Sprotties and their Hobbies: Knitting with Amanda Weatherdon

In February, Amanda Weatherdon, (BCom/10), decided she would teach herself how to knit. Less than a year later, she has turned her new passion into a growing side hustle. When she is not working as a buyer for Giant Tiger, Amanda is busy making knitted and crocheted creations to sell under ALW Handmade.

Amanda grew up seeing her father running his own business, which led to her interest in studying business.

“I always liked business because it gave you a broad overview of everything. I found that business opened up way more windows to do more, given that you dabble in everything from marketing to accounting,” Amanda shared. “The international business side was my favourite side so I did the concentration in international business.”

During her time at Sprott, she got involved with Sprott Business Students’ Society as the social director and was a volunteer at the very first SPROSH. She said these experiences exposed her to working with different people, which was valuable when she entered the workforce.

Concentrating in international business helped Amanda in her first job after graduation as an import associate for Giant Tiger. She was the direct line to China for any orders Giant Tiger was placing. Over the past eight years she has worked as the domestic associate, junior buyer and she now works as the buyer for the bedding products at Giant Tiger. She gets to travel to China and parts of Europe every year as part of her job.

“When I started, it was an introductory position. As I got more involved with working with other teams in my department I got to see all that’s available to you. It’s a happy workplace to be in. My team is fantastic. That’s a big reason why I haven’t left. Plus I’ve moved up through the ranks which has helped keep me stay happy, contributing and challenged,” Amanda shared about her career at Giant Tiger.

The other part she enjoys about her role is getting to pick the products. Picking patterns and colours really speaks to her creative side. It was this creative side that led her to pick up the yarn and needles. Armed with YouTube tutorials and Pinterest photos, she quickly picked up knitting and was soon teaching herself how to crotchet.

“I wanted to be able to do something to pass the time at night versus cleaning or watching TV, and it’s something easy to do with your hands,” Amanda explained. “Then people were ordering stuff, and that got the ball rolling to keep testing new things and moving along. It’s my happy place after a rough day. Even when I was in China recently I had a night to myself, so I sat and watched TV while knitting a hat.”

While hats were Amanda’s first knitting project, cardigans and other clothes are a new challenge that she has recently tackled. She posts her creations on her Instagram page ALW Handmade and the ALW Handmade Facebook page.

“I created a mommy and me set recently, posted that on Instagram, and I had a bunch of people messaging me,” Amanda explained.

She is in the process of setting up an Etsy account, and in the meantime has been taking orders through social media accounts. Amanda said that ALW Handmade has largely been growing through word of mouth these past few months.

“I would say trust yourself and do as much as you can physically do,” Amanda advised. “I often feel like people are doing so much more than me. But at the end of the day I’m still personally enjoying it. As long as you’re enjoying it, that’s the important thing for work or a craft or a hobby.”