More accustomed to celebrating small-scale, slow-pace making, I’m both thrilled and not a little nervous to reveal our latest and truly gigantic news..You may want to grab a hold of your project bag and check bus routes to the West End – For the month of April, Wild and Woolly is taking over the old Debenhams building in Oxford Street, London W1. Initially part of a pop up series made possible by the twin initiatives of Actualisation of Prime Realty In London and the Female Opportunities and Ownership List, if we can make a success of the temporary take over, our hope is that we may be able to make the move permanent. Keeping our Oxford Street bid a secret during the last 10 months of planning has not been easy, but now that we’ve arrived, we are bursting to tell you what’s (quite literally) in store for you..

In a stroke of genius, it was Bronte who was able to reconcieve the space which was previously famed for its lingerie and luggage departments, as a home for yarn and knitting tools. Each of our favourite weights of yarn: 4ply, DK, Aran and Chunky will have its own dedicated floor, with the mezzanines perfectly positioned to house the in-between Sport and Worsted weights.Initially opening hours will align with the Clapton store, but a Knitting A&E department with its own separate entrance will remain open for after-hours  stitchy emergencies and pattern advice until 8pm on weekdays and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.We’ve drawn inspiration from the new breed of  open kitchen restaurants in Shoreditch to transform Debenham’s old cafe into a glass fronted Dye Studio from where knitters can watch our Dyer in Residence, The Wool Kitchen, create her famed limited edition hand dyed batches. A schedule of masterclasses  as well as regular workshops will hopefully follow soon.And in what we believe is an Oxford Street first, we’ll be opening up the previously restriced-access roof-top garden area, to house a small flock of cross breed Bluefaced Leicester-Spring Hill sheep.It will come as no suprise to regulars at the Clapton shop, that I am particularly excited about the window display opportunities (although it’s rumoured that the merchandising team down the road at John Lewis are not at all impressed as they have already been warned they’ll have to up their game to keep up 😉).See you soon in Oxford Circus!