We recently connected with Conley Kinkead and have shared our conversation below.

Conley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned how to dye yarn largely through experimentation and practice, but followed some simple online tutorials for my first attempts, which opened my knowledge bases with some fundamentals. My first skeins dyed were over-dye jobs on stash yarn that I didn’t really care for, so if it didn’t work out it would be no big loss. This helped me to start learning about mixing and overlapping color. I then moved on to inexpensive bare yarn that I used to knit socks or give away, but it still didn’t matter how the yarn turned out–I was hooked on the process.

I wouldn’t change a thing about my beginning days of learning the craft, which were entirely driven by passion and fun. A willingness to get messy, mess up, and be imperfect were, and continue to be, the most essential skills to bring to the studio.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Maps Yarn offers vibrant, creative colorways on the highest-quality natural fiber yarn bases. I do all the dyeing, processing, marketing, and business management; this is a continuous journey of learning and growing alongside my business. Although I’ve been passionate about fiber arts since I was a teenager, I never imagined I’d be able to support myself through a fiber craft. Throughout my twenties and into my thirties, I made a living working jobs I enjoyed and identified with, but never to the level of what fibers meant to me. In the summer of 2023, I dyed my first skein of yarn just to try something new, with the hopes that I could save money on knitting yarn by dyeing it myself. I returned to my PhD studies in geography that fall still devoting significant time to dyeing, and when I won a $2,000 award for a map I created I decided to put that money into dyeing: hence Maps Yarn. The creation of my business was initially rooted in a desire to re-home dyed yarn so I could buy and dye more–I was absolutely hooked on dyeing and was desperate to sustain my newfound passion.

I now carry several yarn bases of various weights, all meticulously selected for their quality of feel and hand-experience. People often comment that they love my combinations of color, which are often simply based in what I find aesthetically pleasing. I want my yarn to offer delight and a multi-faceted sensory experience, exciting and soothing the user. I’m so humbled that this product which so purely comes from my neurodivergent brain and active body is enjoyed and appreciated by other people.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to set my own schedule and work alongside my dogs; being intrinsically motivated to work (on some, not all work tasks).

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Support everyone with a living wage, so folks who desire our products are able to support us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mapsyarn.com
• Instagram: @maps.yarn
• Facebook: Maps Yarn