Wigan mum and daughter open wool shop after knitting rises in popularity

Lisa Yates, 39, and her mum Sheena Southern, 62, will open the doors to their new boutique on High Street in Standish this weekend.

They have owned their own business “Angel and Acorn Boutique with Nylara Knits” since 2012, starting off with a website selling children’s clothing before opening their own stall at Coppull Enterprise Centre adding wool and knits into the mix.

“My mum has knitted since being pregnant with me,” said Lisa.

“She was knitting stuff to sell on the stall.

“She always wanted to own her own wool store from being little, all her life it has been her dream.

“She wanted to start selling wool on the website which is when she added Nylara knits. “Nylara” was the name of my nan and grandad’s house.

“It’s the last letter of each of their family’s names: Colin, Audrey, Paul, Brenda, Peter and Sheena.

“We both learned to knit from my nan so it’s a way of having her in the business as well.”

“A lot of people know us with us doing the Standish Christmas markets every year,” added Lisa.

“We are both Standishers, my mum lives across the road from the shop.

“We wanted a really good location, which is what we have now. Knitting is still a really big thing that interests a lot of people. It’s coming back in a massive way.

“It’s also a global hobby. We have posted out to Israel, Turkey, Australia.

“We get customers from all over.”

Alongside the current children’s clothing range, Lisa and Sheena hope to launch their own knitting range for premature babies called “Audrey’s Angels” - another nod to Lisa’s nan.

From the beginning of March, the boutique will also hold regular “knit and natter” groups on Wednesday nights from 7pm to 9pm and on Saturday afternoons from 1pm until 3pm.

Lisa said: “Everyone is welcome to come along.

“It doesn’t have to be to knit, they can crochet and do other crafts.

“It’s simply for groups of like-minded people to get together. We plan to add daytime groups as well over the coming months.

“We also plan on running knitting and crocheting workshops over the coming months once we get everything organised. We want a real community feel to the shop where people can pop in and buy some wool and have a brew, a chat, and stop for a knit if they like.”