Wool on wheels - KNITTER'S CRAFTY IDEA

YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE JULIE’S YARNS WILL POP UP!

- Sharon Stephenson

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!”