From yarn to oars, Milli Abrams has always been about weaving unexpected adventures into her life. A London-born accountant turned entrepreneur, she is the founder of Tribe Yarns, a thriving community-minded yarn and knitting shop now based in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
Adventure first took hold when Milli and her young family swapped city life for the Canadian Rockies, where she skied, hiked, and tested her limits in wild places. That spirit carried her across the seas when they moved aboard a 46-foot catamaran and sailed from Turkey to the British Virgin Islands—a two-year voyage across the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the whole chain of Caribbean Islands that cemented her enduring connection to the ocean. In the Caribbean, she worked as Head of Finance on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island, never far from the water.
*Milli’s boat Knitannia has been wrapped to look like like colourful knitwear
Life shifted again after Hurricane Irma devastated the islands. Back in the UK, Milli shunned corporate life in favour of her favourite hobby, birthing Tribe Yarns in swanky Richmond-upon-Thames in London. She guided her fledgling business through the challenges of Brexit and COVID, and eventually relocated to Scotland to take advantage of healthier living, and larger business premises. But the call of adventure never quietened.
*Milli knitting her way through the Atlantic
In December 2025, Milli will set out on her biggest challenge yet: rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, solo and unassisted, in the World’s Toughest Row. At just 5 feet tall, she will be the shortest person ever to complete an ocean crossing alone—and she’ll celebrate her 50th birthday mid-ocean. Representing knitters, makers, small business owners and everyday adventurers, Milli’s mission is to inspire others—especially women who don’t see themselves as “the adventurer type”—to discover just how strong they really are.
Milli rows not only for herself but for her community, proving that courage comes in all sizes.
Fast Facts
- Owns a Great Dane called Malt Loaf (with butter), her third Great Dane, (perhaps an over-compensation for her height?)
- Apart from hanging with celebs on Necker Island, Milli won and held the record for most wins on the BBC gameshow “Jet Set” hosted by Eamonn Holmes
- In her late teens, Milli served as a Field Medic in the Territorial Army for several years and was a bouncer at Bagley’s nightclub in Kings Cross
- It took 76 drug-free hours for Milli to give birth to her son, Indi. She’s hoping she doesn’t have to dig quite so deep during the Atlantic crossing!
- Milli is hyper-mobile (she can lick her own elbows!), but it Also means she badly dislocated her knee while just standing on the lawn at a party talking to friends about how her Atlantic Row training was going!
