Indie Dyer Spotlight: Lola Johnson of Third Vault Yarns

The imaginative and diverse color palette found in the dye pots of Third Vault Yarns are as fantastical as the inspirations from which they are derived. “All our colourways are inspired by science fiction and fantasy themes, media, and other influences. Generally, you’ll find the latest TV series [I’ve] watched or book I’ve read making its appearance in yarn.”

Lola Johnson, owner and dyer of Third Vault Yarns, is based out of the UK. They dye lovely yarns as well as colorful fabric project bags. Their online shop (which ships worldwide) also includes accessories every stitcher needs such as pins and pom-poms. They also have several of their own pattern books. In 2014, Lola began creating knitwear designs and launched their dyeing business in 2015. As each year passes, their brand, designs, and color selections continue to grow as inspiration strikes.

The patterns found in their books “are designed to bring out elements of the board games they are inspired by through the use of colourwork, texture, motifs, and lace.” Just a few of the games that inspire some of their designs are Backgammon, Monopoly, Kerplunk, Jenga, and Settlers of Catan.

Click the arrows to left and right to explore some of Third Vault Yarns’ colorways.

Inspiring Third Vault Yarns

With yarn colorways as unique as their brand name, some might wonder where the name comes from. “Third Vault Yarns is a bit of a legacy name for the old knitting blog it sprung from, Third Vault On The Left. And with many, many years between its inception and Third Vault Yarns, the original inspiration for the name is lost to time. Though I like to think that it was inspired by my own dragon’s hoard of a yarn stash.” Whatever the name, customers are loyal to their yarns and love the soft bases that they use for dyeing.

Most dyers choose to start with a natural cream or white base to dye on, but Lola prefers a little different approach. They enjoy “dyeing on base yarns that have a natural grey or brown colour. [This] gives a rich and/or heathered final colour . . . [some of my] colours can’t be achieved in the same way on white yarn. It’s always interesting to see how colourways translate onto these bases.” When you browse their collection of colors, the heathered and tonal looks to the yarns add a wonderful depth to each colorway.

Future Plans

There are a lot of plans in the works for the new year. “We’ve got lots of exciting things lined up for 2023 including the continuation of Creature Compendium. [This is] a yarn club that focuses on mythical, magical, folklore creatures and cryptids from countries around the world.” And for anyone that loves mystery yarn clubs, they have plenty planned for their Mystery Study Yarn Club. The colorways for this mystery yarn club focus “on sci-fi and fantasy colour palettes which members get to vote on.”

Immersed deep into the UK dyer scene, Lola can be found at fiber festivals all over their country with unique and limited colorways dyed specifically for each event. If you see a colorway you love, you are going to want to scoop it up before it is gone! Follow Lola on Instagram @thirdvaultyarns and shop online at www.thirdvaultyarns.com (remember they ship worldwide!)

Do you love working with indie dyed yarns? Share your favorite Interweave pattern for hand dyed yarn in the comments below!

All images courtesy of Third Vault Yarns.

Krista Ann is a nomadic knitter. She travels with her husband and their fur baby, Phinny, in an RV while she designs knits and teaches at yarn shops along the way. Instagram @explorewithknitsy | Website www.explorewithknitsy | The Knitting Rockstar Academy www.knittingrockstar.com