Knitter opens mobile yarn store
Old fire truck will take fibre products to festivals, markets
Expert knitter Joan Sharpe is hitting the road for the first time this weekend in Lil’ Dorothy, a former Lanark County fire service vehicle that she’s turned into eastern Ontario’s first mobile yarn store.
“Dorothy is my mother’s name. I named the truck in honour of her. I think that if she was with me today, she would love this idea. This is just my way of keeping her involved,” said Sharpe.
It was Sharpe’s mother who taught her to cast her first stitch when she was eight years old.
“She was always a fantastic knitter; she used to do a lot of charity knitting herself. She very much inspired me,” said Sharpe.
With her mother’s encouragement, Sharpe worked at a yarn store as a teenager before majoring in knit clothing during a two-year fashion design course at Sheridan College.
Now employed at Queen’s University, Sharpe was inspired to start Purlin’ J’s Roving Yarn Company as a weekend business after learning about a yarn truck in southern California through an online knitting community.
“Ever since I saw it, it kept me up at night. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Here in eastern Ontario there are a lot of wool producers.’
“I really see the truck as a vehicle, literally, to develop and connect with the fibrecrafting community and local producers. It’s the same idea as farm to truck but for yarn instead of food,” said Sharpe.
The truck itself is a bright red former fire service vehicle Sharpe bought from Lanark County in May.
She said the truck’s layout is perfect for her business; customers can enter at the back, browse through locally sourced yarn, needles, patterns and books stored in cubbyholes originally used to hold firefighting equipment, and exit through the front passenger door.
While Sharpe is based in Kingston and anticipates the truck will only go as far west as Brighton, as far east as Brockville and as far north as Ottawa, she is going to follow the interest.
“That’s the beauty of the truck; I can take the yarn to wherever the knitters are,” Sharpe said.
Lil’ Dorothy will make her first appearance in the vendors’ village at Wolfe Island Music Festival on Saturday.
Sharpe said her current plans involve mostly festivals and markets, but she can go anywhere, from retreats to studio tours to private events.
In the future, Sharpe said, she hopes to run knitting classes for her customers.
The knitting community is growing, said Sharpe, thanks to today’s popular do-it-yourself movement.
“It’s a very satisfying hobby. Festivals and events, they’re kind of a beguiling time. People are sitting, relaxing and enjoying the music, so having a knitting project is a fun thing to do at the same time. It’s a great time to get inspired to create something beautiful.”
Purlin’ J’s will provide knitters with the materials necessary to create something unique and beautiful, said Sharpe.
“If you’re starting with materials that look right and feel beautiful, then your project will be even more satisfying. The truck is meant to satisfy the modern knitter’s craving for beautiful yarns.”