All About The Yarn!

The news is out and I am super excited to share it with you!

We are going big to celebrate our third birthday by metamorphosing into...

All About The Yarn

The last 18 months or so has been transformative for me as a person and for my business. It's been a challenge but I have tried really hard to meet that challenge positively and pour myself into making the business more adaptable, more outward looking and ultimately, more successful. It's enabled me to really think about what I enjoy the most about running the yarn shop, what I want for the future, where I want to focus my energies and what I can do for you.

As we came out of the last lockdown I had a real sensation that Frome Yarn Collective felt like a totally different business from the one I started. I didn't feel as connected to it anymore although I still loved what I was doing. I thought long and hard about what I envisioned for Frome Yarn Collective back in 2018 and how far I'd come towards that but also how much my vision going forwards had changed and how a disconnect had crept in. 

BUT... Frome Yarn Collective lives on (with a twist). All I will say on that for now is "watch this space!" but I am really, really excited to share that news with you too and really happy about what it is going to become, and it just feels *right*.

Me (yellow shawl) and my yarny friends from Reading, The Outcasts, stood outside the shop on the opening day back in 2018

I'm so looking forward to sharing this next phase of my business with you. I am still passionate about working with other small independent businesses and sourcing yarns and accessories that are not to be found everywhere. I have also enjoyed discovering larger suppliers who care about the workers and the animals in the supply chain. This has meant some big decisions over the last few years about which stockists and ranges I continue to offer. I've now decided to stop selling 100% acrylic yarn (remaining stock is in the clearance section). These decisions are often difficult to make when I know some people will be disappointed, but with such a limited physical space I have made a decision to really focus my energy on the yarns I am most enthused by - and there really are a lot of yarns I can get enthused by! They also happen to be the yarns that a lot of you get enthused by too which is just a lovely feeling! This has given the shop a much more cohesive feel and I'm really proud of the results. For our vegan customers, we have a beautiful range of plant fibre based yarns that we would love you to take a look at! It also feels good to reduce the amount of plastic we are selling, even if we're not quite plastic free!

I'm also looking forward to getting back to organising more get togethers and workshops, so we can all share our love of yarn together. I've been quite nervous to schedule in-person events but I'm aiming to get these back up and running in October, including an in-person Knit (and Crochet) Night. If you have any particular workshops you are interested in, do let me know and I'll see what we can do!  We are also planning on running regular knit surgeries to help you out when you get stuck on a project. 

All About The Yarn really sums me up. This is why I am forever starting (and rarely finishing) new projects. I just get too excited about playing with different yarn! I know I'm not the only one! Whether it's making the same sweater three times (and yes I am planning my fourth Ama Sweater) just to see how the different yarns work, or cuddling skeins full of potential thinking what sort of project they'd work best for, what sort of stitch pattern would show them off, I'm happiest when I am just playing. I think that's why I enjoyed coming up with my first ever design, the Campfire Shawl, so much.

I never thought I was "creative" enough to be a designer but really thinking about the character of the yarn and how I wanted it to work was liberating. It's opened the ideas floodgates and I look forward to sharing more designs with you in the future. If you've ever had that "not good enough" feeling when it comes to making up your own design, I think you should give it a go!

Launch Party

Our third birthday is coming up on 15th September and we are planning a "Launch Party" for All About The Yarn on Saturday 18th September. In the lead up to that date I will be getting the new signage up on the shop, changing over the website, social media etc. etc. There is still so much to do to be ready and, now I've told all of you, I need to get on with it! 

I hope some of you can join us on the 18th, either in person or online. I will post more details about the big day soon!

I'll finish up with a big shout out to my very good friend and colleague (technically my employee but we all know she's the real boss), Janet Friel. Janet has been a huge support, particularly since Covid hit us all. She has been so on board with all my plans and dreams for the business and encouraged me to just go for it. I have never felt like I'm doing this on my own. Thank you, Janet! 

Much love

Nicky x 

P.S. Special thank you to the talented Pat Lewis of Lewis Creative for the amazing logo!