Next out is the visit to Rauma Ullvarefabrikk, during our knitting trip to Rauma – where we stayed in nearby Åndalsnes. Our program for day 2 of the trip started at 10 am with a coach taking us the short distance to Rauma Ullvarefabrikk on the other side of the mountain. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Nina Hove Myhre
The Complete Andor Poncho Gang
I proudly present the complete Andor Poncho gang with all 7 knitters – all colleagues at Jotun – photographed in Sandefjord this glorious summer. My Andor design was made for Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk and part of the first collection. The pattern is available in Norwegian and English to download from Ravelry and in yarn kits online from Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk’s website: www.ull.no and in selected yarn stores. It was Nina Hove Myhre, aka FiberAndArt (far right) that wanted to knit the poncho and told her colleagues at their lunch table. I was so thrilled to hear that 6 of them wanted to join in. All knitted the poncho in the original Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, Tinde Pelsull choosing different colours.
I love seeing their results and so honoured that they all wanted to knit it! Thank you so much to the gang! I first met Nina 5 years ago, when she organised a book presentation for me at Larvik Husflidslag/Handcraft association, see my blogpost. If you follow my blog you have seen several of the astonishing total of 22 of my designs Nina has knitted. She is showing off a number of them in this blogpost: www.FiberAndArt.no. Nina is also one of my group moderators at Ravelry. You can see the Andor Poncho Gang in London with a pregnant Nina here. This summer, Nina with her husband and little Olav – now 8 months old – came to visit us in Ørje. I can reveal that Olav likes to look at knitting charts and is especially fond of my colour coding. In other words, Nina is working on yet another of my designs, I am delighted to say!
Strikkekafé at Sandefjord Husflidslag
I was happy to be back at the knit café organised by Sandefjord Husflidslag/Handicraft Association, this time to present my designs and work after my Norwegian knitting book was published in 2012. Last time, I presented my book and brought a number of the garments with me. This time I brought newer designs, a lot of my swatches and skeins of selected yarns. I had also for the first time made a PowerPoint presentation, starting with my job as a design consultant for Rowan Yarns at Peter Jones department store in London. One of the knitters I met years ago when she organised a book presentation for me at Larvik Husflidslag is Nina Hove Myhre, and she used the opportunity to invite Michael and me for dinner before hand. We were delighted to accept, and to meet her newborn son, Olav for the first time as well as seeing her husband again. Above you see Nina to the left, wearing my design Saga and she is talking to her colleague Kari Cotton. I am wearing my Bowery Tunic talking to Hege Marstein who was wearing my design Cable Round Sweater knitted in a lovely green shade.
Michael was my technical support, photographer and roadie. But unfortunately there were an awful lot of photos where I was pulling faces. Here I am talking about the process of submitting a design proposal to the American magazine Interweave knit.wear and showing off the second set of photos taken of the Irina Pullover by photographer Eivind Røhne. 
After my presentation, I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers from treasurer Kristin Stolpestad. Next on the agenda was upcoming events and then the raffle draw.
Several of the women present were busy knitting both during my talk and after, I am happy to report. Above you see me with a tea cup in my hand talking to Nina. Olav was sleeping in his pram next to her. Behind us the rail I had brought with a selection of my designs. I loved seeing knitters turn up in my designs and I had a very enjoyable evening!
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Knitting Design Workshop in Larvik
Last weekend I held my new Knitting Design Workshop in Larvik, and I stayed – as always – with my friend & Ravelry Group moderator Nina Hove Myhre who together with Inger Kamfjord Andersen came wearing my design; Regal Purple Jacket (read: in uniform). How thrilled was I? You can only guess! Nina made hers in her own dyed wool Vandre, see FiberAndArt, while Inger made hers in the original Hifa Perle, for more details see Ravelry. The workshop was organized by Larvik Husflidslag, and held at their marvelous premises – filled with looms, sewing machines and dressmaker mannequins – next to the museum. As if that in itself was not enough, Nina had baked buns that very morning in their kitchen so that the smell welcomed us and they were absolutely delicious!
My plan was to go through the design process from beginning to finish, and follow one of my designs on its journey to completion; Tyrol Jacket was my choice since I have its initial submission proposal with a sketch and preliminary schematic. Instead of making tasks for each knitter to do, after I had covered a section of theory, I opted for them to bring a swatch in a pattern and yarn of their choice, then for them to make a project page where they would add their ideas as well as numbers as soon as they started to calculate with their gauge according to their measurements and chosen ease. I was amazed at the complexity of the swatches several of the knitters brought with them and recognized their Japanese influence, see below. All I had to do was make suggestions for edges and assist on calculations, especially the sleeve top one for a set in sleeve.
Totally essential for the workshop, in my opinion, were stitch manuals, my design bible by Shirley Paden, my own swatches and designs, as well as favorite shade cards I use for inspiration and yarn selections. I also had to bring copies of my book, obviously. Just in case some of the participants had not seen it.
On Sunday Nina had changed into another uniform, this time the Arcade Vest knitted in the original yarn; Norsk Pelsullgarn by Hifa in Grey Violett, see Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk. The Norwegian pattern was published in Familien in issue no 3 earlier this year, while the English pattern will be released shortly. I am delighted to say that Nina took part also in this test knit. Here is the pattern page on Ravelry. You can also read, with Google Translate, if you do not read Norwegian, Nina’s blogpost here: Fiber And Art.
My next Knitting Design Workshop is scheduled in Oslo organized by Østre Aker Husflidslag at the end of October but more workshops will follow. This weekend I am holding Japanese Patterns in Oslo organized by Vestre Aker Husflidslag, and I am working on my workshop paper. Next on my agenda is calculating my own new designs…
Milanese Lace Shawl by Nina Hove Myhre
Does the name sound familiar? Yes, Nina is nearly ready to start on project no 4 from my book and this is her Milanese Lace Shawl knitted in the original yarn Wollmeise Lace in beautiful shades of brown called “Tollkirsche”. The tension is looser than the original making the shawl wider, covering her back which she is exactly what she wanted and with lesser repeats. Again, Nina knitted a small piece in stocking stitch to make covered buttons to match the shawl. She prefers wearing the rectangular shawl buttoned up as a shrug, see above. You can find more photos on her blog: fiberandart. The pattern is available in Norwegian in my knitting book “To rett, en vrang. Designstrikk” (and Finnish: “Nyt neulomann!”) but also in English to download from Ravelry: stores/linda-marveng.
Nina, aka FiberAndArt on Ravelry, is one of my two group moderators together with Jane Brindley, aka JanieB, and she is currently test knitting Summer Leaves Sweater (here are work in progress photos: fiberandart), so I can promise you more photos to come. If you want to join us on Ravelry, we are here: groups/linda-marveng. Another Milanese Lace Shawl I am excited to see, is Karen’s, aka Sweaty Knitter who is using Anzula’s ”Cloud” in a divine blue (100 g, 575 yds/525 m). Cloud is one of the alternative yarns I suggest in the pattern and is made of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. Do read Karen’s blog post: marvengs-milanese-shawl-road-trip-project. I was thrilled: “Not only do her patterns evidence careful attention to detail, but her designs make sophisticated garments that are equally at home with a pair of jeans or the favorite outfit you put on when you need a bit of a boost.” Below is the stunning Anna Pfeifer photographed by Kim Müller illustrating the different ways you can wear the shawl.
I also wanted to share crime writer Val McDermod’s posting on The Guardian: “Don’t disrespect Julia Gillard – knitters are not to be messed with. We knitters wield a lot of power with our needles and yarn. My own knitting career began with an act of defiance and now I have graduated on to the hard stuff… My latest adventures in knitting involve translating patterns from Norwegian. Because knitting in English is for wimps.” Read the full article here and enjoy: guardian!
Merino Vest Wrap by Nina Hove Myhre
I am delighted to share this stunning photo of Nina Hove Myhre’s Merino Vest Wrap, from my book (available in Norwegian and Finnish), knitted in the original yarn Madeline Tosh Sock yarn in a gorgeous green shade; Tannenbaum – here are more divine colours to chose from: madelinetosh. To adjust the length of it, hence the width since it is knitted sideways Nina used a 3.5 mm/US 4 instead of the 3 mm/US 2.5 recommended, and notice the covered button she has knitted and attached on one end. You can read about how she did it and see more detailed photo on her blog: fiberandart.
My idea was to design a vest with a small waterfall front, which you could wrap tight around your body and use a shawl pin to hold it in place, or leave to hang loose. It can be worn upside down with a larger collar and a shorter back if preferred. I was smitten with all the turquoise shades in the colour called Baltic, and thought it looked marvelous in the extended openwork pattern, where you wrap the yarn 3 times around the needle, pulling out the extra wraps on the next row and then cable them, 3 stitches at the time, framed with garter stitch on each end and around the armholes. Instead of doing the wraps, a skilled knitter on Ravelry has discovered, knit a row instead of the wrap row on much larger needles, a 9 mm/US 13. The yarn in an incredible soft merino hand-dyed in semi solid or multi colors. Above is the beautiful Anna Pfeifer wearing the vest, photographed by Kim Müller from my book “To rett en vrang. Designstrikk” (here it is: cappelendamm) I would be thrilled if you wanted to share a photo of your finished project from my book, on Facebook, here on the blog or in our group at Ravelry. Come and join us, if you have not already done so!
Mulberry Silk Jacket by Nina Hove Myhre
My friend Nina has finished her 3. project from my book, and I am thrilled to show you the spectacular photos taken of her with gorgeous company at an alpaca farm, called Alpakka enghaugen here in Norway, close to Fredrikstad to be more precise. The jacket is knitted in the original fabulous silk yarn in a stunning indigo shade; Jaipur Silk Fino from BC Garn, 100% mulberry silk on 50 g spools with 300 m/328 yds, available from Loop in London (order online here: loop), Nøstet Mitt in Oslo (more details here: nostetmitt) and others, see their website: bcgarn. Nina bought an extra spool and modified it by making the size medium longer to fit her perfectly! The pattern is included in my knitting book and available only in Norwegian and Finnish for the time being.
I was lucky enough to see the finishing process, since I was teaching a weekend workshop on Professional Finishing and Fairisle organised by Larvik Husflidslag/Craft association – larvikhusflidslag – and Nina took part. At home her cat, Tussi was inspecting the ongoing work and assisting, see below. For more details and to keep updated on everything Nina is doing follow her blog on: fiberandart (read: I do and I am in awe of her neverending skills!) Thank you, Nina!
The stitch pattern chosen for the Mulberry Silk Jacket/Morbærsilkejakken is the Lucina Shell pattern with edges and shaping done in garter stitch – to avoid decreasing inside the lace pattern – finished off by a rolling stocking stitch edge around the front opening. The jacket is knitted using a 3 mm/US 2.5 while the front band is knitted using a 2.5 mm/US 1.5. I adored the olive shade which I chose for the sample in the book. See the beautiful dancer Francesca Golfetto wearing size small, photographed by Kim Müller for my book below. I will show you more of Nina’s projects and my latest lace project, shortly. I hope you will enjoy Nina’s photos as much as I do!
