The Pearl Project: A tribute to Knitty City owner Pearl Chin

By Lisa | October 30, 2020

There are few New York knitters and crocheters who don’t know about the Manhattan yarn shop Knitty City. But beyond connecting the local yarn community, Knitty City‘s founder, Pearl Chin, has been instrumental in helping so many indie dyers and fiber business owners get their start and providing valuable advice as they move forward. Pearl has also been a role model for how to be a craftivist, using her platform as a leader to raise money and attention for important causes.

When I heard the devastating news about Pearl’s cancer diagnosis, I got in touch with a group of indie dyers that Pearl has been instrumental in guiding and championing. We thought it was fitting to turn our sadness into action. As we now grieve the loss of our friend and colleague, we can think of no better way to honor Pearl’s legacy.

We have created special colorways and designs, and are hosting giveaways to raise money for organizations she has supported:

• Julie Asselin has created a colorway called Dear Pearl, with proceeds donated to help budding knitwear entrepreneurs attend the CAN Retreat hosted by Marceline Smith and Anne Choi

• Christina of Chelsea Yarns has created a colorway called String of Pearls, with proceeds donated to Moms Demand Action

• Amanda of Hu Made has created a colorway called Pearl Power, with proceeds donated to the Asian Americans Arts Alliance

• I will be designing a hat pattern called Pearl’s Oyster, with proceeds donated to the NFC Momentum Fund (I’m still knitting up the sample and hope to publish it next week)

• Marian of Marianated Yarns has created a colorway called Thank You, Pearl, with proceeds donated to City Harvest

• Debbie of Murky Depths Dyeworks has created a colorway called Pearl of The West (Side), with proceeds donated to Womankind, an organization serving the Asian community in New York, helping survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual violence

• Mariana and Nick of Nooch Fiber will be hosting a series of mini-skein giveaways, with proceeds donated to Heifer International

What to stash this week in addition to Indie Untangled Everywhere

By Lisa | October 16, 2020

Scarlet of Huckleberry Knits is dyeing a second colorway for Knitting Our National Parks called Nostalgia, inspired by a fall photo of Acadia National Park.
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“I grew up in Massachusetts, and the first national park I ever went to was the only one in New England, Acadia,” Scarlet says. “When I was a kid, our family vacations usually involved the seashore, but our trip to Acadia added in dramatic rocky outcrops and thick forests that seemed to spring forth from the ocean, unlike anything I’d seen before. Every autumn I miss New England, and Nostalgia reflects those rich colors that say ‘home’ to me.”⁣
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Nostalgia will be dyed on Scarlet’s Gradient Fingering base, a blend of 75% Superwash Merino and 25% nylon with a generous 463 yards per skein. It’s available as a sock blank or wound into a center-pull cake. Preorder it on Indie Untangled through next week only.

Warm the Line is a grassroots effort of crafters encouraging those in our community to send hats, scarves and other warm items to voters waiting on long lines to vote in cold swing states. Along with contributing to this campaign with your craft, you can also buy an item — a T-shirt, sweatshirt, tote bag or hat — to commemorate the project with a hand-drawn logo by an emerging artist.

Shelby of Hardware City Yarn is a new indie dyer paying homage to the rich industrial history of her home city of New Britain, Connecticut.

Heather of Pumpkins and Wool has gone plaid for fall! This means Colors like reds and browns, black and grays with shades of whites throughout.

Over the last few weeks, Eden Cottage Yarns has had updates of: Rosedale 4ply, Pendle Chunky and Keld Fingering, and there’s more to come!

Crista is having a shop update this Sunday, October 18th at 8 p.m. EDT with many sizes and shapes of handmade project bags available.

Amanda of Doodle Dew Designs makes these colorful stitch markers with a colorful, lightweight resin.

What to stash this week: Going to the Sun

By Lisa | October 2, 2020

Scarlet of Huckleberry Knits is helping us with the transition to fall through her stunning Knitting Our National Parks colorway. It’s called Going to the Sun after its inspiration photo of Lake McDonald, along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, taken by Colorado-based photographer Mallory Wilson. This colorway will be dyed on Scarlet’s Willow sock base, 80% Superwash Blue-Faced Leicester and 20% nylon, with 420 yards per skein, and available to preorder on Indie Untangled through Sunday, October 18.

Sara of La Cave à Laine is introducing Happy Knitting Boxes: four different boxes with a selection of handcrafted fiber accessories made in France or Europe, including hand-dyed or hand-printed project bags, stitch markers, wool soap and knitting patterns.

Sarah of Superfine Yarn has been playing around with one-of-a-kind dye batches. If you fall in love with any of her experiments, be sure to use code FALL10 to get 10% off and free shipping.

Victoria of Eden Cottage Yarns had a shop update yesterday with Keld Fingering, a new-to-ECY blend of Superwash extrafine Merino with linen.

Marny’s Reversible Trellis Cowl is just what it sounds like, a fun accessory that can be made in any two colorways.

Kristen of KS Fiber Arts has a limited number of skeins of these colorways inspired by Jack Skellington and Ragdoll Sally of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Annie Dot Creative’s Fantastic Socks yarn club is inspired by Newt Scamander and his magical creatures. There’s still time to join in the fun.

Who says un-dyed yarn has to be boring? Monica of Gothfarm Yarn has four color palette ideas to make striking knits.

What to stash this week: Yarny treats

By Lisa | September 25, 2020

Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations has new fall-inspired shawl pins.

Apparently Stephen West’s latest Mystery KAL requires at least 54 stitch markers, so Bonnie of Yank Your Yarn has got you covered with three special ’80s-inspired sets.

Rock Solid Designs pattern pockets are back in stock! Stephanie’s fabric pouches are specially designed for storing and viewing your in-progress knitting patterns.

Sam just opened her online shop. Star Eater Yarns specializes in colors that are inspired by the “strange and unusual.”

Trick or treat yo’self with a special Trick-or-Treat Bag from Jilly & Kiddles. Jill will send you one full skein of mystery yarn, with a special prize thrown into every sixth one ordered.

Nancy of Tika Bags has created some new designs with new fabrics to celebrate the beginning of fall and knitting season. She’ll also be hosting two Facebook Live events in October to celebrate, which will include a giveaway.

Natalie of Fiberdog Fibers is celebrating her wedding anniversary on September 28 with a sale! For one day only everything in her store will be 20% off, no coupon code required.

Sign up by September 30 to join Emerald and friends of Stardust Fiber Studio in a KAL. They will be knitting Sylvia McFadden’s Waiting for Rain shawl with weekly Knit and Sips via Zoom.

Michele of Misfit Yarns has launched a new Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Yarn Collection, available for a limited time. It’s inspired by the first Treehouse of Horrors’ three tales.

Kate of Bad Lux Designs has launched a new Fall Collection with seasonal colors on fingering and DK weights that are designed to work together in your upcoming projects.

What to stash this week: time flies

By Lisa | August 21, 2020

Time has flown for Barbara of Spencer Hill Naturally Dyed Yarn, whose unique yarns are inspired by the authors or literary characters who inspire us. She’s about to celebrate 10 years in business. To mark the festivals and events where she’s gotten to meet many of her customers, she was planning to have an anniversary sale at her fall shows. Instead, she’s taking the sale online. Starting today and running through August 28, you’ll get 10% off every purchase in her shop and free shipping on purchases of $100 or more.

I’m extending preorders of Birch Hollow Fibers’ ethereal Stardust In Basin colorway through this Sunday. The yarn, available on Sylvia Sock and Phillis DK, is inspired by a photo taken by Eric Ritchie at Great Basin National Park in Nevada. 20% of sales will be donated equally to the National Park Foundation and the NDN COVID-19 Response Project (the NDN is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power).

The other day, I was reminded of Mina Philipp of Knitting Expat Designs’ Roadwipping Cowl, designed for the 2019 Where We Knit Yarn Club with Rebecca of Fuse Fiber Studio. Sadly, Rebecca is no longer dyeing, but the May 2020 colorway from Shani of Bleu Poussière, created with natural dyes, would be perfect for this one-skein design. The yarn is available to preorder on Indie Untangled only through this Sunday.

Mary Annarella’s latest design pays homage to the cute cardigans worn by the character of Bernadette in The Big Bang Theory. You can get the fingering-weight pattern at 30% off on Ravelry or Payhip with the code “feelthebern” now through Sunday.

Sample Dana’s yarn with the Un Besito Snack Pack. The packs come with a dozen 10g yarn balls of Smooches Fingering Weight Merino/nylon yarn peeking through the window of a fun bakery box. Many of these sets are limited editions, so grab them while you can!

Robynn’s Concrete Jungle is a simple lace knit that will help keep away the upcoming small chill. It’s available for 20% off until Sunday on Ravelry and Payhip.

Monica of Gothfarm Yarn is all about the gray, from a blend of Jacob Sheep wool and black mohair to Nebelung, a matte-steel blend of carbonized bamboo and Coopworth sheep locks.

Knit a tam from Sheepscot Harbor Yarns.

What to stash this week: earthy knits

By Lisa | August 14, 2020

Kismet of LoLo Body Care is doing her part with the LoLo Body Care Eco-Bag, a 100% organic cotton Fair-Trade Certified bag that, among other advantages, uses growing systems that replenish and maintain soil fertility and build biologically diverse agriculture. Even better, with every bag that’s purchased, one tree gets planted with LoLo’s partners, One Tree Planted.

To mark the release of Paula Pereira’s Talyse shawl, designed for the 2020 Where We Knit Yarn Club, I’m doing a limited preorder of Shani’s delicately speckled colorway, created with natural dyes! While reminiscent of cherry blossoms, she dubbed it Crazy 88 because she had never dyed that many skeins of one colorway before. It’s available on her Helios 50/50 Merino/Mulberry silk base, which would look gorgeous in Paula’s new shawl, or in sweaters that call for some drape. You can find some pattern suggestions, and preorder the yarn, through August 23.

Janis and Christen of Queen City Yarn are donating $10 for every skein of their red, white and blue colorway sold to Fair Fight, which works to “promote fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights.”

Katherine of K. MacColl Bags makes sophisticated tote bags using wool fabrics. They come in five different looks and two large sizes, and in a number of colorways and patterns.

Melissa is celebrating the launch of her new Canada-based shop, Alley Cat Yarns, with free shipping within North America and 20% off purchases of $150CAD or more, through the end of August.

Maelstrom Fiber Arts’ Gothic Mermaid Collection is inspired by the legends and lore of sirens or mermaids. Jennifer’s colorways are available on the majority of her bases, including a new non-Superwash fingering-weight yarn.

It’s Shark Week, so celebrate with WeeOnes miniature shark stitch markers at a 10% discount through this Sunday! You get a hammerhead, great white, black-tipped reef shark, and a longtail carpet shark made by Jillian with your choice of soldered rings or lobster claw clasps.

The chunky Coriedale wool and Superwash Merino fingering wool from Quiltwoman.com is dyed with a variety of needlework projects, including rug hooking/punching and punch needle embroidery, in mind. Aside from yarn, the Quiltwoman.com shop has a variety of patterns and kits.

Vanessa of Cape May Fiber Company has a new shawl design called Froth that uses either three full-sized fingering-weight skeins or 12 minis, and she has kits in her very own naturally-dyed colors.

Barbara’s Spencer Hill Naturally Dyed Yarn turns 10 years old this month, so celebrate with one of her colorful five base yarns and custom-spun yarns from small farms in NY and PA.

Natalie of Fiberdog Fibers is a new indie who offers hand-dyed fibers, as well as hand-dyed and handspun yarn, using almost exclusively raw fleeces that she washes, cards, dyes and spins herself.

You can still join AnnieDot Creative’s ongoing Fantastic Socks: a yarn club inspired by Newt Scamander. The year-long club features colorways that bring Newt’s magical creatures to life.

ADKnits has a knitting sticker designed for all the campers out there.

What to stash this week: Scrappy and toasty

By Lisa | July 3, 2020

Crista Jaeckel just updated her online shop with several colorful, summer-ready project bags of various sizes, including popular notion zipper bags and quilted tote bags that utilize fabric scraps to reduce waste.

Kate of McMullin Fiber Co has opened signups for her July/August Sweater Quantity Discount colorway, in which she takes preorders for one colorway in order to offer a close to wholesale discount, making a hand-dyed garment more accessible. Called Black Magic, the latest colorway is a coal black with hints of purple and teal.

Monica of Gothfarm Yarn has introduced two more naturally-colored yarns: Arkose, a blend of Rambouillet Merino, white mohair and red Huacaya alpaca, and Muskeg, a mix of amber mohair and dark brown Rambouillet Merino.

What to stash this week: Blue mountain majesties

By Lisa | June 12, 2020

Jenn of Cedar House Yarns has created this painterly representation of a blue gradient forming the Kachemak Bay Mountains at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, captured by Lisa Hupp of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This colorway will be available to preorder on Jenn’s Sapling Sock base on Indie Untangled through Friday, June 26.

As always, 10% of sales will be donated to the National Park Foundation. This month, an additional 10% of sales for this installment will be donated to the NFC Momentum Fund, Neighborhood Fiber Co.’s donor-advised charitable fund at the Baltimore Community Foundation that will disperse contributions to a variety of organizations working for justice, empowerment and equality. Currently, money raised will support protestors in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Caroline of The Noble Thread was inspired by her favorite French painter, Marie Laurencin, to create her latest shawl design, Aquarelle. The shawl plays with Laurencin’s favorite celadon and peach hues, with chevrons and bobbles interrupting soothing garter ridges. Caroline has created Aquarelle kits using her very own naturally-dyed yarn. One kit is dyed on her Pure base, a 100% non-Superwash Merino and the other is dyed on her Superwash Merino Amelie base.

Mary of Lyrical Knits is holding her annual birthday sale! Use the code birthdaybash to take 40% off all patterns in her shop, from shawls to sweaters, through June 14.

Debbie of Murky Depths is one of only a few indie dyers to offer non-mohair laceweight yarn. Not only that, but she offers three different bases! In honor of lighter summer knits, these yarns are 15% off through the end of June.

Mark the end of Outlander Season 5 with Inner Yarn Zen’s Droughtlander 2020 kit. This kit features three skeins of hand-dyed yarn to complete the included Ridge Wedding Shawl by KJH Knit Designs.

Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations is taking you on a trip to the beach for this month’s mystery mailing. You can choose from three different options: notions only, notions and pin or notions and cuff.

The next Eden Cottage Yarns update takes place today at 8 p.m. UK time and includes Hayton DK, an MCN, and Bowland 4ply, a British BFL.

Designer Emily of Kitty With a Cupcake and dyer Lauren of Valkyrie Fibers are starting up a “yarn witch coven” on Patreon.

The June Virtu-Wool Fiber Festival on Facebook will showcase 20 vendors, including sponsor Bewitched Pigments, tomorrow and Sunday. Each vendor will showcase their products during a 45-minute live video.

Shanna of Lambstrings Yarn has opened preorders for her Spooky October “Advent” calendar.

What to stash this week: prepare for the coming apoca-knits

By Lisa | May 1, 2020

A silver lining to yet another canceled festival is that independent publisher Cooperative Press has used the opportunity of a virtual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival to re-release two of their most popular titles: the appropriate-for-these-times Doomsday Knits: Projects for the Apocalypse and After, edited by Alex Tinsley, and Subversive Socks, edited by Tabetha Hedrick. Both books are only available to preorder until this Sunday, May 3, so grab yours before they become harder to find than unsalted butter.

Tomorrow, Heather of Sew Happy Jane will be participating in the Virtu-wool fiber festival hosted on Facebook, and her virtu-wool shop will be updated with new colorways and old favorites. Get a preview at 10 a.m. EDT on Facebook and learn how you can enter to win a prize.

The inaugural Virtu-wool Fiber Festival is a two-day event taking place tomorrow and Sunday featuring 20 vendors from across the U.S. Each day, between 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT, vendors will present their products via a livestream.

Austin, Texas-based Gothfarm Yarn specializes in blends of naturally-colored fibers from rare and uncommon breeds of sheep and other furry animals, working with small farms and mills.

Elisabeth of Wolle’s Yarn Creations is participating in the virtual Maryland Sheep and Wool, and you can get 20% off her cotton and silk gradient yarns using the code MDSW20 to check out on her website.

Today is your last day to book your ticket for a virtual road trip to Olympic National Park via McMullin Fiber Co.’s two colorways, inspired by the park’s tide pools.

Heather of Pumpkins and Wool created six new super ’80s-inspired colorways for some retro fun during this bogus situation we’ve found ourselves in. Colors such as Ms. Pacman and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun have also been discounted.

What to stash this week: support our indies

By Lisa | March 13, 2020

Kathy and Hannah at Despondent Dyes, who were slated to vend at VKL Seattle this weekend, decided to put their extra inventory to good use after the show was postponed due to COVID-19. They will be donating 15% of sales made from March 13 to 15 to Partners in Health, which helps those in need get access to live-saving care.

Karen of Seven Sisters Arts, who was planning to vend at VKL Seattle, is offering her yarn at 15% off with the code VKE from 12 noon EDT today through Sunday at midnight. The Steampunk Hat is being released today as well and 50% of all pattern sales for the weekend will be donated to H.O.M.E., an organization that assists homeless and low-income people with shelter and job skills.

Allena of StarKits was scheduled to vend at the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival and YarnCon in Chicago, so check out her project bags for all fiber artists.

YarnCon was Chicago-based Michele’s first big event as Misfit Yarns, so show her some support by checking out her bright, speckled colorways in a variety of bases.

Elisabeth of Wolle’s Yarn Creations had been set to vend at the Carolina FiberFest in Raleigh this weekend. She’s now offering a 10% discount throughout the weekend to make up for lost sales. Use coupon code RALEIGH at checkout.

Sara of La Cave à Laine’s crossbody bags recently got an upgrade and now feature fully detachable and adjustable crossbody straps. Some of the bags feature a special coated cotton, from Le Jacquard Français, an historic textile brand created in the Vosges Mountains near Sara’s home in France.

Selena of Sweater Sisters has kits for Lynette Meek’s new Fair Isle hat pattern, Tulipa. It features Selena’s newest hand-dyed base Au Naturale and a Ravelry download code for a free copy of the pattern.

Good Water & Co., a Pennsylvania-based, mother-daughter project-bag-making team, uses 100% quilter’s grade cotton or canvas sourced from small, local quilt shops for their products, including a signature Build A Bag, which includes multiple coordinating accessories.

Victoria’s next update includes a special colorway called Trans Rights are Human Rights and pastel rainbow mini skein sets. 20% of the purchase price donated to Stonewall, a UK organization supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

Victoria of Eden Cottage Yarns’ next update includes a special colorway called Trans Rights are Human Rights and pastel rainbow mini skein sets. 20% of the purchase price donated to Stonewall, a UK organization supporting the LGBTQ+ community.