Classic Elite Yarns had its origin in the late 1940s when Ernest Chew, the company’s founder, became a partner in Warley Worsted Mills, an old-line textile manufacturing mill in Lowell, MA. Under his direction, Warley Worsted developed into a specialty yarn mill producing fine mohair yarns for yard-goods manufacturers, and yarn companies such as Bernat.

In 1980, Classic Elite Yarns was created as a marketing division of the mill and catered to hand weavers and designers. At the same time, Classic Elite expanded its product line beyond mohairs to include cottons, silks, alpacas, wools and natural fiber blends. The company began presenting at industry trade shows and producing two annual collections of handknitting designs – and the new company also began to make the pages of international fashion magazines. Today Classic Elite is owned, managed and staffed primarily by women, and is no longer in the manufacturing business (Warley Worsted having shut down). Instead it focuses on distributing fine handknitting yarns from numerous international mills. In 2001 Classic Elite added its Luxury Fiber Division, providing hand knitters with the world’s finest cashmere and cashmere-blend yarns.

Classic Elite still resides in an historic mill building on the banks of the Merrimack River in Lowell (occupying two floors while artist studios occupy the remainder of the building), and prides itself on distributing some of the best hand knitting yarns to shops all across the US, and soon, all across Canada. In addition to providing exemplary customer service, Classic Elite’s in-house staff also manages all pattern design and development, pattern writing, tech editing, graphic design and much of the designing for its collections.

Classic Elite’s latest additions to its collection include three new spring/summer yarns (Soft Linen, Silky Alpaca Lace, and Cotton Bam Boo), and hand knitting patterns published in four booklets (Make it Modern, Summer book 1, Summer book 2, Curvy Knits, and A Touch of Luxury). Patterns using CEY yarns can also be found in nearly all major hand knitting magazines, such as Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting.

Partnerships are also important to Classic Elite. The company is the sole distributor of Twinkle Yarns (Soft Chunky, Cruise and Kid Mohair). The Twinkle line was developed by New York 7^th Avenue designer Wenlan Chia to support her knitting books: Big City Knits, and Twinkle’s Weekend Knits, which feature patterns for today’s hottest fashion looks. Classic Elite also distributes Jil Eaton’s minnowknits pattern leaflets, featuring adorable designs for babies, toddlers, and young children. And finally, Classic Elite has partnered with Cat Bordhi to distribute her best selling knitting books, the most recent of which is New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

For more information, visit our website: www.classiceliteyarns.com. Please take a moment while you are on our home page to sign up for our weekly web-letter – free patterns, stitch and yarn information, and more!