Skip to main content
Slow fashion is in, and so are knitting and crochet. The timing’s not great. Under President Donald Trump, tariffs on yarn and other fiber arts materials have skyrocketed, and the crafts are increasingly costly. Rachel Bratcher, owner of local yarn store Ritual Dyes (3300 SE Belmont St., 503-206-5616, ritualdyes.com), knows the problem too well.
“Brands and labels that are harder to find…a lot of them do come from Europe,” she says. “We’ve definitely tried to be mindful of our pricing.” At Ritual Dyes, which in June moved to Southeast Belmont Street, Bratcher has maintained sliding-scale pricing and hopes to welcome new and old lovers of the craft, which she says can help with brain health and mindfulness.
But the real hidden gem is around the corner on Southeast 33rd Avenue: Ritual Dyes operates a free fiber library where fiber artists can donate excess yarn, and others can pick up beloved skeins. It’s self-sufficient, Bratcher says, and ever popular. Shop staff will fill the library with donations in the morning, she says, only for the library to be empty by noon.
For a craft with high buy-in—a knit-from-scratch sweater can easily run $150—Bratcher says the yarn library offers a more digestible entry point. “It’s one way that I feel like we get to get people excited about trying something they wouldn’t necessarily try if they had to go through [incurring] an expense,” she says.
And at Ritual Dyes’ new, bigger location—which now offers an in-house dyeing studio and classroom—Bratcher says the fiber library has become an excellent spot to people watch. “We have a lot of kids in our new neighborhood, and they’re so happy to find a little skein of yarn that they’re excited about using and messing around with,” she says. “That’s always really fun to see.”
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2026 here!
