Knit 1 Takes Quirky Businesses in Oxford to New Level

When starting a new business venture, one must take a few things to mind. What’s missing in the marketplace? What will drive consumers to your business to purchase your item? And what niche can you tackle? Oxford has seen a growth in quirky businesses over the year from vapor shops to quilting and knitting. So, what exactly helps these businesses stand out from the others? Their quirkiness and eager to be different and sell products no one else thought of, of course.

When you walk into Knit 1, a knitted bicycle catches your eye. Patsy Engelhard, owner and leading lady of Knit 1, opened the business 4-1/2 years ago on the Square, moving to the Jackson location a year in July. She has a partner in the business, Kathy Berkshire, who is an amazing teacher, and three other part time workers. Marty Dunbar is a marvelous organizer, Lynn Wells is an amazing decorator and Sinclaire Rischele is the computer guru.

“It takes all of us to make this place successful,” Marty said. “Though all of us are knitters, we all have our own ‘za za zoo’ we put into the business.”

“We are a knitting village of different skills,” said Lynn. “And our store is super unique in that we don’t just sell yarn, we like to tackle other aspects in the knitting and non-knitting world and bring them to life in our store.”

“Like those baskets over there,” pointed and said Marty. She started to walk toward them and said, “this girl, Ida Edwards, from Tennessee, gets her dad to make the base of the basket and she does the weaving. She’s actually coming here soon to do a knitting class with us and anyone else who is interested in doing so.”

“We love events,” said Lynn. “We do trunk shows, knitting classes and fiber festivals. Speaking of fiber, it’s what ties everything together more or less. It’s involved in a lot of the things we do here.  We actually have the opportunity to be a vendor at the Magnolia Fiber Festival in May and we couldn’t be more excited about it.”

They also carry Curly Girl products. “I think that Curly Girl captures our spirit,” said Lynn. You can pick up a poster, cards, chocolate, mugs and coasters with Curly Girl inspiring quotes and fun sayings on them.

“The shop has a different personality each time you come in, depending on who is working,” said Lynn. Marty chimed in saying, “so come by several more times so you can meet and get to know all of us. It’s a different environment when it’s Lynn and Patsy, and me and Sinclaire. We have fun and I love this place because of these people here and the people we get to meet along the way.”

Brittany Bugg is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com and can be reached at brittany.bugg@hottytoddy.com.