Sometimes, the most important realisations come when you least expect them.
A couple of years ago, I received an email from a customer to say her Genevieve Sweeney cardigan gave her exactly what she needed most after losing someone dear — a warm hug.
Her words struck me. I stood for a while thinking of this because her words took me back to where it all began.
When I was five, I unexpectedly lost my mum. That loss left me with a deep feeling of loneliness — until one weekend, my grandparents visited, and my Nan gave me a space-dyed ball of yarn and a pair of children’s knitting needles.
She began to teach me to knit. I was instantly mesmerised — the rhythm and the ever-changing colours of the yarn. Over the weeks and months that followed, I knitted, unravelled, and re-knitted that same ball of yarn, over and over, at home and in the car. I didn’t know it then, but those quiet repetitions were both therapy and the start of a lifelong pursuit of craft, connection, and creativity.
That simple ball of yarn took me to a knitwear degree, where I met my lifelong friends. It carried me across the world to work with global brands. And ultimately, it led me to start my own label: Genevieve Sweeney, a British knitwear brand rooted in sustainability, heritage, and community.
I’ve always been fascinated by yarn — by the way the raw natural fibres pass through so many skilled hands before becoming something we can wear and treasure. How a length of yarn can be turned into a form. Each mill, studio, and factory I’ve visited carries its own history, and the artisans within them share a connection - the collaboration of a length of yarn or the families and friends they grow in their communications surrounding their craft.
Over the last ten years, the people who make our knitwear have become like family, and our customers have become friends. And now, when I create a piece, I hope it offers more than just style — I hope it feels like a warm hug.
Because that’s what knitting has always been for me: comfort, connection, and a reminder that even the smallest ball of yarn can change the course of a life.
Leave a comment