FULFILMENT OF A DREAM
I worked in the hi-tech world for many years, traveling the world for work, which sounds glamorous and had its moments of glamour, but mostly it was exhausting and stressful. In the 25 years I did that for work I barely touched yarn or fabric, sadly, and, later on, when I took it back up again, I realised that if I had kept up my knitting and crochet I might not have got so stressed out. Mind you, in those days, there wasn’t the awareness we have today about how much knitting, crochet etc helps us mentally.
Once I decided to quit that crazy, stressful life, I took up crafts again for fun but it was in 2011, when I was living in Carlow, that I met the wonderful Nicola Brown, felter and eco-dyer extraordinaire, that things took a turn in direction. Nicola taught me to felt. It was the Nuno-Felting that really got me excited. I remember still the feeling I had the day I made my first Nuno- Felted scarf using a rather ugly silk scarf I had bought in Morocco to do ‘something’ with. I transformed it that day with Nicola and the joy I felt being creative and learning a new skill lit a flame in me that kept on growing. Even after I moved to London in 2012 for a job, I Nuno – Felted in my spare time and, very luckily, had access to a fabric warehouse literally right behind my office where I could buy meters and meters of silk for only £3 per meter. I was in heaven.
In 2016 I moved back to Ireland, to Kilkenny, and was wondering what to do and had been in touch with a franchise called Knitting For All, a very well run business teaching children and adults to knit, crochet and more. After many conversations, I signed up and have to say it was one of the best things I have done in my working life. Not only was I going to be doing things I love, but I also got to meet so many wonderful people very quickly. I know how hard it is to move to a new place where you know hardly anyone and this opened up the doors to lots of new friendships and acquaintances and that then helped me to learn how everything works here.
While I was teaching I kept wishing I had a source of yarn for my groups and students. I would buy retail for the classes and help students to find nice quality and not too expensive yarns online but I really wanted to be able to do it myself. An angel came into my life and gave me the means to do it and here we are with the launch of Diana Yarns. I named it after my mother, Diana, who taught me to knit, sew, embroider and crochet when I was a child and who lit the original fire in me. She is watching over me and I will think of her every day when I go on to my website or social media.
I hope that this brings as much joy to the people who love yarns and making stuff as it does to me. A dream fulfilled.