It was in February 2021 when former classical pianist Harriet Jenkins came up with an inspired idea which would change her life. After losing all of her gigs to Covid she began posting her knitted throws on social media and the reaction was so unbelievable it led her to take the plunge and start her own business.
The 28-year-old former Royal Welsh college student had lost everything she’d worked so hard to build since she was a girl. She’d put all of her ambitions and dreams into music and felt lost when it was ripped away from her.
Weeks into registering the company Cosy Throws in October 2020 and getting to work Harriet, who is originally from Nelson, quickly realised the impact of Brexit and Covid on her new venture too. The price of wool had gone through the roof and she found importing the material would effectively bankrupt her. Then she did something so unexpected it has captured the attention of the locals and many further afield too. She bought a flock of sheep and began shearing them.
Read more: Mum who lost everything and was down to her last 99p now runs her own business
“I’d done years of piano training and put so much effort into getting known and it was a huge thing to get to that stage,” she said from her glorious spot in Govilon in Abergavenny where she has just finished her first lambing season. “Playing the piano was my full-time job. I performed all over including at Llandaff Cathedral regularly and in theatres across London. I was fortunate I’d reached the point where I’d built enough contacts and a lot of people in the industry knew me and would ask me to perform.
“To lose all of my work was absolutely petrifying. I had a young child, I’d just bought my first home. It was terrifying to think I’ve just dedicated my whole life to training for something which has disappeared in front of me and now I have got to start all over again and try to stabilise my life for my family.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It started because I really wanted a particular throw I’d seen online but it was so expensive – around £700. I thought: 'There is no way I’m paying that' so I decided to have a go at knitting it myself.
“I went on YouTube to learn how to make one, bought the wool online, and posted the finished article on Facebook. Then all of my friends started asking if I could make one for them, and then their friends, and then it sort of snowballed.
“It was all going quite well as a nice little business and I couldn’t believe my luck and then we realised the impact of Brexit from January 1 last year. Almost overnight the price of wool had gone so expensive and became too much to afford. I know it sounds silly and when I think back I still think lockdown fever must have gone to my head but I decided the best response was to buy my own flock of sheep and some land.”
It was then that Harriet’s business really began to take off. She started receiving so much attention she was asked to take Cosy Throws to various fairs across Wales and England and was approached by John Lewis to spend a week in its store in Cardiff.
“For a while no-one had a clue who we were and now everywhere I go someone says: ‘You’re the Cosy Throws lady.’ It’s mad,” she laughed. “I just feel so lucky I’ve fallen on this. People have been asking us to run workshops on our story too which is really nice. We’ve been able to make all sorts out of wool like cushions, hot water bottles, pumpkins, tinsel and baubles at Christmas, which is all arm-knitted.
“I’m so grateful for the support we’ve got from the people of Abergavenny. I know it’s all completely nuts but it’s without doubt the best decision I’ve ever made.”
As she watches the newborn lambs “jumping as high as they can” and “running after each other like naughty school kids” she says she can’t believe how much her life has changed. “Not long ago I was living in a flat in Cardiff and doing as many gigs as possible,” she said. “I didn’t even have a garden. Now I pretty much spend all day every day outside and I feel so much better for it.
“I’ve been up at three in the morning lambing which has been surreal. It’s been an eye-opener how much time and effort farming life is.
“I only did a two-hour lambing course in Cardiff and then I’ve just had to get on with it but it’s been fine and we had no issues. Our last ones have arrived now and we’ve been lucky they’re all girls.”
She has found being a “natural worrier” is not a particularly useful trait for farming life. “I see some farmers with 500 sheep but I think I can only have a small flock because I’m so desperate for them all to be okay,” she said.
“I’ve realised: ‘If you have livestock you’ll have deadstock’ is a common phrase in farming but I’m just obsessed with them and if one of them is poorly I’ve got it in the house by the fire. I’m all over the place if one of them isn’t well.”
She has her eye on a couple of more acres and feels the business is already able to expand. “The more land we can get the more sheep and the more wool. We want to expand and do more experience days where people can knit among the sheep and lambs. There seems to be a lot of interest in that.
“The sheep love it. I’m focusing on training them to be pets as well. Ours will go straight over to people and love cuddles. The lambs are always jumping on people’s shoulders.”
As restrictions have eased she’s often had the opportunity to get back into music but says she has been overwhelmed by work on the farm. “I’d love to do more piano but I’m so busy,” she said. “Many of my friends are in the same position. It’s so sad to see what’s happened to the industry now.
“Many friends have gone on to do very normal jobs – not that there's anything wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with being a delivery driver or a plumber or an electrician. But it’s a shame people feel they can’t be full-time musicians now. I know how lucky I am that I’ve found this life.”
Her new calling isn't without its stresses though. She explains how the impact of Brexit and Covid is still affecting her life considerably now too.
“Fertiliser has gone up by £600 a tonne so I just can’t buy it anymore. That then means the price of crops go up. It’s a disaster for farmers. For me it just affects the amount of grass I have so I have to buy more hard food but you can see from the farming fields around us that the knock-on effect of the high prices is crazy.”
So does any of that make her regret the decision? “No, not at all. I knew when I got into this industry that it was going to be costly, especially at the start. If you’re not brave you’re not going to be successful.” To sign up to our Wales Matters newsletter for features on health, politics, and education click here.
Her dream is to have a house on the land where she farms and knits with a few more animals too. “I just want to keep riding this wave as long as I can,” she said. “I’d love to have a house on the land and a couple of more acres and some more animals.
“I’m very happy now though. Before I got into farming I couldn’t see my little one much, I couldn’t put him to bed in the evenings because of all the shows I was doing.
“Now I’m so grateful I’m based at home and I get to spend so much time with him. It’s more of a relaxed way of life and I feel a lot more settled.”
