Do you get your purl on? Know how to work the sticks? Ever bind off? Do you have any idea what we are talking about? Don’t worry—not everyone can understand the secret language that knitters possess … or their complete and utter obsession with finding new fibers to knit with.

Vegan knitters especially are always on the lookout for the latest yarns to make their wonderful cruelty-free creations. And with yarns made out of rayon, cotton, hemp, linen, bamboo, ingeo (from corn), and soy silk—as well as synthetics like acrylic, nylon, and microfiber—it has never been easier to find fibers that don’t come from animals!

Seriously, who wants to make those cute new fingerless gloves out of yarn that came from a sheep who was tortured and mutilated? Not us! Just thinking about it is gross.

Sheep used for their wool have their tails cut off and are castrated when they are just babies (without any painkillers). People who shear the wool are paid by volume, not by the hour, which means that they work roughly and fast. This often leaves the sheep with open gashes that can become infected.

In Australia—where a lot of the world’s wool originates—farmers use gardening shears to cut huge chunks of skin and flesh from lambs’ backsides (also without any painkillers) in a cruel practice called “mulesing.” And after all that, when the sheep are no longer producing enough wool, they are crammed onto export ships to be sent to the Middle East, where they are cruelly slaughtered.

Don’t despair—there is hope! You can knit without wool. Don’t know where to begin to become a cruelty-free knitter? Don’t worry—we at peta2 are going to help you get your stitch on. Even if you don’t knit yet, you can still learn. We are firm believers in the fact that everyone is a vegan knitter at heart; you just have to start. Check out these helpful resources to get tips on where to get cruelty-free yarn and what you can knit!

Happy knitting!