About Us!
Our Story:
We began our journey when Mary Moran, a knitting fiend, began making knitting software to design socks and catalogue her stash. (This was before the days of Ravelry). She began adding yarn and needles to her online store and The KnittingZone was born, tucked away in a craft room.
We opened our Brick-and-Mortar store in 2004. We were still primarily online, but it was nice to start getting to know our local knitters.
In 2005 we were approached by Qianer Huang, an avid knitter from Shanghai China. Qianer was unhappy with the knitting needle selection where she lived so she decided to make her own! With the help of her engineer father and brother, HiyaHiya needles were born! We quickly fell in love with HiyaHiya and began to carry them in our shop.
In 2006 we became the North American Distributor of HiyaHiya needles. Soon we decided that it was HiyaHiya or bust and began to make the transition from retail to wholesale. We went from the little yarn shop next to the goats to the little distributor next to the goats (There were a lot of goats!)
In 2012, a few of us were fortunate enough to visit the HiyaHiya factory in Shanghai. There we met the friendly, hard-working women that make HiyaHiya happen, as well as Qianer and her family who are the engineering geniuses behind HiyaHiya. It was such an amazing experience.
It didn’t take long before we had out grown our little shop. We spent so much time organizing and reorganizing to make everything fit, but in 2013 we finally built our big girl building. We had to say goodbye to our fuzzy neighbors, but it was worth it to have so much space!
That’s when things really took off! We have had such amazing opportunities to travel the country, attend shows, pet people’s sweaters and pop into local yarn shops. It’s been a wild ride and we wouldn’t change it for anything.
Mary retired in 2020, and Laura and Sarah took up The KnittingZone Banner. We have been here for years, working behind the scenes, attending shows, answering your questions and generally doing all the things that make The KnittingZone go.
In 2021 we celebrated our 15th birthday as a needle distributor. We are so grateful to be able to serve you these last 15 years, and look forward to the next fifteen years and beyond!
The Crafters Behind the Scenes:
Laura:
Hi! I’m Laura, and I have been involved with The KnittingZone since I was a little girl. When my mom, Mary, opened up her shop, I would sometimes spend a day on the weekends putting together knitting software when I wanted a little extra spending money. I wanted to make pretty things like my mom, and so I tried and failed multiple times to learn now to knit. When I was 16 it finally stuck. I have since developed a life long love of fiber crafts. I knit and needle felt, and generally just collect yarn, but I hope to be able to add crochet to that list one day soon. While I have unofficially been here most of my life, helping out odd weekends and summers, I officially joined the company after I graduated high school.
My mom dreamed of owning a yarn shop since she was a little girl. I don’t think any of us thought that dream would take us as far as it has. I feel like I have grown up alongside this company, and I feel so grateful to be a part of this team and for a dream that has taken care of my family and I for almost my entire life.
Sarah:
Hello I’m Sarah! I joined the KnittingZone in 2007. On my first day of work at The KnittingZone, I put my son on the school bus for his first day of kindergarten and drove out to the little yarn shop on the farm. Its hard to believe that it has been 15 years now! I’ve done every job or task imaginable at The KnittingZone; taking care of our customers, filing the taxes, plumbing repairs and more, and I love every bit of it.
My mom taught me how to crochet when I was a small child; I taught myself to knit in 2003 using videos on the internet. After I started working at The KnittingZone, I learned how to knit socks so I could justify buying that pretty sock yarn and I’ve been a fearless knitter ever since.
Melissa:
Melissa joined the company in 2013, shortly after we moved to our big girl building. She likes to bake and decorate cakes. Recently she has begun learning to crochet with her daughter and we are all excited to see where her fiber craft journey might take her. Melissa’s attention to detail and strong work ethic have become the backbone of our team over the years and we don’t know where we would be without Melissa to wrangle us.
Kitty:
Kitty is the newest addition to the crew, joining us in 2021. She learned how to knit over the Christmas Holidays that same year, but no one ever taught her how to stop! This has resulted in a passionate, tenacious knitter who truly lives by the motto of “It’s just sticks and string, what do I have to be afraid of?” She always has a silly joke at the ready to make us smile.