Knitted together - Samværk’s style of craft psychology
Samværk is located on Absalonsgade 11 in the hip area of Vesterbro in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Samværk feels different. As soon as you enter the yarn shop-turned-cafe, you feel the creative energy that the space exudes. The walls and ceilings are painted in strong colours and covered with more colourful yarn and vibrant samples throughout.
Samværk feels different because it is. Anja Gundelach Brems, Marlene Schmidt and Sheila Simonsen, who all work as therapists as well, opened the shop about a year ago. Not only do they stock yarn brands that are not available elsewhere in the greater Copenhagen area, they also infused the space and concept with their therapeutic skills. While the three of them bonded over knitting in particular, Samværk is inclusive of different types of crafts. „We call it a craft cafe, because we want to include everyone,“ explains Anja.
Dare to be different
Samværk offers yarn from known brands, like Rowan, but also small labels, like Better Yarn, whose yarns are designed to be socially responsible, as well as two Faroese yarn companies: Snældan and Navia. Most of these are new to me and I am not the only one. Sheila explains: “We want to challenge our customers to try and knit with another yarn than what it says in the pattern. So, try and be brave enough to switch it up!”
In the shop, they have suggestions at the ready for yarn alternatives for popular patterns but are also available with advice when a customer is looking for something specific. In the end it is all about keeping an open mind, being flexible and versatile.
Their enthusiasm is infectious and just by talking to them, I feel motivated to try more colourful combinations than what I would usually go for or experiment with new-to-me yarns.
Space for connection
Part of the reason why they decided to open a cafe alongside the shop was to offer a place to connect for and with people. “We have seen it become a community of people who want to get to know each other. A lot of people meet each other and become friends here [in the shop].” Anja says.
I personally find that knitting has a very special way of bringing people together. Anja put it very aptly, when she described the feelings around helping someone who is stuck with their project:
“You feel so happy when someone else is able to help you. It creates gratitude and a connection. But it also feels so good to be able to help somebody else. It is a simple way of helping but it honestly means something. Because you need it on a very practical level, because otherwise you are stuck with your project.”
Since I am not Danish myself, I wondered about the knitting community in Copenhagen. They tell me that they in fact get a lot of foreign customers as well as Danes, of course, and that people from different cultural, age or wealth backgrounds pop in.
What they have noticed since opening the shop is that younger and older knitters have very different knitting styles though. While the older generation tend to be more conservative and follow patterns to the letter, the younger ones feel more free to experiment.
“It is nice to have this variety in age come into the shop, because people can learn from each other.”
Psychology is woven in
Marlene, Sheila and Anja (from left to right) opened Samværk in 2023 and use their therapeutic skills in a more creative setting now.
With Samværk, Anja, Marlene and Sheila set out to create a healing spot for their customers. Known as the concept of craft psychology, the therapeutic effects of crafting include evoking positive emotions, developing skills and agency, and helping people to cope with their daily lives. With the shop and cafe, the three women want to support everyone in achieving these positive effects.
But as much as they want to help the community, Sheila, Marlene and Anja were also looking for a way “to spice up their own working lives with something more practical and creative.” It is completely different to help a client, who is experiencing a mental health crisis, than to furnish a yarn shop as a group, help customers pick out materials for their next project and fix their knitting mistakes. “Here, people come in and they are actually happy and excited about something. They still need help and sometimes also emotional support. It can go quite deep into finding the courage to start a new project, spend the money or ask for help. We use our therapeutic skills but in a different setting and the whole context is lighter, happier, more colourful and creative,” explains Anja, while Sheila adds: “And you can see progress right away. So there is also another tempo in what we are doing.”
“We use our therapeutic skills but in a different setting and the whole context is lighter, happier, more colourful and creative.”
The fantasy world of a yarn shop
Samværk Saloner
In an effort to bring the community together to knit and learn about new topics, Sheila, Marlene and Anja host regular knit nights every second Wednesday evening of the month. You can find more info as well as tickets on their website.
11 September: Sewing Circle
9 October: Christian Legind (Psychiatrist)
13 November: Solveig Roepstorff (Climate psychologist)
What started as a thought experiment one evening with Anja telling Sheila and Marlene that in a fantasy world, she would love to open up a yarn shop, quickly became reality when the other two were also up for it. They all wanted to make it work!
Looking back on their journey so far, Anja shares: “Your personal development is really brought into play when you create a shop together. Basically, I like to call it that we ‘do life together’.”
I can feel how close the three of them are. Like a chosen family, the shop has brought them together, while it has also come with a set of obligations as they now share finances and other obligations. „But it’s also a gift, and having the shop and doing this together has definitely made my life more fun!“ says Sheila. They tell me that they are learning about themselves as much as they are learning about each other. “Through the shop, we’ve become entangled - in a good way. We are knitted together!”, they laugh at the end of the interview.
In the future, Marlene, Sheila and Anja are looking forward to hosting more events and workshops. In their recently launched webshop, they now offer the same special yarns to their customers, who can’t make it to the physical shop.
But I have to say, if you happen to be in Copenhagen, do make sure to plan a visit to Samværk. Anja, Marlene and Sheila dare to offer something different and manage to create a shop and cafe infused with the benefits of (craft) psychology and their own experience/personalities.
“Through the shop, we’ve become entangled - in a good way. We are knitted together!”
What’s on Samværk’s To-Knit-Lists?
All four of us all agree that for knitting projects to have that positive effect on your mental wellbeing, it needs to excite you. What ignites the sense of passion currently for the women behind Samværk?
Anja: Purple Inner Child sweater by Laerke Bagger
Marlene: Samværk’s Ærmesjal (‘sleeve scarf’)
Sheila: Currently learning how to write patterns, e.g. for Dream Catcher cushion for which they sell kits as well!