.
Seeing the colors finally coming out of the dye pots is pretty exciting because we’ve been planning this project for such a long time.
There’s something very different about having an idea written down on paper versus walking into the studio and seeing piles of actual Jack the Ripper yarn.
It’s becoming REAL.
And there is a lot of yarn to dye.
We’ve also started writing and recording the Jack the Ripper podcasts that go along with Serial Skeins.
This seemed fairly straightforward when we planned it.
Research Jack. Write the episodes. Dave records them.
Easy.
Except we’re creating a true-crime podcast that will also be on YouTube, and there are certain words and descriptions that aren’t exactly YouTube-friendly.
Do you know how difficult it is to tell the story of Jack the Ripper when you’re trying not to use words associated with… well… Jack the Ripper?
It’s basically true-crime Mad Libs.
I want the podcast to be historically accurate and tell the victims’ stories respectfully. I also don’t want YouTube to take one look at Episode One and say, Absolutely not, Southern Skeins.
So that’s been an unexpected little adventure.
Dave and I are figuring it out, though, and I’m really excited about how the episodes are coming together. There’s so much more to these stories than the little bits most of us have heard over the years.
While Tyler and I are dealing with Jack, dye sheds, and Florida temperatures, Dave decided to repaint our house.
Our two-story house.
Which requires a ladder.
A very tall ladder.
Every time that man climbs up there, I hold my breath.
Apparently between my son working in a dye shed hot enough to cook yarn without electricity and my husband hanging off the side of a two-story house, the men in my family have collectively decided that keeping my stress level down is simply not a priority this summer.
I’m fine.
Everything is fine.
😂
And that’s pretty much life around here this week.
Jack the Ripper is being dyed. The dye shed is leaking. Dave is still on the ladder. I’m keeping everyone supplied with electrolytes and unsolicited advice.
You know… just another normal week at Southern Skeins.
Thanks for hanging out with me for a few minutes and catching up on what’s happening behind the skeins. I think I’m going to like doing these little weekly chats with y’all.
Alright, back to the dye pots. Catch y’all next week!
🩷 Jenna
