About "Giving Back":

Hi, it's me, Liz. It's always just me haha, I am not a big corporation, I do not have a team, everything to do with Augustine Yarns...it's me. And, since it's just me, I get to decide how I want to run things, and that mindset is one of giving back, not "how can i make the most money". I do this for the art, not so much for the business side of things. So, let's chat about "why", shall we?

I was raised on serious hardship, the type where you don't have clean water, or know where your next meal is coming from. I've been temporarily homeless. I grew up without my biological parents and was a ward of the state until I aged out at 18. I know exactly what it feels like to be in need of help.

And, I was also raised volunteering in nursing homes and animal shelters, and helping with prep for public food pantries. Organizing meals for those in need for thanksgiving and Christmas, just as others had done for me. I was the recipient of communal support- donated Christmases, gifted shoes, gifted tuition support, etc. I know exactly how it feels to be the person helping, and the person in need of help. Giving back is in my soul and it'd be wrong to operate a business without it. Being an advocate for those in need is one of my core values, and my brand reflects this. This is how I want to run things. It makes me happier to give than to receive.

Fundraising I have done:

Donated $368 USD to UNICEF to support Gaza, thanks to my super sale in early August 2025.

Profits from Stillness Burns Kits, pattern by Pope Vergara, donated $182 to Bay Area Women's Center, my local domestic violence shelter.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month- 50% of profits from "Disco Tits" and "Give Roses to the Living" colorways to be donated to Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Some non-profits I plan to support are:

 Foster America (I get how they feel. These kids need support)

 Wounded Warrior Project (my husband is a disabled veteran, himself...we understand the hardships)

 Feeding America (lived through deep poverty, myself)

 The Rainbow Youth Project (love our LGBTQ+ community, they need more support)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health non profits

Pope Vergara's "Stillness Burns" kits- 100% of these profits will be donated to support victims of domestic violence.

Giving Back to the Fiber Arts Community:

Designers: I provide yarn support AND give you a share of profits for kits sold from your pattern. I'd love to work with you on your design to bring your most beautifully imagined color palette to life. I'll send you whatever you need, support you during the process, and support your testers. You must be a size inclusive designer. When I require supporting your testers, ghosting the group for weeks at a time is unacceptable. Testing is volunteer work. Testers volunteer hours on hours of free labor and often, their own materials, to provide you feedback. Your work, as a designer, is so special and valuable...and so is that of your volunteer test team. I do not work with designers who treat their testers as if picking them for a test is doing the tester a favor. Thank you.

I require having ample time to create my own sample and require size inclusive and supportive testing deadlines. 

Testers: Tester support for patterns by other designers, written in/for Augustine Yarns will be finalized by myself and the designer but should look something like either a 30% discount for Augustine Yarns LLC, for testing materials only, -- or -- complete support for a set number of trusted, usually repeat/ successful testers (to mitigate ghosting), with the shipping responsibilities on the tester.

Tester support for a pattern that is not written in Augustine Yarns, but you'd still like my support with testing and mutual promotion, usually looks like 20% off testing materials only, in support of the testers. Of course, all will be discussed and agreed upon, and it depends on my schedule.

 I do not believe in making money off of test knitters, but they may have to pay for the bare yarn used in their project. 

When I have my own designs to be tested, every tester can have 30% off Augustine Yarns LLC, for testing materials only, and those who have successfully completed the test and helped with photos of fit and marketing, will have an additional 50% of the original order refunded excluding any shipping and customs charges, I cannot control those. This looks like 80% off in total. The goal is to refund completely...this is a future endeavor. At this moment, I cannot afford to pay the entire bare yarn, dyeing materials, and overhead. This discount looks like splitting half of the material cost, and not counting labor, with the tester. I hope you can understand :)

I'm small currently, but I am happy to help promote any patterns used in my yarn, to include professionally modeling my own sample and having detailed notes and photos of fit. Email me! Let's lift each other up in this small community of lovely fiber artists. :)

Ethics/ Animal Welfare:

Supplier Info:

Good ethics was an absolute non-negotiable for me. All of my yarns are mulesing free. I carefully consider the ethics of my suppliers on the workers involved in the milling and am happy to say I chose to support three small businesses, each has been very forward about their ethics, with certifications to prove they treat workers fairly and kindly, and care about their impact on the environment, and one also frequently supports charities.

Superwash: Done Responsibly- The wool is treated with chlorine to keep the fibers from sticking to themselves/ felting. BUT! All water in this process is thoroughly filtered before going back into the world, to the point the water is "cleaner than tap water". 

My superwash merino bases come from Uruguay and Argentina, mohair is sourced from South Africa, and alpaca comes from the Peruvian Andes. My silk is sourced from Italy.

All yarns are held to the highest OEKO-TEKS standard and are EU FLOWER endorsed.

Augustine Yarns Ethics:

I filter my dye water before disposing it (it usually waters my plants :) ). Filtering is a tedious, but most important step for me.

I use spare skeins "yarn mops" to soak up excess dye and then filter the clear water. I live in the middle of the woods and use well water. I care to not waste water and reuse dye water when I can. 

Nearly all of my equipment is glass or metal, I do use plastic syringes for precision and reuse those until they can no longer be used. The syringes are the only equipment that gets tossed, and in the last nine months, or 1,300 skeins of yarn dyed, I've thrown out 22 10ml syringes and 4 60 ml syringes. That's pretty darn good.

My labels, gift paper, and all postcard style info cards that go in your order are printed on 100% recycled paper.

All of my stickers are printed by me, in my home, with my cute little thermal printer.

I use impack co for packaging. It's more expensive on my end, but these packages are sturdy for your precious yarns, yet biodegradeable with clear instructions on them. The world is better with less plastic going around, and these are things I do to help. I also strive to avoid plastic and support ethically made everything in my personal life.

And a quick note since it's a bit relevant here...the question that usually comes up when I mention ALLLLL of this is..."Well, don't you want to grow your business??"

And the answer is yes, but never more than my own two hands can handle. I admire smallness- in the terms of better production, more time to be careful and thorough in my process, and treat every order with love and care. Dyeing yarn, knitting...it's my heart. I'm very protective of it staying enjoyable. Capitalistic culture has never been the vibe for me. I like slow, peace, and things that come from the heart. The more demand that grows, the more it becomes off balance. I have no wishes for warehouses, or employees. Just me and my art. I want to be small enough to remember my customers and their orders, like it is now, and that's how I like it.

With this being said, I've never been late on a preorder and respect my customers and their willingness to support me. hehehe don't get the wrong idea by my love for slowness. I place these limits on the website before anything is sold. This allows me to take my time, without costing you anymore than the expectation written in the listing. I'm very serious about this. If you've given me money, I owe you what you ordered when you expect it, and support along the way if needed.

And, since you've read my chatty book above...I hope you have a lovely day/night, and that the sunshine finds you. Keep shining your beautiful light. Hugs! Liz