Melanie Mckay

Melanie McKay is the owner of Ethel & Em, an independent yarn store located in the historic city of  Lancaster, UK.

As Melanie says herself, "Ethel & Em was my midlife crisis - an   opportunity to step away from a screen-based career, and focus more on something I actually derived joy from. I wanted to create an inclusive, community-based yarn shop that really was able to cater to most tastes and budgets - and somehow, seem to have achieved that."

The shop which also has an online presence, stocks several indie-dyed yarn ranges from BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and local dyers alongside smaller independent and larger, well known brands.