Welcome to Gem State Yarns!

Hello and welcome! I wanted to start off by introducing myself and our little website.

My name is Heather. I have lived in North Idaho (the Gem State) most of my life hence the name, Gem State Yarns. Pictured is myself and my four wild kids. To get this picture we drove up a snowy mountain on a wet December morning and rushed to set up a scene, snap a few shots, and get the heck out of Dodge before the snow got too bad to drive back off the mountain. You know, typical Idaho stuff.

When I was growing up I always admired the women in my family who knit and crochet. I would watch as a skein of yarn magically became something tangible like a blanket or sweater. However, I was a military brat being raised far from any family. Neither of my own parents knew either craft so I was left to teach myself.

I remember when I was about 12 getting a crochet pattern book, a metal size J hook, and a skein of worsted weight dusty pink yarn to teach myself to crochet. The directions were limited but I was determined. I misunderstood the directions and set to work making a scarf in slip stitches. Very quickly the stitches became so tight that I couldn't even force my hook into a stitch and had to give up.

Fortunately, the internet would come to my rescue some years later. I realized my mistake and mastered the single, double, and half-double stitches quickly before moving on to granny squares and Catherine wheels. I later picked up knitting, in a similar manner, and fell in love immediately.

This is when my yarn obsession began and I started dyeing my own yarns. I quickly became obsessed with this new hobby and decided to open Gem State Yarns on Etsy in 2020. I loved it so much that I went full-time pretty quickly.

As Gem State rolls up to our two year anniversary I look forward to growing and adding more fun things like new monthly mystery sets, new birthday countdown box options, patterns, kits, and new colorway drops.

I look forward to this new chapter and I truly appreciate everyone who is along for the ride!

 

 

Back to blog

1 comment

I love my Jan Club Box so much that I immediately signed up for the February one plus a skein of bulky. Looking forward to the future of your developing business. Leslie

Leslie Bradbury

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.