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Free Shipping on orders over €75 (Germany) | €125 (International) – We're on a short shipping break, but the webshop is open! Next shipping date: April 30
We're here to help you stitch sustainability into every aspect of your making.
With our carefully curated selection of non-superwash, plastic-free yarns and notions, we have everything you need to get started on your next project - and the one after that.
Here's to a wardrobe of knits we love and want to wear for years to come!
We're here to help you stitch sustainability into every aspect of your making.
With our carefully curated selection of non-superwash, plastic-free yarns and notions, we have everything you need to get started on your next project - and the one after that.
Here's to a wardrobe of knits we love and want to wear for years to come!
April 22, 2020 3 min read 1 Comment
'I only buy local yarn' - 'Superwash is really, really bad for the environment!' - 'What on earth is GOTS certified?' - 'I want to know exactly where my yarn comes from' - 'What is better, natural dyeing or acid dyeing?'
Welcome to the wonderful and deeply confusing world of sustainable knitting! I'm Hanna Lisa, and I'll be one of your tour guides through the twists and turns of this exploratory journey. Without aspiring to know everything - in truth, I know very little and will be learning alongside you on the way - I promise I'll do my best to help us not get lost on the way and shed a bit of light on what sustainable knitting actually IS.
The other tour guide you've already met - our wonderful Claire, whose blog post on the different types of fiber you might encounter in your yarn started off this new series on the blog last week.
As you might have guessed from the introduction, the answer to this is neither easy nor clear. There are A LOT of buzzwords around sustainable yarn flying through the air and it can be very confusing to try and figure out whether the skein you're holding in your hand at your LYS is actually sustainably made or not. The primary reason for that is that there simply IS no clear definition of sustainable yarn.
Sustainable yarn, ultimately, depends on YOUR definition of sustainability. Where for some knitters sustainability means minimizing the CO2- and other greenhouse gas emissions of their yarn, others care more about organic production processes or buying yarn that has gotten in touch with as little plastic as possible.
While you can strive to buy only locally grown, organic, in-season food that's not packaged in plastic and sold directly from the farm, more often than not you're facing a trade off: You could, for example, either buy a local and organic cucumber in the supermarket that's wrapped in plastic, or you could buy a non-organic cucumber from the farm's stall on your weekly farmers market. What's more sustainable can be determined by running a very complex mental and mathematical model of all the different facets of sustainability we're faced with here. But, people, let's be realistic here: no one wants to do that during their weekly grocery shopping run. Not me, not you, no one.
We have to figure out what's more important to us. Local? Organic? In-season? Plastic-free? Direct from farm? And then pick the cucumber that's most in line with those aspects.
It's the same with sustainable yarn: You - well, we all - have to figure out which aspects of sustainability matter most to us, and then we can use that to make informed purchasing decisions.This means work, yes - but we'll help you figure out what these different aspects of sustainably made yarn are and how you can apply that knowledge when you're shopping for new yarn or want to examine your stash.
Examining your own buying choices can lead to unpleasant surprises - just ask me when I started tracking how much I actually spend on yarn! -, but trust me, it's worth muddling through the uncomfortable bits to arrive out the other side of this process with a clear understanding what you love and look for in a yarn, with a whole new appreciation for your stash and, most importantly, a deep love for every single project you cast on because you made a very conscious choice which materials you're using.
What does 'local yarn' mean?
What is a woolpool?
Why is superwash not sustainable?
What is the GOTS certification?
Is knitting with sustainable yarn on a budget actually possible?
This is, by no means, an exhaustive list. We have a whole heap of ideas - also thanks to everyone who send us theirs on Instagram! - and if you have a burning questions on sustainable knitting, send it our way! We'd be delighted to explore it together with you.
I, for one, can't wait to dive deeper into this world. While sustainability has always been at the core of what we do, I still feel that I want to and need to learn more about what it means for us as knitters and how we can apply it to our crafting. I hope you're excited about it - and that you'll join us for this ride!
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April 10, 2024 4 min read
Hi lovelies! Spring has sprung here in Berlin – as I am typing this (mid March), the buds on the chestnut tree out the window are a few days away from bursting, the forsythias are in full bloom, and our strawberry plants have started their comeback as well (leaves so far, but Aurin checks every day for berries :)).
So it's no surprise at all that today's blog post is very much inspired by the sun and the warmer days to come! I have put together a sweet roundup of 6 joyful spring knitting patterns, all of which I'd love to have on my needles soon. (If someone can get me an extra day or two per week to knit (oh, and to spin), I'd love that!)
The three yarns I've paired them with are my favorite spring / summer yarns: De Rerum Natura's Antigone, a delightful sport-weight linen yarn, Wooldreamers' Saona, a 50% Spanish cotton, 50% Spanish wool blend, and Natissea's Pernelle, our newest spring yarn: A 100% European hemp yarn!
April 02, 2024 3 min read 1 Comment
Hi lovelies! As you might know, we are slowly, surely expanding the portfolio of the shop – I am always on the lookout for wonderful sustainable yarns that might fill gaps we still have, and one that was on the list since last summer was an additional spring / summer yarn.
When I learned about Natissea, a French yarn company dedicated to organic plant yarns, from Audrey Borrego last year, I immediately contacted them to order some samples. As soon as I had Pernelle, their 100% European hemp yarn, on the needles, it was love – grippy, but not ropey, with a lovely drape that only got stronger after a good washing and blocking session.
The shade cards had me swooning too – a really comprehensive, well-composed range of colors with something for everyone in it, from neutrals to spring-inspired pastels to deep jewel tones.
So I was so pleased when Natissea accepted us as a stockist – and I am extra excited to introduce Pernelle to you. Our first 100% hemp yarn, perfect for summer tops, T-Shirts, and lightweight sweaters!
I reached out to Mathilde over at Natissea and she graciously agreed to answer a few questions about Pernelle. I loved reading her answers!
March 11, 2024 1 min read 2 Comments
Hello lovelies!
I am back today with a slightly unusual post that starts with a big, big apology to Liza Laird. Liza is a wonderful author (you might know her book Yoga of Yarn), knitter, teacher and yogi, and we were supposed to publish her beautiful poem "in and out", inspired by the ocean, in our Issue 11, "Seashore".
While I was putting the final touches on our layout, I realized that we had a spread too many (we always print in increments of 4 pages, or 2 spreads) and inadvertently cut the spread with Liza's poem instead of the photo spread I meant to delete.
We're a delightfully tiny team dedicated to all things sustainability in knitting. With our online shop filled with responsibly produced yarns, notions and patterns we're here to help you create a wardrobe filled with knits you'll love and wear for years to come.
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Cuddlepodshop
April 24, 2020
This is comprehensive and thoughtful writing. Thank you for the great blog post.
I’m sure many will be interested in reading this! I will make sure to share this to our knitter friends.