Introductions and Intentions

Hello, friend, and welcome: I'm so glad you stumbled upon my little corner of the Web. My name is Sara, and I decided to start this blog to chronicle my journey through the fiber arts from a vegan perspective. Though I'm typically quite a reserved and private person, the dearth of vegan-focused crafting blogs prompted me to channel my inner extrovert and share something I'm deeply passionate about: the joy (yes, joy!) of spinning, knitting, and crocheting with compassionate plant-based fibers.

Handspun soysilk

Estonian lace shawl knit with handspun soysilk

Lacy cowl knit with handspun bamboo

I wasn't always a vegan, and I didn't always prefer to work with non-animal fibers. In fact, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when I firmly believed that wool, alpaca, cashmere, and silk were the only fibers worth my time as a fiber artist, and I just as fervently eschewed cotton, linen, hemp, and others because of this pervasive bias. 

When I became a vegan for ethical reasons in January 2014, I found myself feeling conflicted about my substantial yarn and fiber stash, and started researching how these soft, luxurious animal fibers were produced and procured. I wasn't happy with the truths I discovered, so after a period of reevaluation and reflection, I donated most of my stash to charity and dedicated myself to working with and learning more about plant fibers.

Socks knit with Vegan Yarn Pleiades sock yarn

Shawl knit with organic, marigold-dyed cotton lace yarn

In the time since, I've learned so much about vegan-friendly fibers, and continue to do so every day. In this blog, I'll chronicle my adventures in spinning, knitting, and crocheting with cotton, hemp, ramie, bamboo, linen, and other fibers. There will be tales of my works in progress, celebrations of finished objects, and reviews of gorgeous fiber, yarn, and books. I also plan to post spinning tutorials for folks new to spinning plant fibers: it's really not as hard as you might think. And on top of all this, I've recently dipped my toes into the waters of learning how to hand-dye yarn, so there will likely be dyeing tales, as well.

Handspun organic, color-grown cotton

Handspun organic, color-grown cotton

You certainly don't have to be a vegan to read and enjoy this blog! My intention is to share the joy of working with these beautiful fibers with everyone, not just vegans. I hope that the information I share will demonstrate that plant fibers can be just as lovely and luxurious as the animal-based fibers you might be more familiar with. Variety's the spice of life, as they say, so if you're in a spinning rut and looking for something new and exciting to work with, plant fibers might be just what you're looking for.

I have a bunch of great content planned, and I hope you'll stay tuned for future posts. Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!