Ethel & Em

30/07/2026

Our fab local radio station Beyond Radio is turning 10 🥳

Our Ben has joined in sending super birthday love to the team at Beyond Radio, with a special shout out to presenter at large (author, rambler, adventurer, Ethel & Em famalam, and so much more…) Beth Pipe.

Join in and wish this stellar team a happy birthday 🫶🏽

25/07/2026

Be fab to see a pic of one of the BIPOC people involved in this engaging with the E2M team. Just a thought.

We just wanted to say a huge thank you to Black History Lancaster and Connect Play Learn CIC for delivering some excellent training to our team of staff members, workshop facilitators, and volunteers!

The wonderful Lela Harris, Prof. Alan Rice, and Prof. Christina Hicks delivered a fantastic, informative session on Lancaster's Black History and Heritage!

This was followed by an accessibility training by the incredible Kirsten Freiesleben and Gill Mason from Connect Play Learn CIC.

We are so thankful to these wonderful organisations and are so excited to use the new skills we've learned to deliver our upcoming Heritage Festival!

15/07/2026

I did a live. The instagram won’t let me share it here. It’s about 5 minutes long and I’m telling you guys about some of the great value yarns we stock. Natural fibres, blends, and synthetics. You can click the video below if you want to find out more.

I did this because someone said the shop looked dear and I wanted to let you all know that we offer good bang for your buck.

In fact, I forgot to mention it, but the scarf I’m wearing in the video used 4 Ricorumi SpinSpins and two Ricorumis (I think) that’s a scarf in 100% cotton with a choice of almost 100 colours to choose from and it’s cost me less than £20 at current prices. I’m pretty darned pleased with that! That’s a round at the pub or coffees for the team…

04/07/2026

So… this is a bit of an introduction post for some of our new followers. I chose the yarn and wine pic because the freeze frames from the video were pretty darn grim.

I’ve not been able to figure out captions, so I will summarise the video for anyone who needs it…

My name is Melanie and this is my wool (and stationery) shop, Ethel & Em, in Lancaster, UK. I’m a BIPOC lady originally from NYC and my shoppe manager Ben (whose face often graces the grid) is a q***r man from Lancashire. Together we look after a lovely wool (and stationery) shoppe in Lancaster that is a truly inclusive space with lots of goodness for crafters who love fibre, paper, pencil and ink on a range of budget options.

We are pretty sensitive souls and I allude to my discomfort around today being the 4th of July. 250 years of independence for white, male Americans and a lot less time of liberation for women and BIPOC people.

Generally though, I’m wittering on about my lovely little shoppe.

I tried to film this more times than I can count, and this felt like the best one. It ain’t polished but it gives you a glimpse into the shop and our general vibe.

Thanks for being a part of our community. 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

26/06/2026

It’s hot as heck and this is take two. 🤭IYKYK🤭

Anyhoo, big boss Mel is home with lurgy and jet lag after her mega trip to Ozzzzzstralia. Ben and Emily are enjoying one last hurrah before she returns and they are inviting you down for a bit of knitting, crochet, and general crafting in public from 11-2 on Saturday 27 June. They had a blast for WWKIP day and thought they’d give it another go.

Also, New Street is quite cool as the museum obscures direct sunlight on the front of the shop, so if you fancy crafting outdoors with Em and Ben tomorrow… come on down!

Stay cool 😎 crafters!

🥰all of us at Ethel & Em

18/06/2026

So much newness in store we need to shout about… super summer wools including Ben-me-quer and Madragoa from Beautiful lightweight Awrwetta and Alva from New colours from in the beautiful sock wool Terra and finally baby yarns from both and .

I said finally… I lied… we have a new Acrylic DK from Jette has a fab palette, great meterage and comes in 50g balls…. Winning 🧶

23/05/2026

On Thursday Ben and I took a train down to that London for which is part of (Small Business Britain). This celebration of small businesses here in the UK was nothing short of phenomenal. The support they give small businesses all year round is amazing and I can’t believe it took me so long to discover and tap in to this resource. Anyhow… I digress.

The winner of the Bricks & Clicks category was London based and it was impossible not to be pleased for them. An ethical and sustainable business that makes me and Benny’s fave bevvie. The clicks bit means that we will be ordering some coffee to try shortly 🤩 I digress again…

Table 13 had no winners to walk up to the stage, but that was ok. We were all pleased as punch to have made the shortlist. And we made some great new connections that night.

Some of the smalls on our radar are now and the very cool CIC on the same table as and also keen to explore who were a table away.

The overall winner for small business of the year was .m.pasties which is a commercial enterprise with a charitable arm that supports ex-offenders all centred around pies. What’s not to love? Super shout out to them! 🥳🤩🥰

Another TL;DR post from me. Thanks for reading if you got this far. Please keep supporting so we can continue to support you 🫶🏽

14/05/2026

you really did start summat. And we are committing to the grid 💥

loving the participation… join in the silliness 😝

28/04/2026

Lots to do on our lovely little city!

28/04/2026

So… we went and did a thing. As a number of you now know, after a truly challenging year, both professionally and personally, we’ve managed to be shortlisted for The Small Awards Bricks & Clicks Award.

These milestones are possible because of the incredible team in the shoppe and our lovely customers near and far. The business community in Lancaster can be wonderfully supportive and my fellow LYS owners continue to be amazing rocks. Who knows if we’ll win - the competition is stiff - but we will have fun celebrating getting this far. Our first national award shortlist.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. And for being here, a part of this community.

Welcoming Ethel & Em to our 2026 ‘Bricks & Clicks’ shortlist!

Ethel & Em is a true destination yarn and stationery shop in the heart of Lancaster, championing analogue creativity in a digital world.

From beautifully curated yarns to thoughtfully selected stationery, every product has been chosen with care – creating a shop that feels inspiring, inclusive and full of possibility.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned maker, there’s something here for every skill level, style and budget.

Ethel & Em are committed to accessibility and community, and they are not just selling products – they are opening the door for more people to get involved in creativity, removing barriers and making crafting something everyone can enjoy.

Image description: Ethel & Em founder Melanie McKay smiling while knitting with colourful yarn outside the yarn shop.