Green Options

In 2007, Rowan brand yarns introduced PureLife a wonderful selection of 100% organic cotton. In the following years Rowan has expanded their PureLife line to address other areas of sustainability.

Rowan still offers their organic cotton yarn in DK weight that is naturally dyed using plants. New this season is their 4 ply organic cotton yarn, also dyed with natural plant dyes. The shades of this yarn are soft, subtle and sweet, perfect for summer knitting.

Folktail Fibers is one of those shops that I have simply fallen head over heels for. The skeins are both whimsical but perfectly easy to knit up.

Offering both vegan and animal friendly fibers, Folktail hand spins amazing fiber and color combinations to create lovely yarns.

With a name like Darn Good Yarn, it’s hard not to like this yarn and their principals. This U.S. based company offers a small variety of yarn but specializes in recycled silk sari.

The yarn is spun from the remnants of the production of silk saris in Nepal. Darn Good Yarn only works with co-ops in Nepal that offer fair trade pricing for the spinning of the yarn.

If you’ve been waiting to add some hemp fiber to your life now has never been a better time to do so. Hemp for Knitting offers a wide variety of yarn in a multitude of weights and colors.

I know we’ve already sang the praises of hemp but it stands to be repeated. Hemp is a fast growing plant that is pest resistant reducing the need for both water and pesticides and herbicides. Hemp also helps nourish the soil right where it is planted, reducing the need for fertilizer.

Here’s another eco-friendly yarn option for those who use animal fibers: Eco Wool from Sirdar in the U.K.

Eco Wool comes in DK weight in 50 gram balls. It looks quite lovely and natural.

There were a few great eco shoe companies at the beginning of this decade that sadly fizzled out. Perhaps there were a variety of reasons, but obtaining sustainable and recycled materials at a feasible cost was a biggie.

Not only are “green” resources more available today, there are authenticity and certification programs, as well as trace systems that track from field to retailer. Simple Shoes is a business with deserved admiration for establishing sustainable material suppliers through a combination of programs. They appropriately describe themselves as a “nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.”

Having lived in Brooklyn for part of my life I can appreciate the creativity that grows there. Bodkin is a good example of a budding environmentally friendly clothing company in New York that specializes in:

• organic cotton, wool, recycled-PET nylon, cellulosic fibers, and kapok
• cute and contemporary styles and designs
• eco vegetable dyed garments
• the principles of sustainability as they relate to fashion

I have Spring fever. Bad. I can’t wait for the warmth and the sun of the season. I think that’s why I am quite currently fawning over Sublime’s organic yarns.

Sublime offers soft and soothing colors that seem perfect for this time of year. They come in organic cotton as well as organic merino wool. Organic options enough for everyone.

Thirteen Mile Farm is located in big sky country in Belgrade, Montana. Here you’ll find about 100 sheep being raised on a farm that looks out for the environmental concerns of its livestock and the land.

Owned and operated by Becky Weed and Dave Tyler, this pair are still learning ways to green up their farm but currently practice crop and animal rotation, use plants instead of chemicals for fertilizers and never use antibiotics or hormones in their sheep. They are certified organic by the USDA
and have a Predatory Friendly certification as well. That means they do not use lethal methods to deter predators. This is especially crucial in areas such as Montana and other farming states where important predators are on the come back, such as wolves.

While these are great and wonderful points about the farm, we’re here for the yarn!

Located in the Pacific Northwest, Midnightsky Fibers is a great little yarn and fiber company that offers a variety of eco-friendly yarns and fibers.

From wool and wool blends to soysilk yarns, Midnightsky offers hand spun and hand dyed yarns and fibers. Special emphasis is placed on wool and wool blends with all natural and environmentally-friendly fibers used in the blends.

All of their yarns and fibers are available in their natural state, dyed, or hand painted, in addition to a number of fiber clubs and sock yarn clubs. They source their yarns and fibers from other small companies committed to supporting small artists and environmental issues.

Meaning “a place of trees,” Treliske is a 3000 acre organic farm, certified by the New Zealand Biological Producers and Consumers Council since 1986. Farmed by the Aitchison family for 3 generations, Treliske grazes Merino, Crossbred and coloured sheep flocks and principally produces high quality certified organic wool, on the South Island of New Zealand.

The Treliske merino wool range includes organic babywear, baby blankets, knitwear and knitting wool yarns which free from harmful chemicals. It is natural, undyed and unbleached and is grown and manufactured without the 8,000 chemicals found in the textile industry.