Nestled in a cosy corner on the border of Nether Edge and Highfield, the brand-new Sheffield Yarn Shop hopes to be a vibrant community hub for local crafters. With a vast array of materials and goodies on offer, this warm and welcoming spot is every knitter and crocheter’s dream, whether you’re looking to restock your yarn stash, find inspiration for a new project, or just hang out and practice your skills.
The Sheffield Yarn Shop will open in an upstairs lot in Grafters Yard, via the Herschell Road entrance, in early September.
Owner Petra Schwarczova, who launched the hand-dyed yarn company Black Elephant 10 years ago, has dreamed of opening a bricks-and-mortar shop since her years studying architectural technology at Sheffield Hallam University.
“It was always at the back of my head that we don’t have anything in Sheffield,” she said. “I just kept forgetting about it and getting along, but the thought has just been creeping up over the years. It just clicked and I was like, right, let’s do it.”
As a lifelong knitter, Petra discovered her new crafting obsession after picking up her first yarn-dyeing kit from the Yarndale festival in Skipton. Before long, she began selling her hand-dyed skeins online to a rapidly growing audience, and Black Elephant was launched out of a small, rented space in the Sheffield suburbs.
“All of a sudden, I was doing wholesale orders in a garage and our house. I was washing all the yarns in our bathtub and drying them in the living room, and there was just stuff all around the house.”
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the business over the past few years. With a massive uptake in people learning to knit and crochet during the pandemic, Black Elephant faced a surge in orders but with less-than-ideal staff numbers to keep up. During this time, Petra moved the business to a small space in Grafter’s Yard, just downstairs from where the new shop is taking shape, and fell in love with the idea of having her own spot to expand her vision.
The new space will feature an enormous variety of yarn and crafting materials, focusing on good-quality natural and local brands. It will also be a dedicated community space for crafters to browse, relax and spend quality time, all with a cuppa and a piece of cake in hand.
In the early days of constructing the shop, Petra launched a survey to get a sense of what local craft lovers were looking for in the new space.
She said: “They want community, they want inclusivity, and they just want a friendly space, because not every yarn shop is friendly for people, especially for beginners if you’re not sure and you just need advice, you might feel intimidated.”
Each week, Petra is hoping to have a dedicated workshop day where visitors can learn and practise their crafts surrounded by like-minded makers. As well as frequent ‘dye it yourself’ classes, she recently ran her first ‘destash & swap’ event amidst the construction of her shop, offering crafters the opportunity to clear out their home collections and rehome materials, all while bonding over their latest projects.
With big plans for future events, Petra is excited to collaborate with local independent businesses to expand the craft community into other corners of Sheffield. Last year, she teamed up with independent bookseller Novel to produce a series of Yarn and Book boxes, which creatively matched her yarn colourways to the covers of hand-picked novels. This is just the start for Petra, and visitors can expect to see many of their favourite indie sellers get involved in the new venture.
Sheffield’s widely-known community spirit has made it the perfect place to build a thriving craft business, and Petra can’t wait to get the new shop off the ground surrounded by a supportive local atmosphere.
“We are just so lucky here. Especially as a foreigner, I don’t always feel welcome in lots of places in England, but I don’t see the prejudice here,” she continued. “I think I’ve settled finally. I know so many people, and they always say hello on the street, I just finally feel at home.”
To stay in the loop with all the latest updates, follow @sheffield.yarnshop on Instagram. To support the shop, check out Petra’s pre-ordering scheme at https://sheffieldyarnshop.uk/.
