Start Stop Move

I finished a little knitted thing this week but I cannot show you any details until the little knitted thing has been gifted to a very special expectant mother. And I cannot show any of the works-in-progress for various reasons. I finished no books this week either (though Other Half returned a book to me so I can get finally finish it). No sewing. No general crafting. No exciting road trips.

However, I did have a design submission accepted and my design is off Somewhere Else being knitted up and photographed! It'll be interesting to see what it looks like. I also bought a bike so I can Copenhagen-ise Glasgow a tiny bit. And I had a most wonderful latte somewhere in the still-bohemian outskirts of the almost-gentrified West End.

And in the spirit of things that make me happy:

Objects Finished, Begun and Planned

Did you know that March is Ravelry's National Crochet Month? While Ravelry is not a nation (and I think the nation in question is not mine), it does coincides with me finishing a big crochet project. If you are a relatively experienced crocheter, you will know that crochet works up a lot faster than knitting. I spent less than two weeks making this shrug and I reckon I could even have had it finished within a week if I had worked on it exclusively.

The pattern is Fifi from the new Rowan Holiday Crochet book. (You can actually win a signed copy of the book on Ravelry right now. Go here for details) and I used just over four hanks of Rowan Creative Linen in "Leaf".

Interestingly, Creative Linen is technically a worsted weight, but I used a 4mm hook as called for in the pattern and it worked beautifully. I made no modifications and I crocheted a size L as I tend to do with Rowan crochet patterns. As I noted on Ravelry, I worried that the cotton/linen content of the yarn might wreck my hands, but my hands are absolutely fine. I would love to work with the yarn again - the colours are really saturated and it's very soft.

Seeing as Elsinore is off flying free in the world (and thank you to everyone who made it a trending pattern on Ravelry - that blew my mind!), I have cast on for a new shawl project.

But, Karie, you have way too many shawls!

Yes, but I also have a lot of shawl designs stashed away in my head and I need them to get out!

This shawl will be the very last in my planned 'Danish collection' and it will be offered in various sizes. Unlike the other shawl patterns I have released, it will be shown in two different kinds of yarn: 1) a smooth indie-dyed sock yarn and 2) a rustic 2-ply yarn. I am always amazed at how different designs can look depending upon the yarn choice and I really want to showcase this with this pattern.

I have cast on with Navia Uno, an interesting Faroese yarn that I have previously mentioned.

As you can see, the construction of Navia Uno is unusual (at least to this non-spinner) with two very different plies: one very tightly spun and one almost unspun. The resulting fabric is very bouncy and soft.

I have also played around with needle sizing a tiny bit. My go-to needle size for most lace is 4mm - indeed the last time I knitted with Navia Uno I used a 4mm - but I wanted something just a tiny bit firmer. So far I cannot stop putting my needles down just to caress the fabric. It is a bit disturbing, I know.

And I predict more shawls in the future. After all, I just picked up these two beauties from the post office.

Remember how I 'settled' for Navia Uno because I couldn't find my favourite Faroese yarn in Copenhagen? Well, I found an online vendor for Snældan yarn.. I know, I know..

Yarnia is based in Norway and carries a really nice selection of Snældan yarns. Somehow I managed to contain myself and only ordered two colourways in the 1ply: one is undyed dark grey and the other is surprisingly enough an olive green version. I am not quite sure how I managed to up yet another olive green laceweight.. but someone somewhere must be trying to tell me something because I ran into a hailstorm blizzard when I went to pick up the parcel.

Well.

Pattern: Elsinore Shawl

Remember yesterday when I mentioned a photo shoot for a new pattern? Well, I can show you the results now!

The Elsinore shawl is now available to buy from Ravelry which is why I can now show you some of the amazing photos we shot in Copenhagen.

I had long wanted to shoot some photos in Denmark as I gather so much of my inspiration from my old homeland. Elsinore proved the perfect pattern: I designed it with a persistent idea of 'flatness' in mind: the stitch patterns are quite pared down in order to showcase the fabulous colour of the yarn. Flat and pared down .. all are words that I could use to describe Nordic light, especially during the winter months.

That is not to say that I think Elsinore is a minimal shawl. I started out wanted to capture 'flatness' but the simple lines turned out to be really flattering once draped over a person.

I was really lucky that my old friend Kirsten Marie agreed to model for me. She sings, she knits, she reads, she translates, she sews - and now she models too. And Kirsten Marie introduced me to a photographer who was interested in the challenge of shooting lace shawls in the depth of winter. Win-win.

The original sample is knitted in OMA superwash merino 4ply in "strange rock'n'rollers". It took roughly 390 yards to knit the sample but I recommend 400 yards in the pattern just to be on the safe side. And as always I recommend using a 4mm (US 6) needle to give the shawl a good deal of drape. The yarn was phenomenal to work with and the colourway was very interesting: it kept changing colour dependent upon where and when I was working on it.

And the last chapter in this story belongs to my poor test knitter, S. She kindly offered to testknit the pattern whilst I was gallivanting in Denmark. Unfortunately this meant she actually testknitted most of my next pattern. Amazingly the wrong chart worked really well with the Elsinore charts and she did not suspect a thing. I felt horribly guilty when I realised what had happened - but it's intriguing that the chart worked!

Elsinore was such a joy to design and knit. It came together very quickly and proved a really relaxing knit for me. I hope you'll enjoy it too.

Denmark 2012: A Bit of History & A Lot of Knitting (part 3)

Denmark was not just us larking about Viking settlements or eating six types of pork for lunch (true fact!). Denmark was also about knitting. I had a photo shoot! I am about to release a new pattern - Elsinore - and we had the photo shoot in the middle of the Kastellet fortifications in northern Copenhagen.

It was an incredible cold day, so whenever there was a break in the shoot, I rushed forth to wrap a warm cardigan around the brave model. The photos turned out amazing. Stay tuned!

I also met up with Signest, aka Signe Simonsen who has been published in Knitty, Twist Collective and Petite Purls among other places. She is one of my favourite designers for innovative, colourful and bold childrenswear (check out the Nova dress and the Viola hat!) but Signe has several, several strings to her bow as you are sure to find out in months to come. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at a design she is currently working on for Danish yarn company Filcolana.

And Signe's also the genius behind my current favourite attire, the I YARN CPH tee. Sorry about the photo - it is not the most flattering one of me but it is the only one I have of me wearing the tee.

Yes, I rather liked Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book. Why do you ask?

Oh, and there was yarn. Nothing really, really fascinating because I only had a few hours to spare so I could not explore new yarns, but I did buy a vast amount of yarn: mainly laceweight - which shocks no one - and mainly of the North Atlantic variety - which should shock absolutely no one either.

My usual Snældan yarn pusher had shut down since my last visit to Copenhagen, so I 'settled' for some more Navia Uno from Jorun Garn in Frederiksberg. They have similar fiber content (though the Navia introduces some merino into the blend) but the construction is slightly different. The Snældan is a slightly overspun  single ply whereas Navia Uno is plied with a tightly spun 'thread' around a soft wool core. Navia Uno works up slightly softer than Snældan but has a smidgen less stitch definition. In other words, I should not be writing about 'settling' for anything as the two yarns are so similar and so beautiful. I am just concerned about minutiae.

And then I visited a charity shop where I uncovered a pile of Alt om Håndarbejde (eng: All About Crafts) magazines from the 1970s.

Alt om was really instrumental in kickstarting my lifelong love of all things crafty and I remember trying out loads of their easy kids' projects when I was a kid. I even think the first garment I ever made for myself (a pair of shorts!) was from an Alt om pattern.

Some of the projects are just outlandish seen with today's eyes but others transcend their time period with aplomb. I only took some of the magazines with me (the rest are staying with my mum until further notice) but I picked a few with fantastic sewing patterns for dresses and skirts. I don't think I shall ever outgrow my 1970s dress sense..

There are also quite a few big knitting projects that I can admire knowing I will never ever knit them. Just look at that coat. It is absolutely stunning. I have instructed my grandmother to snap up any old Alt Om that she might come across as the tutorials are worth their weight in gold.

I tried finding Alt Om's modern incarnation - the rather splendid Symagasinet which is all about sewing - but the local shops let me down. Earlier this year I also contacted the publisher about a possible subscription but the shipping costs were ridiculous, so I dropped that idea. Oh, Scandinavia, why do you taunt me so?

Anyway. To come: a brand-new pattern release, news about other patterns, some FOs and so forth. My life's really busy right now!

Denmark 2012: A Bit of History & A Lot of Knitting (part 2)

Skipping some 2500 years ahead, we visited Dragsholm which is a local castle. We had one specific reason for visiting the castle: Mary, Queen of Scots. It is a very curious footnote in history.

Mary had a tempestuous life filled with lovers and husbands. Her second husband was found strangled - and she married the man who many believed was the murderer: James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell and the last royal consort of Scotland only.

Mary was forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland and fled to England seeking protection from her cousin Elizabeth I. Elizabeth remembered how Mary had previously led a claim to her throne and had Mary arrested and eventually executed.

And the Earl was incarcerated (he was charged with bigamy in Norway after marrying a charming Norwegian wench!) and died at Dragsholm Castle.

The curious tale continues.

James Hepburn was not buried at Dragsholm Castle (lest we forget: he was a villain!). Instead he was taken to a nearby church in the village of Faarevejle.

Faarevejle Church is a tiny, traditional village church. Like so many other Danish village churches, it was built sometime in the 10th century on the highest piece of land in the neighbourhood (which is not saying much in flat Denmark).

Inside it looks like any other tiny village church. All but one pre-Reformation fresco have been painted over with chalky white paint (for pre-Reformation frescos in Denmark, this is a one fantastic website. Go feast your eyes). Nothing indicates that a colourful chunk of Scottish history is resting nearby.

So, we had some detective work ahead of us. Especially as the only sign of life we could detect was the local vicar(?) singing along to the top 40 pop chart somewhere in the vicinity.

Eventually we tracked down the local gravedigger in the nearby cemetery. A cheerful young woman, she was quite pleased to hear that her most famous resident had visitors. And she opened the door to the crypt.

And this is where it gets very poignant.

The 4th Earl of Bothwell. The Duke of Orkney. One of the key figures in Mary, Queen of Scots' life.

And he lies in a damp and dark little crypt in the middle of nowhere. A plaque on the wall (sponsored by the Danish-Scottish Society) was the only indication that anyone remotely important was resting here. The coffin - a modern one - was covered in dust (I think you can tell from the photo).

My partner, the Scotsman, grew very quiet. "How odd, " he said after a while, "to think of him here almost forgotten." I do not know what we had expected but we all left the crypt quietly and did not speak for some time.

Denmark and Scotland. Our two countries united in a very strange, poignant way. Maybe that is why I keep thinking about that afternoon.

Denmark 2012: A Bit of History & A Lot of Knitting (part 1)

Denmark is a small country which is probably the reason I can get away with describing somewhere one hour away from its capital as "rural" and "remote". I grew up in rural and remote north-west Zealand, not far from this lake. Tissø means 'the lake of Tyr' - Tyr being one of the Norse warrior gods. The photo was taken just in front of an excavated Viking settlement on the banks of Tissø (where these pieces of jewellery were uncovered amongst other things) but the area has been populated since Mesolithic times. Important Neolithic and Bronze Age sites are in neighbouring fields and are just waiting to be excavated. Walking across the Viking site towards Tissø felt like walking across History itself - especially because it was a frosty, foggy day. It was easy to imagine my ancestors making the same walk and feeling the inherent magic of the place.

Tissø is part of a marshy landscape known as Åmosen (literally: the Creek Marsh) which stretches across most of my childhood landscape.

Åmosen is dotted with megalithic tombs - they are so common that my parents have two passage graves in the back garden(!). The one shown is a dolmen surrounded by standing stones. It dates to approx. 3500-3200BC. Åmosen is also known for the plethora of Neolithic settlements - the majority of the finds exhibited in the National Museum have been found in this marshy land. No wonder I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was growing up - it is difficult not to be enchanted when you can find arrow heads everywhere and explore ancient tombs in your back garden!

One of my favourite artefacts was not found anywhere near my home, but I think this stone dagger is just so amazing.

It is the Hindsgavl Dagger and can actually be seen on Danish bank notes.

The skill exhibited in shaping the stone is just outstanding and although the National Museum holds many equally intricate daggers from the same period, the combination of craftsmanship and the natural beauty of the stone is breathtaking.

We didn't get a proper photo of it for some reason, but I just want to mention The Sun Chariot that was found just a bit north of where I grew up. It shows the sun being drawn across the sky by a divine horse. Note the wheels: I want to knit a jumper that uses the wheel motif. It is one of my favourite motifs. Every time I see the Sun Chariot I get quite emotional. It epitomises my cultural heritage, I guess.

The pins in the photo belong to the same period as the Chariot and were found nearby. I love the swirling circles - all symbols indicative of the sun worship prevalent in the Bronze Age.

If you live in the UK, you will be familiar with the Danish butter brand, Lurpak. Did you know that a lur is actually a Bronze Age musical instrument used in religious ceremonies - and probably connected with human sacrifices? Did that put you off your sandwich!?