I had the honor of meeting Gabby Gergler a number of years ago thanks to our mutual friend, Lisa, of Indie Untangled. This past fall was not the first time we collaborated either...in 2022 we teamed up for the Where We Knit Yarn club from Indie Untangled. Below is the cowl designed in Gabby's gorgeous colorway Meraki (mA-'rak-E).
So a little about Plies & Hellhounds Yarn...this is a small team of one woman and her two corgis creating luxury hand-dyed and hand-painted yarns and fibers that will satisfy your speckled, variegated, and semi-solid needs. Gabby & her Corgis’ goals as a yarn peddler is to bring you a wide range of fantastical, dark, and romantic colors to help you build the handmade wardrobe of your dreams.
And they did just that when creating the exclusive colorway for the Fall 2024 Factory Girl Maker's Box! The colorway she dyed up was a little moody, romantic and magical...perfect for the Fall Season! The colorway was named Mutatio, which means to change, or transform.
As we were working on our collaboration I reached out to Gabby to ask her a few questions to share with us more about her dyeing journey, love for fiber and how she found her path to making! Enjoy!
1. Would you share how you got started dyeing yarn?
I was listening and watching yarn podcasts, Voolenvine, Gynx Yarn, Knitmore Girls, The Fluffy Fibers podcast, while commuting and working at my full time job (A darkroom that printed for Fine Art Photographers in NYC) and just thought it would be a really fun thing to try out. I had a week off in August every year and my sibling and I ordered a starter set and had a couple days of just playing around. I was pretty much hooked after that.
2. How did you learn to dye yarn?
Youtube! I did get a copy of Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan to read through as well but mostly Youtube. Gynx Yarn had a great tutorial. And then years of trial and error. I am still learning about new techniques and ways to dye.
3. Where do you find your inspiration for your color ways?
A little bit everywhere, whatever I am reading, watching, other hobbies, travel. Lately it's been a lot of history, stories and nature. I have been super into researching a subject like folklore creatures, or poisonous plants, parts of old houses and making colors inspired by that. It scratches the creative itch and the research itch in one go.
4. And how do you name them? I always love the unique names you choose and their special meanings behind them.
Thank you! Naming is half the fun! Or the worst part haha. I try to make the names unique to give the color a story people can have a connection to.
I usually pick a name before I dye the color, find a quote in a book that jumps out at me and then choose colors based on what is going on in that scene and create the feeling you get when you read that part.
Sometimes it's a long research project of combing through books or movies for something that jumps out or it's something as easy as someone saying they want a color that represents their Cold Dead Heart. Kind of like the color inspiration the names come from everywhere and I always have a list of potential names written down somewhere.
5. Would you share a bit about the bases used? And do you have a favorite?
I aim to expand past the Merino and Merino/Nylon blends (Nothing against them!) and bring in more breed specific wools to the Indie Dyer world (I am a spinner and also just a research nerd and love to see the different characteristics of different sheep breeds) like Corriedale for strength, Targhee for its bounce, Romney for its warmth, Blue Faced Leister for its durability, Polwarth for its shine. And they all take the dye so differently.
Corriedale sucks it up so fast you get those stark speckles while the targhee lets it wash over and look more like a watercolor painting. Right now my favorite is my Corriedale/Nylon base (Marie Cutie) and my Revival DK (Romney, BFL). Both are just that right amount of sheepie and lofty and wear so well. It's my go to for any fingering weight or DK weight projects. I keep looking at patterns and then grabbing a couple skeins even though I have like 5 sweaters in that base and color already. I know they will stand up to any lace or cables and also just show off the colors beautifully.
6. What inspired the name behind your brand?
My dogs! I started as Once Upon a Corgi in 2015. Feeling very much that fairytale vibe and into the bright speckles and storybook inspiration of the time. As I found my niche in the colors and inspiration I wanted something that reflected my more witchy, spooky, gothic side. I've been a spooky kid for so long and Once Upon a Corgi was more the Disney fairytale I thought I needed to be and not the Grimm Fairytales that I was.
The Corgis (Audrey & Aeron) have been with me through this whole journey so I wanted to make sure they were still in the name with the Hellhounds. Also Once Upon a Corgi got people questioning if it was Dog Fur Yarn so I wanted something that was still Fiber related and not going to get that question asked anymore.
7. What fun plans or collections can you share with us that will be coming for the rest of 2024 or the beginning of 2025?
I have a Belsnickel Sock set brewing for December that has been in the works since over the summer I am thrilled to share soon.
AND this upcoming March 2025 I will be vending at the Unwind Retreat in Kansas City, MO with a new collection inspired by the Three Conley Sisters who fought and protected the Horun Indian Cemetery against developers in the early 20th Century. One color per sister on our Selkie (NONSW Merino/Silk) base with a matching tonal on Fig Lace (Mohair/Silk) Lindsey Fowler, author of Salt + Timber, will be designing a shawl to go with them. I. Cannot.Wait.
8. When dyeing yarn, do you like it quiet, or must you always have noise? If the latter, what’s your preference?
I need the noise. I always have either an audiobook (Contemporary witch romances are my favorite right now) or a youtube video. Currently its the Sims 4 Bigwallet Series by James Turner
9. Do you Knit or Crochet?
I do both! I don't crochet well but I can.
10. What are your favorite types of projects?
I love making Sweaters, there is one for every knitting mood I have, complicated, mindless, somewhere in between.
11. How do you choose your colors to keep a broad palette range? Do you ever go for brights or pastels?
I always start from a core few colors and then pull out tones that will compliment them but give the range of tones people need to confidently choose colors for their projects. For a show I'll try to make four mini collections of four colors with one dark, two midtones and one lighter. It makes it fun for me to try and match up colors and also makes it hopefully easier for people shopping to see what matches, what will give them a high contrast or a lower one. This also helps me not try to dye every single color all the time.
I don't usually go for brights or pastel personal knitting, I am a clumsy person and always have something spilled on me so darks are really good at hiding that. I have fun dyeing them every now and then but they don't get me as inspired so I leave them up to the experts who thrive in the neons, brights and pastels.
Ok....now let's hear about some of your personal favs when your not dyeing yarn....
1. Favorite band?
This week? Ethel Cain.
2. Favorite movie?
Julie & Julia
3. What’s the last book your read and would you recommend it?
Scones and Slayers by Sierre Cross. I would! It's a very cute PNW witch, shapeshifter, vampire community where the main character runs a bakery and also helps solve murders! No thoughts just good times, baked goods and frustrating Crow-Shifters
4. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Flying, or teleporting. I love to travel and I love to visit friends but the time and money to get to those places are really cramping my style. I am also terrified of heights so maybe just teleporting.
Thank you so much for being a part of the Maker’s Box…anything else you would like to share with readers??
Thank you for having me! It was such a fun project to be a part of! I am doing Vlogmas again this year over on my Youtube channel so if they want to really get to know me better that is the place to do it! www.youtube.com/pliesandhellhounds
Be sure to follow Gabby on Instagram and her YouTube channel! She has a gorgeous selection of yarn available from her shop too!
Stay tuned for more features on designers and dyers coming soon!
Cheers & Stitches,
Crystal
✨ Interested in learning more about the Factory Girl Maker's Box? Below is a photo showing the four inspiration images for the 2025 Desert Blooms themed Maker's Box. Each season has limited availability so check it out and sign up! ✨
