25th Jan 2019

Why I started Yarn Vibes | Hand-dyed, artisan Irish yarn

Hi! I’m Joan, the owner of Yarn Vibes.

I was born and raised in Cork in the south of Ireland. I love swimming, hiking, my family, my country, and of course, knitting and crochet. I set up Yarn Vibes late last year because I’m passionate about supporting Irish farmers, producers and designers, all while producing high quality artisan yarn.

Our yarn production process uses mixed mountain fleece from sheep reared in Ireland, which supports local farmers and rural Ireland.

Our shearer, George Graham is a third generation Irish shearer who holds an Irish record of 487 sheep sheared in 9 hours.

Our yarns are hand-dyed in County Carlow by Diarmuid Commins, who has more than 20 years of experience in the natural washing and hand dying process that makes our yarn feel so soft but keeps it as close to its natural state as possible.

As we produce our yarn in small batches, we are unique in being able to buy directly from sheep farmers - making Diarmuid the only person buying Irish fleece and turning it into knitting yarn.

And our designers hail from all over the Emerald Isle. They’re inspired by the Irish landscape; winding streams, hedgerows, islands and fields that make my country beautiful.

The whole process of producing our yarn supports people in the country I call home.

I’m excited to be starting this journey with our growing Yarn Vibes base and can’t wait to share the new yarn, patterns and accessories we’ll be adding over the coming weeks and months!

I've loved getting to know some of our passionate knitters and can't wait to hear more about all the knitting projects you're working on.

If you want to get in touch or if you've any questions, please send me an email at hello@yarnvibes.com.

Joan