Madelinetosh began in 2006 with an idea of creating an artists palette of hand knitting yarns, fulfilling a desire for the perfect hue. Enthused with a love of painting and influenced by the rich history of art in textiles, madelinetosh sought to create a color palette guided by the subtle nuances and layered depth of colors found in the natural world.
Selecting natural fibers that were soft and supple to the touch and enjoyable to handle, we began our dye process by applying multiple colors to the fiber in thin glazes, adding true depth and dimension.
Today our colorway selections exceed one-hundred and four different shades and hues, a worthy palette for all to enjoy.
Happy making!
Who was Madeleintosh?
Lillian Madeleine Atkins was born to a hopeful tenant farmer and a fair-skinned aesthete at a cross-roads town in Virginia named Moonlight in 1900.
At the age of twelve Lillian walked to the county seat, filled out a small form, and forever changed her name to Madeleine Tosh. When asked why, she offered, her school teachers surname was better suited for her than simple Lillian.
At nineteen, Madeleine Tosh met a tugboat captain working on the pagan river. She married him to spite her father for an undelivered gift four months later, bearing nine children Madeleine raised six to adulthood.
Madeleine left her husband after the children were grown, moving to a brownstone in Washington D.C. off 14th Street. For money Madeleine worked, packing and unpacking crystal lamps and shades at Woodard and Lothropac Department store in D.C. Madeleine later moved to a prefabricated, quonset hut in Claremont purchasing an oak loom, where she wove linen and handspun cotton fabrics for pocket money.
Madeleine was my great-grandmother. Madeleine never traveled outside the Virginia, D.C. area, she died in 1984.
