Kelly Rand
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.
Their hand painted yarns are dyed before spinning to maintain the fiber’s luster and are available in a variety of colors and fiber blends that are both beautiful and smart. Midnightsky uses both chemical and natural dyes and uses Earth-friendly mordants.
The dyes they use come from sustainable, eco-friendly sources, and support cottage industry and cooperatives to help support rural native industries. They use several insect based dyes that are not vegetarian, including cochineal and lac. Over eighty percent of the cochineal they use, comes from small suppliers. Lac is also an insect based dye, though the insect has left before the sticklac is collected. They choose to use these dyes because of the environmental and sustainable practices they help support in indigenous populations.
Midnightsky also carries their environmentalism to other aspects of their company. “We do what we can to recycle and be environmentally responsible,” said Jennifer Wisbeck, owner of Midnightsky Fibers. “We reuse a lot of the water in the dyeing and spinning process and we make every effort to use dyes and mordants that are not harmful to humans, animals, plants or Earth.”
If you order from Midnightsky, you can also score a discount on your next purchase. Just pledge to recycle the packing materials that your order comes in!
[Image courtesy Midnightsky Fibers]
