March: Spinning in Scandinavia with Silja Devine – featured artist: Mia Dehmer

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Mia Dehmer aka Vickevira is a Swedish fiber artist who has an amazing sence of color, design and how the two go together. I first discovered her on Facebook, where she posts pictures of her inspirations and fantastic hand spun yarns on her Vickevira page. Be sure to take at look at her amazingly even spun singles! Later I also found out that she also is a member of the Fibery Goodness group taking The Journey for the Golden Fleece Course. Mia sells her yarns, patterns and hand dyed fiber in her Etsy shop.

SDmiadehmer Silja: What is your story when it comes to spinning? What made you choose fiber and spinning yarn as your medium?

Mia: Since my grandma taught me how to knit and crochet when I was I child, I have been using yarn as a creative medium. Together with my sister (indie dyer Happy-go-knitty) I learned how to tiedye cotton yarn and for many years the cotton was the only yarn I used. I knitted childrens’ clothes and hats with the label VickeVira. Through my blogging I made friends with people all over the world, and one day one of my blog friends offered me to trade a crochet bag for some handspun yarn. That was it. When I held that yarn in my hands I could feel the soul, effort and happiness that was spun into it, and I knew that I just had to learn how to do it myself. I made a drop spindle with some stuff from the local craft shop and by watching youtube videos I pretty soon was making my own yarns. Now, I just want to learn more and nothing can stop my yarny journey!

SDcotton-bagSilja: Your etsy shop is filled with all kinds of yarnie-goodies, and I wondered if you could share how you decided to open a shop and how that has worked out for you? And please share with us how the name ”VickeVira” came about.

Mia: With the Etsy shop I don’t actually remember… I think I found out about it a few years ago through other yarny bloggers, and decided to give it a try. It is a great way to reach out to lots of people all around the world. The name VickeVira has a special story. We have a well known Swedish rhyme about the fingers in which each finger has a given nickname, and where the little finger is named Vickevire. When my daughter Sofia was about 2 years old, we went to meet her newborn cousin, Elvira. Sofia looked at the baby girl and said ”Oh.. she is just like a little Vickevira!” (which made it a combo word of the little finger and the name Elvira). This was about the same time I started to sell handknitted children’s beanies, and the name was just perfect!

SDhandspunSilja: I also read that you were going to be one of the vendors at ”Stickfest i vest”, a Swedish knitting festival. Is there many of these kind of festivals in Sweden? And how do you feel the market for selling handspun in Sweden is? Is there alot of interest for it or for spinning yarn in general?

Mia: I am really happy to be invited to the market place of ”Stickfest i Väst”. As I have mostly been offering my yarns online where you cannot see the true colours and feel the softness, I really look forward to this opportunity to show off my yarns. The interest for spinning yarn is rapidly growing as more people find out how beautiful yarns you can make.  And there is allover a strong trend of interest for handmade and artisan crafts.

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Silja: What inspires you when it comes to colors and fibers?

Mia: For colours I get a lot of inspiration from folklore and from nature itself. I very often make yarns inspired by flowers and birds, and name the yarns from them.

 

 

SDhandspun2Silja: What is your favorite spinning tool and place to spin?

Mia: My precious Ashford Joy, which I bought in New Zealand and carried with me back home a couple of years ago. It is my crafty companion who never lets me down! I love to spin outdoors on the veranda, but with the Swedish climate, you find me most of the year in the sofa corner.

SDamazighSilja: You also have some wonderful patterns listed over at Ravelry.  You seem to love shawls just as much as I do! What inspires you when coming up with new designs?

Mia: As with colours I am very much inspired by folklore. I have some projects in my head waiting to be realized, and they are all based on Swedish folk costumes. And they are not about shawls!

SDhanddyedSilja: I am so glad to hear that you have some new patterns coming! When you are not working with fibers and yarns, what is your favorite thing to do?

Mia: During the warmer half of the year I spend a lot of time walking the forest with my camera and my mushroom basket. I pick blueberries and lingon berries and make jam to last all through the winter. And I do love fishing! Spending a couple of hours on a cliff by the sea while the sun sets is making wonders to the soul. A cod on the hook is just the extra bonus.

SDhoneysuckleSilja: Before I let you go I want to thank you so much for talking to me! For a very last question I want to know what season you like the most? For me I think my very favorite must be spring where everything comes back to life after a long winter. 

Mia: Summer!

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6 thoughts on “March: Spinning in Scandinavia with Silja Devine – featured artist: Mia Dehmer”

  1. Pingback: Spin Artiste: Spinning in Scandinavia with Silja Devine, Mars posten og april posten! | Silja Devine

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