I promised to show you some knitting photos from Northern Norway; here they are. I brought my Aife pullover with my so that we could photograph it at the Blåisvannet/Blue Lake in Lyngen, outside of Tromsø. Here I am photographed by Michael wearing my hiking trousers and mountain boots with my design Aife knitted in Dye Dye Done Pure Sport. I believed I would need it during our hike to the Blue Lake, but since the weather cleared and it got warmer, I had it in my backpack. The Aife pattern is available on Ravelry and on Love Crafts.

Aife was the Queen of the Isle of Shadow according to Celtic mythology. This elaborate cabled pullover with a slightly fitted waist, is made for a female warrior. A large cable panel, created by Devorgilla, is mirrored with two small cables at the center. The sweater ends in a generous turtle neck in ribbing. To show off the stunning hand dyed Pure Sport yarn by Dye Dye Done, the sleeves are in stockinette stitch with only two small centered cables. Aife is knitted in pieces for the ultimate fit.

The next knit design I wanted to show you is the Autumn Symphony that Grete Jenssen, aka ma9 on Ravelry, knitted for herself – and not as a sample for me – photographed by Michael at smooth rock surface at Tungeneset with that view to the Okshornan/Ox horn cliffs at the island of Senja outside of Tromsø. You can see my photo of Michael at the same spot in this blogpost: Postcard from Northern Norway. Read about alpine climbing these cliffs here: Okshornan på Senja.

My introduction to the pattern, available on Ravelry and on Love Crafts, follows: Leaves cover this A-lined jacket knitted in one piece with a false seam in a middle of the stocking stitch panel. The sleeves are knitted in the round with leaves up to the shaping where the lace pattern is changed to reverse stocking stitch. A belt in autumn coloured tweed lengthens the jacket and introduces the orange wrap. Or why not wear the wrap as a belt and opposite. Choose your three favorite colours, then make your outfit.

Last but not least is Grete on the beach outside their house in Markenes, Storsteinnes outside of Tromsø, close to midnight late in July, wearing her stunning Mohair Poncho. One she knitted for herself from my Norwegian book, but now also available in English on Ravelry and Love Crafts.

A poncho not reminiscent of the -70s but fashionable in addition to being warm, was my aim. It is easy to knit in 3 identical rectangular pieces but an intermediate challenge to sew together. The yarn I have chosen is a mixture of alpaca and mohair with a little acrylic from Texere Yarns.

We were waiting for the midnight sun to disappear behind the mountains. The sky went more red by the minute, see the best photo here: Postcard from Northern Norway.

I also want to share a selection of Michael’s amazing architectural photos from Tromsø in a later blogpost!