Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Gavins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Laura, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
My hero is my grandfather on my mother’s side. We called him Opa. He was born in Slovenia, lived and met my grandmother and had my mom in Austria, and later moved to the U.S.
He came to this country with only his family and his suitcase. and through his own intelligence, tenacity and hard work created Precision Rule Die, a business in the tool and die industry. He had the brain of an engineer and the personality of a business man.
My favorite story was how his business was started. Shortly after coming here, he had a job in a tool & die shop. He worked hard and was smart and efficient in how he approached his work. One day the owner called a meeting and told everyone that they were going to have to implement pay cuts across the board. Opa spoke up and said that he wouldn’t take a pay cut. That he was more efficient and created better products than his coworkers. Of course he was fired on the spot.
The next day he drove around to other companies, asking them if they had any tool & die projects. He finally found one that needed a 24 hour turn around. He went home, worked overnight and delivered it to them the next morning. They liked him and his work and gave him many more projects – and it snowballed from there.
As it turns out – his old boss came back a week after firing him to ask him back to work. Opa turned him down.
As I think back on him now, he took calculated risks. Maybe it was because he didn’t have anything to lose at the beginning, but I think that is my biggest lesson. I spent most of my life doing what was expected of me and playing it safe. I suppose there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that. I spent my time in school, worked in industry and worked my way up the corporate ladder. But I was always working for someone else, making them more successful. I didn’t take many risks because a fear of failure that kept me in that box.
In many ways, I still struggle with risk taking, but I always think of him and recognize that calculated risk taking is the only way to grow, both personally and professionally.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
How did this all start? I reluctantly learned how to knit as a child from my grandmother and mom – but may have been too squirrely to sit that long. But when I was re-introduced to the craft later in life, it was as though I had never stopped. I just knew what to do.
Soon I was able to knit just about anything – from garments to complex stitch patterns. As I became a more advanced knitter, I just didn’t seem to find the yarn colors that I wanted. The yarns I was able to find didn’t have much visual interest. That’s when I started to dabble in dyeing my own yarns.
Next this hobby became a bit of an obsession. I was finally able to create the colors I wanted, and glaze the yarn so that it had depth and tonality. They weren’t just flat colors, but dynamic and artful. Using these yarns elevated my knitting, creating one of a kind wearable pieces. Finally, I found that other people wanted to use yarns like this too.
Yarn hobbyists are tactile people. The medium that they use in their craft is yarn. Every inch of it runs through their fingers as they create and must feel good in their hands, and in the fabric they are making. From a visual standpoint, If they are spending hours looking at their project as they make it, they must love the color and appearance. I’ve been able to provide that.
From a personal standpoint, I’ve created my dream job. I get to use my love of color and my love of science and chemistry to products for an industry that I love.
I’m most proud of Fuzzy Thinking, a mohair silk blend yarn that I dye. It has a silk core, with mohair spun into it to create a fuzzy halo. The two different fibers are visibly separate. I have found that I can dye the silk first at one temperature, and then by changing temperature and pH – I can come back and dye the mohair. It gives some beautiful depth to the yarn that you don’t see too often.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
I love to create something out of nothing – to be able to make something with my own hands. I also love to figure things out, especially science and math-y things. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember. As a kid I spent more time with scissors, tape and construction paper than with toys, because the construction paper could become anything I imagined.
This translated to adulthood. The yarn dying recipes I’ve developed use my chemistry background. I pay attention to time, temperature and pH – in order to bring out the best properties in the natural fibers I use. Even though creating a recipe is inherently a creative process, I’m detail oriented enough to write everything down so that things can be reproduced.
The next step in the manufacturing process has been scaling. I’ve had to add more power, plumbing and equipment in order to meet demand.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Industry trade shows, like H+H Americas.
I love yarn stores. I love the atmosphere they create. I love the community they create. I love the resources they provide. I love everything about them. I love having my yarn in yarn stores.
Exhibiting at trade shows has allowed me to meet many yarn store owners in one place and many of them have been interested in carrying my yarns in their stores.
My first trade show was in the “Indie Untangled Newcomer Pavilion” at H+H Americas. It was a gamechanger for my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.purltalk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purltalk/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PurlTalk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-gavins-00501835/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbvU8U1EJphh4N750CkM4Q
- Other: https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/brands/purl-talk
Image Credits
Portraits by Emily Witte