Inverness wool shop, the Woolly Sheep, is making a splash as it makes knitting cool again – with a bit of help from Tom Daley
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A WOOL shop which has become a Highland haven for local knitting enthusiasts has been crowned Scotland’s best independent yarn store – in just its second year of business.
The accolade has given Naomi Whyte, the owner of The Woolly Sheep shop in Tomnahurich Street, Inverness, confirmation that she is on the right track with her ambition to create a community of knitters and crochet fans and press on with her plans to open a café within the store.
Naomi, who opened The Woolly Sheep in 2020, described winning the best Scottish independent yarn store title at the British Knitting and Crochet Awards as “pretty cool”, especially given the challenging conditions the brand new business faced.
“When we opened I had all these plans, but nothing came to fruition because of all the Covid restrictions so it was really tough to get going,” she said.
“Then having to shut our doors for five months, was quite scary. I built the website, and that kept us ticking over, and we did deliveries during lockdown, but since we’ve been back, we’ve been going great guns, which is amazing.”
As if opening a new business in the midst of a worldwide pandemic was not enough to occupy her, Naomi also had a baby, with little Ruby Rae Edwards at seven months old now considered a full time staff member.
The easing of Covid-19 restrictions has also enabled Naomi to continue with her long held ambitions to host “Knit and Natter” sessions within the shop on Monday and Wednesday evenings so customers can come along and combine crafting with conversation.
Having now acquired planning permission from Highland Council, she aims to take the social aspect of the shop even further by opening a knitting café in the back room of the shop this summer.
“You can come and bring your knitting, your crocheting and whatever crafts you are doing. It is just going to be a nice hub,” she added.
“We have built up such a lovely community of all ages, and sexes – we have quite a few men among our customers, and loads of younger kids, which is great.”
The pandemic may have created some unwelcome interruptions for Naomi’s plans, but the past few months have had an upside with a massive increase in knitting an other crafts from people who have been stuck at home and looking for something new to do.
Woolly Sheep’s sales have also been helped by Olympic diver Tom Daley’s well-publicised loved of knitting, which has been a great help in break down stereotypes of what a knitter should be.
“Tom Daley has had a massive impact on youngster starting to knit – so high-five to Tom!” Naomi laughed.
“But knitting is just good for people’s general mental health. If you are isolating and stuck at home and or just not able to get out to do your usual hobbies, it’s quite daunting not having anything to do. Knitting and crocheting has given people something to focus on. We have a girl who is doing knitting for her Duke of Edinburgh Award, so that’s amazing. It really has had a massive uptake, particularly among the younger generation. We are making it cool, and that’s good fun.”
