Travel
Yarn Detective: North to Alaska
I recently returned from a two-week teaching trip to Alaska. I’d never been and it was as beautiful as I’ve heard.
When I wasn’t teaching amazing Alaskan spinners, I did plenty of wandering and gazing adoringly at the mountains, but my adventuring also included visiting yarn shops and hunting for qiviut to knit and spin.
Qiviut is the downy undercoat of the musk ox. It’s softer and warmer than cashmere and a rare treat to knit and spin.
Fairbanks
There is no fire like the fire of a fiber person on the hunt. I landed in Fairbanks and in less than 45 minutes I was at the local farmers market because I had heard there was a local mill selling there.
Now this is how to start a trip: jet-lagged and hip-deep in local yarn and fiber.
At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, there is the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) where they study musk ox. It was closed for tours, but when I politely asked if I could buy some fiber they agreed. I went over while they were packing up their gift shop for the season.
I met this beautiful beast, who was happily standing in his water trough.
I pet wonderful yarn and knitted accessories and bought a few ounces of raw fiber to process and spin at home. LARS has their yarn spun in Peru at a mill that also specializes in alpaca, another fine fiber.
Anchorage
I had a lot more time in Anchorage before my teaching weekend. I was able to explore some yarn shops and have a couple of spectacular qiviut experiences.
Cabin Fever is smack in the middle of downtown Anchorage. If you are stopping on cruise, it is easy to get to. It is a gift-quilt-yarn shop. I can’t believe what they can fit in their space. On the yarn side, there is a whole wall of locally dyed yarns and a case full of dyed qiviut yarn.
Bookstores are another thing I always head to when I’m traveling (see also: tea shops and stationary shops). Title Wave is a giant bookshop that has new and lots of used books.
I had a great time wandering and gasped out loud when I found this wall of used knitting books. It was quite a trip down knitting memory lane!
Far North Yarn Co would be my LYS if I lived in Anchorage. It has a fantastic selection, is warm and inviting, and has a great history.
For the first time I got to see lots of La Bien Aimee yarns in person. It was hard to not buy all of it. When I dropped by, the shop was buzzing with regulars and new knitters. No one left empty handed and everyone was smiling. When Alaskans says winter is coming, they mean it!
Far North Yarn Co is a family business. It’s now run by Annie Smith, but it was started by her mother Kay Cebrian Smith 40 years ago in Homer, Alaska. Her mother ran the business until they moved to Anchorage and Annie took over. That’s Kay, Annie, and her sister Jane (who knits and lives in Fairbanks).
Oomingmak: Musk Ox Producers’ Co-operative
Since the late 1960s, Oomingmak has been selling accessories handknit out of qiviut by the 200 Native Alaskan women who are part of the co-op, many of whom live in remote coastal villages. They are sent yarn and are paid for each knitted item they send back. Oomingmak is the Inupiaq word for musk ox, it means bearded one.
I went there to get my mother-in-law a very special Christmas gift (shhh, don’t tell her).
The shop is stuffed full of both beautiful and practical things. There are lots of accessories to buy, some yarn, kits, and fiber. I loved the giant table that is clearly used to block the beautiful lace accessories when they come in from Coop members. Look at all of the blocking boards.
Sandra helped me choose a smoke ring for my mother-in-law. I chose the Harpoon pattern; it was knit by Flora Jack from Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island.
Denali
That’s Denali just hanging out on the highway. Yes, it’s above the clouds. At 20,310 feet, it’s the tallest mountain in North America. Denali is about 150 miles from where this photo was taken on the road to Talkeetna.
Palmer, Alaska: The Musk Ox Farm
I took a drive up to Palmer to the Musk Ox Farm. It’s a non-profit whose mission is gentle husbandry of musk ox, production of qiviut, and education.
The Musk Ox Farm has a herd of musk ox that roam on 22 acres of land. I took a tour of the farm and what I learned in my quick tour sparked an even deeper interest in these amazing and ancient animals. They survived the Ice Age and they can survive temperatures to -60 F!
This young man is Muenster, who was born the year all the babies were named after cheese. There are usually only four musk oxen born to this herd annually.
To make sure their animals are happy and healthy, the Musk Ox Farm works closely with the Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks.
Each musk ox produces between four and six pounds of qiviut a year. It is hand combed over a few weeks using a plastic hair pick. The fiber is spun and sold as yarn or as finished accessories at the farm shop.
A portion of the fiber is blended with silk for yarn and some is saved raw for spinners wanting this holy grail of fibers. I was lucky to get some fiber from Muenster and I bought some dyed yarn to knit a hat.
While I was paying for my haul, I noticed the pattern cut into their front desk. I asked if it was a lace pattern. It is! It’s a pattern they developed that represents the head of a musk ox.
Alaska is as magical as everyone told me it is. I learned so much, met amazing people, and saw indescribable beauty. I can’t wait to go back.
Wonderful article-thank you!!
I bought a 1 ounce skein of purple dyed qiviut in Juneau. I appreciate your budget.
That’s all I got, too!
My son and daughter in law live in Anchorage. They did a ten day hike/pack rafting trip up to the Beaufort Sea this summer, and came home with quivet that they picked off the scrub up there. Wild musk ox live up there. So soft and special.
Thank you for sharing your adventures! Now all I want to do is head to Alaska…for more yarn.
OMGosh, it’s been a long time bucket list item to go glamping in AK and now I MUST ADD all these wonderful stops on my itinerary. Thanks for a lovely accounting of your trip. Can’t wait to see what you create with the qiviut.
Same here!
Great article which stirred up wonderful memories of an Alaskan work trip years ago, in which I got a precious skein of qiviut. I have been saving this skein, in search of a perfect project– do you have suggestions for a smoke ring pattern?
Wow! What a wonderful journey. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
I love Alaska and am going again in the early spring next year. I’ve been to the Far North Yarn Company and now I have more places to visit. Thanks!
Great article! This makes me want to pack up and go!
Your enthusiasm is contagious! I’m an armchair traveler whom you have inspired to put her wheels on the road. This includes my spinning wheel!
Incredible! What an interesting story!
Great article, and pics! Diane
Wonderful article, but you missed a beautiful yarn store in Eagle River called the Tangle Skein. They have been in business for quite sometime and have a large community of knitters.
Sadly, I didn’t have time to visit all of the yarn stores. I’ve put Tangled Skein on my list for next time!
Great article. I’ve been three times and each time I find new yarn stores, but you’ve shown me some I’ve missed. I’ll happily go back to explore these!!!
Oh my – you just reminded me that I have a skein or 2 actually of natural muskox and another prize of the far north – white fox which is even softer than muskox. I’ve been waiting for the perfect pattern… (I lived up there – these hold good memories)
You brought back many memories of my trips to Alaska. I have visited most of the shops you write about also and am fascinated by the musk ox and the qiviut fiber and have many skeins of qiviut yarn. I would add many of these locations have web sites featuring a variety of musk ox products. The qiviut fiber is light, warm, and very soft.
Stop at Yarn Over the next time you’re in Fairbanks. She has a good selection of local dyers work and a couch if you have a little time to kill and your knitting bag.
I went on an Alaska cruise this summer and looked up yarn shops before we left. In Seward, Dreamland Books and Yarn was marvelous. Skagway’s Aurora Yarns carried hand dyed fibers that matched artwork in the store. They also carried quiviut, artic fox and artic hare yarn! And in Ketchikan, I spent ages looking over yarn and MDK books at Fabulous Fiber Arts!
I love that we had completely different trips but still had marvelous experiences in a beautiful state.
Thank you for so many more shops to add to my ‘next time’ list!
Thanks Jillian for another great article. I, too, LOVE Alaska.
Truly inspiring article. The photo of Denali is breathtaking and Musk Ox Farm has stolen my heart away. The beautiful sheen on the coat of Muenster! You had wonderful trip. I need a hat! Maybe some quiviut.
Wow, what a trip! You are tempting me!
You brought a bit of yarn heaven to my morning! Thank you!! xo
Sounds like you had a marvelous time. How about planning a group tour to go back and visit all those wonderful fibery places and the amazing people and places you’ve written about. If you do I’d love to be the first to sign up!!!!
And I’d love to be the second!
Is the lace pattern available?
It is not, I asked! It’s a propitiatory pattern that they use on their finished accessories.
What a wonderful trip! I got a text last fall from a non-knitting friend who was in a shop in Alaska, asking how much Qiviut she should buy for me to make her a hat…
Jillian – Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip to Alaska! It brought back memories of my own amazing trip there a number of years ago. I visited the LARS facility in Fairbanks, without realizing that a couple of years later, I would meet and become friends with Dr Milan Shipka, who worked with the reindeer program at UAF. He gifted me a very small amount of qiviut from one of the LARS musk ox. That first trip was taken with my mother to visit my step brother in Anchorage and her second cousin in Fairbanks. We drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks, through a heavy snowstorm, encountering moose on the road, and wondering if we were really going to make it, but … hey … we were from Minnesota, so of course we could! (Even if it was only October) At some point, I will go back, making a point to visit many of the places you’ve mentioned in your article.
You’ve done Alaska proud. What a beautifully written piece! Thanks so much.
I’ve long wished for the opportunity to knit with qiviut and you’ve inspired me to search it out. And the Harpoon pattern smoke scarf you were able to buy for your mother-in-law? A gem. An admiring shout out to Flora Jack from Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island!
What exactly is a smoke ring?
It’s a cowl that’s fairly snug around the neck and is tall enough to pull over your head, warming your head, ears, and neck while framing your face. See the photo of Sandra in the shop? Look at the picture on the wall behind her.
Jillian,
I can’t wait to travel with you again in Scotland next year!
It’s going to be fun! I’m excited
I have a precious 1 oz skein of Qiviuk that is a souvenir from a cruise to Alaska in 2012. I started knitting a scarf from the pattern that came with the skein, called Qiviut Scarf…simple enough. It’s a lovely lace pattern that was getting the best of me and has been in hibernation for a long time. I just pulled it out last week to take on a trip! If you’re in Skagway – try Rushin’ Tailor!
Wow, yarn heaven! What great photos, stories and fiber. Absolutely fabulous that you got to go teach there and thanks for sharing it with us. Makes me dream and drool. Sounds like quiviut is worth the high price. What treasures!
Lovely article. What a pleasure to read! I’m in Quebec, Canada and have explored the Yukon and in the east Baffin Island. Although there are Muskox in Quebec, their fleece and undercoat is hard to come by. I was gifted two tiny balls of quiviut a few years ago – what an amazing fiber.
Lovely article. Since I can’t travel right now – these articles are so much fun. I have qiviut/silk blend in my stash — need to go get it and cast on!
Fiber geek that I am, I was most grateful to arrange a private tour of the non profit, Musk Ox Farm in Palmer in August as part of our 50th wedding anniversary Alaska adventure. Fun fact: genetically, musk ox are more closely related to goats and sheep than they are to cows and bison. Interestingly, qiviut is so soft that it is most often compared to cashmere. There is ongoing debate whether qiviut is softer than cashmere as reflected by its lower micron count. According to our guide, the micron comparison is being revisited in the near future due to improved standardization in the assessment. Stay tuned fiber lovers!
Interesting news, thank you. I’ll stay tuned!
One question” where can we get instructions for the musk-ox-head lace? That is SO striking!
Sorry, it’s a pattern that they don’t share, I asked for all of us! They use it for the accessories they sell.
Sorry, that was supposed to be a colon rather than a quotation mark. 😉
Years ago, when I drove around Alaska with my then-college-age kids, qiviut was not not available for public sale — one could only buy a tiny (1 gram?) bit of undyed yarn or a beautiful finished shawl. Because it was early in the season, my kids and I got a private tour of the Palmer Musk Ox Farm and picked up bits of fluff from fences and weeds along with our guide — she had a handful by the end of our walk to add to their supply. We also got to watch while their big male ox, Joe Montana, played with a tetherball hung from a large tree.
Many years later I bought a tiny ball of qiviut-wool blend yarn and made a pair of gloves, winning at yarn chicken by three inches.
Wonderful memories.
Oh how fun! I miss Alaska. Too bad I was only there as a child and didn’t get into knitting until well after my time there. I love their little shops and the beautiful flowers that adorn most of them. Thank you for sharing more about shops there and qiviut. I live in a place that is far too warm for it but I have an ounce just waiting to be knit into something magical. Musk ox are too cute and I love the pattern they cut into the desk. Beautiful representation of these interesting creatures.
I LOVE Cabin Fever! You hit all the good spots 🙂
Wonderful memories of when I too visited the Oomingmak co-op I bought a Travel souvenir of one of their fabulous kits and immediately knitted the hat pattern. The fiber is beyond yummy ! Thanks for this article !
Alaska is indeed a magical place. I think I have been to a couple of stores you mentioned. My husband and would love to go back and explore more. We stayed in Talkeetna before going down to catch a cruise in Seaward.
I visited several of these places this summer while visiting my son and it was amazing. We loved the Musk Ox Farm, but I completely missed that lace pattern. Cabin Fever was fantastic and had something for all of us.
You had a full qiviut experience! I taught on the Vogue Knitting Alaska cruise last year, and the closest I got to a musk ox was a single one-ounce skein of Qiviut that I bought in Juneau. So soft and light! I turned my souvenir yarn into a cowl called Fuzzy Memories. It’s time to start wearing it; it’s chilly!
Me: Beloved Spouse, come read this.
“Now this is how to start a trip: jet-lagged and hip-deep in local yarn and fiber.”
Beloved Spouse: No dear, that’s just too dangerous.
Spoken like a non-fiber-addict who has been to pretty much every yarn store on the Oregon Coast.
To visit The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer has been on my bucket list for a long time. These critters are truly magical. It sounds like you’ve made yourself quite the haul of all things qiviut. That makes my heart happy.
That shelf of knitting books alone is enough to go to Alaska!
Thank you for this lovely travelogue/yarnologue
Love the feel of this trip; it sounds happy and relaxed. Knitting with good wool is somehow more satisfying. Must add this to my list of places to go.
What a wonderful travel article. My sisters and I would happily travel with you – tea shops, stationery, wool and bookstores. Throw in a scone or two and we’re all in.
I’m so glad you got to visit Alaska and the beautiful animals that produce that amazing fiber. On an Alaska cruise several years ago one of my goals was to find some quiviut yarn. Fortunately, two of my fellow cruise passengers were knitters too and they found a wonderful small shop with a supply of the magic yarn. They told me where to find the shop (hidden upstairs in a rabbit warren of shops and offices) and I snagged two skeins of that wonderful and magnificent yarn. I also bought some locally dyed yarn in another town. So much fun scouting for yarn shops and then sharing my finds with the other knitters on the ship.
Thanks for sharing your adventures. Go back to Alaska and do more wandering. I can highly recommend Windstar Cruises if you’re up for a cruise.
I loved reading this, since I live in Anchorage, especially! I worked for 12 years at Cabin Fever and Far North Yarns is my LYS. I love, love, love Annie Smith. I’m there at least once a week. Thanks for featuring our beautiful state!
Now I have a great list of yarn stores to visit when I go to Alaska! Thank you for another intriguing and enthusiastic yarn adventure!
Thanks for a most inspiring article. I have been hoarding my 1 oz. of Quiviut for some time, just waiting for the right time to spin it. Maybe now’s the time!
WOW! Thanks for the tour. That was inspiring.