Feature
| INDY YARN EASYKNITS
easyknits
INDY YARN
BY KERRIE ALLMAN
Yarn company, Easyknits is the
brainchild of Jon Dunn, a graphic
designer, crocheter, knitter and yarn
dyer with a passion for colour.
aught to knit first of all by his grandma always on the ball when it comes to new patterns,
T
when he was seven years old, Jon yarns and colours.
was crocheting confidently by the age The Sushi sock rolls are one of Jon’s most
of ten and carried on with his love of popular stock items – the unique colour-changing
yarn crafts on and off for 12 years, as and when properties give the fi nished item an extremely
he felt the urge to pick up some yarn. Seeing an vibrant fi nished look. Customers are just beginning
advert for a pub knitting night, Jon went along to discover the potential of what can be created with
and armed with a pint and his knitting needles, one. Jon fi nds that sending out newsletters is a great
joined the happy chatty group of knitters. He way to generate sales, with the yarn that he used in
has not looked back since and now has yarn that month’s pattern being the most popular seller.
with him at all times and works on projects A current favourite is Jon’s semi-solid aran-weight
from socks to shawls on his daily commute to yarn in Strawberry Jam, a gorgeous deep red colour.
London on the train.
Easyknits was born in November 2007 when
Gerard and Craig from I Knit London asked him Many of Easyknits’ colourways are
to dye some yarn for one of their sock clubs. The
“
inspired by food, fl ora and fauna.
response to the yarn was amazing and Easyknits has
since grown and expanded their range to include
spinning fi bre and Jon’s innovative Sushi Sock rolls, The miracle of Ravelry allows Jon to keep in
which are a machine-knitted piece of fabric dyed in touch with his yarn after it has been purchased, on
”
beautiful colours, in addition to a beautiful range of average 50% of his customers are active on the site
sock and aran-weight yarns. The sock rolls are meant and to be able to see what they choose to create
to be unraveled and knitted or crocheted into socks with it is a special treat. There are still the special
Easyknits yarn looks
with a stunning result every time. skeins that sit in a yarn stash for a while before
great when crocheted
being used, but which of us would be unfamiliar and felted.
Unlimited Potential with that? Jon is inspired by the patterns and projects
Having had such a great response from his fi rst foray that his customers make with his yarns,
into selling yarn, Jon decided to launch his own which encourages him to come up with
website at www.easyknits.co.uk, fi rst as a blog and his own colourways and patterns.
then with a shop being added shortly after. Running Meeting customers at the many
an online business fi ts in well with Jon at this stage in yarn shows that Jon attends is another
his life but it is not without its challenges. Growing great way of gauging reactions to his
a customer base and ensuring that regular newslet- yarns. When customers show him the
ter emails are sent out means that his customers are projects they have crocheted or knitted, it
makes all the hard work worthwhile. The
feedback he receives from customers – at
shows, through his website and groups on
Ravelry – have made him realise that it’s
what Easyknits does differently that sets
him apart from the crowd, rather than what
he does that is the same as other indy dyers.
Jon teaches Easyknits workshops at many
of the shows he attends and really enjoys passing
»
www.insidecrochet.co.uk
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IC3.feat.IndyYarn.FINAL.indd 21 8/7/09 10:01:00
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