This year’s a big one for Emma Larimer, the founder of sustainable knitwear brand Everyone’s Mother: After balancing her full-time gig in garment production with her burgeoning brand of crocheted kerchiefs, basket bags, and bucket bags, Larimer says 2022 marks the first year she’s focusing on the latter it full-time. “I’ve always sewn and crocheted my whole life,” says Larimer, who felt inspired to knit a white and beige checkerboard basket bag, the prototype for what became her first product. “People kept asking me, ‘Oh, can I buy that?’ so I officially launched in May 2019.”

Larimer spent her childhood summers on the beaches of coastal Rhode Island, and says the ocean “has a huge influence” on everything she makes. “It’s the only place I feel truly calm, so I try to create items that are calming, but also funky, fun, and uniquely different.” This comes through in the imaginative color combinations, one-of-a-kind patterns, and trend-agnostic silhouettes she’s become known for.

Larimer also finds inspiration from the yarn she uses: Some of it comes from pre-loved pillows or cushions, and any new materials are exclusively grown or harvested in the US, often by friends who have alpaca farms in and around the tri-state area. “I like to keep the supply chain super close and personal so we know who we’re supporting. You know exactly how the animals are being treated. We go and see the alpacas whenever I visit home. It’s really special.”

And sustainability isn’t just in the materials or the design process: It’s the brand’s entire ethos: “I want anything I make to last forever, and that's the amazing thing with knits: They wear with you, they morph with you, and just like us, they get better with age.”