In short

La Cave à Laine is small business based in France, lead by Sara Maternini. We design, create, and make one-of-a-kind hand crafted canvas bags and accessories.

La Cave à Laine's Story

My full name is Sara Maternini Larger and I am based in Southern Alsace, France.


I was born in Northern Italy, in the late '70s.

In the '80s I was a good student with a straight bob haircut and perfect bangs.

My grandma taught me to knit when I was around 7: only the knit stitch, no cast-on, no purl, no bind-off. I was listening to Duran Duran and Madonna.


In the '90s the Madonna's side of me took over and I went to an artistic high school where I learned to drawn, sculpt and unleash creativity. I was listening to Spice Girls and Take That.


In the late '90s I went to university and I opted for Modern History, paring my Madonna hidden side with the ultimate version of a good catholic girl, dressed in white chemise and blue pants. But if you weren't fooled by my clerical approach to fashion, you could have discovered I was a fierce feminist and I later graduated with a thesis on the role of women during the first English Revolution (1640-1660). I was listening to Nirvana, Metallica, and Tori Amos.

All these years I have read a lot of classics, from Goethe to Mann, to Pirandello, to Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. And many others.
I also watched a lot of movies, from Metropolis, to more modern classics, like the Three Colors Trilogy by Kieslowski or Raise the Red Lantern by Zhang Yimou.
I have spent a lot of my free time watching very long movies or reading very long novels!

After university I began to work for different web agencies, writing content, searching the internet, organising events, cooking...

I once was a well known (at least in Italy) food blogger and I used to organise, with a bunch of supper geek friends, all women, dinners dedicated to girl geeks.

In 2009 I got pregnant.
More than 30 year later, I found again a pair of needles and some yarn in my hands.
But this time Internet was there, so I self taught myself to cast-on, purl, bind-off and more and more... And Raverly was there too! And wonderful yarn, not the sad acrylic my grandma was knitting! Hand-dyed natural yarn!
A new world opened in front of me!

In 2010 I got pregnant again and in 2011 we moved to France, where we now live.

In December 2014 La Cave à Laine was born too.
I am now listening to Taylor Swift, Angèle, and Florence and the Machine, but it will probably change in the years to come... I am reading a lot of dystopian novels, the usual crime stories and some contemporary Italian authors, as well as knitting literature, from Elizabeth Zimmermann to the Yarn Harlot.

La Cave à Laine's mission is to help you become a better knitter while having pleasurable time, because knitting is fun :)

Funny enough La Cave à Laine (The Yarn Cellar) do not sell yarn or needles (laine, aiguille). But I sell everything to put your yarn and needles in, and to make stuff with them!

All my knitting patterns are versatile and fun to make, allowing you to experience new techniques or discover new ways to knit.

Knitting project bags and pouches are designed to ultimate please all knitters needs. Elegant, stylish and neat, they are conceived and made for the selective and proud knitter, like you. They are expertly hand made with the best cotton and linen available: each collection is updated every year.