By Lily Goldberg
Photographs by Ashley Weeks Cart
When Tina Whitmore was seven, her grandmother’s housekeeper gave her some yarn and needles to keep her “out of everyone’s way.” Decades later, knitting isn’t a distraction for Whitmore—it’s her life’s passion. “I’ve been knitting for, let’s just say, over 50 years,” she said. Whitmore is the owner and “dyer-in-chief” of Freia Fine Handpaint Yarns, a North Adams-based small business that produces hand-painted yarn from custom-spun fibers. The signature quality of Freia yarns is their seamless self-striping dye pattern, a feature that allows knitted projects to emerge off the needle into gradients of rich color. Whitmore developed the technique behind her effortless ombrés after realizing that most self-striping yarns changed color rapidly—she couldn’t find a more gradually changing option for knitting, so she decided to create it herself. She hardly thought the business would take off. “I called the company Freia, after my dog—I never actually expected it to become anything,” said Whitmore. Now stocked in 85 stores across the country and Canada, the yarn has become something big.
“My business swallows me whole,” she laughed. Whitmore began the business out of her home on the San Francisco Bay. Having spent her childhood between the Bay Area and England, California felt like home to her—but those in her area didn’t quite understand what she was up to. “Everyone is in tech or the web, developing an app or something like that,” she said. At parties, when she explained her company, people looked at her like “an elephant with three heads.” In 2018, Whitmore decided to move East after a dear friend relocated to the area. She found studio space in the Norad Mill, a North Adams complex housing local businesses like Belltower Records and Tupelo Press. The Norad Mill was once itself a center for textile production, and Whitmore appreciates the history of handicrafts in the space. She also appreciates the view: “If I look out one window, I have Vermont. I look out the other window, I have New York, and I look out the other side, I have Massachusetts. How cool is that?”
During her first few years operating in North Adams, Whitmore kept her studio as mainly a production space for dyeing and a storeroom, and only opened to the public on Saturdays. But, these days, visitors can make an appointment to visitthe shop most weekdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. to see the magic happen.
“We have, I don’t know, 400 skeins of yarn hanging up at any given time,” she said. “It’s kind of fun for people when they come in, because they can see this giant, colorful forest of yarn.” Whitmore’s studio has a small retail corner—dubbed the “Atelier”—stocked with yarn and supplies. The space fills a gap in the Berkshires. After 31 years in Lenox, Colorful Stitches, a beloved knitting store, moved to Williamsburg, Virginia. Whitmore intends for her shop to give back to the Berkshires: 5% of all in-studio sales are donated to local organizations and fundraisers (past organizations have included Berkshire Immigrant Center and the World Food Programme).
Freia Handpaint Yarns is offering classes for the first time, as well. In January, Ashley Weeks Cart (who photographed this story and has taught knitting at Williams College), piloted a series of workshops including Knitting for Beginners, Knitting in the Round, and a class on fingerless gloves. “What an opportunity, if you’re learning how to knit, to go into a place that actually makes the yarn,” said Whitmore.
Knitting can be frustrating for newcomers, but Whitmore says to exercise patience, and encourages new knitters to come to the shop for tips and tricks if they get stuck. “Don’t be frightened if you make a mistake, because that’s how you learn,” she said. “It’s two sticks and string—just rip it out and start again.”
Freia Fine Handpaint Yarn
North Adams | freiafibers.com
SPRING FIBER FESTIVALS
Fiber Witch Festival
Salem, Massachusetts
April 11-13
fiberwitchfestival.com
CT Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival
North Haven, Connecticut
April 26
ctsheep.com
The Chancellor’s Sheep & Wool Showcase Clermont State Historic Site
Germantown, New York
April 26
friendsofclermont.org
NH Sheep & Wool Festival
Deerfield, New Hampshire
May 10-11
nhswga.org
Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair
Cummington, Massachusetts
May 24-25
masheepwool.org
FOR FIBER FANS
Here are some of our favorite resources—they offer yarn, classes, knitwear, and more. And many local libraries in Berkshire County host weekly meet-ups for knitters.
Colonial Alpacas Williamstown
colonialalpacas.com
Hilltop Farm Fiber Arts Lanesborough
hilltopfarmfiberarts.com
Fluff Alpaca Great Barrington
fluffalpaca.com
Hart GB Great Barrington
hart-gb.square.site
Lila’s Mountain Farm Great Barrington
lilasmountainfarm.com
Prado de Lana Farm Stockbridge
pradodelana.com
Nobletown Fiberworks Hillsdale, New York
@nobletownfiberworks
The Warm Ewe Chatham, New York
thewarmewe.com
CountryWool Hudson, New York
countrywool.com
