Unwind with L’OisiveThé

Aimee will be bringing a little Paris to Unwind with L’OisiveThé  so I asked her to answer a few questions and share some of her crafting life with us...

Please introduce yourself and your business in 2-3 sentences.

L’OisiveThé is a cozy tea house and yarn shop in Paris, France. We specialize in handdyed yarns from the UK, US and Canada.

Image © Aimee Gille

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

I will be selling Madeline Tosh, Koigu and Quince and Co in over 80 colors. Two exclusive patterns will be available at our stand, a knitted shawl called Magnolia by Hiroko Payne and Brighton, a crochet blanket by Cécile Balladino. 

Image © Aimee Gille

We will also have many other knitting kits to choose from:

-       Dune chale by Cecile Baladino in Juno Buffy (an exclusive kit that Asti dyes for L'Oisivethé and she's is cool with me selling the kit at Unwind)

-       Koigu Moebius cowl from winter 2013 vogue knitting.

-       Wild, a modular Estonian  lace shawl by Hiroko Payne for L'Oisivethé in Madeline tosh Prairie. 

-       Magnolia, a lace Shawlette by Hiroko Payle for L'Oisivethé in Madeline Tosh merino light. 

 There will also be handmade knitting bags:

Image © Aimee Gille

-       Babette blanket, crochet blanket by Kathryn Merrick, yarn kit in Koigu. 

-       Brighton, a modern crochet granny square blanket by Cecile Balladino using Madelinetosh Merino Light and Madeline Tosh Unicorn Tails.

Image © Aimee Gille

What is your favourite thing about running L'OisiveThe?

I love interacting with my customers and discussing tea and knitting. I love that I have created a space where knitters and non knitters come together.

It’s a rainy afternoon, what tea and knitting would you recommend?

I personally love a good Darjeeling/assam blend like our wild geese tea blend with a pot of milk. I love working on a nice project with lots of garter stitch or an easy to memorize lace pattern.

Image © Aimee Gille

What is the best thing about being a crafter in Paris?

The crafting community in Paris is a small community and everyone seems to know everyone else. Knitting groups in Paris mix as there are different ones everyday of the week (ours is Weds nights!). I love all the new friends I have made through knitting. People that I probably wouldn’t have met through everyday life but through our common passion for knitting it has brought us together and I cherish these relationships.

What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

I am looking forward to meeting the maximum amount of knitters/crocheters. I will be at the stand on Saturday and Sunday so I look forward to seeing people at the market place. I have never visited Brighton so I look forward to exploring a new city. I definitely plan to get my feet wet at the beach and knit a bit with friends.

A big thank you to Aimee for taking the time to share some insight into her knitting world. You can find L’OisiveThé’s website by visiting www.loisivethe.com . To keep up to date with all of the latest L’OisiveThé’s news, keep an eye on Twitter https://twitter.com/loisivethe, Instagram : loisivethe, Facebook and the blog www.loisivethe.com.

Unwind with Old Maiden Aunt

Lilith will be joining Unwind as a vendor so I asked her to answer a few questions and share some of her crafting experiences with us...

Please introduce yourself and your business in 2-3 sentences.

I make & sell hand-dyed knitting wool (& a wee bit of spinning fibre) from my studio in West Kilbride (part of Craft Town Scotland - http://www.crafttownscotland.org/). I focus on intense, layered colours & use quality yarns of various blends, including a few UK-produced base yarns that are custom-spun for Old Maiden Aunt.

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

I’m hoping to bring a good selection of most of my yarns, although unfortunately I’ll be limited to what I can squeeze into my shipping boxes!! My favourites are the luxurious merino/silk 4ply, and my new shetland 4ply in 50g skeins – custom-spun for OMA, and great for colourwork!


How did your journey as a dyer begin?

I took a slightly circuitous path to yarn-dyeing – I completed a degree in English Literature in Canada, then moved to Scotland & trained as a violin-maker. One of my friends then got very into knitting, and I guess you could say that she dragged me along with her! Through meeting other knitters & spinners, and being ever more drawn into this new world of colours & fibres, I started experimenting with dyeing, and discovered a new obsession. I was producing more hand-dyed yarn than I could ever reasonably use myself, so I thought I’d put some online & see what other knitters made of it. I quickly realised that producing a few skeins of yarn at a time in 
my tiny kitchen just wasn’t enough, and was lucky to find the studios of Craft Town Scotland & move into a small space there, then a bigger space.... and now, dyeing seems to have completely taken over my life!!


What colours are you drawn to most in your dyeing?

I think it’s fair to say that I love purples & blues – those are the colours that I’ve become known for, & I certainly seem to have a lot of them in my range! Truthfully, though, I don’t tend to dye colours that I don’t love – I’m a bit selfish that way, and I think that if you’re making something you’re really passionate about, it carries over into the finished product. My time is too short to spend it on making things I don’t care about!! I’m especially loving dyeing this year’s new colourway collection, inspired by the cult TV show “Firefly”.

“big damn heroes”, © Old Maiden Aunt

What is your favourite fibre notion or tool when you craft? 

Having trained as an instrument maker, I do have a bit of a weakness for Holz & Stein double-pointed needles. They’re made from surplus & reclaimed woods from violins & guitars, & my ebony dpns are definitely a favourite. At the opposite end of the spectrum, my studio wouldn’t function without assorted lengths of wooden dowelling – totally basic, but infinitely useful!! 


What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

Seeing all my customers! Running an online business really suits me, but the downside is that I rarely get to see my customers in person. It’s so lovely to meet new faces, catch up with regulars, and see what amazing things they’ve been making with OMA yarns.

A big thank you to Lilith for taking the time to share some insight into her knitting world. You can find Lilith’s website by visiting www.oldmaidenaunt.com. To keep up to date with all of the latest Old Maiden Aunt Yarns news, keep an eye on Twitter @oldmaidenaunt.

Unwind with Tilly Flop

Julie Nelson Rhodes will be joining Unwind as a vendor so I asked her to answer a few questions about her company, Tilly Flop, with us...

Please introduce yourself and your business in 2-3 sentences.

I’m a graphic designer and I love to knit … a few years ago I couldn’t find a card to send to a knitting chum so designed my own. And Tilly Flop designs began…

© TillyFlop designs

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

I’ll have all my card ranges plus all my prints, some laser cut felt and I hope to have a brand new tea towel design to launch there too!

© TillyFlop designs

What kind of graphic design did you do before you became knit obsessed?

For the last, gulp, twenty-ahem-years I’ve designed primarily for museums, visitor centres and exhibitions - it’s a great job and is hugely varied. It can also be very stressful as deadlines have to be met  and it’s not unknown to regularly work through the night… knitting helps me cope with that though when I’m busy there isn’t much spare time. I have to hide my knitting away when I’m really busy as the temptation is too great…

You’ve recently launched temporary tattoos, do you have any tattoos…?

Not yet… though am planning to… and I’ve been commissioned to design a real one which is very exciting

© TillyFlop designs

Where do you find inspiration from?

I am a collector … [some may say hoarder] … books and magazines are a passion, along with yarn, fabric and knitting ephemera. Pinterest helps keep the piles of cuttings in check. I’m an avid blog reader too … So inspiration comes from everywhere … a trip to the supermarket or visiting our local antiques market in Bermondsey.

What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

There’ll be yarn, there’ll be lovely yarn folk, there’ll be ice cream and it’s by the sea: sounds like a winner doesn’t it?

©Jill Mead

Thank you to Julie for taking the time to tell us about what she makes! You can find Julie’s etsy shop by visiting https://www.tillyflopdesigns.etsy.com. To keep up to date with all of the latest Tilly Flop news, keep an eye on Twitter @julietillyflop or Facebook

Unwind with Blacker Yarns

Sue Blacker will be joining Unwind as a vendor so we asked her to answer a few questions about Blacker Yarns and share some of her crafting experiences with us...

image (c) Blacker Yarns

Please introduce yourself and your business in 2-3 sentences.

Blacker Yarns are 100% pure, British, natural yarns, all spun at our specialist traditional wool mill in Cornwall.  I have run the business for the last nine years though I inherited a great deal of our knowledge when I took over in 2005.  We launched Blacker Yarns in 2008 and now have the largest range of individual British Breed yarns available, together with our luxury Falklands merino Blacker Swan, pure British Blue-faced Leicester Classic blend and our last Elegance range.

image (c) Blacker Yarns

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

We will be featuring our new 20% alpaca/80% Falklands Corriedale soft stylish woollen yarns which use the alpaca colours to create a range of five natural shades in 4-ply and DK.  We will also have tasters of our Westcountry Tweed and possibly our limited edition Jazz (provided the dye vats finish in time!).

image (c) Blacker Yarns

What do you enjoy most about working in the knitting industry?

The people – our customers are just so inspiring!  Also I don’t need to worry about a yarn stash as it’s actually my job to try out all our new yarns …

What are your favourite fibres or fibre blends?

I am always being asked this and it’s a really difficult question as our yarns are designed carefully with end projects and results in mind, so it really depends on what I want to make … but I have a soft spot for my own sheep which produce the lovely Gotland yarns, and it’s very hard to resist Blacker Swan or our rare Boreray blend Lace-weight.

Tell us about your involvement with Campaign for Wool

We support the Campaign for Wool and have been accredited to it virtually since the beginning. They were very supportive of the Woolsack Olympic wool cushion project in which we were involved and we also were able to display some of our yarns at the Wool House exhibition at Somerset House last year. We are sure it is helping to promote wool worldwide.

What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

Again, it’s the people and their ideas as we really love to meet and listen to! Also the venue is great and the classes are really impressive!

A big thank you to Sue for taking the time to share some insight into her woolly world. You can find Sue on Ravelry or see Sue’s website by visiting www.blackeryarns.co.uk . To keep up to date with all of the latest Blacker news, keep an eye on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and the blog

Unwind with TextileGarden

Marguerite from TextileGarden will be joining Unwind as a vendor so we asked her to answer a few questions about her products and what she'll be bringing to Unwind:

Hello everyone! I’m Marguerite and I’ve been selling mostly buttons and braids/ribbons from www.textilegarden.com for almost 7 years. I can’t believe it’s that long! I started selling buttons because I got so fed up with the poor selection available in UK. I’ve a long association with textiles and have trained in the fields of traditional upholstery & soft furnishing - I love a good auction full of old chairs. 

images (c) TextileGarden

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

Lots of buttons etc, and many are not available elsewhere in UK. There’ll be a lot to choose from. I’m going to bring a selection so I hope there will be something for everyone. I particularly like a large wooden toggle that has just arrived - a lovely colour and shape. 

images (c) TextileGarden

You’ve done lots of events, do you have a bricks-and-mortar store that people can visit too?

Yes, I have a workplace in Steyning, not far from Brighton and anyone who would like to visit is more than welcome. It’s best to ‘phone first just to check that I’m there as it’s not a shop. All details are on the website.


What do you love the most about attending events?

I’m very fortunate, I have a lot of lovely customers worldwide and events give me the opportunity to meet some of them. There’s a lot of talented people out there and it’s great to see what they’ve made and the colours used. It’s also good to see what people are attracted to, it’s like instant feedback. They’re also good places to catch up with other stallholders and buy some of their lovely wares. 


What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

Well, it’s about time Brighton had an event like Unwind, so overdue! Unwind has a great list of classes and vendors so I’m sure it will be a great weekend. As a Brightonian, unlike at other events, I won’t be driving around lost and I can go home each night at the end of a hopefully, busy day.


A big thank you to Marguerite for taking the time to share some insight into her crafting world. You can find Marguerite’s website by visiting www.textilegarden.com To keep up to date with new arrivals please check the website often as new things are added frequently. 

Extra Stranded Knitting Class added with Ann Kingstone!

We've added another Stranded Knitting Class with Ann Kingstone on Saturday 13th July at 2pm -5pm.
So if you were disappointed to miss out on this class go on over to the Unwind Brighton Shop and book a space!

image (c) Ann Kingstone

There are still a few spaces on many of the classes over the weekend, so if you haven't booked your classes yet go and check them out! 

Unwind with Knitting in France

Bogga will be coming all the way from France to vend at Unwind. We asked her to answer a few questions and share some of her crafting life with us...

Please introduce yourself and your business in 2-3 sentences.

I launched Knitting in France in 2011 and I offer a selection of my hand dyed yarns, hand spun yarns, hand made knitting and crochet accessories as well as some commercial supplies, mostly knitting needles.

photo © Knittinginfrance

photo © Knittinginfrance

photo © Knittinginfrance

What treats can we look forward to seeing at your stand during Unwind?

I will be bringing lots of hand made knitting and crochet accessories as well as some beautiful yarns and a selection of wonderful knitting needles.

photo © Knittinginfrance

Your shop is an eclectic mix of yarns, notions, jewellery and office supplies- where do you find such constant inspiration?

I find my inspiration everywhere, I like to browse magazines and websites and often find inspiration in looking at jewellery that I feel can be adapted into an accessory or just by looking at the nature in my surroundings for colour inspiration for  my dyeing and yarn design. I love reading information filled books  on fibre and textile traditions and those also supply plenty of inspiration for all sorts of things.

What colours are you drawn to most in your dyeing and knitting?

I like bright colours such as red, blue, pink, purple, yellow and orange. When spinning I find my self mostly doing multicoloured yarns, not necessarily self striping but just a mix of lots of bright and fun colours. When dyeing, I enjoy semi solid colours and hand painting multicoloured yarns and again I prefer bright colours over soft ones.

What is your work space like?

I just moved house so at the moment my space is very limited but soon I will have my own office/studio space. I work from home and do my dyeing in my washroom and my accessories at my desk in my bedroom. I spin anywhere in the house as my wheel can easily be transported from one room to another.

What are you looking forward to the most about Unwind?

I look forward to meeting new potential clients. I very much enjoy the physical contact with my clients and that is something I only experience when doing a show as I run an online shop and only communicate with my customers via email or social media.

I also look forward to showing my latest products, seeing people’s reactions to my work and getting the word out there about my little shop. And of course I look forward to discovering Brighton and the UK in general for the very first time.

A big thank you to Bogga for taking the time to share some insight into her knitting world. You can find Knitting in France’s Etsy shop here. To keep up to date with all of the latest Knitting in France news, keep an eye on Twitter @knittingfrance, Facebook and the blog.