Magpie Fibers expands into brick-and-mortar Magpie Market, a crafting hub in downtown Frederick

May 13—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