About

Great Balls of Wool is the premier yarn store in Powell River, British Columbia.

The Shop
GBOW opened on Nov. 1, 2010. A quality wool and yarn retail store, located in Madame Loukes’ heritage 1930’s house on Marine Ave. Madame Loukes' exclusive dress shop was located next doorin the space currently housing the Artique. The curved ceilings and original maple flooring of the house contribute to the exclusive boutique style ambiance.
At Great Balls of Wool we celebrate the resurgence of wonderful wools and yarns from the past as well as a full range of the newest styles and developments from around the world.  High fashion patterns and yarns come from Europe, Japan, Scandinavia and North America. And some fiber and art yarns come from right here in Powell River.
We cater to the needs and interests of the knitting, crocheting and art community with range, variety and affordable prices.  Some original knitted garments are for sale.
Workshops and lesson are on-going.
We have received wonderfully positive feed-back from the community at large as well as customers who travel here from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Lower Sunshine Coast, U.S. and Europe.


The Cast

Roisin Sheehy-Culhane owns Great Balls of Wool, works in the store most days, and teaches lots of classes. She thinks patterns are meant to be modified and enjoys designing knitted garments.

Roisin's father taught her to identify and value quality wools and tweeds, during his ownership from the 1960s to the 1980s of a shop, Market Ireland, on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland. Roisin has a few pieces from her father's shop on display at Great Balls of Wool.

At a time when many people retire, Roisin decided to open GBOW when she could not find high quality wools and yarns without getting on a ferry. 

Roisin is a great-niece of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington.

Brenda Holden has been with Great Balls of Wool since October 2013.  A life-long knitter, she believes this job is perfect for her and Roisin agrees.  Brenda has many happy memories of knitting-with-Mum time.  We might mention that BLUE is her favourite colour.  

Katrina Craig is the new GBOW blog curator, and shares responsibility for the GBOW Facebook presence with Roisin. She did not knit this poncho.