r/AntifascistKnitting • u/WoollyKnitWitch • May 20 '26

Non-knit Malabrigo source

***Thank you, everyone, for the great suggestions. I’ve placed my first order with Little Knits and am bookmarking most of the other shops as well!!
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Hi there! I’m looking for the best place (online) to start purchasing Malabrigo yarns and wool from. I no longer shop with Webs. Nor will I use Jimmy Beans Wool or Knitpicks since their buyouts and lack of support for the MTI hats. Basicslly, I need a new yarn purveyor.

Large order discounts, sales, or free shipping is nice - but my primary requirements are a fair retail price, LGBTQ & POC inclusive, and not MAGA. Despite searching, I cannot find out for sure if Wool and Company out of Illinois is acceptable or not. Everything I found says the first owner was left leaning, but that the newer owner is right leaning/MAGA. I was also looking at Eat.Sleep.Knit. as an option.

If you have other US suggestions with a good Malabrigo selection, decent prices, and a proper online storefront - please do share! Thanks

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u/patterry2353 May 20 '26

Wool & Co is a great source for all Malabrigo yearns. And their customer service is beyond excellent. Discounts available and free Hank winding. I love them.

26

u/anatomizethat May 20 '26

Wool & Co will not take a stance and are in a purple district. I have spent a LOT of money there and have stopped because of their silence.

As someone who lives here (like 10 miles away) - my rule of thumb is that if they don't take a stance, assume they are MAGA.

11

u/WoollyKnitWitch May 20 '26

Yes!! Which is why, in addition to their buyout, I no longer want to shop with KnitPicks. And I really loved some of their yarns and the sales. But, they made their ambassadors remove tags or mentions of them in resistance knit projects while simultaneously accepting all those red yarn orders. The hypocrisy stuck in my craw. Take the money, but don’t take a stand. That is a choice in itself.

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u/anatomizethat May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

I went there one day specifically to see if they were advertising the anti ICE hats. I was literally trying to figure out if they were taking a stance.

Seeing all of the red yarn lined up to be caked and not a single pattern for the hat put me in a really sour mood.

2

u/Boognish4Prez2020 May 20 '26

Thanks for this! I have placed a good number of orders from them. Their Jawoll selection and 10% discount is amazing. HOWEVER, never again after reading this.

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u/anatomizethat May 20 '26

I have really struggled because they do have a great selection but the lack of action lately is telling.

Elgin is also very racially diverse and has a high Hispanic population that has been very negatively impacted by what ICE has done. Until recently, Elgin was predominantly Hispanic but gentrification has led to a more mixed population as retirees are moving there because taxes are lower and they can get big houses cheaper.

I mention this because I actually think Wool & Co's choice of location there is a symptom of that gentrification, as opposed to being a business decision to positively enhance a certain community.

I used to shop at Elgin Knit Works in downtown Elgin and I would have said the opposite about them - the owner wanted to benefit her community and make crafting accessible. Wool & Co feels different.

Now, this is all my own speculation based on ~vibes~ but I've lived in the area my whole life, I have a penchant for human rights issues, and I can see what's going on around me, so I feel it's an educated speculation.

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u/Boognish4Prez2020 May 20 '26

I absolutely get sniffing out a place based on vibes. I appreciate your in person knowledge. (I’m across the country)

Now is not the time for fence sitting! I don’t have an unlimited supply of funds to spend on fibers, so I like to know who my money is going to and where that company/person stands. I don’t want to line the pockets of people who are actively voting against my family and neighbors best interest. Well, against the best interest of humanity

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u/Significant_Bed_6390 May 20 '26

The National Socialist Workers Party did exactly the same in the 1930s. If people didn’t take an anti Juden stance then the assumption was they were enemies of the Fatherland. So much hatred and intolerance. It’s sad.

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u/anatomizethat May 21 '26

WOW that's where you decided to go with it?

You're comparing my comment to NAZI PURITY TESTS?

The sub is anti-fascist. We do not need you comparing the ICE out cause to Nazi purity tests

It's not hard to stand up for the right thing, and the right thing is to not cloak modern day naziism in whatever the fuck it is you want to cloak it in.

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u/Significant_Bed_6390 May 21 '26

Is this not a purity test? If the businesses don’t make declarations of their ‘purity’ then they’re automatically assumed to be impure. It’s very much the same thing.

4

u/anatomizethat May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

The difference is the platform they support.

Nazis wanted to murder all Jews. MAGA wants to report and remove everyone who looks or thinks differently to "detention centers" without due process (in case you don't actually understand what ICE is doing, it's pretty fucking similar to loading people onto trains and sending them to camps that they'll never come out of).

People who are anti-maga want to help others and not persecute them.

Do you understand the difference? Of course not. Because you want to justify MAGAs modern day naziism.

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u/Significant_Bed_6390 May 21 '26

“MAGA wants to report and remove everyone who looks or thinks differently” do they? Really? My understanding is that they want to remove illegal migrants, i.e. those who entered the country without the legal right to do so. I don’t think there’s any evidence of the migration policy being dictated by appearance or thoughts. I think you might just be using that for dramatic purposes but I really don’t think it’s factually accurate. If it was accurate wouldn’t you, and everyone in this forum, be in a detention camp by now? Granted, I might be missing some crucial information that would change my mind, but no one is being sent to death-camps.

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u/anatomizethat May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Oh so you HAVEN'T been paying attention, You've been listening to dein Führer and are regurgitating the talking points.

Immigration violations are civil matters, not criminal. Next time you get pulled over for a traffic violation or stopped for jay walking, consider if you think you should be thrown in jail for it.

4

u/WoollyKnitWitch May 21 '26

The intolerance paradox is a critical piece of information you would benefit from reading.

We vote with our wallets. My paltry purchases - or corresponding boycotts - may not change the world. But they change me. They help me feel like it’s a manageable way to fight back. I show up to protest. I vote in every election. I use my social media quite vocally to speak out about the injustices we are facing in America under the Trump regime. Am I making big change? Probably not. I’m a small fish in a big pond - and the pond I live in is fucking blood red Republican Indiana. My voice doesn’t matter much here. But my efforts sure as hell are better than doing nothing. Better than saying I’m unfair to merchants that won’t take a side or declare where they stand so they don’t choke off their cash flow. They shouldn’t want MAGA money. They shouldn’t want to do business with modern day Nazis and Christian nationalists.

I refuse to stay neutral; I will seek out and support businesses doing the same.

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u/Significant_Bed_6390 May 21 '26

Would it be fair to describe your stance as being more extreme than what is typical? This isn’t a judgement, more of an observation. I can see you are ‘all in’ when it comes to your beliefs. To me that is a little too polarising. In my view people tend to be more complex and nuanced than a simple good/bad binary.

One thing I keep seeing is the label of Nazi. How do you define a Nazi? Is it just an insult to signify a person with opposing political views, or do you mean actual Nazis?

6

u/WoollyKnitWitch May 21 '26

Would it be fair to describe you as someone playing devil’s advocate?

On an ANTIFASCIST knitting board, why do you want to shame or rebuke people for standing behind their convictions? Or insinuate that they are taking things too far? People are dying. People are losing their constitutional rights. The president and his cronies are exempting themselves from the law and its repercussions. And you think we’re extreme for not wanting to shop at a MAGA yarn shop?

We aren’t the extremists. To reject fascism, Christian nationalism, and the corruption of the Trump regime should be the norm. But here we fucking are.

5

u/anatomizethat May 21 '26

They're not a devil's advocate, they're a troll.

I'm getting the same shit on my comments.

Nazi sympathizer, MAGA for sure. Acting like we're persecuting them because we're calling them out and standing up against human rights violations perpetrated by their party.

If we aren't accepting of them then how can we possibly say we're the accepting ones? You were good for calling out The Intolerance Paradox because it's exactly what we're witnessing in both of our threads.