This Is The Perfect Time To Plan A Move (??!)

TL;DR: I'm moving back to the east coast, so if you want to buy my stuff, start with Stilly River Yarns and Mad Cow Yarn, or you can buy from my shop if you have to until Sunday 28 June, and I'm going to donate 20% to 40% of sales to Young Women Empowered and the Loveland Foundation (plus an additional donation to Plymouth Housing for sales of the Aspire blend).

I have been saying "don't buy stuff from me" for a few months now because (1) COVID-19 and (2) I finally/now/still have an office job (which pays my bills, because fiber alone never did), whereas other folks' primary income comes from their fiber arts business and you should support them instead.

But, because life fucking happens fast sometimes, and I'm not mentally able to continue where I am now, I'm moving back east. This wasn't a decision made lightly. I have pretty much the perfect job here and many wonderful people I love and will miss terribly. But life doesn't care if there's a global catastrophe, or a basic human rights crisis, or even if you want a thing to happen, it just throws punches at you and you have to dodge, take the hit, or get out of the ring.

(Those few of you who know my coworkers—HUSH. They'll hear about it soon, but most haven't been told yet that I'm moving. [They now know, so you don't have to hush.] And they certainly won't be told the psychologically damaging details—I'm going to continue working for the firm and really don't need that fuckery hanging over my head in my day-to-day interactions. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, y'all can read about some of the recent details here if you'd like. Keep in mind the focus of the post, though—do the work to be anti-racist and do actionable things, like protesting, calling your local leaders and representatives in Congress, supporting Black businesses, and addressing racism in your day-to-day life among your family, coworkers, and friends.)

I still definitely encourage you to support fiber artists and small business owners whose livelihoods are directly tied to their business (Mary of Elemental Fiberworks has put together a list of fiber artists, instructors, and others who you may wish to check out and support). And definitely support Black makers, authors, business owners, and artists. But if you are so inclined, I now have product listed in my shop. Some of it is what you know and love; other bits are "mystery" bumps of hand-dyed fiber at a discount (because I don't have the energy to catalog and photograph all the variations right now).

But I'm not entirely comfortable selling stuff right now—I feel pretty damn strongly that other people deserve your support more than I do. So I have to make this work in a way I'm comfortable with, where others and I are both supported. Here's how:

• A percentage of all sales will be donated to support Young Women Empowered and the Loveland Foundation. The percentage is different depending on how you order. Details below.
• Young Women Empowered is a Seattle area-based organization that "cultivates the power of diverse young women* to be creative leaders and courageous changemakers through transformative programs within a collaborative community of belonging. ... *those who identify as women or girls or who were assigned female at birth"
• Loveland Foundation was founded as an "effort to bring opportunity and healing to communities of color, and especially to Black women and girls...to contribute to both the empowerment and the liberation of the communities we serve." 
• Both of these organizations do important work and support Black women and girls. I have previously supported their efforts, and I want to support them more, so they will each get an equal percentage of sales, either from my portion of sales from local yarn shops or from direct sales through my shop.
• 20% of sales from yarn shops (listed below) and 40% of sales from my website will be split equally between the two organizations.
• No purchase is necessary to support these organizations. You can totally click on the links above and support them yourself without purchasing stuff from me. In fact, even if you do purchase from me or the LYSes below, I encourage you to individually support these and other organizations doing good work!
• I have fiber and yarn available for sale at two local yarn shops. When you purchase from these shops, you are supporting both me AND the shop. So, choose this as your first option if it makes sense for you.
• During COVID-19, the two yarn shops below have had my product for sale on a wholesale-consignment basis—that is, they pay nothing up front until they sell an item, allowing them to have product without the up front costs usually associated with it, but at my normal wholesale rate of 60/40 when it does sell. This helps them continue to have sellable inventory while minimizing their out of pocket expenses, so they can focus on paying rent and staying in business during these difficult times.
• Stilly River Yarns has a wide selection of my blends (Merman, The Deviant Kraken, a selection of Crime Scene, Gemstones, Fiber of Mass Destruction, and the remainder of my new Aspire blend) and a bit of hand-dyed fiber (Southdown/Dorset Horn/Mulberry Silk sock blend and one or two Polwarth/Seacell/Kid Mohair deliciousness), as well as a few blending kits of 4 ounces of random hand-dyed and mill-blended fiber. Contact Lindsey at Stilly River Yarn to buy fiber. Stilly River Yarns is in Snohomish County, which is (as of 19 June 2020) in Phase 2 of reopening—you can enter the shop if you wear a mask and follow shop safety procedures, but it's best to check current hours or reserve a time with Lindsey before you go.
• Stilly River Yarns has all remaining bumps of my Aspire blend, the 18.5 micron Merino/Bamboo/Cashmere fiber with colorway names that encourage folks to be more considerate and aware of those around us, such as "Speak Up," "Be Thoughtful and Intentional," and "Check My Privilege." (I should have included "Dismantle Oppression" and "Defund the Police" in that mix—perhaps in the next run.) For this blend, I will continue donating 10% of sales to a local nonprofit—donation from sales of this blend is in addition to the donation to the organizations listed above. I am going to continue donating to Plymouth Housing for this blend, in addition to the donations to Young Women Empowered and the Loveland Foundation. 
• Mad Cow Yarn has my hand-dyed Datura yarn, 100% Polwarth wool, 300 yards/100 grams (light DK/heavy sport). This yarn is featured in a number of patterns and is absolutely delightful to knit with—a perfect sweater yarn for places that don't hit minus 40 degrees. Mad Cow Yarn also has some Hemlock fingering, 400 yards/100 grams, 80% 18.5 micron Merino/20% Baby Camel. It's soft and luscious and squooshable! Contact Molly to purchase these yarns or other random skeins of my yarn she carries. Mad Cow Yarn is in King County, which is (as of 19 June 2020) newly in Phase 2 of reopening. Mad Cow Yarn has a limit on entry and requires masks. Contact the shop for more info.
• Want anything listed in my shop, but want to purchase it from Stilly River Yarns or Mad Cow Yarn so you can assist them during these unprecedentedly troubled times for retail establishments? Let me and/or them know and I will try to get it to them. After Sunday 28 June this might not be an option.
• I guess you could just buy from me directly, at least until Sunday 28 June when I have to pause the shop and focus on the move. Orders will ship as I have capacity to pack them; it might be longer than my usual 1-3 days but it will be within a business week. If you do purchase directly from me, 40% of sales gets split equally and donated to Young Women Empowered and the Loveland Foundation. But don't forget, you can donate yourself, too!