It all started with a new hobby - knitting - which Barbara Barry took up about four years ago.
"Every time I learned something new, I'd have to buy something new," Barry said of knitting accessories, such as a stitch counter, crochet hook and tape measure. "And they all kept getting lost at the bottom of my knitting bag."
Barry scoured the Internet for what she thought she needed - some kind of kit that packaged all, or most, of the things she needed for knitting in one tidy little package. But she didn't find it.
"It was that 'a-ha' moment," said Barry, a former teacher, restaurant owner and longtime entrepreneur.
She decided to invent one for herself - and the millions of people worldwide who knit and crochet. She began selling The Knit Kit last year, and has since sold 40,000 in the United States and 10 other countries.