FIBER TRENDS/NATURALLY YARNS
Bev Galeskas
Bev Galeskas, sewing and crocheting as a child, was born in Whatcom County, just north of Bellingham, Washington and was raised on a farm. She and her husband Joe moved to Wenatchee, Washington in 2001 and are the owners of Fiber Trends Hand Knit Designs, which are the US distributors for Naturally Yarns of New Zealand.
Bev learned to knit at age 29, and loved it so much, she couldn’t stop. She worked at a yarn store called Village Yarn Shop in Bellingham, Washington and taught beginning knitting. The shop closed and she and her dear friend Joanne Clark opened a store at the north end of Bellingham that was open for 5 years. Their lease was up and Joanne’s husband was to retire, so they decided to close the store. Bev was a big help to her Dad at their family nursery, but all the while, knitting away. Still really wanting to be part of the knitting industry, Bev made things to sell at galleries in LaConnor, Washington. It was at this time, her idea of felting was born.
The yarn shop vendors kept asking Bev for patterns for the things that she would make. They had told her, if she had a pattern, they could sell it in their stores. At this point Bev thought that her patterns may be a part-time job. Still working at the nursery, she was tossing the idea around of starting a pattern company. When Joanne and Bev had their store, it was called “Fibers”, so she came up with the name Fiber Trends as the business name, and it seemed to click. Fiber Trends has been in existence since 1994.
Fiber Trends doesn’t have designers on staff, so to speak, the designers are independents. They contact Bev with patterns that they think will work for her and her company. Some of the designers have done one or two things, others do more. Bev still works with her former store partner Joanne Clark, who she classifies as the “best knitter in the world”. Fiber Trends also works with Kathy Zimmerman of Kathy’s Kreations of Ligonier, Pennsylvania amongst others. Bev says that about 90% of all yarn shops in the country carry the Fiber Trends patterns. At Fiber Trends, one of the most popular patterns have been their felted clogs, but you’ll also find patterns for sweaters, hats, vests, socks, shawls, felted bags, things for baby, some crochet patterns and don’t forget about those Huggable Hedgehogs.
Bev had met the founder of Naturally Yarns years ago at a TNNA show and had gotten to know the people behind the company. Naturally is a very small company, says Bev, and they were looking for a distributor for the United States. Bev thought she would be interested in that, and took it onto her plate and has done a great job. Naturally has 30 different yarns to choose from. They offer everything from wool to blends, prints, merino, mohair, bamboo, tweed, and novelty yarn. They offer dk weight, worsted, and chunky.
Bev Galeskas has always been a supporter of the local yarn shop. When you visit the website for Naturally or Fiber Trends, you will see that you can make a purchase through the website using Shopatron. Those sales go directly to a yarn shop that is carrying what you need at the time of the sale. You are purchasing on the Naturally or Fiber Trends website, but your purchase may come from Kathy’s Kreations out of Pennsylvania; again supporting the local yarn shop. Shopatron locates what store is currently stocking your order. Not only does a yarn shop get the sale, within 24 hours, it’s being shipped to the consumer. That’s the convenience of shopping on-line, and supporting the local yarn shop at the same time.
There are some changes on the way for Fiber Trends and Naturally Yarns. You will see a new look to the patterns and their new website is now live. Naturally Yarns has two new yarns to be released in May 2009, Karamea, a dk weight merino, alpaca, and yes possum blend. The other yarn to hit the marketplace is Spazzola, a wool, acrylic and polyester blend novelty yarn. Another new addition for Fiber Trends will be technique books, ask for those at your local yarn shop.
Wenatchee, Washington is a relatively small town on the eastern side of the state of Washington. Wenatchee is located where the Wenatchee River and the Columbia River come together. Wenatchee enjoys four very distinct seasons complete with tons of activities ranging from golf to hiking, boating, biking, and skiing and snowboarding at Mission Ridge. Wenatchee is also known as the apple capital of the world, rich with apple orchards and celebrating their annual Washington State Apple Blossom Festival the last week of April and going through the first week of May. Bev and Joe Galeskas love living in Wenatchee, telling me that they have the best of all worlds with snow in the winter, and the sun shining every morning on the Columbia River. Bev tells me it’s a great way to start the day. Bev runs a very “hands-on” operation with both Fiber Trends Hand Knit Designs and Naturally Yarns and invites all knitters to try Naturally Yarn. Please visit their new website!
