General

Do you have an in-person store?

No, at this time we are an online-only business! But we do vend at in-person events and pop-ups, so subscribe to our newsletter (on our home page) for those updates, as well as subscriber-only offers! And check our Happenings page for our schedule, as well.

What is your shipping policy?

You can find our shipping policy here. At this time, we only ship to the US and Canada.

How do I return an item?

You can find our return policy and procedures here; we also thank you for remembering that most of our items are handmade or hand-grown, either by us or by other small businesses and farms. Your purchase helps sustain their creative and community work, and allows us to continue introducing you to more great farms and artists like them!

Yarn and Wool

A while back, I bought some amazing wool or yarn from ___ Farm on your site, but I don't see it here now. Why not/when will it be back?

We work with small-batch yarn from smaller farms, which are typically available in small quantities for a limited time: in other words, if you love it, get it while you can! It takes many months for a farm to turn its fleeces into yarn, and even longer during a pandemic, when spinning mills experienced shut downs or limited operations. This caused a backlog of wool waiting to be spun into yarn, and we are still seeing the effects of that; farms have been waiting longer than usual for their yarns to be ready, and they don't always have exact timeframes from their mills that they can share with us. 

We believe small-batch yarn from great farms is the best fiber there is, and we are committed to sourcing truly exceptional yarn for you to make into heirlooms to last a lifetime. All good things are worth the wait; if you don't see the farm you're looking for, chances are good you'll find another to fall in love with in the meantime! 

My yarn skein(s) arrived with small bits of dried grass or hay in them. What do I do with this?

This is called vegetable matter or "VM,"and it is remnants of hay or dried grass from the field where the sheep grazed. While rarely seen in commercial yarn, it's often spotted in small-batch wool, which is not treated with the harsh chemicals used to strip VM from commercial skeins. Instead, small farms "skirt" or clean their fleeces by hand before sending them to the mill for spinning; it's a time-intensive, laborious process, and even the best hand-skirting can never remove every bit of dried grass. Here at Needle + Purl, we celebrate vegetable matter for all it represents: our connection to the shepherd and all she did - the labor, cost and sacrifice - to convert her sheep's fleeces into yarn.

Most vegetable matter will be flung out by a yarn swift when winding your yarn (if you go fast enough)! The rest will come out with a proper wash and block of your finished piece. So there's no need to pick it out as you knit (although we know a few knitters who find this extremely satisfying)!h

How should I wash the finished items I make with the yarns you sell?

• We sell only natural (non-superwash) yarns; the wool that makes the yarn has not been treated to be machine washable. This is better for the environment - the superwash process uses plastics to coat the wool - and for you, as nonsuperwash wool is much stronger. Your handmade garments will last many, many more lifetimes in nonsuperwash yarns!
• Natural 100% wool yarns are easy to wash. The rule of thumb is: no heat, and no agitation. Both of these will felt the wool. So keep it cool and gentle!
• In most cases, a short hand wash in a soap like Soak, followed by rolling your garment in a towel (to squeeze out excess moisture) and laying it flat to try will take care of things! Some brave knitters do machine wash cool on a delicate cycle and lay flat to dry; this is up to you!
• Wool garments do not need frequent washings. Wool is naturally antimicrobial, and washing too often will actually wear down the stitches of your garment. Oils from sweat and antiperspirants are hard to remove, however, so wearing a light t shirt or tank under your sweater will also prolong its life.
• It's a great idea to wash all your hand knits at the end of every cold season, before putting them away until next year. This helps keep moths away!

I ordered a naturally dyed skein of yarn; when I wound it on my yarn swift, it released a fine colored powder. Is this normal? Is the naturally dyed skein going to be colorfast?

In almost every skein of naturally dyed yarn we have knit with at Needle + Purl, regardless of the farm or color or dyer, we see this too! To answer this question, we first have to give a little background on how natural dyes work.

Natural dyeing - the use of plants and other materials found in nature to dye wool and fabrics - doesn't use artificial chemicals to help colors adhere to the wool, so dyers rely on a process called mordanting; the skeins are soaked in a mordant, like alum, before their dye bath. The mordant ensures colorfastness, inasmuch as the material the dyer is using can be colorfast (an expert natural dyer understands the alchemy of working with marigolds and madder, avocado skins and indigo). When the wool is done soaking in the dye, the dyer then exhausts the skeins, or rinses out the dye that is more than the wool can hold (this is done with chemical dyes, as well).

The powder you see when winding a skein on a swift is a bit more of this excess natural dye that could not be absorbed by the yarn; it is shed harmlessly while you spin up the skein. You might see a bit of this on your hands as you knit, which is normal; you should not see a lot of color transfer on your hands or the needles (this would be a sign of insufficient mordanting or colorfastness from an inexperienced dyer, or something that went very wrong in their process; this can happen with chemical dyes too). But the powder itself isn't a sign of a problem, just the yarn shedding the last of that excess dye!

If I order a pattern or knit kit, how do I receive a copy of the pattern?

When you purchase a pattern, or knit kit that includes a Needle + Purl pattern, you'll receive a link to download the pattern on the checkout confirmation page, once you have completed payment. You can save and/or print this pattern for your own use. 

I noticed you don't sell knitting needles on the site or with any of the knitting kits - why?

In the spirit of transparency, the long story short is: knitting needles are hard for small businesses like ours to stock because there are so many of them, and most distributors of knitting needles require shops to stock at least one of each size option, which can result in hundreds!

We are excited to stock needles once we are a bit bigger and have the capacity to store enough options to give our customers a good range of choices, but unfortunately it isn't possible for us right now. 

Embroidery

Which of your embroidery samplers and kits come with thread?

• The Poplush, Urbann Nest, and Hook, Line & Tinker embroidery kits come with all the threads you need for the project, as well as an embroidery hoop, needle, instructions, and pre-printed cloth.
• The Dropcloth embroidery sampler comes with just the pre-printed cloth and instructions.

What embroidery threads should I use for my Dropcloth embroidery sampler?

• Either a 2- or 3-strand embroidery thread (traditional thread, or perle cotton) will work great for Dropcloth samplers.
• We stock two options: Weeks Dye Works 2-strand thread, and Rustic Moire Wool Threads, which are similar to a 3-strand thread. Both come on spools and ready to use!

Tell me more about these wool threads! What are they like, and what should I use them for?

• The Rustic Wool Threads can be used for any hand sewing - embroidery, mending, darning, appliqué and punch needle projects.
• The threads are single-ply and colorfast, made with 100% wool and dyed in Spain.
• They come in a huge variety of colors - some solid, some gently heathered - on lovely wooden spools of 87 yards each. They are about the thickness of 3 strands of traditional DMC floss and can be worked either single or held double. 
• They create a strong, beautifully textured effect and work with either of the embroidery or crewel needle sets we sell. 

What size hoop should I use for my embroidery sampler?

• It's really a matter of personal preference, and we stock a range of sizes!
• A 6" hoop is comfortable to hold and reach the center of your work easily; you can move it around a larger piece of work as you go.
• Larger hoops (7-10") can be used to frame a sampler, or work on a larger piece like the ABC Max Sampler.
• Smaller 4" hoops are great for small little projects or small corners, like the edge of a tea towel.

 

Knits

Do you sell any finished knitwear (knit hats, sweaters, commissioned pieces)?

Our goal is to empower everyone to make and create! But we occasionally have a sample sale of pieces we have knit for design planning, display, etc. that we no longer need.

We have also begun rescuing vintage knitwear for sale, as well! These are unique pieces with very limited availability. Check the Vintage Knits section of our site for updates!