About Oddkin Studio

Oddkin Studio is the creative playground of Katie Gates, located in Bellingham, WA.

Katie is a fiber artist who creates delightfully odd, handmade companions from repurposed textiles. She is quietly determined to bring more smiles, coziness, and joy into the world.

Inspired by the constraints of scavenged materials, resourcefulness and a love for the slightly strange, Katie creates each piece thoughtfully by hand, intuitively allowing the materials to guide the direction of each one-of-a-kind creation.

The result is a collection of lovable, wooly misfits—each with its own expression, quirks, and personality. Embracing imperfection, every crooked smile and wild yarn tuft is part of their charm.

How Oddkin Studio Began:

Oddkin Studio began with a leap of faith and a basket of fabric scraps. In 2024, Katie stepped away from a decade-long teaching career, trading exhaustion and burnout for a slower, quieter life with no clear plan. After moving into a tiny converted garden shed, she spent her days resting, wandering, and following small sparks of curiosity wherever they led.

Somewhere along the way, those sparks turned into scrap monsters. Old sweaters, wool scraps, and forgotten fabrics found new life as soft, peculiar little beings. The first Oddkins appeared not as a business idea, but as a playful return to making—created simply for the joy of it, each one full of personality, charm, and a hint of mischief.

What began as a quiet, creative experiment has since grown into a full-time handmade art business. Still a one-woman show, Katie handcrafts every Oddkin from repurposed materials, as a celebration of transformation, imagination, and the magic of turning something discarded into something special.