Meet the Dyers

Hello, we're Ellen and Maddy! We founded Loop & Whorl in April 2022 after meeting in grad school in Ohio and realizing a mutual love for crafting. After tinkering around in the dye pots, we realized how deeply we loved to express ourselves through our hand-dyed yarn, and so, Loop & Whorl Fiber Co. was born.

Over the years, we have loved creating palettes inspired by nature, true crime, and shared nostalgia. We carefully curated our base offerings to ensure that the fibers are ethically sourced, and since day one, we have donated a portion of our sales to causes that we believe in (read more about our values here)!

You can keep up with us through our Instagram page, where we show teasers and behind-the-scenes for our latest shenanigans! 2025 has been a slower year for us as we've both had many life changes to work around, but this break has left us excited to put our plans in motion, stay tuned for updates!

  • Ellen

    I have always been obsessed with true crime starting from a concerningly young age. I even studied forensic science in my undergrad. When I first met Maddy, she introduced me to the yarn world and my yarn stash has been growing ever since!

  • Maddy

    I taught myself to knit when I was in elementary school, and I was instantly hooked! For a time, I designed and published knitting patterns and I'm so proud of the work I've done and learned from. Once Ellen sparked my love for true crime, the beginning stages of L&W fell into place for us both!

    View my designs on Ravelry 

  • Ellen's Helpers

    (Billie, Blondie, Zuko and Toph)

    I started with just having Billie, but realized Billie needed a friend and adopted Blondie. Yes the grey cat is named Blondie. Then my partner and I decided we wanted a dog - Zuko - and of course he needed a friend too, Toph.

  • Maddy's Helpers

    (Cleo and Lane)

    My kittens are feisty little cuddle-demons: Cleo was my first baby, she is the cuddliest cat I have ever met and insists on sitting on my lap while I knit over her head as a daily ritual. Lane is a skittish, sassy little ball of side-eye, and she is decidedly less helpful with my crafts.

Honorable Mention: Paul

Our logo is lovingly called Paul, and there's a bit of a silly backstory there.

The two of us worked in the same lab in grad school, and we had a third lab mate that we vibed with. This was at the beginning of the COVID shutdowns, so we all understandably went a little stir-crazy in lab, since our projects had so many delays because of the restrictions in place. The three of us joked that we shared a brain cell, whose name was Brian. After a particularly challenging lab day, we realized that Brian had crossed the rainbow bridge (RIP), but he was soon replaced by a new brain cell, Paul. In time our lab split up as we graduated and left for other opportunities, but Ellen and I maintained custody of Paul, and to this day he's a lifeline for us on days when we're struggling to get things done. We named our logo in his honor.