Supporting handmade: yarn and knitting

Photo courtesy of SisterWisdom.

This is the first in our new article series called "Supporting handmade."

Every weekend I will highlight some handmade offerings found on the Internet, with special kudos to those who are local, using ecologically friendly materials, and/or upcycling.

If you are a handmade artisan or know one we should support, please send me an email with the information.

Look for a new post in this series every Saturday. Let's give some good support to the handmade artisans, and break our dependence on the mass-produced junk we've put up with for years.

It is far more rewarding to have LESS stuff but of HIGHER QUALITY:

• Buy high-quality handmade toys, and your children can love them, keep them, and share them with their children because they won't fall apart like those chintzy plastic items you can buy anywhere.
• Buy high-quality handmade home decor items, and you can love them, keep them, and pass them on in good condition to someone else when you are ready for something new, knowing that they are heirloom quality items.
• Buy high-quality handmade craft supply items (like the yarn featured below), and you know that the crafts you create from them are genuine, unique, and supporting a sustainable lifestyle.
• Buy high-quality handmade clothing, and you are showing by your actions and your money that you don't support child labor, sweatshops, or mass manufacturing of cheap, chemical-laden clothing at the cost of nature and our health.

Handspun Corriedale yarn.

I made yarn. by joyuna

"Welcome to the world of Joyuna. I make yarn, I dye yarn, and I make stuff too. Take a look around and be sure to check back; I try to post new things every week."

Handspun, hand-dyed yarn and handmade objects like hats, scarves, and felted fruit and bowls. If you're a knitter, you should go shop; if you like stuff that other people knit, likewise (I fall into that second category). Visit her shop.

Beautiful Bamboo handspun yarn.

kittygrrlz

"Featuring art yarns, single ply, 2-ply and Navajo 3-ply yarns in beautiful colors and textures!"

Absolutely gorgeous hand-spun yarn, but the stand-out here is the Beautiful Bamboo yarn (Peachy Keen Taffy version shown at right). As kittygrrlz explains, "Bamboo is an environmentally friendly fiber with a unique anti-bacteria agent that should last for many washings. It is also naturally pest resistant and due to the fiber structure of bamboo, it can absorb and evaporate sweat from human skin very quickly (thus making it very cool in summer!)." Wow. Almost enough to make me take up knitting. Visit her shop.

Knit coffee cozy.

sticktoyourknittin'

"My name is Amy, and I am an avid knitter and spinner with a penchant for soft, luxurious, and funky yarns. I also love to knit anything that isn't yarn that I can wrap around a knitting needle, such as plastic bags."

Amy has a beautiful array of handspun yarn, but her other items are what I covet: check out the coffee cozies, knit Easter eggs, even a knit business card holder. Of course we have hats, scarves, etc., as well.And best of all, Amy is local! "I am a proud St. Louisian and a member of the ShowMeEtsy street team." Visit her shop and give her some local love.