Trudy Van Stralen is the founder of Louet North America and remains the driving creative force behind its continued product development.

Trudy developed a reputation in the hand dyeing community in the mid 70's.   Trudy dyed with nature's palette, (natural dyes) creating wonderful color ranges of wool fleece, mohair fiber and yarn.   She sold her dyed fibers from her small shop, in the same location that Louet North America now calls home.

Trudy had learned to knit at a young age during the post WWII years in Holland, and in the 1970’s, as a fiber artist, dyeing wool and yarn, she taught herself to spin and weave.  Trudy created woven garments and was a contributing source in Handwoven and Spin-Off Magazines in the early 1980’s, as well as spinning and selling her handspun yarns at her store – Hilltop Wools.

Trudy taught her craft of hand dyeing across North America, in workshops through out the 1980’s.   In the late 1980’s, Trudy wrote a book on hand dyeing entitled, Indigo Madder and Marigold, a book that is used by many as a resource  for hand dyeing with natural dyes.

In the late 90’s Trudy began creating hand knitted garments and patterns, bringing her back to her roots, growing up in Holland.  Trudy often jokes that she knits in “dutch”. Today, Trudy continues developing knitting patterns with her team of knitters and designers. Trudy also designs new yarns for Louet North America.

So keep watching as we continue to develop wonderful new additions.