Interview: how the 'Usain Bolt of knitting' is looking for her Ginger Twist wool shop in Edinburgh to gain speed

An entrepreneur who has been described as “the Usain Bolt of knitting” is aiming to expand her Edinburgh-based wool business that has attracted customers including actress Saoirse Ronan as it celebrates ten years of trading.

Ginger Twist was founded in the summer of 2013 by Jessica James-Thomson and is well and truly interwoven into London Road in the Abbeyhill area of the city, her compact shop that is packed to the rafters with multi-coloured wools and other relevant products branded a “mini-Mecca for yarn enthusiasts”. She has also produced 5,000 miles of hand-dyed wool over the decade, and knitted herself a major international presence, with online orders from more than 25 countries.

The businesswoman and her two colleagues held a small gathering at a nearby hotel with family, friends and customers to mark the “wonderful” ten-year milestone, saying it “feels like it's gone by in a blink of an eye – but I can't imagine myself ever doing anything else now”.

James-Thomson, who is originally from Portland, Oregon, in the United States, traces her business’ roots back to when she was taught at the age of 12 to knit by her grandmother, “and there was no stopping me after I learned the basics”. As for how she came to settle on the other side of the Atlantic, she says: “I moved to Edinburgh as a student in 2010, quickly realised Edinburgh could do with another wool shop, and there was possibly a space in this city where I could make my dream of owning [one] a reality.”

While she was wowed by the quality of wool available in Scotland, she adds: “I vividly remember just how nervous I was to embark on this adventure and start my own shop. I did not have any sort of financial safety net... It was a big risk for me, even to start a teensy wee shop. [However], it was clear to me from the jam-packed opening night party in 2013 that this wee business was going to be a success – although I could not fathom just how successful and sustainable it would be.

“I’m very fortunate that I was able to take something that I’m still incredibly passionate about and turn it into a business. Ten years on, this shop has become a real destination for knitter and crocheters, and I have customers from all over the world – both in person and online. Things are going so well, and I just keep working hard and pursuing my passion."

James-Thomson says her online orders come from across Europe, Nigeria and South Africa, Argentina and Chile, Australia and New Zealand, the US and Canada, and Japan and South Korea. The Scottish Government in April said the value of Scotland’s international goods exports in 2022 increased by about a quarter year on year to £35.7 billion, while crafting has gained popularity, boosted by celeb fans including Olympic diver and keen knitter Tom Daley.

Ginger Twist says the pandemic prompted a jump in online sales as people looked to get into knitting and crocheting – backed up by a report from Scottish company support service Business Gateway finding that participation in arts and crafts north of the Border had jumped by 8 per cent in 2021 from the pre-pandemic period in 2019. The study, published last year, also found that some 37 per cent of adults had participated in art and craft activities in the prior 12 months, nearly half of whom had opted for textile activities like sewing or knitting.

Jessica James-Thomson outside her Ginger Twist shop in the Abbeyhill area of Edinburgh. Picture: Greg Macvean.

A separate report from Mordor Intelligence calculated that the global wool market is set to grow from $37.76bn (£29.9bn) this year to $44.2bn in 2028, with Europe flagged as the fastest growing market, and Asia-Pacific the biggest. “Over the long term, growth opportunities mainly lie with millennial consumers whose purchasing behaviour, such as the preference for quality, authenticity, and transparency, is driving the market for wool,” the study also said.

James-Thomson now says her firm’s ecommerce activity has been overtaken by in-person sales, with social media helping direct visitors, including tourists from around the world, to its shop. She also has an off-site dye studio in Meadowbank in the Scottish capital for Ginger Twist’s sister brand Ginger’s Hand Dyed, and is active in wholesale, while she is planning a move to new and slightly larger premises enabling it to combine the operations under the same roof and enable two people to work onsite simultaneously.

She also found herself in 2018 described by TV presenter and crafting aficionado Kirstie Allsopp as “the Usain Bolt of knitting” after speeding her way through a televised knitting challenge – which she says was “really fun but also very nerve-wracking”. She took just 30 hours to produce an intricate festive jumper and fewer than 90 minutes to make a knitted bobble hat on Channel 4 show Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas.

The Edinburgh-based entrepreneur, who lives in Edinburgh’s Carrick Knowe with husband Dave and two-year-old daughter Molly, was one of four UK knitting specialists chosen to feature on the “jumpers” episode of the series. For the subsequent speed challenge, she produced a complex mohair bobble hat, and in the allotted 90 minutes, she also found time to produce a pom-pom for a fellow contestant.

The entrepreneur has produced 5,000 miles of hand-dyed wool since she set up the firm a decade ago, a timeframe she feels has 'gone by in a blink of an eye'. Picture: contributed.

She is now aiming for her hand dyed yarns to be sold in more outlets internationally (with Canada and Australia a particular focus), while she is targeting a wider haberdashery remit including fabric, as well as more tie-ups with independent designers. “Who knows what the next ten years will bring,” says the businesswoman.