A Close-Knit Colourful Business

Vinni Nielsen, 51, Traded In Her Nursing Career To Become The Brains Behind The Popular Local Yarn Brand, Vinni’s Colours.

- Candice Curtis

'I grew up in Denmark, and when I’d finished my studies and qualified as a nurse I decided to visit South Africa for a six-week holiday. During the holiday I met my husband, Erik, 51, and just a year later, in 1993, I moved here. Erik and I set up home in Durbanville in the Western Cape and had two children, Nikolai, 17, and Kim, 15. I started thinking about my own business when Nikolai was four years old, and Kim was two.

‘Erik was working as a tour guide at the time, and his hours were very irregular. I was a nurse in the casualty unit at the N1 City Hospital, and I worked hectic 12-hour shifts. When our children’s nanny, Lindiwe Cekiso, resigned to pursue a career (also in nursing, funnily enough), I realised I’d have to change my career to something that would allow me to work from home so I could be with the kids. I’d loved knitting since I was a child and thought the South African yarn market could do with a good range of coloured cotton yarn. I began experimenting with dyes in our kitchen, and that’s how Vinni’s Colours was born.