A History of Supporting Fiber Arts since 1971

Supporting the Fiber Arts since 1971

The title ‘maker’ gets tossed around a lot, but to us, it’s kind of sacred. It’s not just making things— it’s a connection to family, tradition, and community. We hope you’ll join us as we encourage new generations of makers to embrace the fiber arts.

A vintage advertisement features a happy child standing at the top of a staircase, smiling and reaching out. Below, fabric samples are scattered. The text reads "We're Growing... to make us bigger & better for you!" The ad is for Halcyon, a fabric store in Denver, Colorado.

About Our Family

Like the fiber arts themselves, Halcyon Yarn is part of a tradition that thrives by being passed from hand to hand. Our store is a second-generation, family-run business, founded by Halcyon Blake and Hector Jaeger in Denver in 1971.

Three people stand close together outdoors, each wearing a colorful knitted scarf. The person on the left has short gray hair and is wearing a blue top. The person in the center has long blonde hair and a black top, and the person on the right has short brown hair and a blue top.

Now owned and run by their daughter, Gretchen Jaeger, and her wife Rachel Fowler, we continue writing new chapters of Halcyon Yarn’s decades-long history.

Halcyon Yarn is more than just a yarn store — it is a connection to family and community. It is a calling to slow down and do something useful and tangible in a world that sometimes seems too fast.

A person with purple hair and a patterned apron reaches for a skein of yarn on a shelf, while a child with a headband watches. They are in a yarn store with shelves filled with various colored yarns.

Our Store Today

Rooted in our origins and principles, we’re committed to honoring our past and inspiring new makers and creatives.

Although we don’t often dye our yarns out back anymore, we still put a lot of care into offering the most beautiful and high-quality materials for every fiber artist. Many of our custom yarns are dyed in a fourth-generation family-run dye house and spun in mills that are fourth and fifth-generation family businesses in the northeast. We’ve built relationships with suppliers large and small who are as dedicated as we are to creating the finest natural fiber yarns and high-quality tools.

Two people sit at a table in a yarn store, knitting with various colored yarns. Shelves filled with neatly stacked yarns are in the background. A pumpkin and a mug are on the table, adding a cozy touch to the scene.

Every day, we learn from each other. After 50+ years, we continue to delight in discovering and delivering the most interesting, inspiring, sustainable, and high-quality supplies and information for our customers’ creative journeys. Whatever your skill level or interest in the fiber arts, you’ll always find helpful and dedicated people ready to help at Halcyon Yarn.

Our Values

  • A cozy yarn shop features shelves filled with colorful yarns and knitting supplies. In the center of the room is a wooden weaving loom on a braided round rug. Finished garments and knitting books line the walls, illuminated by warm overhead lighting.

Making, giving, and receiving handmade things speaks not just to the object itself, but to the time spent learning, creating, and enjoying these special items made with love. We're honored to help you make something special for someone special.

Move gently, make, mend, and connect.

Maybe you’ve heard the tech mantra “Move fast and break things.” We propose a different approach, one that sees our work as an opportunity to make connections and live life more thoughtfully and creatively. The fiber arts are both meditative and community-oriented. We are always striving to improve and we live our values of sustainability, creativity, fair and dignified work, diversity, family, and community service, in the following ways:

  • We source and custom-design unique and beautiful products made primarily from natural materials.
  • We are working across our supply chain and industry to improve our environmental and social impact and to improve transparency.
  • We are reducing and replacing single-use plastic whenever possible and we recycle the plastics we can’t eliminate to prevent them from entering the landfill.
  • Our shipping program includes carbon-neutral shipping whenever possible.
  • More than half the electricity used in our facility is generated from our solar panels and we continue making energy-efficient improvements, including the recent addition of an EV charger.
  • We donate to and volunteer with educational programs in the fiber arts, and local community groups and non-profits. Staff are offered regular wages for qualified volunteer activities.
  • Halcyon Yarn is an equal opportunity employer and we believe in a diverse and respectful workplace. All full-time employees are offered fully employer-paid health and dental, flexible scheduling opportunities, retirement fund matching, and opportunities for ongoing training and student loan relief.
  • Respect for our customers – no matter who you are, where you are, or what your skill level is, you will receive courteous and helpful customer service from our capable staff with every interaction.

We are proud to be an independent, woman-owned business. As you shop online or in your community we urge you to consider the practices of the companies from whom you acquire goods and services. Please shop locally and/or with independent businesses when you can, and support BIPOC and other minority-owned businesses. We urge you to patronize those businesses that are putting health, equity, and sustainability in their communities, and the safety of their staff, above the ‘profit at any cost’ model that many businesses choose – it may seem like a drop in the bucket, but it adds up! It is your loyalty as a customer that enables small businesses like ours and others to maintain the high levels of social responsibility, service, and care that we provide to our staff, customers, and communities. Your choices matter and we are grateful!

Thanks for taking the time to learn about Halcyon Yarn. We welcome your feedback and we love to hear about your fiber art journey. Please keep in touch!