As we continue to celebrate Earth Day, it seems only fitting that our brand spotlight this month should be Urth Yarns! Not only does this wonderful company create beautiful yarns, they also support our planet! We are proud to work with this family-owned business and hope that, if you haven’t already, you’ll fall in love with their heart for service and eye for color. 

© Urth Yarns

Urth Yarns is a family owned and operated business that believes in the power of human connection. Their natural yarns are all hand dyed by talented women in Mersin and Istanbul, Turkey, and they employ many others through their sample knitting program. 

© Urth Yarns

We at Michigan Fine Yarns believe the fiber arts are healing - beneficial for the mind and body. Urth Yarns agrees and takes it one step further by making it beneficial for the planet as well. They do this by encouraging sustainable clothing production and through their #knitoneplantone commitment - when a skein of Urth Yarns is purchased, a tree is planted.

© Urth Yarns

Urth Yarns works with Trees for the Future to act on their #knitoneplantone promise. Trees for the Future provides tools and education for families in Africa to plant trees and cultivate Forest Gardens. From Trees for the Future: 

"Planting trees provides families with more than just food. It provides income, empowerment, unity, leadership, education and even saves lives. When we can teach people to value themselves and their environment, they see amazing improvements in their standard of living."

© Estelle Yarns

We had the opportunity to ask Emre from Urth Yarns about his family’s business, and he was gracious enough to share the following with us. You might have guessed it, but we especially loved his response about pets! 

MFY: Tell us the story behind the name of the brand. 

Emre: I used to live in Los Angeles and one of my favorite spots to eat was Urth Caffe. I knew I wanted to create a brand that gave back to earth and ended up using that name.

MFY: How did Urth Yarns get connected with Trees for the Future? 

Emre: I am from Turkey and the massive deforestation in Turkey in last 18 years has upset my generation very much. Originally I wanted to replace the trees they cut and forests they burned in Turkey. I couldn’t find a reliable organization that we could work with unfortunately. My brother Emir found Trees for the Future after some research and the rest is history. We have planted over 250,000 trees in Africa.

MFY: Who is the family behind the family-owned business? 

Emre: We truly are a family business. My brother Emir is responsible for production, Efe is our marketing manager. My dad is our number 1 salesman. He might have been to every shop in USA and my mother is our muse who puts colors together.

MFY: Do you have a favorite yarn? Is that like asking if you have a favorite child? 

Emre: That would have to be Uneek Fingering. It put us on the map.

MFY: Are you a knitter/crocheter/weaver? 

Emre: I am not but I am making sure my daughters are already interested in knitting. My 7-year-old is an excellent finger-knitter. Younger one is trying to copy her sister.

MFY: What do you do outside of crafting? 

Emre: I enjoy traveling, sports.

MFY: What makes the fiber arts community special? 

Emre: I love that almost everyone we deal with loves what they do. It was their choice to be in this industry therefore we mostly get to deal with happy people.

MFY: Any pets? Is there an office animal? 

Emre: We have a maltese who is 11 years old. My daughters call her big sister. Our Istanbul office has stray cats coming in and out throughout the day. They wait at the door when we arrive in morning and lounge on couches all day.

© Urth Yarns

We carry some of Urth Yarns’ fingering weight yarns, but they have a wide selection of lovely bases to choose from. Here’s a quick overview of their lines:

• Galatea - bulky weight, 100% cotton, machine washable, tonal and self-striping colors
• Harvest - fingering, DK and worsted weights, 100% extrafine merino, machine washable, naturally dyed solids
• Koozoo - super bulky weight, 100% extrafine merino, machine washable, tonal and self-striping colors
• Monokrom Cotton - DK weight, 100% mercerized cotton, machine washable, tonal colors
• Monokrom - fingering, DK and worsted weights, 100% extrafine merino, machine washable, tonal colors
• Uneek Cotton - DK weight, 100% mercerized cotton, machine washable, self-striping colors
• Uneek - fingering, DK and worsted weights, 100% extrafine merino, machine washable, self-striping colors
• Kashmir Mono - fingering weight, 100% cashmere, tonal colors

We have Uneek Fingering, Harvest Fingering and Monokrom Fingering in stock, as well as Uneek Sock kits and Sunshine Shawl kits!

If you’re looking for more pattern inspiration, Urth Yarns has a number of incredible suggestions on their website. Shown here is the Butterfly | Papillon Shawl by Marin Melchior.

© Marin Melchior