August - Storewide - 15% off Sale!
The dog days of summer are here! That means it is time to stock up on all your fiber supplies for fall! The Yarn Tree is having a storewide sale - so whether you shop via the web, phone or in the store take advantage of this 15%off sale. This sale applies to in stock items only, all sales final, online and phone orders must use the coupon code SUMMER15 to be eligible for the sale price. So start your shopping!

Fundraising Appeal
Last year many of you helped to fund my trip to Rwanda where I had the privilege of working with 10 genocide widows teaching them natural dyeing and weaving. On September 3rd, 2010 I will be making another trip, this time to Oaxaca, Mexico.

I will be working with a group of native weavers, most work on back strap looms, teaching them a technique called Ikat. This is a method of tying off the warp yarns prior to dyeing to create a pattern. I will also be teaching them how to make a chemical indigo vat using natural Oaxacan Indigo. There are areas where the climate is not appropriate for a natural ferment indigo vat. Learning this skill will enable them to dye with indigo whenever they wish.

I have been invited by the Museo Textil de Oaxaca to give the Ikat/Indigo workshop to 10 weavers.

The museum is relatively new, with a very small budget. This is where I need your help! They cannot pay my airfare, nor can they pay for me to transport the tools and materials I will need to bring with me. The museum will be able to provide me with room & board and ground transportation.

I will spend three days working with the weavers at the museum. The following week I will have the opportunity to visit each weaver in his or her village. I will get to see the work in progress, photograph and interview the weavers. At the end of the week the weavers will return to the museum where we will conduct a show & tell/Q&A.

Ikat has a history in Mexico, although it seems to now be a lost technique. This will be a new skill for the weavers and the hope being that they will be able to create new and beautiful textiles that can compete in today's marketplace thus bringing in more income. In turn these weavers will then be able to pass their new skills on to their fellow weavers.

Tax deductible donations can be made directly to my fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, for my project Stories of Hope, at this link https://www.fracturedatlas.org/donate/2928

Stories of Hope is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Stories of Hope may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Donations can also be made directly to me (but they will not be tax deductible!).

You can mail a check to payable to Linda LaBelle to:
Linda LaBelle
C/O The Yarn Tree
P.O. Box 110598
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Or you can donate using https://www.paypal.com/ to my account linda@theyarntree.com. Please be sure to add a message that this is a donation for the Oaxaca trip.

As an incentive I am offering the following:

• For a $500.00 donation you will receive a gift of a small (approx. 24"X36") rug woven by Ernesto, the weaver/dyer in Oaxaca I help to support.
• For a $250.00 donation you will receive a signed copy of my book Stories of Hope You can view the book here:
  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1212970
• For a $100.00 donation you will receive an 8X10 signed photo from the trip

All donations under $100.00 will receive a signed 4X6 photo from the trip.

I hope you can help,
Linda

Stories of Hope
Stories of Hope is a charity-based project bringing hope and joy to underprivileged men and women around the globe. Started by Linda LaBelle in 2009 to teach crafts-based education that will provide a marketable skill to those less fortunate.

Product design, weaving, natural dyeing, sewing and even handspinning of yarn are taught to small groups of men and women. In turn they will pass these skills on to others. Also, whenever possible the goods produced by these groups will be sold through The Yarn Tree.

The book Stories of Hope: Mexico, India & Rwanda is now available for purchase. Through words and pictures you will visit with these amazing men and women that Linda worked with and learn their stories. The 114 photos give you a closeup view of the color of their lives.

Your purchase of this book helps to fund Stories of Hope.

Additional donations can be made to Stories of Hope through the fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, at https://www.fracturedatlas.org/donate/2928

Stories of Hope is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Stories of Hope may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

What's new at The Yarn Tree?
Meadow Raised Lamb & Pork, that's what's new! The Yarn Tree is proud to partner with HighView Farm in selling both their yarn and their meat. Linda Geren raises hormone-free, meadow-raised sheep and pigs in North Hanover, NJ. The animals are humanely butchered at Bringhurst Meats, a small family-owned butcher in Berlin, NJ. The meat is USDA certified, vacuum packed and frozen. We are not selling the meat on-line yet, so you will have to come by the shop. For a price list and what is available please e-mail info@theyarntree.com.

We also carry fiber from Linda's neighbor, AppleRose Farm. We have Cormo and California Red roving and Elizabeth's hand dyed batts, both Cormo and soft as a cloud Mohair.

Where to find us...
Some people think that The Yarn Tree is Williamsburg's best kept secret!! The Yarn Tree is located at 347 Bedford Ave, at South 4th Street, just below the hub of The Northside Shopping District in Brooklyn/New York City. We're also minutes from Manhattan!
Get directions »