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In
1983 our family moved to the United States from Sweden. Our father,
Per, was transferred with his chemical engineering company and we
moved to Jamestown, NC for what we expected to be a 2 year stay.
Our mother, Elisabeth, an avid knitter had a difficult time finding
the yarns and patterns that she was used to in Sweden. Every summer
we traveled to Sweden to visit family and friends. While in Sweden,
Elisabeth would buy enough yarn to keep herself sustained for a
year, carrying bags and suitcases full of yarn back to the US. She
would sit and knit while waiting for her 3 daughters at dance lessons,
piano lessons, school meetings, and many other activities. Several
other mothers, and friends were curious and eager to learn about
Elisabeth’s craft, as they saw her knitting and then saw her
in her finished garments. After a few months she started a knitting
group with her neighbors, teaching them to knit. Everyone loved
the lessons, and the finished products. The thought occurred to
her that maybe she should open her own yarn shop with yarn imported
from Sweden. On the next visit home, Elisabeth and Per approached
Elisabeth’s favorite yarn manufacturer and asked them if they
would be interested in exporting their yarns to the US into her
yarn shop. They said they would be interested in exporting, but
it would have to be on a larger scale. This is how Swedish Yarn
Imports was born.
Like with all prior summer visits to Sweden, Elisabeth again packed
her suitcases full of “Swedish” yarns and patterns,
but this time it was for sales material instead of for her own knitting
projects. When she returned to NC she visited 12 local yarn shops
and showed the Swedish yarns and patterns with which she herself
loved to knit. A combination of her love of the materials and the
uniqueness of the yarns and patterns appealed to all of the stores…11
of the 12 stores placed orders right away. Next she exhibited in
national trade shows, with the same response. The rest, as they
say, is history.
This is our story, of how and why, Swedish Yarn, Inc came to be.
Still today we are a family run business, passionate about the yarns
and the craft, providing personal customer service and support.
Today Swedish Yarn consists of Per, Elisabeth, daughter Ulrika and
son-in-law Greg. Over the years the industry has seen many changes,
but the Tradition in Fashion continues today with yarns
and designs from Marks&Kattens, Järbo Garn, Gjestal Spinneri,
and Hanne Falkenberg Designs.
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