We Dye Yarn

Hi there!! We’re Explorer Knits + Fibers, also referred to as EKF, a women-owned and operated dye house creating hand-dyed yarn inspired by exploring the world around us.

At EKF, we genuinely believe that creativity and adventure go hand in hand. One day, inspiration might come from a hike along the trail or the sound of the waves in the ocean. On others, it might strike in one of your favorite cities, or when you see a tiny, little wildflower shining in the sun along the forest floor.

Regardless, our collections are our way of telling stories through color.

We create collections inspired by national parks, countries that have stolen our hearts, neighborhoods we’ve wandered aimlessly through, and all of the little moments in between that make me stop and think, “I want to remember this moment, and I want to try to communicate that feeling it gave me through color. I want to tell a story.”

To me, that’s what this has always been about here at EKF. Not just making yarn, but something that reminds you of the places you’ve been and gently nudges you to keep exploring.

Our hope is that you feel a little bit of that magic when you pick up one of our skeins and decide to create with it too. That hopefully, our inspiration plays a part in what inspires your next project, or sparks a memory from some of your own favorite adventures.

We Give Back

Since the beginning of EKF, I have always wanted to give back to the places that have given me so much. A huge pillar for that idea has been our national parks, and that’s how many of you first found and connected with us ❤️

To me, it has always been about acknowledging the impact that certain things have had on our lives and doing everything we can to show our love and care for those things in return. 

Over the years, in addition to making pledges through the National Park Foundation, specifically the ParkVentures project, we have supported other organizations that align with what EKF stands for. From donating funds to Food Bank of The Rockies to collecting items to support causes like Mutual Aid Monday in Colorado – we’ve always found this decision easy to make. We feel so lucky to be in a place where we get to create for a living, and if we’re able to take even the smallest amount from that and try to help, we will. 

We genuinely believe that supporting causes we stand for and sharing our love for exploring go hand in hand. 

We Bring People Together

Yes, we are fully aware that the ‘main’ thing we do is yarn. We are, in fact, a yarn company. Sure! But, for me, the reason I kept coming back to this and feeling so excited about it was the people. And I thought – physically, this is a tough gig. Mentally, running a business and trying to create all the time, ALSO a tough gig. BUT the people that have come into my life because of it? The community that has been built? Worth every. single. hard moment. Without hesitation.

The best thing that has come out of me stumbling into some dye pots almost a decade ago is the community that has grown around EKF. Whether that’s welcoming people into our dye studio for a winter market or community event, teaching someone to dye yarn for the first time, collaborating with artists that inspire us in incredible ways, or getting to see familiar faces year after year at fiber festivals from coast to coast, those are the moments that stay with me long after they’ve happened. 

Seeing the friendships formed, the creative spark ignited, someone’s excitement and comfort over walking into our space and gravitating towards colors that they know and love. It really just doesn’t get better than that for us.

Our yarn, our love for the national parks – that might have been the reason you came here. But hopefully, just like it is for us, the community is what keeps us all coming back.

We're a Team

For a really long time, “Explorer Knits + Fibers” mostly meant me. Sometimes I wasn’t sure where I started, and EKF stopped. But now, it is so, so much more than that.

Behind the scenes of the EKF studio is an incredible team of women dyeing your yarn, creating our production schedule, answering emails, facilitating quality control, quickly and cleverly solving problems, and creating processes to keep this chaotic, color-filled, and wonderful operation moving every single day.

But more than that, they are endlessly talented, hardworking, and, most importantly, genuinely the kindest and most considerate people I have ever met. To have the privilege of working and creating alongside them every day, even as many of those conversations are now happening over video calls between Brooklyn and Denver, is a gift I will never stop being grateful for.

One of the most fulfilling and awe-inspiring pieces of the last couple of years has been watching each of them lovingly tackle different parts of EKF – turning a company that has been openly run on heart and passion and light chaos into something I could truly never have achieved on my own.

Watching someone organize the warehouse and operations in a way my brain never could. Watching someone answer emails with a response time (many of you know) I have never had the time to manage. Watching someone present a creative idea that sparked several others from people on the team in a way that I had never seen before. 

The joy of watching that unfold is one of the greatest things I have ever experienced in my life.

EKF is so much better because it isn't just me anymore. It is an amalgamation of clever, inspiring, hilarious, creative minds making this more than just a company, but a place where ideas can grow, and norms can shift in a way that I haven’t experienced outside of our studio.

One of the biggest indicators that I could move to New York was that the team was a well-oiled machine that no longer depended on one person. Something bigger than any one of us could do alone.

And now, I cannot imagine EKF without this team behind it.

We're a Dye House

What the heck is that? Technically, it’s exactly what it sounds like. 

We dye yarn in this space, and over the years, that started to mean something more to us. 

Our ‘Dye House’ is where all of our magic happens. Where every collection begins, where every dye experiment occurs, where people learn to dye yarn, and where they gather. And, most importantly to me, where our ideas become real. 

And, somewhere along the way over the last few months, we literally looked around and laughed as we realized we *quite literally* dye yarn in this house. The joke was funny, and then I had that head-tilting moment of “wait…honestly…kinda perfect???”

Because, yes, we are absolutely a hand-dyed yarn company at our core. We always will be. But also, we’re a creative studio. A workshop for a weekend or two. A gathering space for a couple others. We’re a team, and we’re a place where stories become color.

A ‘Dye House’ isn’t just what we do, it’s who we are.