About

Hi! I'm Liz, the dyer/owner at Wull Studios. My yarn story starts in 2011, when I started designing knitting patterns for fun. Designing led me to dyeing my own yarn, and in 2012 I started selling my yarn. Thus began the journey of Apple Tree Knits, my first yarn company. And what a journey! I learned so much, met wonderful people, and made amazing friends. There were mistakes and missteps along the way, as there always are, but I was and am very proud of what that company achieved and how it operated.

But in late 2021/early 2022, a health issue forced me to take a big step back from Apple Tree Knits. ATK focused heavily on dyeing continuous gradients (the kind you see in yarn cakes), which is a labor-intensive, physically demanding process and at the time I simply couldn't physically do it. With distance comes reflection, and all the doubts and concerns I had started to come to the forefront: was this business going to be sustainable for me, physically? Could I justify the wastefulness inherent in this dyeing style (as it requires using a large amount of plastic cling film and disposable gloves, and the dye isn't ever fully exhausted)? Was I passionate enough about dyeing gradients to move the business through the toughest of challenges?

The answers I came up with were no, no, and no. So I made the difficult decision to close Apple Tree Knits and move forward. But, as they say, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. As I was closing down Apple Tree Knits I was already getting to work to build a new company that would let me answer "yes" to the same questions that led me to shut down ATK.

I am passionate about sustainability from a practical perspective, because I've seen how easy it is to get derailed by a health issue if there isn't already a plan in place for that situation, and how easy it is to get derailed by poor planning with regard to production capabilities, supply chain issues, and the general unpredictability of life. I am even more passionate about sustainability from an environmental perspective, and I'm thrilled to be able to center my company around this goal. And that's how I view it: a goal to be constantly striving toward, rather than a particular endpoint. There is no such thing as environmental perfection, there's only making the best choice with the options available. I'm very happy to be able to offer a better choice in hand dyed yarn, and I look forward to continuing to improve the options available.  

I also believe in total transparency, especially when buzzwords like "sustainable" and "eco-friendly" are being thrown around (sometimes they're simply the right words, but they're also so overused they can cause some justifiable side-eye). That's why each yarn page includes information about the sustainability credentials (good and bad) for that yarn, and I have a whole page here about how Wull Studios operates. Check it out to learn more about where I'm succeeding and where I have more work to do in working toward sustainability. I also always welcome questions - to me, part of being thoughtful and sustainable is being honest and transparent.

So that brings me to the present. I'm so happy to have Wull Studios out in the world, and I'm so excited for what's to come. Free patterns, yarn shop collaborations, events, and so much more are in the works. In the meantime, I hope you'll take a look around and see what sets Wull Studios apart.

 

P.S. About the name: "wull" is just old/middle English for "wool". I thought it was fitting as my yarn combines a bit of the old-fashioned (non-superwash-wool) with the modern (ultra-modern eco-friendly professional acid dyes). You can pronounce it like it rhymes with "gull" or just like "wool", either is fine!