FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE

Why don't you offer free shipping on all orders?

La Cave à Laine is a small business. I pay the normal postage rate to La Poste (the French post system) and you get charged the amount of the shipping, plus a very small handle fee. I am no Amazon, baby!

BUT, I do offer free shipping on orders of €200 or more to France, and €200 or more to destinations covered by my Europe shipping offer. This does not apply to every European destination: for Switzerland, I offer a special €2 shipping rate on orders of €200 or more, rather than free shipping. The final shipping options and prices available for your order and delivery address are shown at checkout.

Are your products really handmade?

Yes, they are. All project bags, pouches and stitch markers are made by me, in my atelier in France: I cut and sew and iron all the item I sell. I have the occasional help from my mom, during very busy period, and my children enjoy to bead the stitch markers once in a while.

I sometime collaborate with yarn dyers for kit and knitting patterns.

I buy some of the stitch markers and pins.

Do you create all your knitting pattern?

Yes, I do. All my knitting patterns are the result of my own work, plus the work of very skilled tech editors. I normally buy the yarn I use for my samples (that I knit myself), I make my own photography and if the model it's not me or a dummy, is one of my friends.

If you want to read a good article on how a knitting pattern costs, head over to Wolly Wormhead's blog.

For the reasons explained in the post above and many more, my patterns have a cost: once a year my newsletter subscribers get a free pattern to thank them to stick with me and my business.

Where are you based?

I live in Southern Alsace. My atelier is in Saint Louis, Alsace: a border town right in the middle of a crossroad of France, Suisse and Germany.

My atelier is inside an old industrial building, called Cité Danzas: it is not normally open to the public, but you can write me if you wish to visit.

Why do you sound strange/ Cannot you check your spelling?

I was born and raised in Italy, by an all Italian family. I have first learned English in Ireland when I was 17 years old. I do spelling mistakes even in my mother language, go figure! Plus right now I live in France, and in a typical day of mine I speak 3 to 4 languages: Italian (with my children and French husband), French (with the teachers in school and with all the other people I see), English (online and with some of my local friends) and sometime I have to use even my basic German. At the end of a normal day I even think in 3 languages all at once...

So, that's why I do sound "different": I am polyglot!

How do I clean my project bag?

Your project bag is made from 100% cotton and cotton thread. The fabric is fully washable if you ever need to clean it, and my recommendations are as follows:

• All project bags:

Spot cleaning preferred: I strongly recommend spot cleaning with a soap stick to gently rub out the stained area. Your bag is sewn with unwashed, heavyweight 100% cotton fabric. If you prefer this super-crisp fabric appearance, avoid immersing it in water and only spot clean. On rare occasions, super saturated colours could bleed in lighter colours. To minimize this effect, add a bit of white vinegar to your washing water.

• Hand-dye project bags

Spot cleaning preferred, but machine washing is possible: all hand-dyed project bags are cleaned in a washing machine before AND after dyeing, so your bag should not shrink nor warp nor bleed. That said, minor bleeding is always a risk, so add a bit of vinegar to your washing water. You will need a firm pressing after washing. Use a very hot iron with steam.