Updated - May 2026
Eden Cottage Yarns was established in 2011 when I was living in a cottage in Eden Valley in Cumbria in my mid-20s. I had moved there from central Manchester for personal reasons, so with no job lined up and a long-held desire to be self-employed this was my chance to give it a go. I already had an Etsy shop established as I’d been selling stitch markers and a bit of hand dyed yarn for a few years prior, so with no savings and barely any money coming in I scrimped and saved up and bought a bit of undyed yarn with money I should have been buying food with. There was no central heating or anything in the cottage so for the first 12 months or so all of my yarn was dyed on the range and dried on airers. I also had no internet for the first few months so went to the library in the nearest town to work on setting up my own website. In a nutshell, it escalated very quickly, with yarn constantly selling out straight away and stockists all over the world.
How did I end up choosing yarn as my thing? Well I originally went to Dundee University to study Architecture (2004-2008 - I didn’t complete my degree), but having always had a thing for textiles and being in the same building as the textiles and fashion students it rubbed off on me and I decided to have a go at knitting and crochet to help with my mental health whilst I was studying. The yarn available to me turned out to be low quality acrylic in insipid colours that I didn’t like, so I had a go at dyeing my own in nice colours. It’s hard to believe nowadays that there was a gap in the market for soft muted pastels and stonewashed hues, but there was. The rest as they say is history!
Fast forward to 2026 and ECY has now been around for 15 years so it is my longest relationship! I met my partner David in 2012 though so my time in Cumbria was short lived as I then moved down to Yorkshire to be with him, seeing as I could work from anywhere. We have moved once more when we bought our first house, and I now work from my garden sheds. I have a larger one for dyeing in, and a smaller one for processing yarn and packing orders. We chose a house with a garage so that I would have a stock room, and although it’s ancient it still serves its purpose. The yarn is dried on the washing lines when it’s warm enough, and on electric heated airers in the spare room when it’s not.
The business has seen a lot of changes over the years; from rapid growth and bringing in a number of staff we are now back to being just me with part time help from Claire, plus Dave who has his own full time job but of course helps me out too. (He makes all the Yarnlings™️ for a start!). Brexit and the ensuing recession took a severe toll on the business and we have had to adapt as best we can, so it is enormously rewarding and gratifying to find that we are still here and my yarn is as popular as ever. Many of my colours and yarn bases are ones that I have been doing the entire time. If you’d have told me any of this would happen when I was in my early 20s I would never have believed you!
In my spare (hah) time I can usually be found dogwalking, hiking, trail/ultra running, strength training in the gym, reading, or playing D&D with friends. I’m also the publicity officer for my local running club Wetherby Runners AC.