A Yarn Story Turns 10 | My Reflections

I started pulling photos together from the past 10 years and oh. my. god. have we come a long way. Not only was I struck by the improvement of my photos over the years (thank goodness we stopped using all those heavy Instagram filters) but also all of the people in those photos. Yes, I have one million photos of yarn on my camera roll but I also have all these beautiful people I have encountered and gotten to work with over the years.

So today's blog is mostly a big old photo album with some reflections on the last (or rather, 'first') 10 years of A Yarn Story.

£1,225.59 was my total turnover in November 2014, the first month A Yarn Story opened. That isn't very much money at all and every year on the shop anniversary I remind myself of that number, it's humbling a good reminder of how far the business has come.

I had no idea what I was doing in those early days. Like absolutely no clue at all. Sure, I had written a business plan and I had made calculations and budgets and written down ideas for years to come but the reality of opening a business was another thing altogether. Running my own business has been the best and hardest thing I've ever decided to do.

This all started in a teeny tiny space that was maybe 100 square feet, it had french doors that opened into the room and so I put my till desk on wheels so I could move it in front of the open doors everyday and make enough space that someone could walk in. We quickly outgrew that space and looking back through the photos I am struck by just how rapidly we grew the first 6 years. I added yarn lines, team members, new businesses, shop furniture, business partners, bank accounts, friends - the list goes on.

I'd forgotten how many classes we have hosted too, with teachers traveling in from all over including Rachel Coopey, Carole Feller, Stephen West, Melanie Berg, Renée Callahan, Karie Westerman and Kate Atherley to name a few. There have been lots of yarn festivals, big ones and small ones. Products have come and gone and come again. Yarns we loved have been discontinued and I seem to have a knack for knitting things in colourways that are discontinued as soon as I've finished the project.

Over the years we've had dozens of brands on the shelves: The Fibre Co., Shibui, SweetGeorgia Yarns, Magpie Fibers, Julie Asselin, Garthenor, CaMaRose, Dye Candy, La Bien Aimée, Zealana, Hedgehog Fibres, Knitting for Olive, Brooklyn Tweed, Spincycle Yarns, Les Garçons, John Arbon, Kettle Yarn Co., The Urban Purl, Rosa Pomar, Uschitita, Isager, Madelinetosh, Malabrigo, Ginger Twist Studio, Habu and Townhouse Yarns to name a few. Each of these brands helped us bring my love of yarn and knitting to you, some of them I've had to work extremely hard to stock and some I have had to say goodbye to even though I love them.

The yarn and classes may have brought you through the door but what happened once you came in is all on you. We've shared so many stories over the years, shed tears of joy, comforted one another in grief, laughed until we couldn't breathe and inspired one another to create. To use sticks and string as an outlet for our creativity and bring balance to our lives. Knitting is a powerful hobby and yarn binds us in ineffable ways and I am so. so. grateful.

I have so very much I want to say about the last ten years. About how much my life has changed, how much all of you have changed my life. I don't quite have the words I thought I would to express that.

There are so many people to thank for making this all possible. My parents top of the list, they have helped me enormously over the years both financially and as sounding boards having run their own successful business for 25 years. My team - past and present - they have always gotten on board with my bonkers ideas and driven the business forward, I couldn't do it without them.

I also have to shoutout my ex who was integral in the early days and found A Yarn Story its first home in The Shed and told me a week before opening when I still hadn't chosen a logo "just pick something, you can always change it later." Also my current bf who is infinitely supportive and encouraging and pointed out to me how very remarkable it is that someone in the world buys something from my little shop everyday - EVERYDAY!

Then there's Peaches, my constant companion who made those early days when sometimes no one came into the shop (we didn't always sell something everyday at the beginning) a whole lot easier to deal with, she has been an excellent sidekick and customer relations manager. And my business besties, Athena and Nu, who are both inspiring and wonderful and make this entrepreneurship journey much less lonely.

None of this is possible without the people but more importantly, it's not significant without the people. I see an entire world that's developed over the last 10 years, a life I couldn't have imagined would be mine. One filled with rich, colourful characters - book worthy characters and experiences.

Thank you all so very much for the last 10 years, I am so very grateful for your support and business.

Happy stitching,

Carmen