I started working as a knitter for Granted, a local handknit sweater retailer, in the spring of 2024. It was a dream job for me, as  a stay-at-home mom to homeschooled preteen, be being a hand knitter for a job that wassuper flexible was the perfect combination for me at the time. I was able to be a connected force alongside my son’s growing academic independence and have my own thing going on too. I love the chunky wool, big needles and super cool made-to-order sweaters. Every few weeks I was knitting a new batch or everchanging designs and colour palates.

Samples of unfinished sweaters that I knit

Granted was started in 1978 by Toyojiro and Noriko Hirano in Richmond B.C.. They built a up the company by providing premium hand knit sweaters using all Canadian produced wool. In 2007 their children took over the family business and while maintaining the ethos and quality, took it in a new and unique direction. A perfect blend of the classic cardigan colliding with a modern world of meaningful graphic motifs. I mean they did a Wu Tang collab, and hit my Gen X heart with VW vans, skull and crossbones, many Grateful Dead designs, Tragically Hip and Studio Ghibli.

I didn’t know I would be the last knitter hired before they made the tough decision to close the doors and move on to new projects.

When I was hired and going through the training with C, the knitting coordinator, I thought I was an advanced knitter. I was good and had lots of experience. I’d challenged myself to take on and accomplish advanced projects. C had a skillset that surpassed my experience. She had me cut off a too short waist band, add a few rows to it and reattach it to the body seamlessly. Wow! She also had great one-liners that stuck in my head and still make me giggle as I remember them, unusually at moments of frustration. “When you do something good, pat your own self on the back, no one is going to do it for you.” That’s one that keeps giving its wisdom to me.

Successful small businesses are a rare gem and deserve both kudos and community support to strengthen our neighbourhoods, Granted deserves a big pat on the back for many years of service to the world of hand knits, slow fashion and making tradition cool again. You can still view their website Granted and have a look at what they were all about and draw inspiration from what they have done. And don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back for all your successes, big and small.

Guest post by Allison Wright, BA Staff