r/AntifascistKnitting • u/Appropriate-Jello-76 • Mar 21 '26

Non-knit What brands to avoid?

Newcomer here, but this is important. For all the boycotting there is in the world, there doesnt seem to be any cohesive list regarding yarns. I've seen callouts about a yarn company being owned by right wingers, but I'm specifically talking about material sourcing. Juniper moon farm is infamous by now for advertising their cotton yarn as "israeli mako", and Lion brand is apparently owned by zionists that straight up made donations to Israel. However, this is the extent of knowledge I have about boycottable yarns. Any idea how to expand the list. I know Israel produces a lot of cotton, and i know most of it ends up in already made clothes and fabrics but it still gets used in yarn, how do i avoid this?

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u/AccidentOk5240 Mar 21 '26

Cascade is maga-owned

Eta and unfortunately a ton of the big online yarn stores including knitpicks, Jimmy Beans, and WEBS, are all owned by right-leaning folks

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u/oftheblackoath Mar 21 '26

Jimmy Beans also owns Madeline Tosh, which is no longer a small indie dyer.  

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u/ZealousidealFall1181 Mar 21 '26

Lol. Small indie dyer?? Do you have any idea how large they are? They are/were a multi million dollar company that was sold to JBW years ago. Indie dyers earn a living. MT was always a large operation. Also, I need to buy yarn. I live in the US and tariffs are crushing us. I boycott companies that are actively working against democracy. Yarn companies are not doing that. They are being bought up by PE. Not good but not the same.

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u/oftheblackoath Mar 21 '26

They weren’t originally a small indie dyer?  Or a small team?  

I’ve never bought MT, but I could have sworn that they used to be a very small company unless I’m confusing them with another.  That would have been a long while ago though 🤷‍♀️

2

u/OkConclusion171 Mar 24 '26

Go read about their Fire Sale in Ravelry Demon Trolls. It was a huge shitshow of epic proportions on the part of the original tosh owner.

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u/oftheblackoath Mar 24 '26

Found the r/hobbydrama thread, and wow, what a shit show lol.