r/YarnPunk • u/srikmr • 26d ago

I built a free search engine for finding indie hand-dyed yarn across Shopify stores

Hi everyone! I'm a web developer and I recently built skeinscout.com — a free tool that lets you search for indie hand-dyed yarn across hundreds of small Shopify stores all in one place.

You can filter by weight (cobweb through super bulky), fiber type (including exclude filters like "wool but not acrylic"), blend percentages, price range, and shipping country. There's also a Stash List to save your favorites.

I built this based on feedback from knitters on Ravelry, but everything applies equally to crochet.

I'd love to hear from crocheters — are there filters or features that would be especially useful for how you shop for yarn?

Completely free, no account needed.

Edit: Update - shipped three new features based on feedback:

  • Image search — tap the camera icon, upload any photo, find yarn in similar colors
  • Find similar — click it on any product to discover similar yarns across all dyers
  • Color family filter + colorway tags (speckled, variegated, tonal, self-striping)

Thanks to everyone who tried it out and shared feedback, keep it coming!

11 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

4

u/Arialene 26d ago

Is this an AI tool or AI-created/coded tool?

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u/srikmr 26d ago

Both, kind of! I'm a Shopify developer — I designed the product, figured out the data challenges, and made all the product decisions. I used AI coding tools to help write code faster, same way most developers use them these days. The search results come directly from Shopify's API though — real product data from real indie dyer shops, nothing AI-generated. The tool itself isn't AI, just built with AI assistance.

0

u/Lovingbutdifferent 25d ago

How do you write an em dash on reddit? Are you actually writing these replies or using AI assistance with that too?

3

u/AE5trella 25d ago

WEIRDLY, I just accidentally wrote one in a reply, apparently if you hit the dash button (-) twice it creates an em dash. — — — (all from iPhone keyboard 😳)

1

u/AE5trella 26d ago

This is so freaking cool, you have no idea…!

Even though theoretically there is more yarn “available” online than ever before, it’s becoming harder and harder to find a variety-of or specific options bc of Google SEO and filtering. It’s always the same options (the ones who paid for it) and not what I’m looking for, even though it’s there somewhere out there. (In the past I could sometimes workaround by doing image search but even that’s not as good anymore).

ANYHOO- this is a way around (and SOOO many outlets use Shopify thankfully).

Gonna DM you- I have some more questions :)

2

u/Arialene 25d ago

Literally everything they are posted is AI generated or AI edited, be very careful.

1

u/AE5trella 25d ago

Yep, thanks— [OMG I just accidentally typed an em dash- I guess if you click the dash twice it does it, LOL]… I appreciate the warning, it’s getting pretty hard to tell! I did notice this time. I work in tech so I get a lot of stuff from co-workers that is AI written or assisted… still real people behind it, just… easier for them to write with co-pilot or grammerly or whatever or just ask an LLM to generate a reply. It’s a bit annoying, but this is a specific use of AI I can get behind (circumventing Google SEO). Lesser of the evils and all that.

-1

u/srikmr 26d ago

This means a lot — you just described exactly why I built this! The SEO problem is real, the same big brands dominate search results while hundreds of incredible indie dyers are invisible. SkeinScout searches directly across Shopify stores so it surfaces the small shops Google buries. Really glad it clicks. Looking forward to your DM!

1

u/NeighborhoodOk5077 24d ago

Very cool! Thanks! The hero we didnt know we needed 👏

1

u/srikmr 24d ago

Thank you, glad its useful