how to make a knitter happy

 This weekend I had a great trip to Copenhagen. I especially wanted to visit this exhibition:

Faroese knit: art and design
30.04.11 - 23.08.11

So glad I did, it is really something to travel for.. If you are not in Copenhagen this summer, I guess these gorgeous blankets will be shown in other parts of the world. They certainly are worth it. Thanks to Johanna av Steinum these knitted pieces of art could inspire knitters anywhere.

The works are some kind of mix between knitting and quilting. The way the material is used, reminds me of the way you plan to work a rag rug - actually using "rags".
The photo is an antique runner from Sweden. I borrowed it from this shop.

To make a rug like this, you have to have all your rags ready, make a plan, spread the colors. Just like the old quilts.
A place like this it is good for you to sit down for a while for reflections. I rested on one of these felted rock cushions by the South African designer Ronel Jordaan.

This blanket was my favorite.

 From the website:

Faroese knit: art and design exhibits the first knitted artworks from the Faroe Islands, created by Katrina Maria Hansen (Mia) from 1960-1975, and the most recent knitted fashion design by Jóhanna av Steinum.

 As an outsider on the Faroese art scene, K.M. Hansen´s work was discovered by coincidence by knitwear designer Jóhanna av Steinum. Although K.M.Hansen´s artwork was unkown, her skills as a knitter, especially jumpers for the Faroese costume was well acclaimed. In 2007, Jóhanna av Steinum was writing a university thesis about the Faroese costume, and it was in connection to this that Jóhanna av Steinum visited and interviewed the experienced knitter. Steinum accidently found the artwork hidden away in Mia´s home. She immediately knew that she had come across something unique and understood right away that it deserved to be exhibited and preserved.

To use knitting for purposes other than clothing production was highly unusual in the Faroe Islands until in recent years. Knitting was used for functional purposes and for practical use, never in an artful way with purely an aesthetic purpose. To create patterns and combine colors, the way Mia did, was completely unheard of at the time.

Jóhanna av Steinum is a young Faroese fashion designer, where she designs fashion often inspired by Faroese traditional patterns. In recent years, she has been one of the head designers for the Faroese label SIRRI. In addition, Jóhanna av Steinum has exhibited her own works and given lectures and workshops about design and knitting in many countries.

Jóhanna av Steinum was so inspired by Katrina Maria Hansen that she designed a fashion collection based on her knitted artwork.  This exhibition is therefore an interaction between the original works of Katrina Maria Hansen (1913-2010) and the contemporary design of Jóhanna av Steinum. The first knitted Faroese artworks, side by side with the most recent knitted fashion design.

Katrina Maria Hansen died in 2010 at the age of 96, just before the exhibition was realized, so she did not experience the acclaim and attention for her works in connection to this exhibition.  

Before I left the exhibition I worked two rows of the knitting on the ladder. Yarn: three threads fingering wool,held together. Needles: broomsticks.