Kelsey Stephens is the owner of Primrose Yarn Co. -- an indie company based in Red Lion, PA that makes hand-dyed, locally-milled, American wool yarns -- and an accomplished knitwear designer.

Our store proudly carries two yarn bases by Primrose Yarn Co.: Homestead Sport and Forage. We are thrilled that Kelsey will be joining us on Worldwide Knit in Public Day (June 8, 2024) with a trunk show of her yarn, including Roan DK, Roan Sport, Cria DK, Replay Sport, and some new colorways of Homestead Sport, as well as samples of her knitwear designs.

We spoke with Kelsey about how she got started as a knitter, dyer, and entrepreneur, her commitment to sustainability and openness to happy accidents, and what the future may have in store. Read on!

What drew you to the fiber world initially?

I was drawn to Fibers and all things hand craft, at a very early age. I was 4 when my mom taught me how to cross stitch for the first time. I was sitting in my grandmother’s house, on a rocking chair by the family room window, and the cross stitch was a cute teddy bear with a bow around its neck. I loved that I was painting a picture with thread and the fine attention to detail it took to make these. I was always drawn to meticulous and time-consuming art techniques, and quickly found myself immersed in other fiber projects like latch hook and embroidery.

How did Primrose Yarn Co. get started?

I graduated in 2012 from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, with a BFA in Fibers and Materials Studies, and a BFA in Printmaking. During the course of my studies in college, our curriculum was very fine art / studio focused, which unfortunately did not prepare many of us to exit college and enter a world that had become extremely reliant on tech. I attempted to get a job at a wallpaper company, convinced I would be designing the wallpaper; but alas that was not the case. They would have had me mixing the pigment they used during the silkscreening process of the manufacturing. I was pretty devastated, because design was where I wanted to be; but without a Graphic Design degree to back up my textile degree, I was not going to be the person they were looking for. But this opened a door…

I always knew I wanted to eventually go into business myself. I was working as a waitress at a local restaurant, and living with my high school sweetheart (now husband, Mark). We had recently found out we were pregnant with our first child. My mother in law is an avid sock knitter, and I SERIOUSLY fell into ’nesting mode’ shortly after finding out we were expecting. I asked her to teach me to knit. Her response was: “here is a set of sock needles, some yarn, and a book. Go do.”

So I did. One Saturday I sat down in front of YouTube for a solid 8 hours, and looked up every stitch abbreviation as I came to it in the pattern. I began building up a memory bank of stitch abbreviations and over the course of that weekend, I taught myself to knit.

I fell into knitting hard, and looking back, it is kind of remarkable I hadn’t tried it up until this point in my life. I was bored after knitting one sock, and so 'typical me’, I sought out a more challenging pattern. My first completed project was Hooray Cardigan by Veera Välimäki. I was hooked!

Over the next year I began watching YouTube podcasts and stumbled across a particular one called “Let’s Knit Together” (which is unfortunately no longer around). Kat would attend knitting festivals, events, and travel to yarn shops. One in particular episode caught my attention. She went to Rhinebeck. I called my mother in law and said, 2 weeks after Mark and I get married, we are going to Rhinebeck! We made plans to attend. I was married on October 5, 2014, and 2 weeks later at 2:30 AM, we left York, PA, and made the 4.5 hour drive to Dutchess County Fairgrounds. Immediately upon entering the festival, I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

When I got home, I ordered some yarn, dye, vinegar, measuring spoons, stainless steel pots, and set to work.

My first yarn base was our Ultimate Sock (which is still around today).

You have an amazing setup, with your studio and shop located just 8 miles from the mill where your yarn is spun. What are some of the advantages of this arrangement?

One advantage of having the mill located practically in our back yard is that it is much less of a carbon footprint. We can dye at our studio / shop, and message the mill. They will come pick up what we have ready, and drop off what they have recently finished spinning. I do not have to ship raw products to them, and vice versa. I also know the family very well, as I attended high school with a cousin of the husband who co-owns the business. It is great to work with another local small family business I have a history with.

It also allows me the freedom to experiment with making new products. When I spoke to the mill about my idea for our Roan lines, they were all in! This yarn line is the only one of its kind on the market right now, and it was such a joy to work with them during the manufacturing process to make sure it was perfect, and exactly what I wanted.

Please tell us about your Replay yarn and how it came about. I love the beautiful flecks of color!

Our Replay yarns came to be after we had a mishap with some of the American Superwash wool we had received while doing some last minute prep for New York Sheep and Wool. The company we purchase our American Superwash wool from sources from a what is known as a ‘wool-pool’. Farmers who raise Merino sheep in the USA, have a certain standard they need to maintain in order to sell their fiber to this company for processing. This specific batch of fiber had some second cuts and uneven portions of roving, which we did not know when we were dying it to become some of our Homestead Sport colors. The mill we use does not have a leveler on their pin drafter. Essentially, a leveler works in the same way that a hand spinner does when they slow down or speed up their wheel to accommodate for more or less time when they encounter thicker or thinner sections of roving. Due to the quality of around 150 lbs of the roving we received, ranging widely from thick to thin, when the mill began running this portion of the roving through (which can only be passed through the pin drafter once, to maintain the color breaks found in our Homestead lines), they were getting nothing but slubs (or thick sections), and told us that at the current state of this fiber, they would not be able to spin this fiber as Homestead.

With the clock running down until we left for NY, and definitely not wanting to waste 150 lbs of wool, I told the mill to reblend the fiber to create a tweedy / heathered effect. We got the end product back, and while we all loved it, I was convinced it was going to be a one time, ‘make lemons into lemonade’ yarn. We took it to Rhinebeck, and people loved it! So much so that we received a TON of emails when we got back, asking when the next shop update was going to be for this base. We decided we would find a way to continue this product, so we contacted our mill, who put us in touch with another US wool supplier, who now supplies us with the wool we use to intentionally manufacture this base.

What’s on the horizon for Primrose Yarn Co.?

TONS! We have a new base we are *fingers crossed* planning to launch at NY Sheep and Wool this year, that we think everyone will be extremely pleased to see, which is a ‘blended’ base, and without giving too much away, the fiber blend is already in existence, but will be presented in a new way (*wink, wink*). I also plan to continue designing, as that has been my passion for a few years now, alongside dyeing and making new colors. I am also traveling a lot to shops and other events, and will be heading back to the UK for Yarndale, this September, to attend with a few friends.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I am so beyond grateful that I was able to take my passion and education in the Fiber Arts and share that joy and knowledge with fellow hand makers. I still have to pinch myself each morning that this is my life, and my humble beginnings of dyeing yarn in my kitchen, to moving to a full industrial production space, to now having a brick and mortar / studio space, is what I get to wake up to and do each and every day. I have met so many amazing and inspirational makers since starting my company, and I am so fortunate to be a part of this extremely supportive and creative community.

Be sure to follow Kelsey and Primrose Yarn Co. on Instagram @kelseystephensdesigns and @primroseyarnco!

Meet Kelsey at The Endless Skein on June 8, 2024 (Worldwide Knit in Public Day) and check out her trunk show, which will include lots of yarn and samples of her knitwear designs. Come by and take a look, and stay and craft with us!