Day in the life of

By Angie Dalton

In June this year I opened Knitwise. This is the story of how I came to give up a full time job in finance to run my own yarn store.

I have knitted since I was very young and although I have knitted all my life, my passion for yarn and all things related has ebbed and flowed over the years. My obsession with knitting only truly reached its peak over the last two or three years.

After reading about the knitting groups springing up all over the world, and not being able to find any groups locally, I decided to start a group myself. In February 2005 Stitch 'n Bitch Liverpool was born - a knitting group which originally met in a south Liverpool café every week and has now been relocated to my shop. Several of the knitters who came to the meetings in the first few months still attend regularly even after more than 18 months. The enthusiasm of the knitters is inspiring. Every project is admired, help is offered and encouragement given.

My enthusiasm for knitting increased as the numbers attending SnB increased and I eventually found myself talking dreamily of how great it would be to have my own knitting shop. One Saturday in February 2006 I made a 100 mile round trip to buy a particular yarn I was after. For several days I grumbled about not being able to find what I needed locally. Eventually my partner suggested 'if you think it would work, why don't you open a shop yourself?' That was it! From then on opening the shop was all-consuming. Suppliers were contacted, premises were found and the financing of the project arranged. By the beginning of April everything was in place. I then had a long and frustrating wait of five weeks while the legal aspects of the lease were dealt with. Eventually in mid May I picked up the keys for the shop and exactly two weeks later, on 1st June, I opened the doors.

The response to the shop has been great. I meet lots of new people every day and it's always good to hear of their knitting highs and lows. Many knitters bring their completed projects to show me, and it's always wonderful to see someone walk in the door wearing a garment they've created, or for someone to open a bag and proudly show me their latest knitting masterpiece.

I can't say opening the shop has been all plain sailing. Deciding what to stock took me several weeks and I changed my mind so many times I lost count, until my son eventually had enough one day and told me to leave my start-up orders alone. Mostly I am happy with what I have in stock. There are one or two things I may not have bothered with in retrospect and some yarns I would have liked to have had in sooner. The popularity of crochet has been a surprise to me and I quickly purchased a small selection of crochet yarns, patterns and kits for my avid crocheters. I still have plans for more yarns early next year. Sublime and Jaeger will be arriving in early 2007 and I expect to have some ggh yarns and Rebecca magazines also in the first quarter of 2007. The biggest problem I have is where to stop. There are so many beautiful yarns out there that I could easily fill premises ten times as big as the Knitwise shop.

What's hot in the Shop

Twilleys Freedom Spirit - definitely THE yarn of this season. This 100% variegated DK wool knits with a subtle striped effect. Exceptional quality at a bargain price - less than £3 for a 50g ball.

Sock Yarn - the self-patterning sock craze continues. Many people will be receiving gifts of socks, hats, scarves or gloves, knitted from these magical yarns, this Christmas.

Pony Rosewood Knitting Needles - more luxurious than our favourite bamboo needles Pony Rosewoods are fabulous to knit with. Don't forget to add these to your Christmas wish list.

Fingerless mittens - who can resist a pair of lacy, flower adorned mittens, knitted from just one ball of luxurious angora - certainly not the Knitwise knitters.

Sirdar Blur - this beautiful acrylic and mohair blend is a lovely yarn to knit with and its lightness means a long metreage, so an adult sized sweater can be made with just 4 balls.