The Operation

Attempted Murder Yarn Co. started in late 2023, because the color I wanted didn’t seem to exist.

I went looking for a very specific shade, couldn’t find it anywhere, and figured I’d just make it myself. I expected a workaround. What I got instead was the chemistry. Heat and acid and timing decide whether a color strikes even or breaks into something you never planned, and that part got me. Somewhere between “oh, the science of this is neat” and “this is now my entire personality,” it stopped being a workaround.

The techniques came from YouTube and from trial and error. Often BIG error. The color theory came from a graphic design degree, which turns out to be far more useful over a dye pot than anyone warned me.

The name came first, honestly. A group of crows is a murder; 2 crows is an attempted murder. I’ve always had a thing for crows and a thing for a good pun, and that one made me giggle. It was over from there. The case files, the poisons, the accomplices. All of it got built to match a joke I couldn’t let go of.

Everything is dyed by hand in small batches down in the basement, mostly variegateds and tonals, with speckles working their way in as I get more comfortable with them.

Deep reds fight me the hardest. Red loves to bleed, and I am unreasonably particular about bleed. You can't always prevent it, but I will spend an absurd amount of time trying. There's something appropriate about the brand color being the one that refuses to behave.

Naming happens last, and by committee. We look at a colorway, knit it up, watch how it actually works in a fabric, then throw names around until one sticks. Sometimes it goes to a vote. Sometimes it goes to entirely unrelated friend groups for a second opinion. Unicorn Hair came out of wanting a rainbow that reads as a work of art instead of a novelty. Bruised Ego is DeLaney's, and it is very purple, which will surprise no one who has met her.