Favorite Finds

Years ago, Miranda Weeks McGahey started dyeing fabrics in her apartment bathtub for fun. A cross-stitch shop asked her to instead try her hand at flosses, and a needleworker's dream product was born. Since their humble beginnings in 1994, Weeks Dye Works has grown to more than 500 color/fiber combinations and countless fans. Per their website, their "[process] baths, which create the thread colors, have grown from a few 50-yard baths a week to several 13,000-yard baths a day."

With their extensive rainbow-hued kaleidoscope of colors, one would think there would be little room for expansion, but the creative minds at Weeks Dye Works (an all-woman-run facility) have proven there is always more room for color in a stitcher's basket. Enter their new quartet of colors released earlier this year at the Nashville Needlework Market.

The colors range from two soft pastels to two rich, bold hues. Oyster (1147) is a blend of grayish pearl that morphs into a soft lavender, it's reminiscent of the pearlescent inside of an oyster shell, much like its namesake. Bee's Knees (1233a) features subtly shaded hues of golds that will have you dreaming of spring's bumblebees and fresh honey. Roasted Fig (#1235) is a rich, reddish brown that looks like it was dipped from a jam jar made from the fresh sun-kissed figs of summer. And last, but not least, Santa Cruz (2114) showcases the strikingly vibrant shades of the rolling Pacific Ocean and will have stitchers longing for a day on the water. To learn more about Miranda's "bathtub days," view the full rainbow of floss colors, or to find a retailer, visit www.weeksdyeworks.com.