Road Trip Sock Yarn Trunk Show | starting August 8
Grab the snacks and let's hit the road! Ali Pate is bringing her Road Trip Sock Yarn to Bend for an extended trunk show starting Thursday, August 8! Shop beautiful hand-dyed yarn, featuring a rainbow of custom colors dyed just for us plus a haul of her very best-sellers.
Sweater quantities, grab-n-go kits, and souvenir skeins alike will be available with the very best selection in the shop on Thursday, August 8th ONLY including:
~ Road Trip Sock Yarn ~
~ Road Trip Sock Sparkle ~
~ Road Trip DK Sparkle ~
~ Mini Shawl Combos ~
~ Short Sock Combos ~
~ Cat/Dog Inspired Sock Yarn ~
~ Cat/Dog mini skein packs ~
Fancywork's custom colors will remain in the shop through mid-September, with the bulk of Ali's regular selections hitting the trail with her after we close up shop on Thursday.
MEET ALI: Ali Pate was raised in Punxsutawney, Pa. A very rural environment led to an active childhood with time invested in Girl Scouting and community service. Later, those experiences were utilized at Indiana University of Pennsylvania while studying Fine Arts. Ali earned a BFA in 2003 with a concentration in ceramics. Then, earned an MA in 2007 with a concentration in fibers. Throughout her college experience, she worked at The University Museum, and continued to work at IUP after graduation.
In the later half of 2008, Ali moved to Denver, Colorado. She quickly established a studio and Herd of Cats business. Originally operating as a Fine Arts endeavor, Herd of Cats evolved with Ali’s interests over the years. The works created under Herd of Cats always returned to her foundation studies of ceramics and fiber arts.
In 2018, Herd of Cats took a major twist by including yarn dyeing. Ali applied skills learned in both her BFA and MA degrees to hand dye yarns. During the same time Ali created Road Trip Sock Yarn. She worked to simultaneously build two indie businesses in yarns and fibers, which launched to local shops in 2019. Herd of Cats and Road Trip Sock Yarn developed hand-in-hand. Herd of Cats went on to create Meow Mélange and Pupper Patchwork collections inspired by the fur coats and eye colors of adoptable pets from the local shelter. Monetary donations are made based on sales to help animals during their stay at the shelter.
Road Trip Sock Yarn explores local interests while investigating road trip destinations. A fun and funky play with colors, mega speckles – a term coined by Ali herself – were created within this yarn collection. Just as our experiences are unique as individuals, RTSY emphasizes uniqueness with small batch dyeing at its very best. All colors are extremely limited, and rarely revisited; highlighting local and regional attractions based on each of the destination series.
Today, Ali has launched her “Be Better, Do Better” self-campaign to improve her environmental impacts in the process of yarn dyeing. Her strategies include renewable energy sources, water collection for reuse in dyeing, post-consumer recycled materials for packaging and tags, along with many seemingly minor details to improve environmental footprints throughout the entire process. This self-campaign is being highlighted on social media platforms.
