Wool on wheels - KNITTER'S CRAFTY IDEA
New Zealand Woman's Weekly|May 24, 2021
YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE JULIE’S YARNS WILL POP UP!
Sharon Stephenson
Wool on wheels - KNITTER'S CRAFTY IDEA

Social media has been hailed as everything from the best thing since sliced bread to a complete and utter time-waster. But for Julie Keegan, a cheeky little online meme sparked a business idea – and a whole new life!

The 38-year-old was scrolling through her social media feed one night when she saw the words, “I wish there was an ice-cream truck that sold yarn instead of ice cream”. It was her light-bulb moment.

“I thought, ‘I could do that – drive around New Zealand selling artisan knitting and crocheting yarn,’” recalls Julie. “So I put a call out to some of the 90 or so independent hand-dyed yarn makers around the country to ask if I could stock their products – and several of them said yes.”

That was in late 2017 and Auckland-based Julie took a week off her admin job to drive around the North Island, holding five pop-up shops in seven days.

“I hired spaces in community halls and set up a stall, which people loved, because while you can easily buy yarn online, you don’t get the true colour online, plus you can’t feel the texture. Knitting and crocheting is a very tactile activity, so people loved that I brought the yarn to them to see and touch.”

So successful was that trip that Julie bravely quit her job.

“Life’s too short to spend it grinding for someone else!”

This story is from the May 24, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.

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This story is from the May 24, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

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