How the shop started…

Set within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cromford Mills is a shop run by Sarah and her team selling a wide range of yarn, fibre and some equipment alongside the art and creations of around 60 artists and makers, both local and from around the country.

I actually started the shop as a base to teach workshops from and it has slowly evolved as global pandemics, family life, cancer etc happens. I pride myself on my flexible approach where I can adapt to things, my husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer about 10 years ago and we managed to get through it. It wasn’t easy, facing a future of being a widow with 3 young children was a challenge and thankfully didn’t happen. We both appreciate ageing though as it was something we didn’t think would happen. The shop was not only a chance for me to move my business on but to create a financial stability for me and the kids and to have something other than cancer to think about. It’s also helped with the transition as my children grow up and they need me less. Sometimes I miss those chaotic loud messy toddler years….

I have come a long way from the few balls of Drops yarn and then James C Brett and West Yorkshire Spinners that I sold, I fondly remember my first rep and still buy from Janice at West Yorkshire Spinners! I much prefer dealing and doing business with decent people and have created a lot of friendships along the way. One of my first makers and now a friend was the lovely Lily Batteson who walked through my door in the first week and we chatted and 6 years later I am still selling her work, I even knitted some wedding rings for her and her late husband. In fact it was an honour to have known him and to have spent time with him, I miss my hugs and smelling of Alan and seeing him smirk at my latest antics! Mazzas Monkeys and Little Fairy Art are also two makers who have been with me from the beginning. It’s actually really humbling that people trust me and well initially understood what it was that I wanted to create. See it’s not a normal shop, it’s quite chaotic and often loud and always colourful and I have created a commuKNITy through workshops, knit clubs and general banter with customers. It’s not always plain sailing, far from it, my passion and my mouth often gets the better of me. Ive also made quite a few mistakes with mixing friends and business but the good far out weighs the bad. And last year I had the misfortune during a menopause madness to live with a narcissistic abuser!!!! Its never boring….

But the shop remains, it doesn’t work for everyone, as well as people that have been with me from the beginning there’s been a steady flow. There’s no perfect maker, what I do do, believe it or not, is curate the mix, I try not to double up. My rule based on previous experience, I have also set the shop up more from the maker as opposed to the shop owner, but it works.

This week I have just launched and published a series of workshops. Ive had a break from teaching due to the abuse I suffered last year, its took a while to get my confidence back (anxiety mixed with menopause and being a DV victim has been tough) and mostly I miss teaching. I love watching someone’s face as they get it, I call it the lightbulb moment. I also get just as much from teaching as I give, working with other people gives me different view points and ideas. So I can’t wait to get started, Im actually having a mock workshop this week with a friend to allow me to take photos and see if my ideas work in a workshop environment. Oh yeah, as well as the shop I have a studio upstairs, it’s actually above the shop. This gives me space to store my personal and business yarn stash, Im a machine knitter so have lots of cones of yarn and somewhere to work, I mainly machine knit and plan upstairs. But it’s also a space to teach workshops in and I hire it out to groups and other workshop facilitators. The original plan was to get the wool and chaos out of my home to make things tidier but that doesn’t really happen …. I have spinning wheels at home and stash knitting machines all over, flooding unfortunately gave me a shock when I had to put all the knitting machines in one place – double figures…. And Im toying with the idea of a 350 mile round trip to buy an industrial machine….

Anyway that’s my first blog post, my plan is that it gives me a chance to write more than what I can on instagram….