Bright colors, beautiful bases and a dyer who caught my attention from the start.
Before there was Garage Dyeworks, there was Stitch Jones—a hard-rock yarn persona with a love of loud color and absolutely no intention of dyeing quietly.
I first met Sharon online in late 2024, shortly after I opened Treasured Yarns. Her bright colors caught my attention immediately, and I loved the range of fiber options she offered. Later, when I learned that Garage Dyeworks had started as Stitch Jones, I wanted to know the rest of the story.
Garage Dyeworks is the creation of Sharon, an Oregon indie dyer who has been turning blank yarn into intensely colorful, wonderfully original skeins since 2008. Today, she describes the brand as “a roadtrip through hand-dyed yarn,” with yarn bases named Auto, Cadillac and Chrome.
But the journey began long before the garage—or even Stitch Jones.
It Started With a Crayon
As a child, Sharon loved filling blank pages with color. Her favorite crayon was a vivid red-orange—the sort of color that doesn’t politely wait in the background for someone to notice it.
Her first introduction to knitting came from her grandmother, who gave her blue yarn and shiny knitting needles and patiently tried to teach her how to make a garter-stitch square. The square may not have launched a childhood knitting career, but Sharon did become exceptionally good at making I-cord. Miles and miles of it.
Years later, a visit to an independent yarn shop introduced her to Noro and hand-dyed yarn. The depth and movement of the colors brought her right back to those childhood crayons and the joy of transforming something plain into something entirely her own.
She decided to try dyeing yarn. The first attempt involved a ball of yarn and powdered drink mix. According to Sharon, it was so ugly that she threw it away.
I appreciate an origin story that doesn’t begin with instant perfection.
Enter Stitch Jones
Fortunately, Sharon tried again—and kept trying.
Inspired by richly colored yarns and dyers such as Tina Newton of Blue Moon Fiber Arts, she began developing her own recognizable approach to color. In 2008, she officially became an indie dyer.
Her original business identity was Stitch Jones, a hard-rock yarn personality that combined hand-dyed yarn with rock-music trivia, dyeing classes and a healthy amount of attitude.
Eventually, Stitch Jones retired and Garage Dyeworks was born when Sharon gained a garage studio. The name changed, but the bold use of color and strong sense of personality remained.
The automotive theme now runs throughout the brand. Sharon welcomes customers as “Roadsters,” calls herself the driver and invites everyone along for the ride. Even the yarn bases sound as though they should come with keys and a full tank of gas.
Yarn With Somewhere to Go
Garage Dyeworks yarn is not quiet—and I mean that as a compliment.
Even the softer shades have depth and movement, while the brighter colorways are allowed to be properly bright. These are colors designed to do something once they are worked up, whether that means creating subtle variation in a sweater or keeping you entertained through every round of a sock.
The yarn currently at Treasured Yarns includes several of the company’s signature bases:
Auto Sock is a 75% superwash Merino and 25% nylon light-fingering yarn with 463 yards per skein. It is polished, durable and made to hold its shape. Oregon Mist offers a beautifully moody neutral, while Cauldron brings considerably more drama—as anything named Cauldron really should.
Cadillac Sock adds cashmere to the ride. This fingering-weight base contains 80% Merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon, with 414 yards per skein. It combines softness with enough strength for socks, but it would also be lovely for shawls, cowls or anything worn close to the skin. Current colorways include Quasar, Crimson and the delightfully named Swamp Creature.
Auto DK is a springy, pill-resistant 100% Merino yarn with 231 yards per skein. It is a versatile choice for hats, cowls, cardigans and other projects that benefit from good stitch definition. The blues are especially pretty, including Cobalt and Baby Blue.
Auto Worsted is another 100% Merino base, with 210 yards per skein. It has enough structure for practical garments and accessories without feeling stiff or heavy. Briana’s Baby Blue is available in a three-skein lot—enough to start thinking beyond a single hat.
Why Smaller Dyers Matter
One of the reasons I love featuring smaller indie dyers is that the yarn still feels connected to the person who created it.
That connection is especially clear with Garage Dyeworks. Its story leads straight back to Sharon—the child with the red-orange crayon, the knitter captivated by her first glimpse of hand-dyed yarn, and the dyer who kept going after one memorably unsuccessful first attempt.
Garage Dyeworks continues in Sharon’s multigenerational Oregon home, surrounded by her family. Nearly two decades after that unfortunate powdered-drink experiment, she is still creating color and inviting fiber artists to come along for the trip.