Lynette Meek

Our Knitting Rock Star

Lynette is a master at our craft to say the least.  She is a prolific knit wear designer with a strong affinity for lace knitting, embellishing and using her finished knitted projects as a canvas for painting.  It was her design of a stunning, hand painted, two piece mohair ensemble consisting of a sheath dress and long coat that won her an invitation to Vogue Knitting Live in New York City where she was first runner up in the Mohair design contest.  Her gorgeous designs have since been featured in numerous issues of Vogue Knitting.

Lynette is the head instructor for our knitting classes and each spring and fall has exciting new designs for our class choices.  She loves to take photographs not only of knitting but of the beautiful surroundings we have in Nanaimo.

Lynette is our full time in store expert and is well loved and trusted by anyone with any kind of knitting dilemma. Many a troubled knitter, both beginner and experienced, have flocked to her for her expertise.

“There has been some speculation that there might be some sheep in my ancestry because I have yet to meet a wool that I don’t like. Of late my passions have been directed towards designing; first for my students and secondly for others.  With each new project I feel my creativity expanding with lots of ideas to share with anyone interested in listening!”

Dorothy Gregory

Our Felting Monarch

Dorothy has worked at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns longer than any other employee.  Dorothy is an accomplished knitter, felter and designer in her own right.  She is a Needle Felting Artist and you can see many of her designs at the Artisan’s Studio on Bastion Street.

Dorothy has been knitting for longer than she is willing to admit.  She is a complete lefty and jokingly tells us how we all knit backwards.

Dorothy is a superb teacher.  Customers and staff at Mad About Ewe have benefited immeasurably from her expertise.  From questions about the intricacies of two handed fair isle to the finer points of needle felting and an expert eye for colour play, Dorothy has the answers.

“My place among the Mad About Ewe Team is often to share the following sage bits of advice:

When in doubt choosing a colour, buy both.  I do this and the result is a stash of monumental proportions which is much loved and even sometimes knit.
When choosing a pattern to knit for babies, you must first place your thumb over the face of the baby model because those kids are too cute!
And lastly but most importantly, only two glasses of wine are allowed when following a pattern.  After that, one or the other must go – trust me on this one and all will be well.”

Brenda Matthews

Our Ravelry Expert

Brenda is the newest staff member at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns. Although she has been with us for the shortest length of time, Brenda is no novice. As our Ravelry expert, Brenda knows all of the most recent and most popular patterns and the featured yarns that create the projects.

Brenda organizes the Knit a Longs for Mad About Ewe and manages our Ravelry Forum. Brenda loves to knit for family and friends and has a very strong affinity for Madelinetosh , but then don’t we all?

Brenda is a very patient and attentive teacher and has encouraged many new knitters to try new things.

“My real joy is in the process of knitting.  The finished product is really secondary to the journey it takes me on and the friends I make along the way.”

Amanda Mah

Our Twenty Something Knitter

Amanda is our youngest employee at Mad About Ewe and torn between working with us and her “real” job.

Although Amanda is not able to work at Mad About Ewe as often as she or we like, you can sometimes catch her hanging around feeling the Mirasol, ogling the colours of Noro or looking longingly at the Madelinetosh. For someone so young, Amanda has quite an impressive stash to her name. She adores her addi Click set. Being around the rest of us has really influenced her!

“Not too long ago, if you told me that I was going to be a yarn snob, I wouldn’t have had a clue what that meant.  Today I have piles of Madelinetosh tucked under my bed, stacks of Noro exploding out of my closet and a Addi-click set right next to my bed.  To say knitting is addictive is an understatement!”

Emily Mah

Our Esteemed Leader

Emily bought Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns from the store’s original owner and hasn’t looked back since. Raising two children and owning a store haven’t slowed Emily down. Under her guidance, the store has grown in stature and selection. Mad About Ewe carries one of the most diverse collections of some of the hottest yarns from around the world. Her eye for colours and style are reflected all over Mad About Ewe in it’s packed baskets and shelves of beautiful wools and yarns.

Emily’s one regret is lack of time to knit.

“It’s funny how many people think we have the dream job where we sit around and knit all day.  We do have our dream job but it’s not because we get to knit all day, it’s because we get to play with yarn. “