From A Hundred Ravens Yarns, Kate Bachus visited the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird this morning.
Kate Bachus, photo by Rachel Henry
Kate Bachus says she has done everything, but working in game design and getting to know the only other woman, who was a knitter, said “Are you on Ravelry?” At that point, she knew how to knit. She got a dye kit from Knit Picks, and would take her skeins to knit night where they disappeared. Seeing them evaporate, gave her the inspiration to begin dying as a business and thus A Hundred Ravens was born.
Kate admits she likes knitting with her yarns but often with other wonderful yarns, seeing what she loves and … not so much. For projects, she likes smaller projects for her ‘short attention span’, like mitts and cowls. Currently, she’s working on a sweater with determined effort.
From her experience, she has plenty of helpful advice for dye business owners. ‘Keep your day job, to start’ she says. Also, ‘being a people person’, ‘know your product ~ love your product’. Citing the example of Lindsey Martin at Erin Lane Bags, Kate says ‘Everyone loves dealing with Lindsey because she is a people person. There are lots of bags out there but there’s only one Lindsey.’ She says it’s taken five years to get where they are, that it’s successful because it’s a natural growth. 
Finding what people like has been a boon to business, featuring ‘Fan Collections’ beginning with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ which included colorways inspired by Rivendell and Helms Deep. Fandom really plays with our favorite things. A post on their Facebook page says: ‘What’s a Fandom club? Well, all the participants vote on your favorite fandoms — things like Star Wars, Princess Bride, Supernatural, Dr. Who, Jane Austen (yes, we consider Jane Austen a fandom) — and the top six choices become the fandoms for the club! For the next six months, you’ll get an exclusive skein of fandom related yarn, stitch markers, and some fantastic swag. You’ll receive at least two patterns specifically for the yarn.’ She mentioned a key for 221B went with the Sherlock Holmes, stitch markers with Star Wars logo in another, the Weeping Angels in the Dr Who collections. This is not a US exclusive either, because, even though a bit more, International customers can participate, too.
The Hecate Mini Set
A Hundred Ravens doesn’t create gradient yarns but minis in gradient sets, which gives a knitter more creativity when putting their project together. The colors are created according a recipe, unless she creates a ‘Wild Child’ which is where she throws caution to the wind and puts together unique, ‘one-off’ product, which means your finished project will never be like someone else’s.
Watch for the new Season’s color, everyone is excited about Kaleidoscope as defined as a group of butterflies. Rachel Henry, the in-house designer, is creating designs featuring this collections. On hearing that Marly’s is teaching her Curvy Knits class at Stitches West, Kate asked that everyone stop by the booth, they are creating a sweater’s worth of yarn in an 8-ply DK weight (completely washable and frogable!) that are dyed to match only each other and with a discount to grab and go.
Follow A Hundred Ravens at their website: AHundredRavens.com or at their Facebook page, Ravelry Group, and in Twitter, Tumbler, or Pinterest. Kate said today that they will be at all the Stitches events this year. At Stitches West they will be in booths 714 and 813, and we will all be looking for them!
If you missed hearing this live, it is still available as an archived episode: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/02/11/from-a-hundred-ravens-yarns-kate-bachus or in your favorite podcast catcher, like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.
So enjoyed the interview today. Just looked at the yarn on Kate’s website…such rich colors! Wow. OK, so I had to go look up the Bad Wolf reference. I’ve only seen a few Dr. Who shows. Talk about a convoluted scenario…! Bet the screenwriters had fun with that one.
I was always afraid of the big bad wolf, but not now. Bring it on! I love your yarn, even gifted some to a knitting friend in Germany.
All the yarns look beautiful. I have never watched a whole episode of Dr. Who, but this “bad wolf” has me intrigued.
The only bad wolf I’m familiar with is the one that wreaked havoc with Little Red Riding Hood’s day as she skipped off to visit Grandma. Your interview was fun to listen to as I went for a run. I’m hoping to come across your yarn in one of the LYS’s in the area.
Bad Wolf! I didn’t get to listen to the podcast live because I now work days. However, I never miss a pod cast and how can I resist such FanGirl connections. 90 episodes of Dr. Who on my DVR 😉
I understand that Bad Wolf is a reference to Dr. Who but I’ve never seen any of the episodes.
I enjoyed listening to this podcast and I have a skein of A Hundred Ravens that I’ve been hoarding for ages and want to knit up.
I’ve been a fan of Kate’s yarn since those very first few skeins she mentioned when she was still learning and before there really was A Hundred Ravens. And I love following her on Facebook and Ravelry. I’ve been in several of her yarn clubs and I can totally agree that yes, we totally look forward to receiving those “presents” every month. There’s always something wonderful inside!
(Moderator edit, revealing keyword….)
This was my first Marly Bird podcast. I will definitely be back for more of them! Very entertaining and informative. Thank you!
PS – If you ever get the chance to read anything she has written, please do! One of her past yarn clubs involved getting a short piece of fiction written by her in our yarn shipment and that was my favorite!
I just found your podcast a few weeks ago and I love it! I loved hearing about Hundred Ravens yarns, as I’m a huge nerd, especially for Doctor Who! I will be asking for a fandom club membership for my birthday. Thank you!!! Rose Tyler was the best companion. Bad Wolf! I create myself, I scatter myself across space and time…
Bad Wolf! wibbley wobbley timey wimey! Really enjoyed the podcast. thank you for inviting me to learn about a hundred ravens, and for a chance to win some lovely dr who yarn.
I enjoyed the show, all ways. Kate,s colors are so rich. I love the mini skeins sets such rich colors.
Wow I’m so excited to hear about A Hundred Ravens yarns! The colors are so great and I am such a fangirl and just love the Doctor Who colorways especially the Bad Wolf colors. I am a relatively newcomer to Doctor Who. I’ve only been watching for about 10 years. I was super excited that the comment prize was the Doctor Who prize. I’m a librarian so I can’t usually listen live.
After listening to this episode, I peeked at the projects made with A Hundred Ravens and they are beautiful. The Bad Wolf colorway is such a pretty purple, and I just loved the Glinda colorway. Great interview!
Great interview as usual! A Hundred Ravens has not been on my radar…but after seeing the yarns and projects it it NOW! I might even check into the The Bad Wolf color way…who know?!?!
Bad Wolf is an interesting reference – I have never watched Dr. Who. But I have ordered A Hundred Ravens yarn before – love the colors.
Bad Wolf is such a vibrant colourway…. but that’s no surprise! I want all the colours, they look so yummy.
Bad Wolf!
Dr Who
I didn’t get to listen to the podcast live because I now work days.
However, I never miss a pod cast.
Great colors.
I loved listening to this podcast and totally go the Bad Wolf/Dr. Who reference. We all need more of the Doctor in our life. The rainbow set also looked great. Such beautiful yarn!
I am a Dr.Who fan and love Bad Wolf. Kate’s colors are amazing. I recently finished her Helm’s Deep cowl and love it.
I am a fan of lots of the shows A Hundred Ravens Yarns highlights, but not Dr. Who – but the Bad Wolf idea is making me want to check out both the show and their yarn!
A Hundred Ravens yarn is gorgeous! I’m not a Dr. Who fan, but the Bad Wolf minis look like they were made just for me! I really enjoyed this episode and am intrigued by the yarn clubs.
Because I just completed Season 1 of Dr. Who, the Bad Wolf is still a new concept for me. However, I have become a fan and would love to continue watching as I knit with your beautiful Dr. Who yarn colors! Looking at your yarn on your web site is so much fun because of so many beautiful colors. Thank you for your interview!
I had to look up the bad wolf reference as I know next to nothing of Doctor Who, but the mini skein set is a fabulous choice of color combinations. I absolutely enjoyed listening to the interview this evening! Kate, you’re so fun and your yarns are very inspiring. I can’t wait to see what people start making with the new butterfly inspired yarns!
I absolutely fell in love with A Hundred Ravens Yarns when I first heard about them on Ready, Set, Knit! The mini-skein gradient sets are wonderful! I have been think about getting one (or more) to make my own “knit the sky scarf”.
My little sister is a big Doctor Who fan. She says the Bad Wolf is the best companion for the Doctor.
Beautiful yarns…I love Rose Tyler,aka Bad Wolf. You have wonderful color sense.
I’m drooling over these yarns! The fandom club sounds amazing, and so does the Dr. Who inspired yarn– Bad Wolf is one of my favorite episodes, and I’m a sucker for any Christopher Eccleston storyline 🙂
The colors are so reach out grab you. Can’t wait to get my hands on some yarn..
I think the Bad Wolf has been sighted in Kansas.
I watched Dr Who, a hundred years ago. At least it seems thataway. Love the Bad Wolf colorway.
I love Dr Who! My husband introduced me to Dr Who and now my son is a Whovian. Although every time my nine year old sees or hears the Bad Wolf referance I or my husband has to explain it to him. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway and combining my two loves. All things geeky and sci-fi and knitting/crocheting.
What a fun episode! Listening to the Doctor Who talk took me right back to the Bad Wolf story line, back when New Who had longer-running arcs than they seem to have now. A Hundred Ravens yarn is beautiful. –KnittingDaddy Greg
I’ve seen Bad Wolf written on Dr. Who dishcloth patterns. I’ve been trying to watch the series from the beginning so I can be in the know with the gazillion knitters who are Dr. Who fans. It’s fun that it seems to be a fairly obscure reference only seen in three episodes and yet it’s all over Ravelry and other references. Thanks for having Kate on the podcast. I’ve heard of A Hundred Ravens yarns before and I always love hearing the back story of how things got created.
Last week A Hundred Ravens yarns appeared for the first time in my LYS way down here in Florida, and they created quite a stir. Next day I looked at my podcast feed and there it was again! Great show! I’m not a Dr, Who fan, so the only Bad Wolf I know is the big one that tried to outsmart Little Red Riding Hood, or perhaps the other Bad Wolf who huffed and puffed. Regardless, yarn is yarn and AHR yarn is beautiful, and I hope I win!
I’ve had the privilege of working with Kate and designing for her (Mock Colorwork Fleckle Mitts were our big hit). I’ve also loved her fandom color ways – I’ve knit with one that was called Tardis (amazing blue) and another from the Game of Thrones one called Tyrion (deep dark red) but never have seen Bad Wolf.
Kate your yarn and colorways sound AMAZING!!! I am not a Dr Who watcher and do not know the reference Bad Wolf but I am sure it is awesome!!!
OMG I love the BadWolf color way! I also love the mini gradient sets! Sometimes hand dyed yarns have a dull or watercolor look. Not these! Will they be at Stitches South? I’d love to see them in person.
Big bad wolf? Not here….but I absolutely adore your colors and I am going to order some, no matter what! Hugs
I’ve never seen Dr Who, so I don’t know who Bad Wolf is but you’ve got me curious! I’m even more curious about Kate’s yarns! Feel better, Marly!
I was a nursery school teacher for 25 years so my affiliation with the big bad wolf is Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. I do, however, know nice yarn when I see it and Kate’s intrigues me. The gradient sets are beautiful and the wild surprise one sounds so fun.
BAD WOLF!!!! Thank you, A Hundred Ravens, for being just so AWESOME! I’m so excited about all of your Fandoms. Great podcast today!
I have to admit that I have no idea who “bad wolf” is, but I was introduced to your yarns today and will definitely have to purchase some. It’s beautiful.
Rose Tyler, how many times do I have to tell you? You can’t frog it. It’s a fixed point in knitting. –Bad Wolf
I have no idea what the key word this week means but it will be fun to figure out the “bad wolf” reference Dr Who, right? Great interview.
My husband is the Dr Who fan and I’d love to make him a scarf! I won’t be scared of the big bad wolf!
Thoroughly enjoyed the show. I share a love of the Dr Who show with my husband. I am sure he would love to see the stitch markers. I will keep watching your website for updates. Thank you for the chance to win the miniset. We enjoy watching for themes on the show such as bad wolf. I was always little red ridinghood as a child and live the color red.
Shelly
I don’t know anything about the Bad Wolf, but I love A Hundred Ravens yarns! Just got some at Stitches West, but I’m looking forward to getting more soon!
My brother is a huge Dr. Who fan so I had a source for finding out the Bad Wolf reference. There is surely no bad wolf in the Hundred Ravens yarn! What a lovely collection of colors!
Loved your interview with Kate Bachus. I felt a kindred spirit with her right away and was drawn immediately to her website. Still debating over joining the yarn club. The particular Dr Who episode with the Game Station and the Bad Wolf reminded me of the movie called “Tron”. There is a talented author by the name of Angela Carter which has written a dark short story based on the premiss of Little Red Riding Hood and the Bad Wolf as well. Blessed be.
“Bad Wolf” was the phrase that was scattered through space and time by Rose — this phrase leads her back to The Doctor’s location (and that’s all I’ll say, so I don’t give away any plot lines to those who haven’t seen this yet). This is an absolutely AWESOME name for yarn by A Hundred Ravens!
And might I add, bow ties are COOL!!! tongue emoticon
I really enjoyed checking out the yarns on A Hundred Ravens’ website. I found a few that I’m itching to buy. Thanks for a terrific interview. One of my favorite faerie tales growing up was the one with the big bad wolf. What was it called? The Three Little Pigs I think. It’s been a long, long time.
Bad Wolf sounds like a color way from Red Ridinghood rather than Dr Who!
Wow! Dr. Who minis would be a wonderful prize. I hope Bad Wolf is one of the colorways!
I don’t know much about Doctor Who- but I’ve heard so much about it lately that I think I need to find out! I think I need to know what Bad Wolf is all about! Thanks for a great podcast! 🙂
Kate does a beautiful job dying yarn. I love the colors. I may need to be the Big bad wolf and neglect my housework to have more time to knit with that beautiful yarn!
Thanks for the Hundred Ravens interview! I got to meet Kate nd see their fabulous yarns at the Madison Knitters Guild Knit-in this past weekend! I might have even some of their fab yarn to make one of their in house designer patterns Winged Monkeys!