First Person
The Bottom Line
When I opened Stilly River Yarns, my yarn shop in rural Washington in 2017, I wasn’t fully aware of the reality of domestic yarn and tool production. I focused on finding the types of people I most wanted to serve, and then I started looking for the yarns and tools that would best fit those people’s budgets and needs.
The Skagit Spinners, a local guild, meet at the shop once a month.
No matter how much I emphasized the advantages of domestic wool, though, most domestically produced yarns inevitably languished on the shelves. Customer feedback on those items ranged from “there’s not enough of a color range from this company” to “it’s not machine washable” to “it’s not soft enough” to “I just can’t find room in my budget for the projects I’d make with this.”
It’s been disappointing to realize that my shop would probably not survive if I focused on predominantly domestically produced inventory. No matter what my personal thoughts are, the fact is that I chose to open my business specifically to support fiber crafters in a rural area.
I can’t change the economic circumstances of the community, and our shop community has grown specifically because I recognize that and work hard to provide customers with general-purpose yarns and tools that fit their needs and preferences. Most of those yarns and tools have to come from overseas if I’m watching the price points to best serve my core customers.
The introduction of unpredictable, retaliatory tariffs has introduced unprecedented volatility into my shop’s finances and strain on my customers’ budgets. Every single company I work with has raised prices this year.
These needles are not for sale.
For example, a customer asked me if I could order a set of US17 circulars for her. I expected the usual $2-3 price jump per pair we’ve seen on average from our suppliers since January—but its retail price had jumped from $22 to $32. (I did not end up placing that order.)
The last distributor who hadn’t raised prices emailed stockists late in September and told us that they’d be raising prices effective October 1.
This is the point where some community members will encourage me to “just buy American!” or tell me, “Surely you can work with a local fabricator to make needles and hooks!” I’m afraid my smile is more strained than usual at this point when it happens. As I tell these well-meaning people, “If it were honestly that simple, we’d be doing it already.”
What’s standing in our way?
First, we just don’t have the wool production that we used to. The American Sheep Industry Association estimates that the U.S. produced 22.5 million pounds of raw wool last year—that’s less than 1% of global wool production. Contrast that with the 1940s, when the United States was the fifth-largest producer of wool in the world.
During World War II, the military requisitioned most of that wool for its own wartime needs. In the post-war world, busy families opted for the convenience of synthetics and left wool behind.
Second, we don’t currently have enough mills capable of producing the volume of yarn needed for regular commercial distribution.
We have a lot of micro-mills starting up in the United States, and even a few larger mills coming online that are able to do the full process from washing to yarn. Very few of these are producing yarns that local shops can access for routine restocks on a quick turnaround.
Plus, most fully domestic yarns are going to be stuck at a price point that makes them more of a luxury item than a workhorse until we see larger mills and more wool production that meet the handcrafting market’s demand.
trunk show with two local vendors, Sunrise Grove Artistry and Schmutzerella Yarns.
Finally, regarding tools—yes, we absolutely have domestic fabricators who can handle one side of the tool-making process: the precision milling of crochet hooks and needles.
But there’s more—you have to source material for cables for circular needles and flexi-hooks.
And after you’ve sourced the tools and the cables, then you have to figure out how to join them. Ask your local crafting group for their opinions on cables and joins—chances are that there will be almost as many as there are people around the table. It would take at least 18-24 months to develop, test, and manufacture any sort of tools … and that doesn’t fill the gap in the meantime.
So where does that leave us? And what do we do if we want to help effect change?
For the time being, we’re kind of in a holding pattern. Your local yarn shops and their distributors are doing everything they can to ride this out while also trying not to price crafters out of their materials.
Supporting your local shop doesn’t have to mean purchasing yarn, though. Take a class or a lesson. Maybe offer to round up to the nearest $5 amount when you do make a purchase. Buy a pattern to use yarn you already have.
Saturday Social and trunk show with WOOLLY WILDFLOWER.
Effecting industry-wide change is a more difficult issue because it will take major sustained grassroots efforts to change the supply and processing chains.
If you haven’t read Clara Parkes‘s book Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool, it’s an excellent starting point to understand the complexities of the American wool industry.
Similarly, The True Cost of Wool by Anna Hunter updates that vision from the Canadian side of the border and has suggestions to empower you to make choices that, over time, have the potential—if enough of us make them—to reboot domestic wool.
Header photo: a class with Jamie Lomax from Pacific Knit Co.
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Thank you for providing insights into the difficulties facing LYSs these days. We need to do all we can to support this industry.
Thank you. Very good information that all of us should have in mind when we visit our local art shop!
And better yet… keep all these aspects “actively” in mind when you vote next time.
I wonder how many of the shortchanged crafters or LYS owners mentioned in the piece above, have voted for this, pardon me, caricature of a president… Unfortunately observing his performance first time, it was clear things would not get better on the second take .
I wonder too.
This! From cattle ranchers to those on SNAP benefits, how many people actively voted against their own interest for a creature who has never even pretended to care about anyone beside himself. Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. And Americans bear the brunt of it.
While the election results last week were encouraging, I despair at how short people’s memories appear to be and how willingly they accept a rewriting of history on an Orwellian scale. It will take a generation to repair the harm done in just the last 10 months.
It is always easier and quicker to destroy than to build.
Amen !!!
Thank you for the insight on what it takes to create, manufacture and distribute product. Also, I appreciate the references to better help us understand how we can help to make changes. I love your business model of retail store and community space!
There are 2 sides to this argument. We got lazy and bought from the less expensive sources, so our industries declined and vanished. We should be able to produce goods in this country and not be reliant on trade with other countries. Yes, it will hurt on the beginning, but more Americans will be employed and maybe other countries will stop using cheap labor!
I agree with Cynthia Langley! Americans love of inexpensive products comes with a Teribble Price to the workers in horrible conditions in China and other Asian countries. You need to read Made in China – A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of American Cheap Goods. There are Always Two sides of an issue. Blaming the current president for U.S. citizens having to pay higher prices for what amounts to slave labor is incredibly naive and incredibly lazy. I live in North Carolina where cheap furniture made China destroyed a thriving furniture industry and put thousands of people out of jobs. Please think before you buy those inexpensive Made in China products. The true cost comes an another humans health and safety. U.S. Americans are like spoiled children.
It will, however, take a LONG TIME to rebuild those mills and source the equipment needed. I’ve followed Garthenor yarn, from Wales, and the extraordinary effort they must go to if they want to find the equipment and parts needed… I am absolutely willing to pay a bit extra for US made yarn, but I am lucky to have the means to do that. We need a federal government, unlike the current one, that wants to support SMALL and micro-small businesses with what they need to bring such manufacturing back to the US. And we need both a US Congress and a US public willing to pay a fair wage to make that possible.
I don’t think these events are happening because people got lazy. An example from another type of farming: In southwestern Ontario, especially Niagara, we grow fruit, including soft fruit such as peaches. Cheaper imports made it impossible for canneries to make a profit, and I remember when the complete machinery from the last surviving canner was sold to China. Growers have other buyers of course but no longer is a grower’s complete harvest quickly and reliably sold to a single customer. Sometimes options disappear.
I agree with you completely. We let this happen to ourselves over the years and fixing the problems won’t be easy. I personally will skip a small indulgence to be able to pay the few dollars more for an American made product. We do not have enough American made things right now, but with some sacrifices, that can change. The change will be better for all Americans in the long run.
Thank you, Lindsey, for a “real life” example of how economic policy can affect us personally, even if we choose to ignore the issue. Also, you highlight an example of how small businesses pay the price because they do not have the political pull to “make deals.”
Stories like this, don’t make it into the news. My LYS it’s always my first choice. It is truly a community. I am honored to be a part of. Where would we be without the shops?
From the other side of the story as a small producer, much of the hold up on selling is marketing. For this of us that have a large inventory of home grown, local mill spun yarns, the hold up is marketing. Online sales platforms are flooded. Craft shows mean leaving the farm and finding someone reliable to do animal care. LYS face to face discussions result in the wholesale low price to retail mark up discussion that puts the home grown way higher in price than the imports. So hg yarns sell slowly. On farm sales produce other concerns from zoning to ….. well you get the idea. In an ideal world knitters would find farms. The idea of fibershed has far to go.
Thank you, Lindsey, for this important and well written article. We all need to support our LYS in order for them to survive.
I’m so glad to read your post and do understand much of what you talk about. I wish there was a way to connect knitters/crocheters with those who have too much stuff (yarn, equipment) perhaps in a resale venue. My first thought was that I have good quality rarely used large size needles I’d love to get rid of…
Maybe MDK can be a resource for those of us with stuff to pass on?
For folks in or near Northeast Ohio, UpCycle Parts Shop in Cleveland is a non-profit organization that sells all kinds of secondhand craft and art supplies and also is a community space for classes, hanging out and crafting, etc. It is such a cool place!
Approach your LYS with your offer to share/sell/donate your unneeded supplies. As a former LYS owner, they will be an easier coordinator between your stuff and knitters/crocheters that would most appreciate the opportunity to benefit.
I’d love to do this, but (sadly) my LYS closed last year due to the death of the owner, and the next closest one is over an hour away. Not a lot of yarn stores here in Florida, but definitely a lot of knitters and crocheters! I believe Ravelry has groups where folks are in search of yarns, tools, etc.
Within the last year, a shop opened in Burlington, VT, that resells donated crafting supplies and I’ve read about other shops in the United States. This shop accepts all kinds of crafting supplies (fiber arts, paper crafts, jewelry-making, sewing and quilting) and crafting books. You can get a store credit or donate outright. The staff uses the sales proceeds and donated supplies to offer lots of crafting classes for ages from pre-school to adults. Check to see if there’s a shop like this near you.
In Boulder CO is a wonderful shop like this called Art Mart. I was amazed when I went there: all kinds of art and craft supplies from yarn to wood to fabric to paint to frames…well organized like a retail store, not like a thrift store. It’s also a non-profit. I’d love to see more stores like this!
Q: Resale marketplace?
A: Ravelry is a good place to start with! Yarny people seem to be an honest and very understanding folk and one on one email exchanges are super quick and efficient and also tax or duty free! The tools that are useless to one and available for sale could be posted just like yarn.
In addition, postal costs are very reasonable in the US – next time look for options on Rav.
Let’s not forget NAFTA’s role (a Clinton darling) as well as other trade agreements. Somehow Germany has kept manufacturing & higher wages (plus Medicare & lots of other benefits). It’s a structural problem in addition to an attitudinal one.
Yes. This problem goes way, way back and certainly predates the dysfunction we’re all currently navigating.
NAFTA destroyed U.S. manufacturing. People need to truly do their research before complaining about price increases here where other countries laugh at our cheap disposable way of life. I live on a budget but I will gladly purchase home grown yarns and support small farmers.
Yes to the structural problem, compounded by the enormous size of the US in both geography and population. A problem worth tackling, starting with fair wages and decent health care for all.
This financial information is exactly the type of statistics that needs to be supplied to both the state and federal representatives and legislators. Although if your states representatives are like our representatives, they are currently gun shy of town meetings. If it all possible, set up a meeting with their local office and include others who have a similar type of business structure.
Years of working for our state gave me a full on view of how isolated enclosed off their vision of the economy can be compared to the reality of what we live in. Best wishes to you!
Thank you for your article, Lindsey. I still miss being able to participate in the Puget Sound LYS Tour! I left the area in 2017 so not sure I got to visit your shop; I would have loved it!
Hoping the economy and support for true home grown materials changes before we lose it.
Thank you for this insightful article. You’ve painted a very vivid picture of how things are right now for so many LYS. Here’s hoping for a better future.
Cheers for Lindsey Spoor for her efforts to supply and serve fiber artists of all types. I wished I lived closer to her shop as I would definitely support it.
Prior to moving to Northern VA, I had 2 LYS to which I could walk, and 3 more within a 15 minute drive. Now my closest LYS is a 45 minute drive, so I have adapted to searching for LYSs on any trips my husband and I take. I truly miss the camaraderie of sitting down at an empty chair at a large table full of knitters and crocheters. I have lost my tribe and I dearly miss them.
Very sobering. The challenges you face are discouraging. While I live on the opposite coast from your yarn store, I really hope you continue what you are doing for your community. Perhaps if the Supreme Court votes against tariffs, it will help. Thank you for what you are doing.
Actually, stronger tariffs are what we need in order to support the American producers in competition with cheap foreign goods. We are sadly enamoured with cheap! It is so selfish of us. We are ignorant of the living conditions in so much of our world.
Thank you for this deeper look at the current struggles LYS are facing. I love the suggestion of taking classes as support, it builds a great sense of community. Next time I am up your way I will definitely come by your shop! It sounds lovely.
I read this with great interest and sympathize and agree ImHO wholeheartedly with the points made. And with one of the commenters who notes that marketing in an overflowed market is a big part of the problem. Whenever I go to a farmers market and talk to the person trying to sell wool and fiber products from their farm I pity them the insurmountable task of penetrating the market. There probably is a larger interest group/association of domestic wool producers/farmers out there? Or is there? How can we as a community join forces to help more effectively I wonder.
This highlights how little most Americans understand about processes in general.
I bought frequently from Brooklyn Tweed, an American only yarn company, now they have ceased selling yarn. But, to be honest, their yarns were always a bit more “rustic” than those from Europe. Fine for many projects. Not for all. American business focuses on high dollar return. The American mind set overall is making money. People often question why I spend so much time on a sweater I can buy cheaper!!
Thank you for respecting and supporting your local community, and for reminding us to support local shops in our own communities.
Thank you for this! I happened on “Vanishing Fleece” this Spring on our local yarn crawl. I was happy to see she mentions mills from whom I’ve purchased. This Fall, I went to our local sheep & wool festival (Lambtown in Dixon, CA) and spoke with a shearer who was giving shearing demos. He focuses on shearing for small farms and ranches and explained that much of what he shears is just trashed – there is so little commercial wool processing in the US for anything other than artisan wools. There are many, many products that can be produced out of US wool, but the US hasn’t the infrastructure to do so. Tragic, and so wasteful!.
Such an important perspective — I hope this is read and shared widely. Thank you!
Fascinating, thank you. Those of us with “too much” stash and lots of needles are in a good place personally, but less good for LYSs!
A good article that speaks meaningful truth on the impact of tariffs to industries across the spectrum.
Thank you, not only for your explanation, but also for your compassion for those of us who do find fiber arts to be a link with sanity, as well as your passion for your business and community.
It seems that MDK is my local yarn shop. Would I ever have even been inspired to knit without the internet? Without MDK, would I have just been wishing I was a knitter? Grateful I was a wanderer in those days…in retirement doing the “granny hobby” because, hey, all the cool kids! Thanks to all who walk through life inspiring others. We need it more than ever.
As a business woman and retailer all my life (I am 74), I really understand and admire you for laying this all out for others to understand! Prayers for your continued success!
Hi ,as a long time knitter in Canada originally from Scotland l read your interesting article. I am 77yearsof age. Been knitting since I was a girl of 8 ,taught by my mother.Knitting was a way of life with Scottish women and girls. And that’s not taking into account the very fine knitters from the Scottish Hebridean Islands. Those women were in a class of their own. But I digress. I am a constant knitter at any time anywhere. I suppose it’s a bit of an addiction (albeit a good one)!
I rarely go looking for pure wool .Used it when my children were babies. Hand washed all the little sweaters. Doubt young mothers today would get too excited about handwashing baby clothes,especially when they may be working Moms.
It is sad to see the decline in pure wool knitting. Maybe check out New Zealand and see what they do with their wool. I myself use acrylic probably about 100% of my projects. When I was in high school in Scotland,there was a huge woollen mill across from the school. That mill must have sent mountains of wool around the country and the world. We had so many wool shops in our town .Never had to go far to find one. I can honestly say most of my mother’s friends were great knitters and very 7accomplished. I hope I haven’t rambled on too much here.your article was very interesting.
Best regards,Clare.
young women were quite accomplished.
Great realistic article, Lindsey! We just committed to a year-long partnership with one of those smaller mills to source our Tempestry Yarn, and will have to increase our prices quite a bit. Hoping our customer base will find enough value in our 100% US-sourced fiber and living-wage-paying mill to come along for the ride with us, but it’s pretty stressful all around.
Thank you for sharing your take on things as a shop owner.
Thank you, Modern Daily Knitting, for posting such informed articles. I would love to have the knitting world just focus on knitting. I’d sing ladeeda every day. Often when articles such as these are printed a smattering of people send in comments stating just this sentiment.
They say they don’t want politics tainting the knitting world. Wouldn’t that be nice if it could be so? However, as MDK has eloquently pointed out, politics affects knitting enormously, as well as everything else. ( I added the everything else).
This is why the SOCIETY is so important. Join and protect this company and all the companies they use, and the people they employ. It’s a creative solution to address the everpresent money pressure. Long may MDK thrive.
We all need to take more time and interest into the tools of our craft. Excellent article. Thank you so much!
Thanks for an excellent article, Lindsey. Your community is fortunate to have you and your maker space.
Very good explanation! Not easy being a yarn shop owner!
I had my shop in the mountains of western Maryland for 13 years. A wonderful adventure. I learned so much and made so many good friends. I wish you all the best in thesectough times.
Such important information. Thank you! (Stilly River is the absolute best place, thank you for creating that community too.)
What a treat to read this article! I have been receiving the MDK daily emails for a couple of years and I actually know Lindsay and her shop in NW Washington. Thank you for your eloquently offered information and thoughts. I’ll go look for Anna Hunter’s book.
Thank you for keeping local small yarn shops alive despite the difficulty. We hand knitters, spinners, crafters, appreciate you!
In my more than 40 yrs of knitting I have seen many LYS come and go. They are a labor of love, doubt anyone has ever gotten rich owning one. Not a 9-5 job. Always trying to encourage new knitters and inspire existing ones with classes, new patterns, etc ultimately to sell yarn & tools, the lifeblood that keeps them going, keeps the lights on, pays the rent and help. Once online shopping arrived they struggled even more to compete, similar to independent bookstores. There are no LYS in my area anymore, only chain stores that sell some yarn, so I now purchase online. I used to travel 3 hrs to what was my fav LYS before it closed 5 yrs ago. I don’t know how to solve the problem of keeping LYS open let alone buying yarn made in American, hopefully younger minds are working on it.
What an interesting piece and such a thoughtful comment thread. I keep thinking that the best way to support your local yarn shop is to spend money with them. Of course, not everyone has the resources to go buying wool willynilly and grow their stash but I just took a look at my monthly budget (I work at a non-profit so although I earn more than enough, I do have to count out my pennies and fiscally plan for things that I want to do) and I can spend $20 a month at my LYS and then just donate the yarn somewhere. One of my local high schools has a crochet club and 80% of the kids in the school qualify for free lunch–an indicator of poverty–and I’m sure they would love some brand new yarn. My library, also in a very low-income neighborhood, has a knitting group. My local churches, synagogues, mosques, etc. have craft groups.
Now $20 a month doesn’t sound like a lot but it ads up (I’m the fundraiser for the non-profit I work for and I can assure you that a $5 gift means just as much as a $50,000 gift) so if a lot of people said, I can spend x amount of money each week/month/year/random time and committed to it, we can help.
As to these crazy inflated, tariff driven prices (I cried over the woman who couldn’t afford the needle for her project) then kindness and community take over. I am going to talk to my local brick and mortar LYS about having an in-house thrift section where I can take any surplus needles and notions that they can sell at a discount. I go to a lot of estate sales and around 90% of them have some sort of knitting gear for sale for a song. We can talk about the cones of gorgeous, vintage Malabrigo that I bought the whole lot for a dollar some other time.
Together we can make a difference for the LYS both brick and mortar and online that are struggling to get through this financial crisis and at the same time we can support the people who are experimenting and creating beautiful skeins for us. And perhaps most importantly, we can keep people knitting.
P.S. Thanks so much to the MDK team for opening up this conversation. We need to keep you thriving too.
Thank you for a very informative piece on an important subject. I’d love to hear more about this. I just started reading The True Cost of Wool.
PREACH!!!!!
Thank you for clarifying several issues! I do like the ‘round up to $5’ supportive suggestion!!
Way to go, Lindsey! So proud of you and all you accomplished.
The skies the limit for you and the shop.
The Shop is a reflection of you and your amazing knowledge and willingness to learn more and share this information with all of us. Thank you so much.
Very well said. These are the issues facing all local yarn shops, and, as with most issues, they are not easily resolved.
Thank you so much for putting out there front and center the cost of domestic production along with the utterly unnecessary increased costs generated from “inside the Beltway” in Washington, DC. It’s great to hear of new micro wool mills starting up–there are also VERY few mills even in the UK, that bastion of woolly wonder. I’ve followed Garthenor from western Wales quest to revive a mill, sourcing antique parts from the UK and Europe to get the machines running again. Love the “round up to an ever $5” idea!
Thank you for this. So much I didn’t know
For the Washington business, Oregon’s “Imperial Yarns” might be a close-by partner for you. I’ve knit with their wool for over a decade now enjoying the quality of American grown & made wool. Their yarns, support of local wool farmers, & outstanding personal service keeps me coming back for more… and more, …and more! Love this company! Please support them, if you can.