Magpie Fibers expands into brick-and-mortar Magpie Market, a crafting hub in downtown Frederick | Arts & entertainment | fredericknewspost.com

2022-08-27 02:54:50 By : Ms. Jocelyn Zhang

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Log in or read 2 more articles before registering, and 8 before becoming a member.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in or create an account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your registered account or create an account to receive 6 more articles over the next 30 days. join now for unlimited access.

Share unlimited digital access with 4 family members… join now.

Thank you for reading! To continue reading your local news, please register for free. Or join for unlimited access. (Already a member? Log in.)

Thank you for reading! To continue reading your local news, please register for free. Or join for unlimited access. (Already a member? Log in.)

Local news and analysis – and much more. By joining you get unlimited access to it all.Join now.

Share unlimited digital access with 4 family members… join now.

Thank you for reading! To continue reading your local news, please register for free. Or join for unlimited access. (Already a member? Log in.)

Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.

Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.

You get home delivery Monday through Saturday – plus full digital access any time, on any device – with our six-day subscription delivery membership.

This membership plan includes member-only benefits like our popular ticket giveaways, all of our email newsletters and access to the daily digital replica of the printed paper. Also, you can share digital access with up to four other household members at no additional cost.

Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal. Most subscribers are served by News-Post carriers; households in some outlying areas receive same-day delivery through the US Postal Service. If your household falls in a postal delivery area, you will be notified by our customer service team.

With our four-day Wednesday-through-Saturday home delivery package, you get home delivery of our popular Food and 72 Hours sections as well as the full Saturday-Sunday weekend paper.

And, as with all of our packages, you get full access to all of our online content, any day and on any device.

Membership includes access to newsletters, special offers and the ability to share your subscription with up to four additional household members.

Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal. Most subscribers are served by News-Post carriers; households in some outlying areas receive same-day delivery through the US Postal Service. If your household falls in a postal delivery area, you will be notified by our customer service team.

With a digital-only membership subscription, you get individual access to all of our online content, 24/7, on any device.

Digital memberships qualify for special member benefits, like our popular ticket giveaways.

Plus you get access to the ePages, a digital replica of the printed paper, and all of our email newsletters.

Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal.

Our short-term pass is the digital equivalent of buying a couple of papers at the corner store. You can access all of our digital content for 48 hours with each non-renewing pass.

Sorry, no member giveaways, custom newsletters, linked accounts or ePages access with short-term passes.

Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.

Promotional Rates were found for your code.

Dami Hunter is the owner of the newly opened Magpie Market at 141 N. Market St. in Frederick. The store is a stationary and craft boutique that features a large selection of yarn, the product Hunter started selling online in 2014.

At Magpie Market in Frederick recently are Kayla Fernandez, left, store manager, and Dami Hunter, owner.

Dami Hunter is the owner of the newly opened Magpie Market.

One of the featured products at Magpie Market are Blackwing pencils.

Dami Hunter is the owner of the newly opened Magpie Market at 141 N. Market St. in Frederick. The store is a stationary and craft boutique that features a large selection of yarn, the product Hunter started selling online in 2014.

At Magpie Market in Frederick recently are Kayla Fernandez, left, store manager, and Dami Hunter, owner.

Dami Hunter is the owner of the newly opened Magpie Market.

One of the featured products at Magpie Market are Blackwing pencils.

Dami Hunter has always been an artist, using whatever medium speaks to her. She’s a proficient cook, has studied fashion and sewing, and once ran her own jewelry company. But no medium has stuck with her quite like knitting.

Hunter started dyeing her own yarn not long after she first picked up knitting needles in 2012. After moving to Frederick, she met people in the crafting community who pulled her into the world of knitting and gave her the confidence she needed to start experimenting with dyeing.

“It really was a sea change for me, learning how to knit. I just really loved it,” she said. “I started dyeing yarn in my kitchen, and that sort of then morphed into me dyeing yarn in my basement.”

Hunter’s company, Magpie Fibers, was born not long after. Quickly, the company picked up steam and grew from Hunter’s basement to a large production space, where Hunter and her team could dye yarn for wholesale.

Now, seven years later, Hunter and her team have branched out yet again by opening the brick and mortar Magpie Market at 141 N. Market St. in downtown Frederick.

A space previously housed En Masse Luxe became available during the pandemic. Hunter discussed the idea of opening a retail space with her team and ultimately decided to move forward.

“I live downtown, I know how [quickly] retail space goes downtown – you kind of have to snap it up when it happens,” she said. “So we decided to go for it. And I’m really happy we did.”

Magpie Market opened in April and sells a variety of products for all types of crafts. Besides Magpie’s crafting kits and hand-dyed yarns, the shop sells supplies for needle felting, cross-stitch and embroidery, as well as stationery items, including unique paper, pens and pencils. In the future, Hunter hopes to offer lap looms for weaving.

Hunter’s goal is to appeal to all kinds of crafters throughout the Frederick area. Since she made many of her friends through the crafting community after moving to Frederick, she hopes to be able to facilitate the same kind of friendships for her customers.

Since opening, Hunter said many customers have come in and asked about classes and clubs. A lot of them, she said, got into their craft of choice during the pandemic.

“There’s definitely a hunger out there for community of other people to be creative with, so that’s kind of what our goal is: to be that place where people can come together,” she said. “Hopefully, as we start to get to that new normal where we can be together more, we’ll be able to have classes and craft nights.”

Magpie Fibers, and later Magpie Market, is named after the bird of the same name, which is known for its intelligence. Often, in legend and works of fiction, magpies collect various shiny objects, like jewelry.

Hunter originally used the word in her jewelry business. While traveling through Europe, she found odds and ends at flea markets that she would turn into original works.

“That part of the business I called Magpie because it was really about finding and collecting things,” she said. “And when I started the yarn business, I wasn’t sure that really applied, but I was wrong. It completely applied.”

Knitters and crafters are often working on several things at once and trying out new techniques, Hunter said. “It all kind of makes sense, in the way of magpies collecting things and being interested in different things,” she said.

Hunter’s business partner, Kayla Fernandez, manages the retail space, and six additional women work the wholesale and online components of the business. Without them, Hunter said, her business would not have been able to grow as it has.

Although Magpie Market has only been open for a few weeks, Hunter said the response from the community has been incredible.

“I love downtown Frederick, but this makes me love it even more, just so many people coming in and saying such really, really nice things to us. It’s really great,” Hunter said. “We’ve really been tickled by just how supportive everyone’s been and how excited people seem to be by what we’ve put together, so that’s gratifying.”

Follow Erika Riley on Twitter: @ej_riley

Follow Erika Riley on Twitter: @ej_riley

Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it clean. No vulgar, racist, sexist or sexually-oriented language. Engage ideas. This forum is for the exchange of ideas, not personal attacks or ad hominem criticisms. TURN OFF CAPS LOCK. Be civil. Don't threaten. Don't lie. Don't bait. Don't degrade others. No trolling. Stay on topic. No spamming. This is not the place to sell miracle cures. No deceptive names. Apparently misleading usernames are not allowed. Say it once. No repetitive posts, please. Help us. Use the 'Report' link for abusive posts.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to read or post comments.

The town's annual block party. Food trucks, live entertainment and more.

Frederick Health Hospice hosts a ceremony of remembrance and candlelight vigil to memorializ…

Rock reggae. Bring a canned food item for the Foodbank Program operated by the Frederick Com…

Fireworks. Art in the Park Night with a baseball design with balls designed by Keys players …

Fireworks. Art in the Park Night with a baseball design with balls designed by Keys players …

Drive through the Fire Station parking lot and purchase a dinner that includes 1/2 BBQ chick…

We welcome community submissions to our calendar. Post your events in the full calendar, under "Calendar & events" above.

The town's annual block party. Food trucks, live entertainment and more.

Frederick Health Hospice hosts a ceremony of remembrance and candlelight vigil to memorializ…

Rock reggae. Bring a canned food item for the Foodbank Program operated by the Frederick Com…

Fireworks. Art in the Park Night with a baseball design with balls designed by Keys players …

Fireworks. Art in the Park Night with a baseball design with balls designed by Keys players …

Drive through the Fire Station parking lot and purchase a dinner that includes 1/2 BBQ chick…

 Over 25 Loudoun County musicians play and jam together all day long in this fundraiser to s…

Fireworks. Art in the Park Night with a baseball design with balls designed by Keys players …

Doug Alexander, Sandra Cullison Dutterer and Jimmy Linton will share information and memorie…

Presented by Northrop Grumman, returns to Baltimore City and county with ship tours, festiva…

Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below.

Our local business directory includes detailed information for featured businesses as well as customer reviews and direct links to related events.

Stay informed of daily news & events in your community for as little as $3.25 a week.

The Frederick News-Post is printed by FNP Printing and Publishing.