BABETTE BROUARD
Babette incarnates both the image of a sweet grandma –who smilingly looks after her grand kids without ever stopping her knitting- and the image of a mischievous yet slightly shy little girl. She listens to you her eyes wide open and a playful grin on her face. She is ALL that...and all at the same time ! She can make your craziest dream come true. When I first saw Babette, calm and serene, staring at me with her bright eyes behind her glasses, I knew I had found the fairy I had been looking for. She had to be part of the project, she had to like the idea and say « Yessss, I love it ! » …And she did.

Babette knitted her first jumper at the age of 10 and even back then, used to dress her dolls in haute-couture looking outfits –without even knowing it ! Then, one day, while babysitting her grand kids at the Jardin des Plantes, she was invited to create new models for a needle-crafts magazine. A knitting star was spotted while sitting on a park bench, just like Edith Piaf was once discovered.

From that moment on, Babette started teaching knitting while also turning towards theatre costume design. Then came her works for the Opera and the cinema. You can actually see her work for the « Petit Nicolas », now playing in theatres. The famous red sweater we all know was knitting by her.

When Babette happens to be stuck in one of her pieces –either the jacquard shades do not please her completely or that the stitch she just invented do not entirely fulfill her wishes- she escapes to the Jardin des Plantes, where it all began. She stays there for a while, listening to the silence around her and looking at the sky. This being more much effective than a Prozac pill, inspiration comes back and then, she can serenely go back to work.

She is the one you’ll turn to when coming to Caf’e Tricot Studio for lessons. She will teach you all her knitting secrets and help you bringing your masterpiece to life. Babette both loves creating clothes and home decoration. So now the choice is all yours !

MARIE NOELLE BAYARD

When I first talked to Babette about the project, she asked me if we would need a crochet teacher. She knew someone, « a great teacher », she told me. « Trust me, she is extraordinary and I’m sure you’ll get along very well ». She was, once again, right.

I obviously got lost in the intricate streets of the 9th arrondissement, when driving to our first meeting. I finally got to Marie Noelle workshop, where these two funny ladies were already waiting for me. The moment I met her, I liked her. Focused, joyful, ligh-hearted : that’s how I would describe her. Surrounded by a handyman family –Mom knitting and Grandma crocheting- there again, couture-like knitting-dressed dolls for this child. She instantly preferred the crochet : more freedom, more volume, more fun, she says. At 10, she already used grown-up expressions such as « 3D vision » but at school, teachers were clear to her mother : that child would never have hand skills whatsoever. In a few words : she was a lost cause.

But time and life proved they were completely wrong, as teachers often are. Marie Noelle’s career couldn’t be more impressive. She first attended the prestigious Duperré School of Applied Arts in Paris, graduating with a major in Textile and Embroidery Design. Then , studied at the Beaux Arts and at the painting atelier Yankel. She has collaborated with major fashion houses such as Chantal Thomas, Lanvin, Scherrer, Michel Klein and Kenzo, to name a few. She has designed prints for Descamps in Paris and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Her embroidery and tapestry works have been often shown in a variety of magazines : De fil en aiguille, Marie Claire idées, Femme Actuelle…

Marie Noelle is thus one of the members of Caf’e Tricot Studio and, as Babette, she won’t stay still for a minute and will always greet you with a smile. By unveiling crochet secrets to you, she will invite you to recreate her exclusive fashion and home decoration designs.

JEANNINE RADANNE

A year ago, I came back to live to France and decided to settle down in a beautiful French countryside small town. I spent my first New Year day with a charming family. There I met a lovely lady, who was wearing a stunningly original light blue cardigan. She then admitted having knitted it herself. That day will always remain in my memory as the beginning of a beautiful, enlightening and tender friendship. Her name is Jeannine. She masters both crochet and tricot as nobody else, just as our old grandmas used to. While teaching me, she tells me plenty of funny anecdotes, childhood memories of her native Normandy with that very endearing sense of humour of hers. I’ve been meeting her, week after week, always learning something new from her. And week after week, she has become part of the team of Caf’e Tricot Studio. She keeps knitting, crocheting, always asking for more wool with lots of ideas to develop in the future. You will not have the pleasure to meet her at the shop, but you’ll surely feel her presence because many of the pieces come from her. I keep her posted about our daily work and progress. You’ll instantly get her natural joyfulness by her use of beautiful jacquard shades, you’ll guess her talent by the perfection of the details. Jeannine, just as the other members of the team, is an alive and determined character, a tender and good listener : all the main points to build a dream team.

JULIEN MODDE

Julien is yet another great encounter I have to tell you about : his poetry, his beautiful, original and delicate graphic design and his marvellous interpretations of Bach. For me, he is the only one capable of displaying our shop through such a personal and unique website.

It’s time for me to thank him for having turned the ideas I have been working on for so long into these inspiring images. The website has his warm and joyful shades, his little bit of mystery, his lots of surprises and it’s as elegant as he is. He specially composed the music for Caf’e Tricot Studio and delightfully played some of the masterpieces of my favourite musician, Bach.

I believe in Julien’s bright future, Caf’e Tricot Studio being just a tiny rough of is work. We do wish him all the luck he deserves.

VERONIQUE VIELJEUX

French by DNA but with an Italian soul, I followed the interiors course at the “école Camondo” in Paris to then fly to South Africa and leave my heart there. I came back to Europe. I settled down in Italy, for a fresh start and gave birth to my three children.

I spent 27 years in the land of fashion, of cannelloni, of lazy and arrogant burocrats, the land of olive oil, of the Tuscan hills, of the Charterhouse of Pavia…All those images remain in my memory and make me who I am nowadays. Sometimes, it happens that, while being stuck in the already famous Parisian traffic jams, Italian bad words slip out of my mouth. They are aimed at the driver in front of me. But hopefully for me, the magnificent language of Dante, gives a musical tone even to my most angry and aggressive words. Very few Parisians actually understand Italian, which, in this case is preferable.

In Bergamo, as in Brescia or Bologna, where I lived for more than 17 years, I was known as the « Signora Francese ». I used to work in children high fashion, travelling very often and attending lots of fashion shows. But after all those years of great commercial challenges and wonderful human experiences, I decided to turn myself towards knitting.

I am convinced that everything can be solved around a cup of Earl Grey tea, with listening to Bach suites. I find great serenity and calm in the sound of the needles and in the poetry of a wool ball. In how a simple thread can turn into a sweater or into baby clothing or into a little bag where to store all my migraine pills. To all these intricate knitting stitches, I’ve add lots of great friendships during these last few years.

The freedom to create beautiful things, following the last trends in fashion and using wools and materials of the best quality I am bringing with me from Italy (and a humongous amount of Parmeggiano cheese and Parma ham, what a cliché !) are few of the great and exclusive novelties that define Caf’e Tricot.

Some last few words to get to know each other better : we are fluent in four languages, we are proud-to-be and certified gourmets. Some of us are music lovers, other like to call themselves writers. We pointlessly try gardening to finally get tasteless cherry tomatoes during the summer. As far as I am concerned, it is a great pleasure to get to work with these four talented and joyful artists. And it is a pleasure I surely wanted to share with you all.