New Tacoma shop specializes in hand-dyed yarn, fostering the fiber-arts community
Decorating the walls of a new yarn shop on Pacific Avenue near downtown Tacoma are threads spun in every color imaginable.
All dyed by hand and spun from natural materials, the skeins range in color, texture and size. Swollen braids of yarn are cast in deep blues and purples or fade ombre into pastels, rainbows and earth tones. Shawls, hats, stockings and socks hang from the walls, and a rack by the door displays embroidery kits, candles, knickknacks and specialized needles.
Jadawoo Designs opened last fall at 3319 Pacific Ave. Suite 201 with the goals of bringing quality, Pacific Northwest yarn to Tacoma and fostering a supportive community of crafters and fiber artists.
All the yarn sold is produced in Washington or Idaho, and much of it is hand-dyed by owner and founder Jessica Whitmore, who plans to build her dyeing studio in the shop in the future, with a counter for customers to watch the process.
Whitmore said she’s loved to knit since she was young and over the years found herself hunting for colors and styles she couldn’t find elsewhere. In 2020 she started dyeing her own yarn and fell in love with the creative process of creating unique colors, she said.
What started as an online Etsy shop took Whitmore to selling dyed yarn at trunk shows and fiber festivals. Upon seeing the Pacific Avenue storefront — complete with dreamy street-facing windows and exposed original brick — Whitmore said she fell in love with the space and worked tirelessly to restore the shopfront while working her day job.
Whitmore said she created the shop not only to showcase her yarn but as a way to give back and support other small business owners.
“As an indie dyer it can take a while to get discovered,” she said.
Customers are encouraged to explore, ask questions, fail and try again. Comfortable tables and chairs are set up for anyone to come in and knit, sew or crochet. And every Saturday Jadawoo Designs hosts a Morning Markers Meet from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. where crafters of any kind and skill level are encouraged to come together and socialize, sharing tips and tricks with each other.
The shop’s online calendar shows events for January and February, including mid-week Makers Meet Ups from 4-6 p.m. Wednesdays, Knitting 101 classes, Beginning Embroidery Workshops, Trunk Shows, Drop Spindling 101 and more. In the spring and summer Whitmore said she wants to host dye classes as well as late night “Knit and Sip” events.
Whitmore cites the importance of fiber arts as ways to improve stress management, express creativity, try something new and find community.
“My goal is to inspire makers to get creative,” she said, noting that every day she sees people sharing projects is an exciting success that makes it all worth it.
Co-manager and Whitmore’s daughter Kelsie Downing said she started crocheting this year, “so I don’t know that much [but] a lot of the ladies have been very gracious and helping me learn.”
Downing said when she first started crocheting, she’d go to other yarn stores and be met with opposition or assumptions that she didn’t know what she was doing. Some places charge a class fee to ask for advice, but Jadawoo Designs to make fiber arts less intimidating, she said.
“Some people are kind of mean. People are a little gate-keepy about the things that they know or even the patterns that they have, or sometimes even where their yarn comes from, they don’t want to tell you,” Downing said. “But here, I’ve never run into a problem … Even if it seems like you’re asking too many questions, it’s never enough and that’s okay. We just really want people to feel comfortable and welcome, and like they don’t have anything to worry about.”
Downing said the shop doesn’t sell acrylic yarn, which is made from plastic fibers. Instead Whitmore orders wool from the United Kingdom, then spins and dyes it herself with flowers and berries and other natural ingredients to make it healthier, less scratchy and less likely to bleed when washed as opposed to acrylic yarn, Downing said.
Yarn prices range from around $28-$32 a skein, depending on fiber type.
If you go
Address: 3319 Pacific Ave. Suite #201, Tacoma
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
