Stilly River Yarns (Stanwood, WA)
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stillyriveryarns.com
Stilly River Yarns (Stanwood, WA)
@stillyriveryarns.com
380 followers 430 following 260 posts
🧶 Full-service yarn shop - beginners welcome!

🧶 Supplies for crochet/felting/knitting/spinning/small-scale weaving

🧶 Classes, lessons, and microflock shearing/maintenance services

🧶 Community is our superpower

https://linktr.ee/stillyriveryarns
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stillyriveryarns.com
This week's shop schedule:

- classes open for registration on the shop website at 7 PM
- Community Crafting Circle on Tuesday, 1-3 PM
- Stanwood-Camano Spinners on Thursday, 6-8:30 PM
- Rise & Shine Social Time on Saturday, 9 AM - noon
- Shop closes at 1 PM on Saturday for travel to Spokane
September 15, 2025 at 1:49 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
It has been a fraught few days. So I went and petted a few local sheep, provided a little financial and lots of moral support at a makers’ market, and am getting ready to teach a spinning class.
September 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Here’s the table I mention in the video; this is from the August 22 edition of the ASI newsletter:
September 4, 2025 at 5:08 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
Sad to say, a lot of folks are just now understanding why the domestic wool industry in the US is in deep trouble. A huge part of the conversation is the lack of financial incentive to produce wool - SO much work but so very little return. Here’s my quick explanation (the table I mention is below)
September 4, 2025 at 5:07 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
This week at the shop! Tuesday: Book signing with Deborah Held (and a sold-out class), so no community crafting circle - and After Dark Social Night is rescheduled to next Tuesday, 7/8.

Shop opens at 11 AM on Wednesday.

Closed on Friday/Saturday for the holiday weekend.
June 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Ready for some @lystour.com pattern reveals since we're just a day and a half out? Here we go!!!

Our crochet pattern is called Something You Can Cuddle Up In, featuring @berrocoyarn.bsky.social Wizard.

Our knitting pattern is Calculated Stars, featuring Juniper Moon Farm Cotton + Merino.
A navy blue background. Gold text reads LYS Tour 2025 Pattern Reveal! The Puget Sound LYS Tour logo - a blue-grey sheep standing on a green yarn ball - is on the left, an at symbol is in the middle, and the large Stilly River Yarns logo - 3 white sheep in a pasture next to a light blue river that looks like a strand of yarn with 4 pine trees - is at right. Gold text at the bottom reads Spoilers ahead! Gold text on a navy background reads Crochet: Something You Can Snuggle Up In, Featuring Berroco Wizard. A photo features an older woman with glasses, short grey hair, and a black cardigan holding a multicolored striped triangular shawl; and a younger woman wearing a pink blouse and blue jeans holding a red/pink/burgundy/black striped triangular shawl that is slightly smaller. Navy blue background with gold text that reads Knitting: Calculated Stars - Featuring Juniper Moon Farm Cotton + Merino. In the middle of the frame, there is a photo of a grey cowl with a mesh front draped over a piece of wood with a tree and apartments slightly out of focus in the background.
May 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
What a day shearing yesterday! Made it through 4 Kerry Hill crosses (1 x BFL, 3 x Cheviot), tried a new-to-me pattern that will be my go-to from here on out (check out that blanket in the 2nd photo 😍), and taught a new shepherd how to skirt for milling.
Three fluffy white sheep wait to be shorn, but they aren’t thrilled about it - they’re backed into the far corner of a sheltered enclosure. A person wearing a grey shirt that says CANADA stands over a partially shorn white sheep. The shorn wool cascades off the sheep towards the floor just like the novice shearer standing partially out of frame on the left side has dreamed of for over a year. An outdoor scene. Three adults and a toddler (yarn swatch obscuring his face for privacy) stand around a skirting table built fr snow fence, dimensional lumber, and PVC pipe. They are sorting fleece to keep only the good stuff for milling or hand processing. Four freshly-shorn sheep are in a field and face the camera. They are much cooler and lighter than they were that morning.
May 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
One of the big advantages of our new location: PARKING GALORE, especially for @lystour.com!

The red cars in the 2nd image show areas where you can park while visiting the shop.

Please help us be good neighbors by NOT parking in condo resident spots across the alley from the shop (3rd image)!
Navy blue background. Light grey text reads "LYS Tour Travel Tip: Parking". The Puget Sound LYS Tour logo is at left, with an "at" symbol shown in the middle, and the large Stilly River Yarns logo is at right, implying "Puget Sound Local Yarn Shop Tour events at Stilly River Yarns." A satellite view of the neighborhood around the shop is annotated with cartoonish red cars in areas where guests may park during the LYS Tour. At the bottom of the image, there is a green electric vehicle symbol superimposed on another building. At top, a car emoji is shown with an equal symbol, followed by the text "available shop parking." At bottom, the EV symbol is shown with an equal symbol, followed by the text "EV charging stations." The sidewalk in front of the shop is shown with empty parking spots directly adjoining the building. Across the alleyway, gold arrows indicate parking spots mostly filled with vehicles. Text at top reads, "The spots across the alley from the shop (indicated here with gold arrows) are for condo residents only - please help us be good neighbors by NOT parking in this area!"
May 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Next up on our @pugetsoundlystour slow reveal, you might love our featured yarns so much you’ll need a bigger boat… errr… TOTE.

Our knitting project will come in at just about $23; the crochet project will cost about $27 for the 1-ball size and $54 for the 2-ball size (all totals include tax).
A calm scene on a lake from the point of view inside a canoe. Four balls of yarn are apparently in charge of rowing the boat. One is light green with a weird white tubing running through it; one is black with fuchsia tubing running through it; one is a gentle gradient that runs from grey to green to turquoise; one is a gradient through various greys that ends with beige.
May 9, 2025 at 11:38 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
We’re rolling out our @lystour.com pattern reveal over the next few days… first up, this year’s literary inspiration! I read both of these last year and was really touched by them. Our knitting pattern is called Calculated Stars, and our crochet pattern is called Something You Can Snuggle Up In.
A black and red book cover. A creature with tentacles, a pointed hat, and yellow facial feature dominates the cover but envelops a stout, scared-looking feminine figure. Grey chains frame the image in a diamond. Text reads: Someone You Can Build a Nest In - John Wiswell. A predominantly blue book cover, with the silhouettes of 7 figures walking across uneven ground. Text on the cover reads Mary Robinette Kowal - The Calculating Stars - A Lady Astronaut Novel. (A blurb reads “An alternate history of space flight that reminds me of everything I loved about Hidden Figures.” - Cady Coleman, Astronaut)
May 9, 2025 at 1:20 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
The @lystour.com starts next Wednesday, and as your local #FullServiceYarnShop, we’re here for your travel planning needs.

On the Tour page of our website, you’ll find detailed directions, all the info on parking for the shop, a list of parks, and a list of restaurants. And for the EV owners…
May 8, 2025 at 10:32 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
The LYS Tour is just the start of a summer of learning and community events at Stilly River Yarns.

Join us on Saturday, May 31 from 3-5 PM for a class on How to Doodle with @pacificknitco.bsky.social herself!

Register here: www.stillyriveryarns.com/store/p682/D...
A white background with a top-bound spiral notebook just right of center. A black pen sits at the far right of the frame, and a full spectrum of pens is arranged along the left edge. Text on the notebook reads: CLASS: How to Doodle with Jamie Lomax (Pacific Knit Co.) - Saturday, May 31, 3-5 PM @ Stilly River Yarns
April 30, 2025 at 1:37 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
The @lystour.com bags are now available in our online shop - and in-person tomorrow starting at 10 AM!

Have us ship them or reserve one for pickup: www.stillyriveryarns.com/store/p681/L...
Two event-branded bags are standing under a growing bright green hosta plant in a mulched garden bed. Both bags feature a green image on a natural canvas background: a WA State Ferry is centered on the image, flanked by tall pine trees and a large mountain - Tahoma - in the background. On the large bag, a moon rises behind the mountain and a large ball of yarn is placed in the near foreground. On the small bag, the ball of yarn is placed behind the mountain to represent the moon. Both bags read “Puget Sound LYS Tour 2025.” The large bag has dark green sides and handles. The small bag has a dark green bottom and a zippered top.
April 21, 2025 at 11:47 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Chapter 6 of Domestic Wool Doldrums: what can you do to help improve the situation and learn more?
April 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Chapter 5 of Domestic Wool Doldrums is here, and I’m talking about just three of the things we count on having in local yarn shops that… you can’t get domestically in commercially viable quantities.

Chapter 6 will drop Wednesday - the topic will be “what do we do next?”
April 14, 2025 at 9:42 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Chapter 4 of Domestic Wool Doldrums: mills and other infrastructure.

We’re losing domestic commercial-capacity mills at an astounding rate - and micro mills aren’t able to produce enough yarn to satisfy domestic demand. Plus, we only have 2 commercial-capacity scouring facilities left in the US.
April 14, 2025 at 1:25 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Nothing like thinking you’re almost done with a brioche section of a giant circular blanket when you re-read the directions and realize you VASTLY miscalculated the rounds remaining on the section. 😭

📓: Starflanket by Stephen West
🧶: Berroco Vintage in Mochi, Fennel, Douglas Fir, and… not Sunny
A giant blanket sits mockingly in a person’s lap. Steel needles poke out at the top of an olive green and white brioche section, with welted sections of dark forest green and gold below it.
April 13, 2025 at 4:19 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
And here’s some of the re-scour in process, done in mixing-bowl-sized batches. Even though I’ve hand-picked all of the locks of wool open, there’s still so much dust in there… here’s to hoping the drum carder will pull a lot of it out 😭
A plaid flat sheet - beige base with thin navy and maroon lines crossing it at regular intervals to make squares - covered in damp, clean white wool. It is laying out on a lawn with a yellow plastic tote lid in the background on a partly sunny spot.
April 13, 2025 at 2:34 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
Thrilled to share that I’ve had an essay published in the Middlebury College alumni magazine - who knew it would be so timely when Matt Jennings, the editor-in-chief, invited me to write it last fall?

Also blown away by Ben Kirchner’s illustration and how well it embodies shearing school 😆
A woman with auburn hair and sunglasses pushed back over it smiled and holds a magazine, folded back to reveal an illustration of a similar woman astride a bucking white sheep. A yellow shearing hand piece is flying away from her, as she accidentally kicks off a pink boot to reveal a handknitted Fair Isle sock.
April 11, 2025 at 9:22 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Sigh. The vacation that was not really a vacation, but living out an existential crisis on behalf of my business and shop community while also pretending to be totally present with my family.

I hate this timeline.

Anyway, here’s a view of stuff I love, made/designed by good humans. Details below
An overhead view of a canvas project bag, printed with mountains and earth tone rainbows; a crocheted wavy chevron blanket in gold, brown, magenta, sky blue, and olive green; and a blue-leaning teal piece of knitted fabric that the photographer promises is actually a sweater
April 10, 2025 at 4:32 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
Chapter 3 of Domestic Wool Doldrums: wool prices.

They’ve been declining since WWII. They’re laughably low, and when you can slaughter lambs and sell meat for $15/lb rather than 83 cents/lb for wool… it’s a hard sell to encourage folks to look at wool as viable production income.
April 9, 2025 at 11:34 PM
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Chapter 2 of Domestic Wool Doldrums, in which I explain why the US wool industry can’t just reboot to replace imports in 2 weeks/months/years. 🧶 Today’s topic: shearers.

#StillyRiverYarns #FullServiceYarnShop #LocalYarnShop #AmericanWool #SheepShearing #tariffs #CantRebuildWhatDoesntExist
April 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
AHA I remembered where the download capacity was in IG.

Here’s Chapter 1 of Domestic Wool Doldrums, direct on BlueSky.

#tariffs #SmallBusinessLife #SmallBusiness #StillyRiverYarns #FullServiceYarnShop #AmericanSheep #AmericanWool
April 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
stillyriveryarns.com
Here’s our first notice of direct tariff impacts on goods we carry in the shop.

Tariffs are taxes. Our wholesale prices on everything will go up, which means unfortunately our retail prices will need to go up.

We made it through lockdown. I hope we can make it through this.
White text on a black screen: Good morning. With today’s US tariff announcement, we’ve had some questions regarding the impact to Ashford purchases and deliveries. All shipments to the USA are sent “Delivered Duty Paid.” This means all duties/tariffs and import fees are included in your purchase price and are not billed to you. You can order today with confidence based on your current price list with no extra to pay. New Zealand has been included in the announcement of increased US tariffs; we are assessing the impact of this cost increase and expect to issue a revised price list shortly. In the meantime, your existing price list remains current and you can order as normal. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued support.
April 3, 2025 at 2:43 AM
stillyriveryarns.com
Fezzik (with horns) is a Teeswater-Valais Blacknose cross; Westley (no horns) is a purebred Wensleydale. Their fleeces are incredible, too! Here they are prior to shearing:
A white Wensleydale sheep with serious locks and a bit of a man bun stands in a horse stall with straw on the floor. He is giving serious side-eye to the camera. A very curly-coated sheep stands next to a barn wall. His fleece is white, but he has black ears, eyespots, muzzle, and feet. His muzzle is dusted in a white powder - this is baking soda, which he snorts out of the minerals bin when he feels like showing off to visitors.
April 1, 2025 at 2:34 AM