With the vast amount of goodies we stock, it’s always interesting to find out how everything gets from A to B, and what better way to find out that little bit more than to catch up with Emilie, our wonderful Purchasing Administrator!

Hello, Emilie! Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day! How did you make your way to Wool Warehouse? Can you tell us a little bit about your current role?

I previously taught crochet workshops at a local studio, but after a couple of years I decided that working both Saturday and Sunday no longer suited my lifestyle, so I applied for a Customer Service Assistant job at Wool Warehouse. I really enjoyed how varied the role was, but when the part-time Purchasing Administrator position became available, I knew it was a chance for me to continue working alongside the customer service team, whilst also having my own responsibilities and goals. It gradually became a full-time position as I discovered ways that I could assist Ellie, our General Manager, further.

How long have you worked at Wool Warehouse?

I first started working at Wool Warehouse in 2018 and became the Purchasing Administrator in 2020.

What is your favourite part about your job?

I’m not sure how to answer this without making myself sound very boring to quite a lot of people, but there really is only one answer: data! I enjoy finding ways that it can be used to improve processes and efficiency, and most importantly, how it can ensure that we have enough stock on our shelves.

That’s not boring, at all! It’s always interesting to find out one another’s interests! Do you craft? If so, what is your favourite craft?

I have an introductory project kit for almost every craft imaginable, but often find that I either never complete the project or amend it to a smaller version to get it finished. I think it’s probably because I’m regularly inspired by colleagues and friends to try something new, and as almost all materials are available for me to purchase and take home at the end of a working day, it’s so easy to “just give that a go”.

Knitting is undoubtedly my favourite craft. There’s so many techniques and design elements to learn; I can always find a pattern where I will get to try something new (with the help of a couple of YouTube videos!). I’m also comfortable making minor modifications to patterns, so I’m usually happy with a completed project as I will have tweaked a couple of things to make it exactly the way I want it.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

I LOVE a boardgame! My all-time favourite game is Wingspan; the illustrations are beautiful and there’s so many different bird species with unique powers that every game is completely different.

I also enjoy jigsaw puzzles. I find it a wonderful way to truly appreciate art, as you spend hours putting together 1000 pieces to form the image and often spot things that you may not have if you simply bought it as a print to put on the wall.

Love that! Are you a collector of board games? If so, are there any editions in particular you’d like to own or have found extremely tough to get hold of?

I would say more of an enthusiast; a collector would be horrified at how scuffed the box corners are from where I have stuffed as many as possible into my bag to transport them to my friend’s houses!

I have been trying to source a reasonably priced copy of Cottage Garden for a couple of years though, after playing it at The Dice Box in Leamington and really enjoying it. I have heard that Patchwork is similar, and as the game involves putting together a quilt, I’m sure I would enjoy it just as much.

Tell us a little bit about your day-to-day work? What do you get up to?

My first task of the day is to enable any new products that launch that day on our website. I’m very lucky that I get to join Andy and Ellie for seasonal launch meetings with our suppliers, so I usually know what new products are due to be released a couple of months in advance, which is super helpful because there is a lot of things that need to be done to prepare for a launch day. Many of the steps will be completed by colleagues from various departments (such as our warehouse team allocating shelf space, the customer service team knitting swatches for variegated yarns between phone calls, the marketing team preparing product descriptions and newsletter emails, and Helen’s photography), and it is my job to ensure that a new product has completed this journey in time for the launch.

I also place the replenishment orders for most of our yarn suppliers, and we order from the majority of these on a weekly basis. It’s interesting to watch our orders change with the seasons, find out whether my predictions of which new shades/designs will be the most popular are correct, and to try to spot any unexpected trends so that we can respond and order enough of the things our customers want!

What’s your favourite thing about coming to work every day?

Knowing that we are helping crafters worldwide access the materials and tools they need to be creative is really rewarding. A large number of balls of crochet thread to crochet a wedding dress, tapestry wool skeins to complete an inherited unfinished piece of needlework and materials for 500 needle felted pigs in blankets are some of the most memorable orders I have placed, but every single order contains items that will be used by a customer to create something wonderful!

What’s for lunch today?

A bagel with peanut butter, which doesn’t sound very exciting, but don’t worry, I have plenty of snacks in my desk drawer that I will be grazing on throughout the day. There also seems to be a birthday cake in the office most weeks, which is a very welcome mid-afternoon treat (there’s only 15 colleagues in the office and 52 weeks in the year, so something doesn’t add up, but I’m happy not to question this!).

Sounds delicious! Tell us a fun fact about you…

私は学校で日本語を勉強しました。

My secondary school was a language college, so I had the opportunity to study Japanese and can read the hiragana and katakana alphabets!

That’s incredible! What a wonderful thing to learn. Speaking of learning, what are three things you would love to learn/master/execute…

1. Steeking – Cutting knitting with the confidence that you (hopefully) aren’t destroying hours of work because you understand how the fabric is constructed is surely the ultimate knitting technique!
2.  I would love to make a quilt. I often use natural, muted colours for knitting projects, but a quilt feels like it would be the perfect opportunity to go wild with colour and pattern… I just need to learn how to use a sewing machine first!
3. How to put together a hand-tied bouquet of flowers.

How do you normally spend your weekends?

Saturday is usually spent with my family and friends, enjoying our local countryside, a take-away and a board game or two.

Sunday is spent at home and usually begins with me pottering around like the weekend will never end (batch cooking meals so I don’t need to cook in the week, watering the garden, a little bit of yoga), but often ends with me panic making a project I started 3 months ago, put to the side whilst I made swatches for a new project, but need to have completed ready to gift to a friend for their birthday mid-week!

We have to ask – what’s your takeaway order?

Salt and Pepper Chicken, Chinese Curry, Egg Fried Rice and Chow Mein – but it isn’t all for me, I promise! I’m yet to meet another person who actually likes fortune cookies, but that’s not a problem because I’m more than happy to eat them all.

Delish! Aside from some good grub, what other three things can’t you live without?

1. My heated blankets… yes, plural.
2. Notebooks – If it isn’t written down, it will not be done.
3. My backpack – How anyone can leave the house with just their phone and keys amazes me… Where’s your emergency project in case you find yourself with a spare 20 minutes? Where’s your emergency notebook in case you remember something you need to do two Tuesdays from now? Where’s your emergency snack?!?!

We can understand that – there’s always a call for an emergency orange Club! Finally, could you give us all a crafting tip?

My tip is to have as many WIPs in your life as possible! I find that I choose to work on completely different projects depending on my mood, what other activity I am trying to complete at the same time, how long I have free to craft and whether I’m crafting alongside another person or alone, and having several projects on the go means that I can pick up whatever project suits the situation. So there you go, you have my permission to start a new project simply because it’s going to rain tomorrow, and none of your current project suit a rainy day atmosphere!

That certainly makes us feel better about our WIP piles! Thanks for chatting to us today and for all of your hard work, Emilie!