Our local hand dyers and farmers are the bedrock of Lift Bridge Yarns, and they all deserve a shoutout. Welcome to our Brand Spotlight series! We’ve asked everyone to share a little bit about themselves and their processes because we find it fascinating and thought you would, too!
To kick off Socktober, we’d like to introduce Tia Bruzda!
Tia is the owner, operator, and all-around color genius behind Tia's Terrific Threads. Her claim-to-fame here at LBY is the Gobstopper balls she hand dyes with notable precision and then hand winds into her iconic self-striping yarn balls. Her yarns never stay in stock for long around here and we know color names like “Malibu Barbie,” “Rochester Lilacs,” and “Like It’s Her Birthday” have more than a little bit to do with the color selection process!
Tia’s yarn base is a hard-wearing 80% Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL)/20% Nylon blend. BFL is a sheep breed with a longer staple (fiber) length that makes more robust yarn than merino without being prickly. Her Strong Sock blend also takes dye in a way that produces a gorgeous tonality we can’t get enough of! While we have cranked sock tubes in this yarn, we also find hand knitting these socks to be both exciting and meditative. Pro-tip: by adding contrasting color heels, toes, and cuffs means the yarn goes even farther and you might get two shortie pairs out of one 400yd ball!
Three fun facts about Tia:
“I have 2 kids, both boys and a zoo of 3 dogs and 3 cats. I have a bachelor's degree in Spanish. I worked every job under the sun before I started dyeing yarn, from working at a hospital to fast food to retail.”
Sources of inspiration:
“Everything! Heavy on music but also nature, my family, other knitters and life in general!”
How she chooses color names:
“Lots of song titles but also just whatever I come up with. Sometimes I know the name before the yarn is dyed, sometimes it comes to me while dyeing, and other times it takes some work. Sometimes even my sister or close friends help. After so many colorways it can be tricky to be original.”
What excites her most about the dye process:
“Coming up with new colorways is always fun. It's fun to come up with them but even more fun to get the yarn and dye going and see if it looks the same on the yarn as it does in my head.”
What's her dye studio soundtrack?
“Lately, it's been lots of Hot Mulligan, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift's new album, TTPD. Some honorable mentions are Blink-182, My Chemical Romance and Zach Bryan.”
Anything else you’d like to share?
“Being my own boss is the hardest and also most rewarding thing I've ever done. I think I am actually stricter than a lot of bosses from my old jobs.”
We not only appreciate that Tia allows us to carry her yarns in our shop, but that she’s local to Rochester and puts her love of Rochester into her colorways. We also hear rumors of a custom color coming for Small Business Saturday, so keep an eye out for that!