Yearn-Worthy Yarns: Da’vida Fair Trade

Da’vida Fair Trade YarnOrganic yarns have been the majority of the fibers featured in our Yearn-Worthy Yarns series thus far. For this week’s installment, we are covering another vital element of green living and sustainable production – fair trade.

Wikipedia explains fair trade quite clearly as “an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production.” Based in Oneonta, New York, the Da’vida Fair Trade Store sells its own line of hand painted and hand spun yarns made from alpaca, wool and yak fibers.

Painted by Lisa Meriam, a sheep farmer who lives in upstate New York, Da’vida’s collection of yarns come uncolored from Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru. All of the yarns are certified by the Fair Trade Federation, ensuring an extensive number of trade and development points are met. Upon arriving in New York, Lisa then paints the yarns by hand with all natural dyes. Also available are hanks of yarn hand spun by Lisa from her own sheep’s wool. Currently, every hank of yarn is unique, though Da’vida is working on a more predictable line of colors.

“Da’vida, the ‘giving of life’, or ‘the life of giving’ reflects the basic philosophy of Da’vida, that of receiving a gift, and then passing that gift along to other,” says the store’s website. When it comes to creating knitted or crocheted creations, these concepts go hand in hand (no pun intended).

Who makes your favorite sustainable yarns?

Which natural fiber is your favorite to work with? (i.e. cotton, wool, bamboo, hemp … etc.)

Let us know what you love to create with and we might feature them in the next installment of Yearn-Worthy Yarns!

Written by Victoria Everman

I think of myself as a creatively versatile eco-powerhouse. Freelance writer, life-long model, on-camera personality, public speaker, official U.S. spokesperson for Twice Shy Clothing - I'm a classic Renaissance woman and mistress-of-all-trades.

Though my days of growing up in the corn fields of central Indiana are behind me, forgetting where I came from is not an option. I lost my father unexpectedly in March of 2006, months before moving from NYC to San Francisco, which helped to amplify my zest for life and thirst to help change the world.

Perpetually looking for fresh ways to share my unquenchable green knowledge, I blog about everything eco on my own website, as well as for All Green Magazine and select others. Additionally, I am the editor/head writer of Crafting a Green World (part of the Green Options blog network) and a writer/web editor for Building Green TV. My diverse articles have been published in variety of reputable magazines, such as: Yoga Journal, Venus, CRAFT, Yogi Times, Recovery Solutions, M+F, and Office Solutions.

In my spare time, you can find me knitting, reading, singing, taking pictures, practicing yoga, taking long walks, and working on my first non-fiction book. Other random facts about me: I'm a Buddhist, latex fan, have four tattoos, and an attempting locavore.

MOVING TO PORTLAND, OREGON IN JUNE 2008

13 Comments

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  1. i’m new to the knitting thing, but have been involved in sustainable living for many years. it is so wonderful to be able to bring the two together. there is so much out there! i’m having a blast knitting, blogging, knitting, blogging.

    thanks for this post!

  2. These yarns are beautiful. I’m allergic to animal fibers, though, so cotton/soy/bamboo are my choices. Unfortunately, these yarns are out my my reach financially for any kind of larger projects, although I’ve splurged on Peruvian cotton yarns from Ecobutterfly for small things (and LOVED the yarn). I feel so guilty going to the local big-box store to buy acrylics at bargain prices, but that’s what I can afford. Sigh.

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