“We usually have our pride flag up, but because of the storm last night we had to take it down. We still have our flag up when you walk inside, above the front door.” 

This is the first thing Deb, co-owner of The Sow’s Ear, mentions to me as we sit down together outside her combination cafe and yarn shop. The cafe itself has been in the same location since 2000, but Deb and her family bought it in 2006. 

“When we first put out the Pride flag, we did lose a few customers,” Deb continues. The folks in question who left when they put out the flag must be small in number, because it is already past 9:00 a.m. on a rainy Tuesday morning, and the place is still bustling. 

“Do you think you were able to welcome more people when you put out the flag?” It is a silly question to ask as we are having to raise our voices to chat while a crowd of younger-looking customers laugh as they walk in.

“Oh yes. We have such a diverse group of folks who visit. We have a lot of support from the community and try to provide a really safe space where everyone can be themselves.” 

The cafe is settled nicely on the corner in quiet-but-busy downtown Verona. Like other small businesses in the area, such as the Garden Wall bookstore, her cafe is situated in a charming old Victorian home. An adorable sow, the cafe’s mascot, is painted on the sign leading into the building holding a steaming cup of coffee and a pair of knitting needles and yarn. The lettering below the picture reads, “Yarns told, yarns sold.”

Deb moves from speaking about the folks who frequent her business to listing all the businesses that The Sow’s Ear supports. The transition is second nature to her: a symbiotic relationship that she is so accustomed to talking about because it is all a part of the ecosystem of their cafe. With rapid-fire precision, she lists off their suppliers. The first of which she makes sure to mention is a small, women-owned micro-green farm. She also mentions Vitruvian Farms and Bavaria Sausage in Fitchburg. 

The cafe makes sure to donate a portion of its revenue to various local charities, organizations that support giving books to kids and help stand up against mass incarceration. In April, according to the Sow’s Ear Instagram account, they also shared that they were donating a portion of their yarn sales to causes helping folks in Minneapolis during the height of the ICE raids in the city. 

They donate a portion of their food and beverage sales to local causes as well. In January of this year, they used their themed drinks board to customize the theme of “Dragged in the New Year”: with beverages like the “Yass Queen,” the “Showboat,” and “Fierce” (“Nothing says fierce like a mocha with cayenne”). A portion of profits from this theme went to Friends of the State Street Family, which “provides help, hope, and friendship to neighbors in Madison struggling with the challenges of homelessness.”

The themed drinks bring whimsy to patrons who often stop and take photos of the menu board. “One of our most popular themes was from two months ago…it was from a hockey show? People loved it.” She pauses then to try and recall the name. “Heated Rivalry! Oh God, people were coming in just to take pictures of the board.” 

The Sow’s Ear hosts a Queer (and Ally) Crafting Club the first and third Friday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The club isn’t limited to just yarn and fabric arts, though. Participants can bring any kind of project that they are working on. “We have a big group of folks who attend, usually around 8 to 15 people, sometimes up to 20,” said Deb. 

Staff member Mara and her wife run this group, while many other staff members juggle multiple creative roles, spending time both slinging coffee and sharing their talents with everyone who visits. Deb overflows with love for the people she works with, seemingly unable to say enough kind and inspiring words about them. “They are all so creative and they all bring their unique skills to the table. It’s a lot of fun. Basically, I see my staff as family. Right now, I want to say is probably my most dedicated, amazing staff I’ve ever had. It’s a joy to be around them.” When asked how she was able to find such amazing staff, she shrugs and says simply: “Luck.” 

On their website you can find events listed every day. Plenty are free to attend, including the Queer and Ally Craft Club, but some classes and workshops require a fee. “We want to make crafting and community accessible for everybody,” she noted. 

Deb gets excited talking about the new “Free Crafting Library,” which sits towards the back of the store: a beautiful arrangement of used knitting needles and crochet hooks are displayed with signs telling customers to take what they need, with supplies overflowing out over the sides of the table and even into mugs and baskets on the corners. Below the tools, there is a mini library of books and patterns, and even a fairly large collection of half-used (but high quality) yarn. “Folks can just grab free crafts off of the library and just, you know, come and hang out with friends.” 

They even partner with the local public library to host a children’s storytime. There is a special stuffed sheep toy hidden among the racks of yarn in the back, and as people check out their items at the counter, staff snag the sheep off the shelves to bring a little joy to the storytime event. “There is a girl who always comes in, and one day the sheep was missing. The girl thought it had run away,” a glint of mischief sparkles in the eyes of the staff member working the yarn shop in the back, who recounts this story. “I had to tell her he was just leading the storytime!”  

The staff takes great pride in how they source both their yarn and their menu. “When we are looking for new products, we obviously look for what people want first,” Sara, the store’s yarn buyer, explains after Deb motions her over to chat with us about all things yarn. “But then, if I know a specific product type, I’m going to look at what’s in Madison first, then what is in Wisconsin, the Great Lakes, the Midwest, and kind of move out from there in that order. Then, I’m always looking at who owns it. Where do they get their stuff from? What are the ethics behind their business? What are they standing for? Thankfully, being the size that we are, we’re able to be really picky like that. We like to tell people that we can stand behind any yarn here, ethically. It’s not very hard to find really great people out there to work with. We’re really lucky.”

When you get hungry from all that crafting, the food menu offers something for everyone, with seasonal options and even a new vegan option. Aptly named the “Yahara,” it comes toasted on Madison Sourdough with chickpeas and locally sourced greens. For smaller-sized clientele, they make sure to have a full array of options, and according to Deb the “Half Verona Sandwich” (a play on a caprese sandwich) is very popular with the kids who visit. “We gotta give the kids a little credit that they might have a more advanced palette.” Adults with an advanced palette are also sure to be satisfied with the “elevated comfort food” offerings. 

The cafe itself is colorfully decorated with artwork, much of it in the fiber arts category. Deb explains that their art coordinator, Amber Mars, is very active in the local art community and is an artist and librarian herself. Deb also holds a bachelor’s in studio art and museum studies. This summer, she will be spending the summer in Italy studying art. In her spare time, she also enjoys hiking and taking care of her three dogs. They help her practice patience, she says, as they can be very energetic. It seems unbelievable that Deb needs any help in that category, though. After the interview, she immediately folds herself back into the beautiful chaos of the shop, getting ready for storytime and chatting with her staff. The yarn and the cafe blend together so well, and it’s obvious that the staff are having fun (and working hard) to make the place feel like something from a cozy fantasy novel. You would never know Deb was the coordinator behind the scenes, curating this little magical world that brings art and community together so seamlessly.