Lisa Souza

Visit Lisa Souza's blog and read more about her hand dyed and handspun yarns

My earliest memory of the impact of color and fabric is as the child of a chorus member of the San Francisco Opera Company. I had the great privilege, as a little girl, of being allowed into the great halls of costumes downstairs in the basement dressing rooms. It was here that I could watch as ordinary people were transformed into characters from another place and time, cloaked in velvets or rags. I later had the opportunity to dress in these costumes myself, in non-speaking roles in grand operas.

Knitting came into my life in my early teens. I bought a kit at my local yarn store and spent my Saturday mornings at the feet of the knitting teacher, learning to knit a pink mohair sweater. That experience made a big impact on my later choice of careers.

I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship to the fledgling San Francisco Academy of Art in the summer before my senior year of high school. Here I was introduced to the discipline of design as well as the freedom of painting. My post high school years were spent at the California College of Arts and Crafts; studying watercolor and drawing, while my non-academic life was filled with fiber related pursuits. Both loves came together in my first career selling my embroidered paintings at galleries in Berkeley and Sausalito.

I spent the following decade knitting for enjoyment while pursuing my second career as a singer in local rock bands. I came to my senses and moved with my family and pets to the suburbs where my third career was about to happen. An old friend offered me the opportunity to go into business with her, knitting one of a kind garments from her beautiful and luxurious handspun yarn. I jumped at the chance to knit for fun and profit, and Knitwitz was launched. I learned a great deal about taking a box of yarn and turning it into sweaters with no set patterns or designs. I became a voracious knitter, and when my friend could not keep up with my appetite for yarn, she taught me to spin. We traveled the craft fair circuit together until a parting of the ways in the early 90s. I went on as Lisa Souza Knitwear.

My business changed during the 90's with a new emphasis on finished garments, including a line of nubby cotton sweaters for children and adults that became the focus of my life. I took on employees and sent these sweaters off to boutiques around the country. This expanded my palette of hand dyed cotton yarn colors, which introduced me to an exclusive San Francisco yarn company, for whom I did dyeing for awhile.

With the turn of the Century, I felt the turn in my interests once again and I began bringing more and more hand dyed and handspun yarn to my retail juried craft shows. I watched as the yarn began to nose the sweaters out of the top selling position and realized, with the tragedy of 9/11, that I needed to follow my heart and concentrate on my hand dyed yarns and handspun yarns, knitting only my one-of-a-kind originals. I was soothing my own soul and introducing more and more knitters and crocheters to my hand dyed mill spun yarns as well as to my handspun luxury yarns. Now that more people are finding spinning to be a wonderful past time I am beginning to offer the fibers that I dye to other spinners. It is still all about fiber and color and passion.

Now, as you can see by the photo of our new home base in Placerville, California, the dream of having a permanent showroom has been realized. We welcome you to visit by appointment, to relax, play with the fiber and shop to your heart’s content.

For a look at the daily creative process, visit my blog!

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