Nina Skarra | Linda Marveng

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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Nina Skarra is a name you recognise if you are into fashion and Norwegian. She is a fashion designer whose name I only recognised from the media until Tuesday, when she launched her first book – a knitting book, no less! We have seen her galla dresses worn by Angelina Jolie, Livia Firth and the Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, as well as on the catwalk in New York. But now it is time for knit. It is Nina Skarra herself wearing one of her designs on the cover of her book! Here is a detailed photo of the pullover with intarsia flowers on the ballon shaped sleeves. I was fortunate to spot a few friends in the long queue before the doors opened at the publisher Cappelen Damm on Tuesday evening. We were given a raffle ticket on entry, a selection of fruit and sparkling wine. It did not take long until all the table and chairs were taken. Nina Skarra was interviewed by editor Kaja Marie Lereng Kvernbakken who had knitted the long jacket from the book called Nina’s favourite jacket (see below) and told us how the book started a few years back and how she nows want to focus on handknit.

The book contains 29 amazing patterns, all for women except one cable sweater for men. She uses different techniques and has also created a few new ones, especially for this book. All the garments in the book are made in Norwegian yarn, and yarn kits are available from her newly created website www.ninaskarrastrikk.no. All the garments are photographed on several different models to show how they look on different ages and body shapes. Included in the book is also pages with photos on how the garments will look in different colours and how to choose the colours that suit you best. At issuu.com you can take a sneek peak inside the book. We were hoping for a fashion show, but had to make do with studying the samples on the stage, and seeing the stunning photos displayed on the wall. One lucky winner of the raffle won a yarn kit for the Genser med bobler/Pullover with bubbles & book. The Nina Skarra Strikkebok in Norwegian is available from selected bookshops and directly from Cappelen Damm. Nina Skarra plans to frequently add new yarn kits on her website, so stay tuned to it.

Linda Marveng

Knit wear designer and author

Tag Archives: Nina Skarra

Strikke 2017 at Hadeland Glassverk

Nina Skarra Strikkebok Launch