Local wool shop re opens in Dudley

Castle Crafts wool shop and haberdashery has been re opened in it's original location within The Fountain Arcade in Dudley by Abi (me).

After suffering from health issues eight years ago I unfortunately made the decision to shut the shop and get myself better

It was a decision I didn't make lightly and not a day has gone by where I haven't missed it and the wonderful customers too. 

I have no shame in admitting I struggled with severe depression, even more so after shutting my shop. At times I thought I'd never escape it. A feeling I think a lot of people are unfortunately familiar with these days.

Depression and anxiety is on the rise especially in our younger generations and I feel it is something that people should discuss and bond over, help each other with not keep hidden and feel ashamed of.

After shutting my shop i lost a sense of belonging and feeling like I had a purpose. I missed the tough love styled banter of the older generation who always looked out for me. Something I'll always be grateful for.

Dudley and it's people are characters that go unmatched. We have a unique balance of mixing tough times with a cracking sense of humour and we should be proud of that. I am so proud to be from Dudley so it only made sense to start again where I was born and bred.

Over the space of eight years I built myself up with the support of family and loved ones and my self confidence and belief in myself started to grow. 

I started putting money aside with the hope of one day seeing castle crafts rise from the ashes.

On February 28 this year I took a gamble and opened a new shop opposite The Arcade Cafe. Two doors up from my original shop. 

I love my little shop, I love the other business owners and staff i work alongside and am more then grateful for the support they've shown me and the way we look out for each other. And as always, I love my customers i have been blessed with, old and new.

My goal for Castle Crafts is to not only provide the town with a local wool shop but to bring people together from all generations and backgrounds. One day I hope to be a high street store. 

June 7 from 11am til 1pm I will be starting my first Knit and Knatter group.

I hope it provides a place where people can not only learn new skill but can sit and have company whilst making a project and switch the world off for a while. 

We never know what someone has been through, or is going through. Physically and mentally. 

No matter if it's grieving a loved one, depression, ADHD, Autism, loneliness, job losses, health issues, trauma, stress....all the trials that life can throw at us. I honestly feel that knitting, sewing, craft in general can take us away from that. I know that it has for me.

We rely so much on a screen to take us out of the real world and help us switch off but what we are growing numb too is the fact that it is creating more problems for us.

Making us compare our lives, how we look, our homes, our wealth, to a make believe world full of make believe characters. Teaching our children that this is the only thing life has to offer. It's not.

Arts and crafts give us time where we can not only escape but also create something we physically made using our own skill and imagination. 

If my shop can provide that for people of Dudley as well as giving them a ball of wool, some knitting needles, a safe haven, company, laughter and a cuppa then I'd be even more proud of being a black country wench then I am already.