THE NOTION of spinning a yarn amounts to telling a tall tale for most people, but one Cork resident has turned the internationally recognised phrase into a business, thanks to funding platform Kickstarter.

Sara Breitenfeldt publicly launched the Irish Artisan Yarn project on the crowd funding website, where she pledged to buy wool from local farmers and spin it into artisan yarn. She raised more than $3,000 in just 30 days, tripling her original target.

“This proves there is a significant demand for Irish yarns – particularly in America,” said Ms Breitenfeldt, who now plans to sell handspun yarns through her website, Irishwools.com.