When most people look up at the sky over Hay River, N.W.T., in the early evening, they see the sunset. Danielle Sachs, on the other hand, sees yarn. 

Since 2014, Sachs has been dying yarn in colours inspired by the landscapes, skyscapes and scenes she finds all around her in the Northwest Territories. 

Some of her skeins are aurora-themed, with "green in there, and black in there, and little flashes of purple." Others, dyed in deep blues and browns, were inspired by the waves on Great Slave Lake. One skein, dotted with silver sparkles, was inspired by the frigid winter temperatures — Sachs calls it "My Lungs Hurt."

But Sachs also draws on more off-beat inspirations to represent northern life in wool. 

"When you're driving into town and you have that haze of woodsmoke — that, to me, was a colour," she said. 

Another colour combination was inspired by thrift store denim.

"It's that feeling of going through all the clothes at the thrift shop because you need a new pair of jeans, and you can't just go to the mall or order something on Amazon that'll get here in 24 hours."

One of her favourite projects was a series she called "Northern Rainbow" — an effort to turn every colour from red through violet into a little slice of northern life. 

"For red, we had 'Wildfire,' which was reds and oranges with speckles of black for the ash," she said. "Then there was 'Midnight Sun' and 'Road Trip,' which is just a gray and yellow, because it's the lines painted on the road. 

"Then there was 'Jackfish,' 'Great Slave Wave,' 'Magpie' and 'Nightlights,' which is the Northern Lights-inspired one." 

For Sachs, finding the right textures and colours to represent these vignettes are a way of sharing her love for the N.W.T., where she has lived for nearly a decade. 

"I wasn't seeing what we see represented in other yarns that I could find in Canada," she said. "I want to make a little bit of a nod to people that live here and that are here and that have been here longer than I have and have experienced more."

Sachs is also an avid knitter, and makes a sweater for her son every year. 

"I'll dye the colours for him," she said. "So he'll look through pictures and he'll pick a sweater that he wants, and then from there we'll do the colours. 

"Probably my favourite one that I've dyed is this little cardigan, and the top of it is a yarn called 'Raven.' It's a blue-black with shades of purple, little tiny hints of purple."

But she also loves when people send her pictures of what they've done with her yarn, finding their own inspiration in the northern colours. 

"The same yarn can look so different when it's incorporated into a sweater versus turned into a pair of socks or a pair of mittens," she said. 

Over the winter, Sachs works hard to dye hundreds of skeins of yarn so she'll have enough inventory to see her through her busy season in the summer, when outdoor markets are open.

She says people shouldn't feel daunted about trying to dye yarn at home themselves — it might seem challenging, but it's a more accessible craft than many people think. 

"Anyone can do it — all you need is yarn to dye, and colour," she said. "People have used unsweetened Koolaid, or you can use food colouring. 

"I use specialty dyes that are in the powder form. When you mix them up, they make a liquid [and] they need acid and heat to set. And that's it."

And Sachs says her friends and loved ones are all very familiar with her passion for representing her home through fibre crafts. 

Whenever someone posts a beautiful picture of life in the north — a lake, a skyscape, a backyard party, some mossy rocks they saw on a hike — she's likely to comment: "I see yarn!"

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