A Guelph woman has launched a new business selling eco-friendly yarn in smaller amounts to reduce waste.
A long-time knitter, Christine Laframboise loves the craft because it allows her to unplug and feel grounded.
But over the years, she became frustrated with the amount of leftover yarn she had after completing projects, which is why she launched Waxwing Yarn Company.
Yarn for fibre arts is typically sold in 100 gram formats.
“There are a couple of brands that are offering 50 grams, but they’re pretty rare,” she said.
“If you’re always buying in 100 gram format, your project is going to cost a little more than if you were able to buy smaller amounts of yarn. So it really got me thinking like, why is nobody offering smaller sizes of the exact same yarn without limiting the colour options?”
Waxwing offers a collection of 20 colours in 25 grams and 100 grams.
“So whoever is using my yarn can look at their project requirements and really tailor their purchase more closely to what they need,” she said, adding that she hopes to add more colour variety in the future.
One of the biggest draws for the smaller format is cost savings, but also acquiring a smaller stash and therefore less waste.
Although you might intend on using leftover yarn for another project, she said often people get distracted by new patterns and colours and “it ends up building and building to the point where you have totes full of leftover yarn and you’re not really motivated to use them.”
Knitters might need smaller quantities of yarn for smaller projects like a toque, or for bursts of colour in a sweater.
“So you end up spending a lot of money to have many different colours. But with my brand, I'm able to reduce the amount of leftovers and therefore reduce the cost of the overall project,” she said.
Laframboise was struck with the idea years ago, when struggling to find the yarn she needed.
“It’s one of those things that just kept nagging at me, like I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t purchase the yarn that I wanted in smaller formats.”
She also wanted to purchase yarn produced locally, and was having difficulty finding it. When she did, there was a lack of variety.
“I just question why there weren't more, because I knew that there were high quality sheep locally in Canada,” she said.
She grew serious about the business idea two years ago, starting with a business plan, started working with the Business Centre and moving from there. Though it remains a side hustle for her, the company officially launched in November.
With the help of Jane Underhill from the Canadian Wool agency, she sourced high quality Canadian wool and a Canadian manufacturer, selecting the colours she wanted.
“And then it came back to me as a finished product,” she said.
You’re not only reducing leftovers by purchasing smaller amounts, but are buying less and therefore reducing the resources required in making the skeins.
It’s also made to last and biodegrades.
“The yarn that I'm selling is very fine quality. It doesn't include any petrochemicals. There's no nylon. There's no super wash additives that are applied on the yarn,” she said.
“So it's a garment that is going to be extremely durable, and hopefully something that you can pass down to the next generation, and it's not going to be harmful to the environment. You can put this in your compost, and it's not going to leave anything behind.”
The response to her launch has been enthusiastic so far, though she’s still trying to get across the benefits of using less yarn.
She recently launched a pre-bundled kit for a project based on a specific pattern in a variety of colours.
“The response was really, really positive right from the start,” she said.
The same project might cost $260 if you were purchasing full-sized skeins, but the 25 gram bundles mean she can sell them for less, about 44 per cent cheaper.
Along with expanding her offerings, she hopes to hold in-person events in the future to bring the community together.
“It’s a great way of making connections with other people. I think back to when my grandmother showed me how to knit. I remember her sitting in her living room in her rocking chair surrounded by friends,” all talking, knitting and connecting.
“I'm really trying to be as inclusive as possible, because I think that any sort of craft where you're working with your hands is a really welcome pause and slowness in the day that I think a lot of people need.”
You can see and purchase the wool online or in person at her first trunk show on Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Woolwich Fine Yarns.
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