Colette van Haaren is a quiet woman with lots of power. The best way she finds to share that power? Through her fingers.

Colette is a yarn artist who’s been knitting and crocheting since childhood. Today, she produces some of the Boutique’s fastest-selling items. From stunning wool ponchos and cardigans to neck warmers and scarves to playful wool jewelry, Colette is an integral part of the Boutique Katrin Leblond Collection.

Having learned the basics of yarn crafts as a young girl, Colette got “hooked” (pun intended!) on the craft in her twenties, when she designed and marketed her own line of knitwear.

Then she stopped. She became a mother. She got busier. “Life got in the way,” she says, and her knitting work went on hiatus.

As any artist who’s ever been on hiatus knows, your art always comes back. In recent years, Colette has returned to her needles and knit machines, and is producing more clothing, accessories, and jewelry than ever before.  And Boutique clients clearly can’t get enough of her work.

Many artists and spiritual seekers talk about their way “in” – the thing that connects them to the source. The way Colette describes knitting, it is so clear that this is her way in.  “Simple shapes and mindless knitting allow me to get into a meditative state,” she writes.  “I get to relax and have lap throws, pillows, hats, shawls, and headbands … to show for it.” 

She is not alone in her love for the craft. Thousands of men and women discover the transcendental powers of yarn-art every year. There has been no doubt a knitting revival in the last decade, particularly among young women. “Stitch ‘n Bitch” groups have become increasingly popular, along with other traditionally “grandmotherly” crafts. Canning, bread-making, gardening and crochet are all on the list of reclaimed feminine-domestic arts.

Some theorists say this revival has to do with third-wave feminism. Maybe it also has to do with people wanting to slow down in a world that’s getting faster and faster.

Slowing down is part of the draw for Colette. In her personal statement, she writes:

“yarn crafts, when done by hand, progress slowly. Just doing it can get you to relax or into a meditative state.  Practicing these ancient techniques connects me to all the people who have worked these crafts out of necessity, duty, pleasure, and love.”

She continues the tradition this Wednesday night, at Boutique Katrin Leblond, where she will share her line of knitwear through a very special evening of tango. This is not to be missed. Come be a part of the knitting legacy.

Express your beauty as you are.  Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson