Kathe Cardigan in Familien 11/2018

I am thrilled that Kathe Cardigan has been published in the latest issue of the Norwegian magazine Familien issue number 11/2018 and has been given a bit of space on the cover. The cardigan was made for Interweave Knits Fall 2016 and it is knitted in the divine SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Sport in the hand dyed shade Tumbled Stone using a 3 mm/US 2.5 needle. That is an incredibly soft pure merino with 300 meters/328 yards per 100 gram skein. Model Alexandria Eissinger, with hair & make up by Jens J. Wiker and jewellery by Kaja Gjedebo Design, was brilliantly captured by photographer Eivind Røhne. Alex is wearing size M with a 93 cm/36.5″ bust circumference, but it is available in sizes XS to 2XL with measurements from 79 to 120.5 cm/31 to 47.5″. Here is my introduction to the pattern: Kathe is a straight cardigan with a scarf collar enhanced with an elegant textural all-over lace. The reversible fern pattern adorns the body and sleeves while the collar is divided from it by a tuck and knitted in moss stitch. You can wear the collar hanging flat – overlapping – and pinned together or folded.

It is a time consuming knit, but the finishing off is rewarding, in my opinion. You will find the English pattern on Ravelry and on Loveknitting, while the Norwegian pattern is printed in Familien. The magazine is available to buy at selected news agents and super markets in Norway. If you live abroad you can order the Norwegian magazine by e-mailing kari.bachke@egmont.com and then transfer payment into their bank account.

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Oslo Design Fair – January 2018

What happened to January? I had so many plans but did not get very far at all. Anyway, I did make it to the first day of the Oslo Design Fair at Lillestrøm on Wednesday 24th of January. I was looking forward to seeing my new designs in collaboration with Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk on display at their stand together with large posters of Emma Ross photographed by Eivind Røhne at Bøler Kirke/Church in Oslo last October. Michael came with me and took these photographs. Above you can see the Cahal knitted in Olive green Tinde Pelsull, Ardra knitted in Cognac Sølje Pelsull and Barra knitted in Brown Sølje Pelsull. On the floor are the yarn kits, and in the two boxes closest to Ardra are the Tinde Pelsull while the new lambswool yarn Sol is in the next two boxes.

Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk had printed a brochure for retailers and I saw it for the first time, fresh from the printers in the photo above. Here I am talking to Øyvind Myhr since both Berit and Anette were busy taking orders. On the wall to the right is Donia. The sample is on display at the front of the stand. I am wearing my design Kathe Cardigan knitted in SweetGeorgia Superwash Sport, made for Interweave Knits Fall 2016. Yarn kit with Norwegian patterns and printed patterns will soon go on sale in selected yarn stores in Norway and online at Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk. Digital patterns will be available after test knitting in my Ravelry group in both Norwegian and English during the spring.

I met up with several designers during the day to my delight. Here is Creative Director at House of Yarn, Margaretha Finseth (yes, the editor of the Norwegian Knitting Designs book) telling Tove Fevang and me about the new yarns from Du Store Alpakka. As you can see from these photos there was plenty of space at this trade fair on the first day.

The fair also showcases jewellery, clothing, interiors and decorations in addition to yarn. Kaja Gjedebo had a stand again this time and I had to visit. Kaja is presenting the news to designer Bente Presterud Røvik who joined Tove and me. Thankfully, Kaja had made a new brochure so that we could easily make our wish-lists. In between visiting the stands, I had several coffee breaks and enjoyed catching up with designer Iselin Hafseld and handcraft editor at Familien Åse Myhrvold Egeland. I had a great day and received more design commissions so I will stay busy.

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Strikke 2017 at Hadeland Glassverk

For the second time around the knitting festival and exhibition Strikke 2017 is organised by Hadeland Glassverk at Jevnaker, by the south end of Randsfjorden, about 1 hour from Oslo. I am pleased to say that I was invited to exhibit and to hold workshops, this year too! The festival is on from 2. September to 29. October. Above you see the entry to the exhibition, with the list of participating designers. I was very excited to see my name listed at the top, and as you can see I am in excellent company. Luckily, I had my husband with me to take some great photos.

The most striking part of the exhibition was the designs made by Imogen Abbot. She is a London based Fashion Design graduate specialising in intricate textiles and knitwear. These garments are based on the topic “childhood and escapism”. Read more here: Imogen Abbot.I choose to exhibit 6 garments and above you see 4 four of them: Patent Poncho, Cablewing Sweater with wrap, Harding Cardigan and Kathe Cardigan. Large accompanying photos of model Alexandria Eissinger and Silje Andresen hang in background. I held two workshops on the Sunday I was there: Introduction to Sweater Design and Cable Knitting Master Class. That is why I choose to wear my Yellow Gold Pullover with the loose sleeves from my Saqqara pattern.Also exhibited is the Embrae and Irina Pullover. As you might see my photos are taken by Eivind Røhne either at National Museum – Architecture or at Ingierstrand Bad
Here is Nina Skarra’s exquisite designs from her book and available as kits.

Here is a few of the beautiful garments designed by Kari Hestnes who has recently published her 14th knitting book in Norwegian.

I also loved the texture and silhouette of these garments designed by StrikkeGry, Gry Johannessen.Just like last year, Kristin Elise Halkjelsvik – Makeløs/Remarkable was in charge of the Catwalk at the opening day of the festival and also for making this fantastic wedding outfit with the special designed “kofte” for the festival by Randi Ballangrud. The crown is made of knitting needles. Kristin is not an ordinary stylist she is The re-design stylist and she is remarkable in every sense of the word. This photo is taken by designer Nina Granlund Sæther of the catwalk at the opening day, Saturday 2. September. The model is wearing my Aran Bolero magically styled by Kristin Elise Halkjelsvik – Makeløs/Remarkable with an embroidered table cloth as a skirt.

Here is the beginning and end of the exhibition: The Yarn Shop and the coffee shop where the knitting café takes place. At the very front you see yarn kits with my Idunn and Halli made for Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk.Here is a close-up of the missing yarn wall with exciting yarns. In the center you see the Sølje and Ask yarn by Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk. Do visit if you can. You will find a lot more photos as well as videos from the exhibition and from the catwalk on the Facebook page for the festival: www.facebook.com/STRIKKE2017.

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Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad: Kathe

I love these new photos of the Kathe Cardigan. Yes, they are taken by the brilliant Eivind Røhne of the gorgeous Alexandria Eissinger with makeup & hair by Jens J. Wiker and jewellery by Kaja Gjedebo Design at Ingierstrand Bad in late May. New, because the cardigan was first photographed by Harper Point Photography for Interweave’s magazine Knits Fall 2016 and now the rights have reverted to me. Kathe is a straight cardigan with a scarf collar enchanted with an elegant textural all-over lace. The reversible fern pattern adorns the body and sleeves while the collar is divided from it by a tuck and knitted in moss stitch. You can wear the collar hanging flat – overlapping – and pinned together or folded.

In the end I chose cream, instead of black, to show this jacket most clearly. An a-line cream skirt and shoes by Camilla Skovgaard. The cardigan is knitted in the beautiful hand-dyed SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Sport using 3 mm/US 2.5 with a gauge of 24 sts and 36 rows in st st measures 10 cm/4” square. Alex is wearing size M with a 93 cm/36.5″ bust circumference, but it is available in sizes XS to 2XL with measurements from 79 to 120.5 cm/31 to 47.5″.

The cardigan in worked in parts back and forth and seamed. During shaping, if there are not enough stitches to work an increase (yo) and corresponding decrease, work the stitches of the partial lace as they appear. The tuck at the collar is worked with 2 circular needles held parallel. This side view is one of my favourite photos from our photoshoot and I chose to exhibit it at Strikke 2017/Knit 2017 at Hadeland Glassverk opening at 2. September.

The English pattern is available on Ravelry and on Loveknitting, while the Norwegian pattern will be published in the bi-monthly magazine Familien in issue 20, out on 2. October. Stay tuned for more magnificent photos. Enjoy your summer and keep knitting!

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Behind the Scenes: Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad

On Monday I had a photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad, just outside of Oslo, with an amazing crew. The weather was perfect; warm and sunny. The restaurant, open for private parties during the weekdays and for the public at the weekends, is a popular spot for weddings due to its location next to one of the most popular beaches with a diving tower in Oslo. In fact jewellery designer Kaja Gjedebo, who came to join us, had her wedding party here 11 years ago and this was the first time she was back. You can find a video she made at Instagram. While Jens J. Wiker worked on gorgeous model Alexandria Eissinger‘s hair & make up, photographer Eivind Røhne, second photographer/roadie/technical manager Michael Marveng-Puckett looked at possible back drops. As always it was a day filled with laughter and breath taking results. Eivind always gives everything, above you see how him delivering on his promise to make Alex taller. Jens, next to him is checking his mobile.

Here you see Kaja and Eivind sharing Instagram tips. It was marvellous to have the whole place to ourselves. On the to do list was taking photographs of a total of 10 designs where 5 are new designs; 4 for yarn kits for Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk and 1 secret design; 3 designs returned from Interweave Knits and knit.wear in the US and 2 designs only photographed by the Norwegian magazine Familien previously. Judith Bech had as usual sent me a selection of dresses and skirts to choose from. One day I hope she will be able to fly from Northern Norway to join us. I find her dresses magical, hence I am spellbound and ask for more than I need so that I can see how they look together with the knitted garments. Just as with my ideas, some work better in my head than in real life. I ended up using only 2 of those.

Eivind and I are talking strategy, while Alex with Jens’ assistance is ready for action. We speak partly in Norwegian and partly in English all day, even though Alex speaks Danish and Michael Norwegian, they both prefer English. But Alex knows me very well and know that I want front, back and side photographed. Eivind is living in the hope that I will not demand full length photos of all designs, but I rarely give in. Alex is ready for photography of the back of Kathe Cardigan, made for Interweave Knits Fall 2016.

Alex heard a double set of camera clicks as Michael joined Eivind and photographed as well. Thankfully, neither Eivind nor Alex had any issues with that and knew that the Eivind was indeed the photographer of the day. Even Alex joined in and took a selfie, here she is, captured by Michael. Above she is wearing Aki, a new pullover designed for Hillesvåg and below wearing an old design Patent Poncho. Despite the heat, Alex managed to look incredibly cool and only suffered for a brief time when I added 3 cowls on top of each other. Yes, that would only be useful on a very cold day and not on a hot day, with women in bikinis nearby. Kaja wished that she had brought her swimwear.

Unlike me, Alex is always in control of her face when she is being photographed and do enjoy pulling some faces. I have reached the age where I tend to do so unwillingly so much of the time. That is why the back of my head as well as the side feature so much in the photos Michael take of me.

Take a look at the photo above and you understand the tone we have during the day as well as the fun! It took a few second before I saw her face! Alex is wearing Wa, a shawl vest as well as Kaja’s Abelia earring with pearls and Abelia necklace. I saw a number of Eivind’s photos during the day and know it will as usual be extremely difficult to choose photos from the hundreds of magical moments he has captured. Yet, I cannot wait to see them all!

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Kathe Cardigan – Again

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

I realized that Interweave Knits Fall 2016 team with editor Meghan Babin had chosen more amazing photos of my Kathe Cardigan for the 20th Anniversary Edition which I wanted to show off. So here they are, all taken by Harper Point Photography. Here is the introduction to the cardigan: “The Kathe Cardigan is an elegant and feminine modern classic. The leaf lace panels pair with the luscious open collar to make a stunning garment. This comfortable knit can be worn with a skirt and heels to the office or dressed down for the weekend.”

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

It is knitted in the stunning SweetGeorgia Superwash Sport, using 3 mm/US 2.5 needle with a gauge of 24 stitches and 36 rows in stockinette stitch. The cardigan is worked back and forth in separate pieces and seamed. The tuck on the collar is worked with 2 circular needles held parallel. The collar ends in an I-cord bind off. All parts are cast on using a provisional cast on method, which is removed and then replaced by an I-cord bind off.

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

Interweave Knits/Harper Point Photography

I love this photo showing off the details of the stitch pattern as well as the collar finish. The stitch pattern is one of those that are incredibly fun to knit as it develops between your hands and is easy to memorize after a few repeats. The semi-solid hand dyed color in Tumbled Stone, a divine taupe color, which highlights the stitch definition. There is a large selection from colors to choose from in SweetGeorgia Superwash Sport, so you can easily pick your own favorite. The English pattern is available both as a single pattern or in the magazine, which has another 19 patterns to choose from. I suggest you check out the magazine patterns before you choose.

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