Indicating one of her products, Maddie Kellner – co-owner of the new Fishers craft store Flax and Fiber Yarn Collecting – notes, “This one is called Unicorn Barf.”
At the round table in the shop’s community room, Kellner points to lines of a knitted rainbow dress she’s wearing, and tells the origin story of each new color.
Co-owner Maddie Kellner of the new Flax and Fiber Yarn Co. in Fishers. (Photo by Kaitlin Fallowfield.)
“That’s actually its name. And these little pops of color here are from a dyer called Be Ridiculous, which I mispronounced as bread-licious for a very long time, until someone corrected me,” she said, laughing.
To her right and laughing with her is Sarah Stuckey, fellow co-owner and friend of the last decade. As she told the rest of the history behind the dress, Kellner set aside her latest knitting project and adjusted the book she plans to introduce in a new monthly book club at Flax and Fiber. It’s a knitting-themed murder mystery.
Both women were working their normal nine-to-fives in health care technology and met over a shared Medicare contract. That led to a knitting class, and eventually opening a whimsical shop of their own.
Stuckey, who is affectionately called “The Yarn Fairy,” said she never imagined herself owning a business.
“I wanted to be a history professor, and I guess there are thousands of years of textile history,” she shrugged. “I did not think I would end up here, even when we were plotting this a decade ago.”
Kellner and Stuckey co-own Flax and Fiber with retired Indiana University professors Dr. Linda Williams and Michelle Salyers, who own and operate Flax and Fiber’s sister store, Color Me Happy Fiber Arts Studio. The four women connected through Hamilton County’s FIBruary Festival, an annual fiber arts festival started by Kellner and Salyers two years ago to celebrate the art medium and strengthen the fabric of the local artist community.
Kellner said it was kismet when she and Stuckey got the news during this year’s fiber arts festival that the lease for their own yarn store was approved.
Located on Lantern Road in a cottage where a bridal store once stood, the store is organized by yarn weight, with displays that highlight local artists’ finished work and their patterns for sale.
Roughly six weeks into new business ownership, Stuckey and Kellner said they want the store to be more than a hobby shop — they want it to become a community.
To make that happen, they have a packed calendar of events, from paid classes to free weekly open craft nights, where all experience levels are invited to bring in their “non-messy” project, sit at the round table and enjoy the company. The duo also is working on launching a monthly book club that will feature fiber-focused reads.
Although the shop is less than 3 months old, the owners said the community response has been strong.
“Someone at open craft night looked around – there were 20-ish people here chit-chatting – and they said, ‘I love it here,’” Kellner said. “I got goosebumps. This is what I wanted. I wanted to create a space for people to come and be, and feel like they belong.”
Flax and Fiber Yarn Collective is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. A calendar of events can be found in store and online at flaxandfiberyarnco.com.
