Beginnings

   Hi there!  Welcome to Wool & Bark!

  I'm Dina, the owner and creator behind the scenes here. Grab a cuppa and get comfy. This is no short story. You might be wondering where the name Wool & Bark came from. It comes from the two passions in my life: yarn & dogs. My yarn-y journey started back in 2016 when my fiancé and I lost our beloved dog, Koa, to a sudden illness. Not having any two-legged children, she was our everything for 10 amazing years. When she was gone our world completely changed. The house was silent, there were no daily walks (because it was WAAAAY too painful to go without her), so I looked to other things around that would keep my mind occupied.

I started gardening and it went well (or, at least, it kept me busy), that is, until the colder weather here on Cape Cod set in. I was visiting my mother and she showed me an interesting crochet stitch she was working on. Since the colder weather had set in, gardening was now out and I needed something else to keep my mind occupied. I thought, why not try crocheting?

Needless to say, that took off and I threw myself into it wholeheartedly. It was so therapeutic to just work stitches while making something tangible. I crocheted nearly every day and found that it was very healing for me. Slowly I felt myself getting out of the sadness and grief over losing Koa; even though she will *always* have a very special place in our hearts.

Fast forward a year (and a lot of yarn collecting and yarn experimenting) later.

We started to talk about the possibility of adopting another dog. Through a coworker of mine (whom I will always be grateful to for introducing me to this organization), I learned about Last Hope K9 Rescue. It's a completely volunteer-run organization. They rescue dogs from kill shelters in southern US states and bring them to the New England area where they are placed in foster homes as they await to be adopted. Well, when we saw our (now) pup on their website, we said, "We need to drive the two hours to meet her and adopt her. Now!" It was love at first sight. We adopted her and took her home the night we met her.  She was (and still is 6+ years later) very puppy-like in her playfulness and the brightest and most joyous part of our day when we get home. She makes us laugh every day. Our lives are SO much better with her in it and it wasn't something that we thought we would be able to feel again.

For this, I am so grateful to Last Hope K9 Rescue. I wanted a way to give back.

Fast forward again to 2020-we all know what happened then. I suddenly found myself with a lot more time on my hands and happily, a lot more dog walks. I had wanted to try my hand at yarn dyeing but had never had the time. Now I did. And that's what I've been doing. I found I was in LOVE with the process. The complete freedom in selecting colors and mixing them up, getting inspiration from everywhere around me. And then being able to use them on something that I crocheted? Win-Win.

I then decided I wanted to share this love of creating colorful yarn with others. I also wanted to give back to my favorite rescue org because, without them, I wouldn't be where I am now. This is the best way that I can contribute to them while also still doing what I love.

I hope you'll join me in giving back to this wonderful organization because the world truly needs them. A portion of each sale helps bring funds to this rescue group. 100% of the donations goes directly to the Last Hope K9 Rescue.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my story. And if you're able to help out by contributing, thank you from the bottom of my heart.