Melanie Berg: uncompromisingly cool

As is so often the case with knitting, Melanie's contact with needlework began as a child. Learned from her mother and then rediscovered with the birth of her first child, knitting has therefore accompanied Melanie for quite a while. "In the beginning, I didn't even know there were real knitting pattern," she recalls. Her own mother always calculated and knitted her designs herself. And so the Bonn native quickly broke away from the existing pattern and modified them. "At some point, the changes were so great that I started designing myself," she says.

In the beginning, she offered her pattern for free. Who would knit that after all? Well - quite a few. "At the time, I thought 'This is really cool,'" Melanie recalls with a laugh. She dared to join in on calls and offer her ideas for publications. "I was totally blown away when something was accepted." I wonder what it would be like to make knitting and designing your full-time job.

This question inevitably came up. After all, Melanie was now the mother of three children. On top of that, she had a part-time job in IT in the public sector. "That was exhausting," she says. Knitting had long since ceased to be a hobby. So taking the famous plunge? In the end, the step wasn't that drastic: "It was more like warm bath water," Melanie says. Thanks to parental leave, she was able to gradually establish herself. That took about three years. And today? It's hard to imagine the knitting world without Melanie Berg.

Suddenly everything is upside down

It takes her four to five months in editing to write a tutorial. In the beginning, there is usually a yarn. "Each wool has different characteristics and is suitable for different things," Melanie explains. The 43-year-old does most of the work around her label "mairlynd" - a name she came up with herself. As soon as the pattern are ready, testers and two tech editors check what has been written. There is also support for the newsletter and the introductory texts for new designs. After all, Melanie's designs often tell a personal story. And for almost two years now, a very special aspect has been added.

It was spring 2021, Corona was still the talk of the town, when Melanie was diagnosed with breast cancer. One in eight women will experience this in their lifetime. And Melanie was now one of them. The diagnosis: a shock. "Everything was upside down." It never occurred to the designer that she might get cancer one day. Not with her healthy lifestyle. "I didn't know what to write at the beginning," she recalls, and for this reason first dives under. Her profile on Instagram: silent. There was no energy for anything to do with social media.

Whether the diagnosis has changed her? "I'm not as blue-eyed as I used to be," Melanie says, after some reflection. "And more uncompromising." Today, she's quicker to say when something doesn't suit her. Her style, on the other hand, hasn't changed much over the years. "Today, I'm still all about designing wearable fashion," she explains. With her designs, you should be able to be stylish on the go in everyday life and "just feel cool."

"Cool" is such a word that is often used today when you want to describe something you like. Maybe that's why it's already a bit worn out. But it's exactly what comes to mind when you talk to Melanie. The knitwear designer is simply "cool". Likeable, approachable, honest. She is committed to helping others, supports charity campaigns and still has many plans. The topic of breast cancer still occupies a considerable part of her everyday life, because prophylactic treatments are pending. But that doesn't dampen her appetite for life, for trying things out and for knitting. On the contrary. Melanie Berg is currently working on her third book. One thing seems certain: it will be cool.