Did you notice that I always – ALWAYS use sustainable yarns?

I’m not naïve. I know very well that most of you probably don’t purchase the recommended yarn to my designs.

That’s okay!

I guess it’s due to one or more of the following reasons:

• You don’t have access to the yarns that I use
• You use yarn from your stash
• You don’t like the yarn that I recommend
• As a basic principle you refuse to do anything that I tell you to – I belong to that category myself!

Fortunately, there is no such thing as a ‘knitter-police-task-force’ and I’m capable of handling your disobedience with regard to this.

I do, however want to offer you some basic idea about why I as a knitwear designer is making life even more complicated by insisting on working with sustainable yarns only.

Even if you really don’t care, I urge you continue reading, as my experience is that one may stop ‘not care’ when one reads something that one ‘does not care about’…does it make sense?

Now, are you ready to know what I don’t want to do?

• I don’t want to use yarn or wear clothing that intoxicates my body
• I don’t want to use yarn or wear clothing that has been produced in way that causes environmental damage
• I don’t want to use yarn or wear clothing that has been produced without due respect to basic international labour standards

Thanks, I feel a lot better now, and I’m ready to tell you what I do want to do, okay?

• I do want to use yarn and wear clothing that does not intoxicate neither my body nor the environment
• I do want to pay a fair price to ensure that fellow human beings around the world have a decent work life where international labour rights are respected and protected
• I do want to take on my responsibility as an empowered person from a rich country
• I do want to enlighten our knitters’ community (hello to all you newcomers!) and insist that we take a stand with regard to the yarn that we purchase
• I do want to support the yarn producers that actively work for a better world
• I do want to show our community the vast variety of beautiful, colourful, high quality, sustainable yarns that are accessible to us

What do you want to do?

By the way, did you notice the beautiful photo? Kirstine from Grønne Garner (a shop that only offers sustainable yarns) has kindly allowed me to use her photo.