Have Ewe Any Wool? for Christmas

Just to show that there's no end to craft activity in Kilcullen, Emma Herlihy, as Have Ewe Any Wool?, creates knitted hats, gifts and seasonal decorations in knits, writes Brian Byrne.

Emma's business has been going for about two and a half years. "I've been knitting since was very small. There was a big DIY ethos in our house, my Dad used to make kitchen dressers in his spare time, and my Mom was really good at making curtains. So I was interested in knitting for my whole life. I hid it for a long time, because it wasn't cool, but things have changed."

It was actually when she was expecting her son that she got out the knitting needles again, and worked up a few things. "Friends who saw them liked them, and asked me to do something similar for their babies. So that's how it got going."

She branched out from hats to hair accessories, and now at Christmas time she has a range of knitted Christmas wreaths and decorations. Sales originally came by worth of mouth, recommendations from friends and customers. "And it's still like that, but I also have space on the Etsy website, and now I have sold all over the world, to Australia, America, all over Europe. It's phenomenal, really and it astounds me that people will select my stuff from those places."

Fulfilling the orders isn't a problem, as Emma has worked in retail a long time, both physically and in an online way, so she is well used to the intricacies of managing and distributing orders. "Also I buy a lot online, and you come to be very familiar with the standards that people want."

Have Ewe Any Wool? is still growing. "Sometimes I wish it would grow faster, but then I'll get a flood of orders and be overwhelmed. But it's being overwhelmed in a nice way."

Just now there's a lot of Christmasy stuff being made in Emma's home, with knitted gingerbread men, ribbons and other festive icons lying around the place. "And no, I don't have a load of little elves to help me," she laughs. "I'm the only elf."

Which will maybe bring its own problems if the business grows to a rate that exceeds the time she has available to make her products. She'll not worry about that for the moment. "I like to be in control, that everything I produce is done to a standard, so I think this will only ever be a small business. And I'm happy about that."

And since she has a day job, the knitting is done in her spare time in the evenings and at weekends. "I suppose it's a bit of an escape, really. I do things at my own pace, and I make things that I love. I get great pleasure out of that."

The customers for Have Ewe Any Wool? products are essentially people like Emma herself, many with small babies and at the early stages of making their families. "It's mainly women, to be honest, though I do notice the odd man slipping in."

The bread and butter item remains her Strawberry Hat, which when done in pink becomes the Raspberry Hat, and in purple the Blackberry Hat. "People love them, and apart from the pink one they are fairly unisex."

Along with another local craftswoman, Cliona Kelliher, Emma is one of the founding members of the new Kildare Creative crafts group, which was launched in The Elms last week. Members took part in the Elms Christmas Fair through the weekend, and business was by all accounts good.

Emma can be contacted through her Facebook page, facebook.com/haveeweanywool.