Irish yarn shop is bringing goods to the Minnesota Irish Fair

At Yarn Vibes they are delighted to be able to showcase 100% Irish wool. Their yarn is authentically Irish, made from 100% mixed mountain fleece, locally sourced from Irish sheep. All of the yarn in this collection is hand-dyed. As this Irish wool is dyed by hand, each hank is unique. Just like the sheep this wool is sourced from, every hank is slightly different. Even wool dyed in the same color family will have stronger and lighter hues of the shade coming through. They are truly all one of a kind!

The story of Yarn Vibes began in recent years when Joan Lucey and Diarmuid Commins first met, and although they may only have crossed paths recently their passion and enthusiasm for Irish yarn was the catalyst for creating Yarn Vibes. Below is their story.

Joan Lucey is a native of Macroom, a small market town, in County Cork, which was built on the river Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee. Although Macroom is quite small it is steeped in history. This area is unusually rich with standing stones, dolmens and stone circles. In the 6th century Macroom was a meeting place for the Druids of Munster with this area also hosting a historic battle involving the Irish king Brian Boru.

It is in this market town where Lucey opened her first bookshop. Once she was established in Macroom she then opened a larger bookshop in Cork City Quay under the name Vibes and Scribes. Vibes and Scribes is now a much loved business with over 25 years of providing excellent service and products to the people of Cork and further afield. When Joan first launched the business she noticed that there there was a gap in the market for a bookshop which specialized in out of print books and, along with selling new books, this is where she focused her efforts.

Following on from the success of this bookshop Joan then decided to branch into arts and crafts, which included knitting and crochet, wool and accessories. Joan opened a second store in Cork City. Following on from this diversification Vibes and Scribes now operates from two locations — Lavitts Quay and Bridge Street which lies in the heart of Cork’s Victorian Quarter. Although she started out with a small yarn section this quickly became one of her favorite aspects of her craft shop. Being from a rural background and upbringing, close to the Kerry mountains which are home to many sheep farmers, she always had a keen interest in yarn and in particular Irish yarn. After some research she again identified a gap in the market — Irish wool. She discovered that it was near impossible to source Irish wool made exclusively from Irish sheep and she endeavored to remedy this. Thus Yarn Vibes was born.

Yarn Vibes has focused on four aspects of the Irish countryside to showcase this woolly collection — each one inspiring it’s own yarn ‘family.’ They are the glens, vales, hedgerows and islands (inis). At Yarn Vibes we feel that each of these inspiring features are filled with life, color and beauty and are worthy of celebrating. We have endeavored to encapsulate this beauty in our color selections. In Ireland we are blessed with breath-taking scenery, landscapes, and colors. In this collection we have endeavored to capture the essence of the Irish countryside. We focus on the colors that can be found growing in nature and feature stunning shades of green, blue, red, purple and traditional aran to name but a few. Two of our families, Inis and Glen, feature yarn that has a multitude of these stunning shades to create unique variegated colorways. This yarn is available in two weights, sport weight and worsted weight, giving the consumer more choice and opening up more options to them when choosing a project.

We couldn’t introduce this great new luxury collection without introducing the man behind the mountain fleece. Diarmuid Commins is a native of County Tipperary which lies in the heart of Ireland, steeped in history and surrounded by stunning scenery. With the Galtee mountains rising in the south, Lough Derg and the Shannon river meandering through the north and of course, the historic Rock of Cashel, seat of the King of Munster, it would be difficult not to be inspired! Diarmuid uses this inspiration when creating new shades and colorways. He feels it is of paramount importance to produce a yarn that is as environmentally friendly as possibly and therefore does not use any harsh chemicals. He uses the most natural dyes and processes possible. He sorts and scours the wool in his workshop where all the fleece used is sourced from local farmers which ensures that only the highest quality fleece is used. He will soon be adding mixed mountain fleece from Galway and Jacob sheep to the collection, which is also sourced from Irish farmers. Diarmuid takes great care when hand dying the yarn to ensure a beautiful hank of wool is produced every time!

At Yarn Vibes, as well as being able to support Irish farmers, we are also delighted to be able to support Irish knitwear designers. We feel honored to be able to shine a light on these talented individuals, to share their stories and showcase their skilled craft work. To date, six Irish designers have created several bespoke pieces that can be seen on www.yarnvibes.com. We will be expanding upon this in the coming months. We are also collaborating with Irish crafters who are working with Irish wood so we also have an exciting range of Irish made knitting and crochet accessories.

Yarn Vibes also sells goods online at https://www.yarnvibes .com.