I am thrilled to begin the presentation of the brilliant photos Eivind Røhne took of gorgeous model (and a photographer herself – no less – see cargocollective.com) Anne Dorthe/Team Models, with beautiful hair & make up by Sissel Fylling, jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo, at location; Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. First garment out is Quamara, knitted in Permin Zenta, a luscious wool and silk mixture, with a long loop closure attached at the front. The jacket, knitted in kindly sponsored yarn using 3.5 mm/US 4, is available in sizes XS to 2XL and the Norwegian pattern will be printed in the separate issue Familien Strikk, out on Monday 24. August. The English pattern will be test knitted in my Ravelry Group before its release.

Several of our planned backdrops had to be ruled out due to the strong sunshine on Friday 29th May. I liked the look of this wall, which did not take any focus away from the lace pattern nor compete with the bright lime color. There are three lace repeats on the loop and on the sleeve, while the back has a panel of five pattern repeats. In the first photo the loop collar is worn hanging around the neck, just as you would put the jacket on. In the photo above the loop is crossed at the front and then folded around the neck.

I have made the fronts narrow since the loop is wide, especially when worn around the neck at least once in addition to the already attached part. All the borders on the straight jacket are worked in garter stitch including a fake side seam. Anne Dorthe is wearing statement jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo: Karakoram earrings and Hekla ring, both in oxidized silver. I desperately wanted to borrow more jewelry from Kaja after shoe designer Monica Stålvang introduced me to her modern work with crispy clean lines at the previous photoshoot. I was invited home to see her workshop, and to pick what I wanted to borrow. Needless to say, that I picked a lot and did not dare try any of it on since I knew it was a press loan and not a shopping spree.

Above is my favorite way of wearing the jacket like a ballerina wrap, with the loop twice around the neck, making the straight jacket figure hugging and tight. The loop is made in two parts so that the lace pattern is identical on both fronts. It is knitted together with a 3-needle bind off at the neck while the cast-on edges are joined using mattress stitches creating a neat but visible stocking stitch seam, see above. At the end it is attached along each front to center neck, while the remaining parts are left to hang loose – see bottom photo.

Just as the loop reigns on the front, I wanted the lace panel to reign on the back. As you might have noticed I am not a knitter that enjoys knitting large parts in stocking stitch, hence it will be kept to a minimum. The body is knitted flat in one piece up to the armhole, then separated, while the set-in sleeves are knitted in the round to the armhole, then flat.

It was important to show how the loop looks when it is hanging loose, hence its full length. That also gives me an excuse to show off Monica Stålvang’s Daniela boots I borrowed for the shoot. And yes, I did deliver them back the following day!