Socks Around the Ewe-S-A is a project highlighting independent yarn dyers from around the United States. After realizing I did not have enough hand-knit socks, I thought to challenge myself to make 12 pairs of socks in a year's time, with one pair knit per month. Thinking that the idea was too simple, I then came up with the idea to have a pair of socks originating from yarn dyers from each state. My goal is to find smaller dyers who are doing neat things with their yarn and make socks in the order which each state entered into the union.
New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state and was the third state to ratify the Constitution. Despite its small size, its status as the eleventh most populated state meant that there were a delightful amount of dyers to choose from.
Pennsylvania was the 2nd state ratified in the constitution and is also the 6th most populous in the United States. While I struggled to find yarn from Delaware, I found myself overwhelmed with how many incredible dyers there are from PA.
The first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States was Delaware; it's the second smallest state, and has only four yarn stores. And, despite my extensive searching, it didn't have any people dyeing and selling yarn in the state. I looked through all the local forums on Ravelry (from which I had found a few retired dyers), searched through yarn listings in the local yarn stores, and found nothing.
Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the Constitution, doing so in 1788, and about eighty years later, the fifth state to succeed to the Confederacy. I was able to find 22 yarn dyers in the state, and quite a few were excellent.