The yarn-buying community has been knitted together for the past few months since The Lonely Skein opened in downtown Corvallis.
The Lonely Skein is a family-owned and operated yarn supply store. The store is open noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
After Joann’s Fabric and Crafts Corvallis location closed in early summer 2025, there has been a lack of fiber art supply stores in town.
The Lonely Skein, located on the corner of Southwest Washington Avenue and Southwest Second Street, carries a variety of products aimed at both supplying the community of crafters and supporting fellow local businesses in the area.
Soft-opened on Dec. 20, 2025, and officially opened on Jan. 31 this year, The Lonely Skein is run by three long-time crafters Jessica Haugen, Blake Vaughn and Rose Schutz.
Haugen, who has been knitting for 20 years, noticed a lack of yarn supplies everywhere she lived since beginning her hobby. When she moved to Corvallis almost 5 years ago, she was met with yet another community lacking a yarn store.
“Well, if I want one, maybe I need to just open one,” Haugen said.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, hobby crafting became very popular with people stuck at home, according to Haugen. She describes the fiber art community as a “hobby family,” as it includes people making crocheted or knitted pieces, but also the people dying and selling their own yarn.
“I love that it’s something you can do in community, which is what a lot of people were missing during the pandemic,” Haugen said.
One of the major goals of The Lonely Skein is to make good-quality yarn more financially accessible. “Everyone is struggling right now,” Haugen said.
The store owners have a rescued yarn display at the front of the shop. Here they have yarn, craft needles and other fibers that were bought at one point but never used. All rescued items are sold below retail price.
This display also includes what Haugen called the “mystery skein” — yarn that came in without a label that is marked down significantly.
The Lonely Skein accepts yarn donations and will offer in-store credit for some products as well.
In the shop, a lending library is currently in the process of being put together. Haugen said she hopes to rent out patterns and how-to books to the community, making learning the hobby more accessible.
While they carry various yarn-related products, the shop is full of other items such as rescued art and homemade pottery. Nearly all decor items in the shop are also for sale.
“I feel strongly that art is a really important part of our lives,” Haugen said.
The Lonely Skein carries both larger company products as well as some from independent, women and diversely-owned, dyers from the local area.
“I really want to use our space here to lift up other small businesses … lift up other women as well,” Haugen said.
Every few months, The Lonely Skein aims to choose new indie dyers to bring into the shop to fit this goal.
Two small businesses are staples for The Lonely Skein’s display: PNW Yarn Girl, based out of Corvallis, and Adarah Fiber Arts out of Chico, California.
Both companies’ products occupy the shop regularly with unique dyes.
“Resistant Red” by PNW Yarn Girl was a yarn made specifically to create “melt ice” hats following protests in Minnesota opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers occupying the state.
“Fire Sky” by Adarah Fiber Arts was made to honor those affected by the 2018 “Camp Fire” that struck Paradise, California, one of the deadliest wildfires in California’s history, according to a report from California Governor Gavin Newsom.
On April 25, The Lonely Skein is planning on partnering with Grass Roots and Summer Beam Books to celebrate Local Yarn Store Day and Independent Book Store Day. Haugen plans to send out an email via their mailing list found on their website with more details soon.
Now that the shop has been open for a few months, Haugen hopes to be involved in more community events in the upcoming spring and summer seasons.
Currently, they plan on participating in the Corvallis Art Walk every month, as well as working with the community in putting together knitting classes for people at every level of expertise. They are currently looking for local people willing to teach the classes.
Haugen hopes that over the next couple of years, the business continues to grow and they’re able to expand and include other crafting materials such as sewing supplies and fabrics.
“We’ve just been really blown away by the excitement and support the community has shown us and we really hope that we’re able to be here long term to support the arts community here in all the ways that we do,” Haugen said.