head or tail

It has almost been a month since I went to Copenhagen and visited  North Atlantic House, a building which is dedicated Icelandic, Faeroe and Greenlandic exhibitions and events. 

Round the corner is this blue igloo. It is locked but you can get the key in the reception.

I tried to take a photo of me inside. With thousands of mirrors it should be easy, however where am I? I wore a red scarf that day!
Trondur Patursson has made various examples of his “cosmic room”.

Outside the museum was a small coffee shop, with Icelandic specialties. I had a cup of coffee and an Icelandic chocolate bar.

I was so surprised when I took a bite. The chocolate melted in my mouth and I was chewing a small liquorish lump, a bit salty. Very delicious.
Not far from Transatlantic Brygge is Fretown Christiania.

They have an arts and craft shop  next to the entrance. A visit was very inspiring.

A shawl knitter cannot have too many pins. I intuitively chose this one and it is now incorporated to my collection.

I also visited Københavns Bymuseum. 
I am not particularly interested in how kings and queens lived. I am absorbed by the way poor people were treated, women and children. How they managed : Illness, poverty, suppression. I found this photo of a group of people from the bottom of society.

 

I am always touched when I see women wearing tie-shawl.

This summer fair Isle knitting brought about a strange creature to my house.

 

Once I housed this one.

Girls gossiping

I have been away for a holiday to the North of Denmark. Of course I had to go to Skagen Museum to watch all the paintings there. I have been there lots of times and I enjoy the it more and more. There are a lot of paintings of local people living in the late 1800 and especially for me who has so much love for tie shawls, it is joyful to watch.

slip away a little

Yesterday Mr. Mttr and I made a Sunday trip to Herning Museum. I went there to look for historic textiles. It is 100 km away from my home, and you are in the center of old knitting country- which later became the center of Danish textile industry.
Well, I did not see much old knitting. Or tools. But here is what I found. Please see through the stains of the glass. It is a vindepind or a nostepinne for winding up a skein of wool, and five wooden needles. And here is what was knit for export. Woolen, felted socks.
The yarn of the sleeves are dyed after binding some strings around the hank. Variegated yarn is not a new invention. The sleeves are sewn to the vest.
The woman is wearing wristwarmers. Nothing new here, either.

The museum has a large collection of the old duvet covers, Olmerdug, fustian,which is so gorgeous. Weaved 150 years ago ... the colors and the stripes are exquisite.
I am not a weaver, and I keep imagining that the wool was used for knitting, as well.
At least for shawls. For obvious reasons there are no photos from that time, but fortunately there are paintings to look at. H.A. Brendekildes maleri Udslidt fra 1889. Fyns Kunstmuseum.

change the nature

Temperature is now above the 10 degrees which is my limit for going by bike. But a lot of people defied the Winter storms . Here is a link to show what I mean. And here is a picture of me and my new investment. * An electric bike. Now I always have the wind behind me - at least when I am sitting on my Ella.
If you have a closer look you can see the hood of my Rogue, one of the best pattern I have worked. Can be found here. I have finished a third tie shawl which is from 1880 from Herning. The shawl is worked from the top. The ratio is 1:2 for the triangle. You actually don´t need a pattern.
I used one thread of Jaggerspun Zephyr in curry and all the time through the knitting I struggled with the bad match. Lace weight and garter stitch.. Every little error was accentuated, absolutely no mercy. Needle size 3.25 And why didn´t I frog and choose a sock weight or double the thread. Because I had the Jaggerspun in my stash and wanted to save money for- my investment (*) We all have to sacrify a little : ))

quarrel with oneself

Does one stitch make a difference ? While I am knitting I have this discussion with myself many times. The answer of this rhetoric question is of course - yes and no. But the decision you make, may change the character of your project. I have done this shawl twice. The pattern tells you to decrease two stitches on each row; one in the edge and one in the middle. This discussion is about the center decrease. The top shawl's decrease row says: "Knit to center stitch, knit center stitch, knit two together". The bottom shawl´s decrease row says:"Knit to center stitch, knit two together" I like the soft transition of the first one longing to expand the center area as they do on the Faeroe Islands´ shawls. But I am so pleased with the stringent and sharp back line of the old Danish shawl. If you look close enough you can see how the owner has mended her shawl in the neck with sloppy stitches.

To dare is to loose one's foothold a short time...

This is the photo I took this summer at the museum, below is the shawl I just finished

The original shawl belongs to Vendsyssel Museum in Denmark. It is a modern (1897 )version of the Danish Tie- Shawl, Vibeke Lind writes about in her book Knitting in The Nordic Tradition. The differences are that The Shawl has an upper and lower border that are stitched together and used for tie-bands. This shawl is not only knitted in garter stitch like the old tie-shawls(1880). There is a pattern of stockinette stitch which is elastic and the shawl fits better round the shoulders. It has been a tense knitting adventure and I am very pleased with the result.

Boredom is the root of ......

I am working on the reconstruction of a Danish Tie-shawl from 1897. I have been a little scared to start, but knitters from Ravelry have been very encouraging and I know where to get help.
It begins with an edge of lace. luckily enough I found a pattern called the Ettrick Lace from a Canadian pattern book from 1891.
The worst part was how to make the point. I was able to enlarge the photo I took of the shawl at the museum. Looking at the photo, counting and knitting at the same time, the sticks and fingers seemed to take over , and to my surprise"we" puzzled out how to make a corner and change direction. When I wanted to write it down, I had already forgotten and had to write one row at a time while I was re-knitting. At least I am not bored.

traditions

My next big project for early spring is a shawl. I took a photo of it this summer from an exhibition in Vendsyssel Museum i Hjørring. They were very kind when I expressed my interest, took it out of its exhibition case so I could measure and photograph. The shawl is a Danish Bindesjal from 1897. It's not easy to find out which yarn to choose. And I am still swatching and trying out the pattern of the border.