Think of a pond. Then think of ripples in that pond. Laura Kelly’s business spread like that.

“It’s just been a journey of drip, drip, drip,” Kelly said. An idea that once fit around the kitchen table of her Main Line home has grown to 10 states and is poised for national exposure through a licensing deal with the sewing-pattern giant Simplicity, writes Diane Mastrull for philly.com. 

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“We’ve created a seven-figure business teaching kids knitting — kind of crazy,” said the 55-year-old founder of the Handwork Studio, based in Narberth.

Now in their 20s, Kelly’s children were just toddlers when they unwittingly helped inspire a needle-arts craft studio and camp program designed to give kids, primarily ages 5 to 15, a decidedly technology-free creative experience.

Back then, Kelly had a marketing job on Wall Street with a consulting firm that created back-office systems for banks and financial institutions. Daughter Devon was 1½ and son Ryan was 3 when Kelly was motivated to change things up in 1995.

The Handwork Studio’s North Narberth Avenue location was added in 2004, thanks to a buyer’s market (the 800-square-foot storefront, with a two-bedroom apartment upstairs, sold for $165,000) and a $35,000 line of credit from the Small Business Administration.

By then, the Handwork Studio was offering 10 after-school classes a week to 50 to 60 kids. Children’s birthday parties and weekend classes followed — the result of customer demand, Kelly said.

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