Five of My Favorite Yarn Suppliers
This holiday season, many of us are thinking carefully about where we spend our dollars. We know that many small businesses are barely getting by, and it feels good to support businesses we believe in.
In that spirit I present to you five of my favorite yarn suppliers (in reverse alphabetical order because they are all so equally awesome that I couldn’t possibly rank them). I’m getting no financial compensation from any of them for this post, though all of the proprietors have become my friends. I’d love to see them do well and stay in business.
Yarnover Truck – In normal times, Maridee drives a converted Little Debbie delivery van full of yarn all over the Los Angeles area. It’s kind of like a food truck, but for yarn! Customers can go inside the chock-full truck (which is named Debbie) to shop, and Maridee’s there giving suggestions and sharing samples knit up in the yarns she carries — which include yarns from Anzula, Yarn Love, A Whimisical Wood, Forbidden Fiber Co., and lots more.
These days, Maridee’s a mail-order-only business since the truck’s too small to have any social distance. But she’s still there to lend a hand with suggestions for patterns and colors for knitters who need it via virtual shopping appointments. And she hosts my current favorite knitting group virtually twice a week on Zoom. Every Thursday from 4-6 and Sunday from 2-4 Pacific time, she and a group of talented, funny, fun knitters from Southern California and beyond gather to gab and stitch.
Tina’s Toasty Toes – Tina is a hand-dyer who works with sock yarn (as the name implies) but also fingering through worsted weight in a number of different bases. She’s got some really interesting blends, including a fingering yarn with silk and yak (yum!) and a really interesting linen-alpaca blend. My current obsession is this tote bag, which is totally going on my Christmas list (if I can wait that long).
Tina was the person who encouraged me to start holding classes on my own via Zoom, and I’m so grateful for her encouragement that led to the Sock-ing Workshop Series that just finished up. She was the yarn supplier for that, and I know she has a few kits left, so if you’re interested in knitting my mini stockings, I encourage you to grab one of her kits, which includes the perfect amount of yarn in two colors plus the pattern.
Sassy Black Yarns – Lakisher is an independent dyer that came to the business out of love of color and textiles. She first started dreaming about becoming a dyer when her military service brought her to Seoul, South Korea where she toured a fabric mill. Many years later, a friend encouraged her to bring her “sass” to yarn dyeing, and Sassy Black Yarns was born.
Lakisher dyes sock yarns in amazing, vibrant color, as well as fingering through worsted wool and several cottons and cotton blends for summertime knitting. I always love hearing where the names of her colors come from. More often than not, there’s a crazy story involving one of her kids.
Morehouse Farm – Morehouse is a working superfine merino sheep farm, so all their yarns are 100% merino from their own sheep. I met Erin, who runs the business with her uncle Albrecht, a while back at a knitting retreat we both attended, but I already knew of Morehouse because of the adorable “Critter” patterns and kits they sell. I made my nephew a gator scarf in Morehouse yarn nine or ten years ago. Some day I’m going to get out to NY state to visit those sheep, because they are some crazy soft sheep.
You may recall my Fizzy Drinks pattern is made with Morehouse’s merino, because in addition to being crazy soft, it’s non-superwash, so it felts really well. Erin recently led a knitalong for Fizzy Drinks with the Morehouse Flock. She does really fun knitalongs all the time; if you’re looking to jump into a project along with a great group of knitters and some expert coaching from Erin, check them out!
The Louisiana Yarn Guys, Josh and Duane, are long-time knitters and weavers who couldn’t resist getting into dyeing, and they’ve done so with gusto! Their small-batch hand-dyed yarn comes in a delicious range of colors, from nearly-solid to wildly variegated, and in weights that range from fingering to bulky.
If you visit their store, have a look at some of the ready-knit items they have on offer (a good choice if you’re short on time this holiday but want to gift something really special). In addition to being wonderful dyers, these guys are master lace-knitters.
