When I first set up Balfour & Co in Summer 2020, the world was a very different place. Here in London we were still socially distancing and non-essential shops were just starting to tentatively re-open. The threat of another lockdown was hovering over us- and it seemed like the perfect time to learn to weave. So when I started selling yarn and weaving kits along with my online courses, demand was through the roof. In the run up to Christmas that year we were shipping stacks upon stacks of orders every week.
But in the months since that winter, orders have slowed. At the beginning of 2021, Brexit came into force and cut off about a third of our customers overnight. Shipping costs and production costs have both increased. Selling yarn directly via our website has become less and less viable.
Alongside this, my own vision for the business has changed. I’m less keen to work all the hours in the day winding yarn and packing boxes. I’d rather spend my time writing blog posts, filming online course content and working on my own weaving.
So we’ve decided to limit our yarn collection. Instead of selling individual cones, we are selling them as yarn packs and weaving kits. That way you can get everything you need to start weaving, and our packing process is much easier.
But if you’re looking for specific colours, there’s plenty of amazing places where you can buy rug yarn here in the UK! This is the first part in a planned series, and in future I’ll be covering the US, Europe, Asia and more. For now, read on for some of my UK favourites.