I am thrilled to show you the photos that Eivind Røhne took of the gorgeous model Aksa Mortensen wearing the Keila dress, made for Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, with make-up & hair styling by Nina Hjertaas Bull and jewellery by Kaja Gjedebo Design, at Hvalstrand Bad, back in May. We photographed Keila first thing on the diving tower in the shadow with a bright backlight. Eivind and I agreed that we only had one great angle and that was from the front. Of course having the diving tower in the background would also work, but then we would have to wait for two hours for the sun to come around. By that time the beach was heaving with people – as it was the very first warm summer day, so we gave up on that idea. Above you see the dress worn with boot laces inserted into the hem and tied to give a balloon effect.

I choose to style Keila, knitted in the bouncy Sølje – a pelt wool yarn – with thick black tights and a black Wolford tube top beneath, both with and without a narrow belt and with funky Trippen shoes as well as ankle boots by Monica Stålvang. Above you see the dress hanging loose and Aksa holding on to a ball of the Sølje yarn.

Above is the third way of wearing the dress, again with boot laces (or use elastic, if you prefer) inserted into the hem and pulled all the way up so that the skirt is double and turned into a tunica or mini-dress if you like.

Keila is Norse for straight, just as the skirt part of this honeycomb dress is. Elongated honeycomb covers the skirt, while ray of honey makes the high waistband, both are worked in the round. The pattern flow continues with a body in honeycomb including armhole stitches in stockinette stitch. Keila is worked flat from the armhole and ends in a Henley neck. Only the center of the sleeve has a honeycomb panel. Wear the dress as a balloon dress or a tunic by inserting a cord into the double hem. Keila is knitted in the bouncy Sølje, a pelt wool yarn, from Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk.

The sample shown is in size Small with a 92 cm/36.25″ bust circumference and worn with 9 cm/3.5″ positive ease on Aksa, who stands 167 cm/5’6″ tall. Keila will be available in sizes XS to 5XL, with a bust circumference of 86 cm to 158 cm/33.75 to 62.25″.

Keila is worked with a 24 stitches and 32 rounds in stockinette stitch gauge using a 3.5 mm/US 4 needle measuring 10 cm/4″ square. The hem is worked with 2 sets of circular needles held parallel when casting on, so that the hem can be closed by knitting it together. The skirt is worked straight, then decreased into the ray of honey pattern for the band before you increase for the honeycomb pattern and the bust. The Henley neck divides the front into two parts after the armhole.

Yarn kits with English or Norwegian pattern will be available early in September from Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, while the Keila single pattern will be released after test knitting set to begin 15th of November in my Ravelry group. A big thank you to my amazing photoshoot crew!