relationships

Yesterday I went for an outing organized by members of Østjysk Tekstilkreds, the union of crafters I am a member of. 

We went by bus to watch two exhibitions, one showing embroidery in tekstilforum, Herning,and in Silkeborg Museum, a historic knitting exhibition from Sweden -

- and the story about Oestergoetlands Ullspinneri.   

 

Even crafters have to eat and drink. We had a cup of coffee and a piece of home-made cake in the bus. A lovely lunch at the Jorn Museum, where some of us had a look in at the famous tapestry, Den lange Rejse. And coffee/apple-pie in the afternoon.

On my needles is a very interesting piece of knitting.

 It is a recreation from 1970 of a 1775 Danish nattrøje.  I will post about it later. But I was very pleased to see samples of the damask technique on some old Swedish pullovers.

I bought souvenir of wool from the Museum shop. It is about 600 m of two- thread lace weight. Same Autumn color as the forests we drove through. A memory from a very nice Saturday in October.

blissful

Reading Helen´s post about Knitting Inspectors brought out a memory from my school days.
I was ten years old and hoped to avoid needlepoint lessons- by hiding under a table. I was tracked down, and for months, I worked a place mat in a cross stitch pattern in two green shades.
When I had finally finished the cloth, I showed it to my teacher. She gave me a great, big smile and turned the mat to look at the reverse side.
Her expression turned dramatically, her face was distorted and I was sure she had a heart attack. When she had recovered her composure, she told me : that I was supposed to weave in ends. Perhaps it was this shock that made me a dedicated knitter.
But in 1990 I actually worked a chair cover for my music stool - using cross stitch. I had worked several sweaters from a designer and weaver, Winnie Poulsen, who dyed her own yarn and I had a lot of leftovers.

I chose a knitting pattern by Kaffe Fassett.

   

It took me months to finish. 

Fortunately a friend of mine is an upholsterer. He replaced he old stuffing, which was mostly horsehair and spiral springs. 

The wood is dark, solid mahogany. The wool is rough haired Norwegian Spelsau sheep.

I return the love

I am so lucky to have grandchildren.

My elder granddaughter is now 8½ years old and already a very creative girl. Her handmade gifts for her 1 year old little sister are so lovely. She sews toys for her. As it comes to knitting, she has really made an effort but she thinks it is boring. She is a fast girl, and is already able to run 14 km.
A week ago she asked me to make her a poncho.
- To wear while she is in London next week for a holiday.
- Because it is so tiresome with all the sleeves.
- And I could choose the color, but she loved brown.
Size 10 years, needle size 10 mm and chunky wool. Not a big deal for an avid and dedicated knitter and grandmother.
- And a hood!!
OOPS .
Monday I was shopping at the local yarn shop. I found a great pattern, constructed with a panel in the middle, which reminds me of the construction of the Faeroe Shawl, and worked from the top. But no hood.
I cast on provisionally using the crochet needle method, skipped the first 3 rows of the pattern and went straight to the body of poncho.
After binding off, I picked up stitches for the neck. worked three garter ridges, bound off the 8 middle stitches and began increases at the back of the hood on every forth row. Ended up with a three-needle bind off. Picked up stitches for the edge, worked three garter ridges and bound off with a contrast color, approved by the recipient.
I had bought it some years ago at a flee market.

The yarn is Norwegian and the text on the label says " skyr sne og vand" which means "repel snow and water". And the little logo says"varig mølægte" which means "permanent moth proofed" What a relief. Perhaps that is why I have never seen a moth.

I worked an I-cord loop for a hang tab.

- And a tassel is so fun. It dangles when I run. I can make it myself, if you show me how. I knit it, time was running out, a bobble, and filled it with a bit of unspun wool.

inexplicably woven

 I really envy people who have the ability to put together colors and transform them into new expressions. I would really like to learn.
I have read two articles which has been a great inspiration. One is from Knitty by Robin Dodge and one is from Knitter´s Review.
At present I work a shawl with two thin threads and it gives me an opportunity to mix both fibers, wool and alpaca, and colors. My inspiration comes when I look into my garden and see how Autumn changes my garden.

A few years ago I knit a cardigan.

The bright yellow and the subtle green turned into this color.

I was inspired by this jacket. The shawl is Daybreak. Stephen West has a wonderful new website. Don´t hesitate to pay him a visit.

it is talking to me

It is always exciting when a new Knitty is published. I like the innovative and playful attitude towards knitting, new ideas and interesting articles.

In this issue, the historic pattern translated by Franklin Habit, is Lady´s Traveling Cap from 1847. It made me grab at my needles and embroidery yarn, leftovers from this Danish shawl from 1845. I wrote about it here.

The cap pattern calls for five shades of any light color, plus white. The shades blend from darker to light and back. Just like the shawl. I think it is funny how knitting fashion was international, even 165 years ago.
However, the best part for me, is how Franklin Habit describes his fascination by exploring these old pattern. It was as written out of my heart. English is not my native language and I do not always have the words to express myself. And now I have a cap for my shawl.