..on a similarly sunny April morning, I pushed the shutter up and unlocked the door of 116 Lower Clapton Road and wedged the door open with the fire extinguisher. The shop was open to the public for the first time.

I placed 4 glass jars in the window, and set each one next to a wooden box of balls of wool and then placed a pair of knitting needles in each jar, in a size which corresponded to the wool in the neighbouring box, in a slightly unimaginative attempt to show everyone that this was now a knitting shop, and that we had yarn in all the different thicknesses.

Gradually knitters began to arrive. First it was just a trickle, and then over time there were more and more. They came with their questions, their stories, and their projects. Something had begun.

Now retelling the story from 11 years later I can see that the really remarkable part is that you’ve all carried on coming and that notwithstanding sheep-shape clouds and funny vapour trails from a plane made out of a spark plug in the shop window, we are still mostly peddling 4 different thicknesses of yarn, answering knitting questions, listening to your wonderful stories and admiring your beautiful projects, just like I did at the beginning. We are also still using the same old fire extinguisher to wedge open the door.

Of course there are other ways in which the shop has changed: knitters can now visit us online from all over the world, but the basic idea of providing east London knitters with expert help and supplies, and inspiration for their projects, is exactly the same as it ever was. It’s just that being an east London knitter stopped being a statement about your location, and became something to do with the spirit in which you wanted to knit.

There’s a smallness and simpleness to this story which belies something much more marvellous and momentous that is contained within. It’s something which I struggle to put into words, but has to do with an unspoken trust and creativity that you knitters have shared with the shop and we have endeavoured to share back again. It is something which has never stopped making working, teaching and learning with all of you, a priviledge and a total joy.

And 11 years of being a part of that feels like something we should all be able to celebrate in, so we are marking our eleventh anniversary with an 11% off sale. This means that even though the Clapton shop will be closed over the whole Easter weekend, the online shop will stay open with 11% off absolutely everything (except the postage).

Just make sure you enter elevenyearsold in the coupon box at the checkout. The discount will apply to all orders placed between Friday 18 April and midnight on Monday 21 April.