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Knitters seek out eco-friendly yarn

Posted at 2:12 PM on 11 Jan 2008

Photo: iStockphoto

Knitting is a hot hobby these days -- raise your hand if you received a hand-knit scarf as a holiday gift -- and stitch 'n' bitch regulars are eager to break out from toxic-dyed, pesticide-sprayed cotton yarn. The next time you're in the yarn store, keep an eye out for a to-be-sweater of soy, corn, bamboo, or milk fiber, organic wool, or recycled crustacean shells (really!). Of course, many yarns are still shipped from afar, and some chemicals are necessary for anything dyed. "You really want to be really environmentally friendly?" says Clara Parkes, author of The Knitter's Book of Yarn. "You raise your own sheep. You spin it, and you knit your own wool." Not a baaad idea.

source: Columbia News Service

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Comments: (2 comments)

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Novel eco-friendly yarns

I just this week wrote a story on Australian researchers discovering the molecular construction of bee and ant silk, with a view to producing bioengineered fibres. (You can read the story here.

Who knows, in a few years we could be able to knit or crochet our own ant and bee silk clothing!

portiafaceslife

by portiafaceslife at 11:19 PM on 11 Jan 2008

Maine's Own

My fiance's aunt is a weaver who also spins & dyes her own yarn, from local Maine sheep wool and plant-based dyes that grows and makes herself. I've seen & felt the yarn (and the sweaters, hats, mittens and scarves she knits all winter) and can tell you that the color & texture is glorious.

Her website is at Hog Bay Pottery (her husband, my fiance's uncle, is a potter, and Hog Bay is the beautiful bay on which they live). If you find yourself in Downeast Maine stop on by to see the studio store; if not, give Susanne a call - I'm sure she'll be happy to ship you some of her fabulous yarn.

by kmp at 10:38 AM on 13 Jan 2008

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