Tag Archives: Norah Gaughan

Ataraxia in Pom Pom Quarterly Winter 2018

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I was beyond excited when I received an e-mail from Meghan Fernandes, co-founder of Pom Pom Quarterly, commissioning me to make a submission for the Winter 2018 issue with guest editor Norah Gaughan. Norah is the famous cable expert, who I had the pleasure of meeting at Strik Bornholm in Denmark back in 2014.  The timing was also right for me to submit to Pom Pom Quarterly, founded by two of my former Loop colleagues: Meghan Fernandes and Lydia Gluck. I am so honoured to be part of this impressive issue with my Ataraxia together with eight other acknowledged designers: Caitlin Hunter, Joji Locatelli, Véronik Avery, Andrea Rangel, Cirilia Rose, Xandy Peters, Boadicea Binnerts and Honor Adams. On the cover is Norah’s amazing Nightingale, knitted in Quince and Co. Lark using 4.5 mm/US 7 and 3.75 mm/US 5 needles.

@ Laura Morsman

The impressive submission brief said: “Our muse is a modern woman warrior with a feminine edge. Mix sweet with strong. The Victorian era is the seed of inspiration, but anachronism is welcome”. So I made a jacket for the modern warrior women: Shield maiden Lagertha wears a strong, fitted jacket with peplum, adorned with cables, honeycomb pattern and moss stitch. Her bravery has been marked by the I-cord top shoulder adornment and close crew neck. Her stature is emphasised with a tuck joining the peplum to the body, a twisted stitch encompassing the honeycomb pattern and two staghorn cables following the spine at the back.

@ Laura Morsman

Pom Pom writes: “When we asked Norah Gaughan to guest edit this issue, nothing could have prepared us for the beauty and drama of the results. Combining her vision of though Victoriana with our trademark colourful and playful approach, we have worked to flip the Victorian visual trope of a delicate woman surrounded by flowers into one of strength and resilience…” The dramatic flower arrangements are by Bricolage Curated Floral and the photos by Laura Morsman.

@ Laura Morsman

The sample is knitted in the stunning The Copper Corgi Fiber Studio, Jones Street Worsted – available at Etsy – made of 60% Merino wool, 30% Alpaca, 10% silk with 192 meters/210 yards per 113 gram skein in the shade Goldenrod using 4 mm/US 6 and 3.5 mm/US 4 needles. The model  has a 86 cm/34″ bust, stands 165 cm/5.5″ tall and is wearing a size 2 with 97 cm/38.25″ bust. The cardigan is available in 5 sizes with a finished bust measurement of 91 to 132.5 cm/35.75 to 52.25″.

@ Laura Morsman

Ataraxia is knitted flat, in pieces from bottom up, and seamed. The asymmetric lower body has extra width in each side that will be bound off before the tuck is made. Waist shaping is worked at the sides and the shoulders are shaped using short-rows. The collar is picked up and completed using an i-cord cast-off. The dramatic photo above is also used to list the weapons – the issue 27 yarns.

@ Laura Morsman

Norah writes in her guest editor note: “Linda Marveng added a peplum detail to her lushly cabled cardigan, Ataraxia. While the introduction to the pattern reads: Descended from a grand but penniless family and compelled to marry an absolute brute, Caroline Norton’s heart-rending experiences of spousal abuse and divorce led her to drive parliamentary reforms that established basic legal rights for women. Caroline spoke frankly and widely about subjects normally discussed only in whispers. The inroads she represented the first signs of a sea-change around the legal position of women.”

@ Laura Morsman

“Ataraxia is named after one of Caroline’s poems and we hope it gives you a perfect sense of calm, sheltering you from whatever storms you bravely weather. The long jacket’s fitted shape is achieved through a careful arrangement of vertical texture panels and i-cord highlights. Finished with a tucked, asymmetrical peplum, Ataraxia is full of clever ideas. Linda designed this with a mythical shield-maiden in mind, and Caroline Norton reminds us of the everyday heroines battling among us.”

@ Laura Morsman

The gorgeous sample photographed is not the one I knitted in SweetGeorgia Yarns Mohair Silk DK in Pumpkin, as you will see on Ravelry (and soon here on my blog) when you see the photos Michael took of me wearing it. The wonderful orange colour did not fit in with the other designs and a second sample had to be knitted up quickly in time for the photoshoot. Do not miss this issue of Pom Pom Quarterly.

Above is the impressive back cover of the magazine. The Ravelry previews of the magazine is up, and pre-order copies are due to be landing on doorsteps from 12th November. Both a print plus a digital issue will become available soon, for more details visit pompommag.com.

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Norah Gaughan at Strik Bornholm

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DSCN1195 I was so excited to be invited to hold workshops at Strik Bornholm, and could hardly believe my eyes when I discovered that the American designer and former Creative Director of Berroco; Norah Gaughan would be the star attraction. Well, since I was holding 2 workshops, I wondered whether they both would go ahead with enough participants. For once I had the chance to take part in one of Norah’s workshops, and for awhile I considered whether I could participate in two if my second workshop was cancelled. Just as some knitters signed on for all her workshops; Day 1: Modern Cable Design. Day 2: Designing Modern Sweaters. Day 3 (only half-day): Pattern Stitch Development and Design Possibilities. I took part in the latter one, together with designer Bente Geil (above in the centre), designer Maria Gustafsson, yarn dyer Lene Nielsen of Fredsminde Unika Design (above right) and five experienced knitters. Of course I had to wear one of Norah’s designs I have knitted; the popular Cabled Bolero that was on the cover of Vogue Knitting winter 2006/07. Below is a photo Maria took of me at the workshop, and I captured her in pink in the second photo below. The bolero, or Capecho as Norah called it, is made from several connected pentagons and is a pattern you either adored like me, or needed help to crack the code, see Capecho Workshop.

1I had already met Norah at the breakfast at Hotel Klintely, where we and several other designer & knitters stayed. So I was already star struck before I joined her workshop. To my surprise I was the only one wearing one of her designs, despite the Indian Summer heat we experienced. After seeing her slide show at the Party Dinner, the excitement grew even further. The brief introduction to the workshop – Pattern Stitch Development and Design Possibilities states: “One thought leads to another when it comes to making up pattern stitches. Norah will share some insights about her design process and show the progression of charts and swatches that lead to final products. Then, once you have a pattern stitch, how do you explore what to do with it?” The workshop started with a slide show, where Norah talked about her designs, and how they came into life.

DSCN1181 croppedOur first exercise was to match a series of inspiration photos with Norah’s designs. It seemed fairly obvious, until we started noticing that there were several alternative solutions. The second exercise was to select a ball of yarn from Norah’s collection – all in different fibers and structures – then knit a given lace swatch, a stitch pattern she had found studying a Donna Karan sweater. In a way we were helping her on the next step of the design. We knitted, changed needles, and then started thinking about how we could improve the swatch. I borrowed larger needles since I had brought too small needles, and discovered that due to the two slipped stitches with yarn in front of work, the yarn overs were covered hence a row need to be purled instead of knitted. The minor change I choose made a difference to the pattern, and the visibility of the holes created by the yarn overs. My swatch is second from left.

DSCN1180Above is the result of our knitting and experimentation; proof that we took part in the workshop. The task demonstrated how different a stitch pattern looks in a variety of yarns and fibers. We agreed that the grey ribbon yarn was totally unsuited for this stitch pattern, while the cream colored linen worked the best, followed by the two lighter blue cotton mixes. We learnt the importance of matching yarn and stitch pattern for a perfect combination. Our third and final exercise was to consider what kind of a garment two stitch patterns in a yoked pullover could easily be transferred into. There were lot of suggestions but none of us made the obvious connection to a hat. Other topics covered were her sources of inspiration: Ready to wear collections, nature (see my blogpost on her book: Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan), science, other arts and herself. Norah uses Barbara Walker’s stitch dictionaries, and is introducing her at Vogue Knitting Live event in Chicago in October. Norah will often change a stitch pattern to simplify, or enlarge the scale of it, or make recombinations and changing the scale. Hence she has built up her own vocabulary of stitches and motifs.

DSCN1196Above is a selection of swatches Norah showed us. We studied the swatches in awe for ages. The large swatches are from the days when she sold swatches to agencies – they demanded large swatches or the whole front of a sweater – to sell on to the high end fashion houses such as Ralph Lauren. These are the ones, Norah could not bear to send off, but wanted to use herself. Her advice to us where to: “Swatch & swatch again; be open to surprises; be one step removed from copying; think of something, then make it easier, be determined, but not in a hurry.” Thank you so much, Norah for a superb workshop! And also to Strik Bornholm for making it possible for me to join this amazing class! My head was spinning for days afterwards. This month she is holding a 4 day workshop called “Cable School” where you are part of her design team, near her studio in Harrisville, New Hampshire. I would love to be there, but if you go, do let me know. Here are more details: Four day workshop modern cable design.

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Strik Bornholm Report

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DSC_2140My husband and I are just back from the idyllic island of Bornholm. Not only did I enjoy every second of the knitting event, I also loved every minute of my stay on the island. There were more than 450 knitters signed on in advance to the event, and a huge number that turned up to see the exhibitors hall as well as the all the knitting action during the weekend. Above is a photo from my first workshop on Friday in Japanske Mønstre/Japanese Patterns at Allinge Røgeri/Smokehouse located on the beach. I had an amazing group including the acknowledged designer Vivian Høxbro of Domino Knitting fame (read: with 2 books published in Japan), and they did not want to sit inside in the wonderful warm weather. We tested both the front terrace of the restaurant in the morning, and the beach at the back in the afternoon when we were joined by the ever colorful Danish designer Charlotte Kaae and her group in the background.

DSCN1156 croppedIn the evening of our arrival, I received my name badge, list of participants on my workshops, and finally met Swedish designer Maria Gustafsson, initiative takers Heidi Beckmann and designer Bente Geil plus organizer Mikkel from Team Bornholm, in person, in addition to a number of other participating designers. Later on the knitters joined us and the knitting café. Apparently, it was Heidi that convinced Mikkel that knitters would come, he admitted during the party dinner on Saturday night (see photo above), that they had their doubts about organizing a knitting festival. But even the party dinner was so popular it was moved to a larger venue, and still the waiting list kept growing. Now, they are thoroughly convinced. The star attraction was American designer and former Creative Director of Berroco; Norah Gaughan whose love of cables leave knitters breathless, and addicted to her designs for life. Some knitters had booked all three of her workshops, while I was thrilled to take part in merely one on the day I was not teaching called: Pattern Stitch Development and Design Possibilities. My head is still spinning from all the knowledge she shared, and a separate blog post will come.

DSCN1151How was I supposed to restrict my buying of yarn and new books, was a common topic, as you can imagine. The temptations in the exhibitors hall was overwhelming, and hugely in-demand was the local hand-dyed yarn from Fredsminde Unika Design. I had already discovered the local yarn shop in Allinge called Strikkehjørnet who also with a stand in the hall, and spent more than I planned. A well known problem for us knitters. Here is the list of exhibitors at Strik Bornholm.

There were a total of 4 Norwegian knitters present at the Festival, 3 from the Stavanger Strikk & Drikk/Knit & Drink group and me, a few Swedish knitters and designers with the majority of participants from Denmark. The highlight of the party dinner was a presentation with slides by Norah Gaughan on her background and design. She was brilliantly translated by Heidi into Danish, giving us time to digest and admire each design. Editor Inga Walløe from the Danish magazine “Hendes Verden“/Her World, had a difficult act to follow but made an impressive attempt. Next, was a quiz filled with Danish questions my Swedish friends, and I found hard to answer hence we came second to last but still received a prize consisting of knitting magazines and hand-made buttons. Between the courses there was plenty of knitting to be spotted, I am happy to report. My husband was never given a choice whether he wanted to join the dinner or not – unlike a few others – I just told him to accompany me, and it would be worth it merely listening to Norah Gaughan’s presentation.

DSC_2157My second workshop on Saturday on Montering/Finishing only had 3 knitters signed on, and took place in the exhibitors hall. It was an ideal place to show off my book, Hifa yarn and a few selected garments. Curious knitters also wanted to know what the workshop was about. After the workshop, I made another tour in the exhibitors hall to make sure I did not miss anything. On the last day of the festival, Sunday, I was ready for Norah Gaughan’s workshop followed by a bit of sightseeing on the island. This was the first Strik Bornholm, but hopefully only the first of many. Thank you so much to Heidi, Bente and Team Bornholm for the invitation to take part! I would love to come back.

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Strik Bornholm – A Knit Festival

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10264385_689151927786538_7555932351586898028_nSeveral months back I was invited to take part in Strik Bornholm, a knitting festival which takes place on the Danish holiday island of Bornholm from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th September. I was thrilled to be asked and will hold two workshops in my native Norwegian; one on Japanese Patterns and one on Finishing. In June there were 341 participants who had signed on and several of the workshops were fully booked. On the program is an open exhibitors hall, knit cafés, workshops, excursions with knitting lessons, and a festival dinner with presentations by the star attraction; American designer and former Creative Director of Berroco Yarns Norah Gaughan as well as Inga Walløe from Hendes Verden/Her World – a Danish magazine for the creative among us. To my surprise my husband wanted to come – it must have been the drive through Southern Sweden to Ystad and my suggested stop-over there that tempted him. Why Ystad? Because this is where Kurt Wallander, the crime fiction character by author Henning Mankell, lives and works. From Ystad we will take the ferry to Rønne on Bornholm, where a holiday flat with a sea view is waiting for us. I look forward to this knit event, and I am so delighted that I was able to book a space on one of Norah Gaughan’s workshops: Number 62 (out of the 69 on offer by 20 different holders): Pattern Stitch Development and Design Possibilities. At least one if not several reports will follow. Here is the rest of my workshop schedule for the autumn, all in Norwegian since they are all held in my native language:

Strikkedesign, lørdag og søndag 20. og 21. september i Oslo, se husflid.no/lokallag/oslo/lokale_kurs

Montering, lørdag 27. september for Strikk og Drikk i Stavanger, se gruppen på Facebook: facebook.com/groups/

Japanske mønstre, søndag 28. september for Strikk & Drikk i Stavanger, se gruppen på Facebook: facebook.com/groups/

Strikkedesign, lørdag og søndag 25. og 26. oktober i Oslo, se husflid.no/lokallag/oslo/lokale_kurs

Strikkedesign, lørdag og søndag 15. og 16. november under Strikkehelgen i Stavanger, se strikkehelgstavanger og min bloggpost: strikk-og-drikkknit-and-drink-in-stavanger

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