About

About

Hello! I'm Heidi, I hand dye yarn in my home studio, located in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

 

Heidi sitting on a log at the beach wearing sunglasses and smiling while holding their knitting.

How It Started

"Once I started getting really into knitting back in 2006, I began frequenting local yarn stores. I saw so many gorgeous yarns, but when I asked, "Do you have anything vegan?" I usually got the one-raised-eyebrow look, and then would get shown to the Acrylic Wall of Shame, usually some badly lit spot in the back with a neglected and boring selection of yarn that made me cringe. Even worse, some stores didn't have anything at all, and I'd leave feeling like wanting plant based yarn was somehow forbidden or frowned upon. I knew that it must be possible to have really awesome colours, high quality base yarn in a variety of cruelty-free, and sustainable fibres. I also had a sense I wasn't alone. After looking around for someone who did that, I realized that there was a serious lack of supply, and that it might be a fun project to do myself. I had a little practice with dyeing fabrics in the past as a costuming and more recently, a set decoration seamster. I took a class at a community arts centre, and learned about spinning yarn to better understand yarn construction, and in the summer of 2009, I listed my first few skeins of hand dyed yarn online. I've learned so much since then, mostly trial and error, and now this has become something I look forward to doing every day. I feel so lucky to be able to do something I find so satisfying, which is also so much appreciated by other people at the same time. Thank you for visiting Vegan Yarn and I hope you like it!"

Heidi is an active cycling advocate with HUB Cycling, formerly the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition, and an advocate for neurodiverse and queer acceptance and inclusion. Heidi is a runner, hiker, cyclist and powerlifter.

A committed ethical vegan since 2007, and a knitter since the ripe age of seven, knitting, weaving and making in general are daily joys for Heidi. Vegan Yarn is the result of a desire to support their family doing good work and having a sustainable means of self expression. in 2021, Heidi opened a mini side business called Queer Plant Shop, and in 2023 started a not yet named handmade ceramics business.
Heidi (they/them) lives in New Westminster with their partner Jeremy and their teen son.

Vegan Yarn Mission Statement

To bring colour and joy into my life and share it with others in a way that does not take away anyone else's joy or freedom, but adds to it.

How the Dye Shop Works

Beginning in 2020, Vegan Yarn started to operate a little differently, adopting a long thought out plan to make it more dynamic and fun for me, and more exciting for you. Instead of maintaining a line of permanent colourways, Vegan Yarn will run new, never before seen colours in real-time, allowing for constant testing and innovation which is one of my favourite parts of the job. The result will be even more unique colourways, in a completely limited edition format. Join the newsletter by signing up at the bottom of this page.

Here's something I found from a local newspaper back in 2010, during the first year I started dyeing yarn.