Tôt Le Matin

Tôt Le Matin

Say hello to Loop’s newest yarn! The wonderful Tôt Le Matin yarn is hand dyed by Lauriane in Normandy, France. The phrase ‘tôt le matin’ translates to ‘early in the morning’, which we just love. We now stock Lauriane’s springy sportweight+ yarn, and this week we’re introducing you to it! We also have some background information on Lauriane and her love of colour.

Loop is stocking Tôt Le Matin’s Sportweight+ base, which is 100% superwash Merino, with 262m / 286 yds per 100g skein. This base can be knitted as either a sport or a DK weight as it’s so springy!

Tot Le Matin at Loop London
Normandie and Glow

We got in touch with Lauriane to hear more about her yarns and her process, and her background in knitting…

I’ve loved to make things for a long time; clothes, knitwear, embroidery; I have always had something in my hands!

I started working in Haute-Couture but that world was not really for me. I have always liked working alone; with having your own business there is more freedom but also more work to do to develop your own business.

Tot Le Matin at Loop London
Winter+ and Orge

Before I started tot le matin, I had already dyed a lot of fabric to make my own patchwork so I thought that wool and yarn wouldn’t be so different!

I wanted to knit a pair of socks but I knew very little about brands of wool with colours I loved and I couldn’t find what I had in mind, so I dyed it myself! (and the story is that I still have never knit myself a full pair of socks… I have second sock syndrome!)

I offer a lot of bases because I love the materials – how the different fibres react to the dye. Touch and even smells are very important to me. I am sure that other dyers are like me and that they know by the smell that emanates from the pan which type of wool is being dyed! 

I am always observing things around me: the world is filled with thousands of colours and I  get excited easily when I see a new one! I find it difficult to follow the seasons when creating new colours; it is rather the desire to capture the moment that guides me. So I can dye very colourful yarns with fluorescents as well as very soft and powdery tones.

Tot Le Matin at Loop London
70’s

I am a countryside girl (or even from the sea!) and I could not live in a city, as beautiful as it is. I am very sensitive to noise and smells so I need calm, my head is already teeming with ideas, so I don’t need to add more noise! 

Of course the dyeing takes precedence over knitting because I don’t have enough time for it, but that doesn’t prevent me from having more than 150 patterns in my library!  It’s extremely varied because I really like the work of many designers and I can’t name one in particular, but I do love the work of Neringa of Ruke  who is an ultra passionate designer brimming with ideas… like me with my dyeing!

As long as I have ideas (and I haven’t developed three quarters of them yet) I will continue dyeing. This job has allowed me to meet wonderful people, both virtually and in real life! It’s an exhausting job especially when you work by yourself on all the stages from A to Z, but the satisfaction of the knitters and shops receiving their skeins is great!

Thank you so much Lauriane!

We’ve been dreaming of a version of Mabel’s Sister, designed by Fiona Alice for Loop, in the beautiful colours from Tôt Le Matin! We also think this lovely yarn would be perfect for shawls, loads of baby knits, sweaters, cowls and hats. Susan is knitting with it at the moment, and absolutely loves it! ( Knitting with it was what made her want to have it in Loop!) She is using the colour Legende and is knitting a wrap on a 4.5mm needle, and it’s knitting up really well on that size.

Tot Le Matin at Loop London
Susan’s knitting project, in the colour Legende

Giveaway winners!

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who entered our giveaway for a bundle of naturally dyed yarns!

We have two winners this week; Denise Coy from the blog and Nicola (@nicthegeek) from Instagram – congratulations! We will be in touch very soon for your details so that we can send out your prizes!

Again, thank you to everyone who entered! This giveaway was very popular, and we will be running more in the future. Make sure you sign up to our newsletter to keep up with the blog, and when we are running giveaways.

Happy knitting to everyone. Stay safe!

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