Tag Archives: Siris Skattkammer

Designers Christmas Market at DOGA

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dscn0673“Designernes eget julemarked”/The Designers’ Own Christmas Market was first organised in Oslo in December 1999, by a small creative group of friends who knew many great designers and makers. Since 2004 it has been held in the large and spacious premises of DOGA, short for the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture, in the city center. It attracts thousands of people each year, and is also getting more International every year. You will find designers offering: jewellery, paper ware, ceramics, cosmetics, books, leather products, clothing, knitwear, toys, wood work and textiles. There is a small entrance fee, but lots of bargains to be had since some of designers have sample sales or offer special discounts. This year I knew that both Siri Berrefjord – with her “bunadsplast”/National Costume plastic – and Cecilie Telle – with her felted garments and bags – would be present. Siri is a photographer, jewellery designer as well as re-designing clothes and had a stand at the market. Notice the brooch she is wearing on her inherited dress made in the same fabric used for one of the National costume aprons. Siri was also wearing a stunning brooch in her hair. Take a look at the poster behind her and you get the idea. She has made a number of stunning buttons for me, and had brought a number for sale, check out the left side of her table. You will find her shop called Siris skattkammer/Siri’s treasure trove at epla.no. Do also check out her webpage: Fredenshavn.no.

dscn0671Cecilie Telle is Norwegian who lives in London with her Japanese husband and two daughters (you can spot Edie in the photo above). We first met working at the yarn shop Loop in Islington, North London, in 2005. Cecilie teaches handcraft at schools, holds knitting workshops and designs, mainly felted items. At her busy stall she sold popular scarfs, ponchos and bags. Above you can see a selection of what she had brought with her. There was also a queue of friends who stopped by to say hello, myself included. Cecilie sells her designs at Comme de Garcons’ flagship store in London; Couverture, London; Crafts Council, London; Contemporary Applied Arts, London; Norway Designs, Oslo and Takashimaya in New York as well as online at The Wolery. Here is how she presents the shop: “The Wolery is a family run shop, based in an old handbag factory in London. Our shop is a fusion between Japanese and Norwegian cultures which also happens to be the background of our family.” Cecilie’s house and studio are amazing just like her designs, so check out her blog and store for inspiration.

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Helka Buttons by Siri Berrefjord

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_SBB6523I wanted to add the most stunning buttons I could think of to my Helka, the long jacket with cables that looks woven, so I sent a request to jewelry designer Siri Berrefjord to check if she was willing to make me some bespoke buttons. I am thrilled to say that she was happy to oblige, so I sent her my knitted swatch and told her about my design plans to make garments to fit with dress designer Judith Bech’s wedding gowns. I had decided that I wanted to adorn the button band with an excess of buttons and ordered 13 buttons from her, all in the size small with a diameter of 18 millimeters/0.7″, all in cream with gold on the center top. Included, I wanted a set of photos taken by Siri, a trained photographer, that shows the immaculate details on these handmade buttons molded in plastic after old traditional national costume/bunad silver.

_SBB6515Siri played around with the color and decided to go for a foggy white color – a thinner layer of white – so that the button would look cream and at the same time absorb the background color of the knitted jacket. She also tested covering more of the button in gold but discovered it would remove all the details of the pattern below.

_SBB6517As always I am impressed by the composition of the photos, making sure the background matches the object in the photograph. These beautiful buttons also work equally well as button cufflinks or earrings or small brooches. Makeløs/Remarkable stylist Kristin Elise Halkjelsvik – yes, she is – proved this on our photoshoot in Fredrikstad for the magazine Made by Me. Take a close look at the cufflink in orange worn by Pia Cecilie/Team Models in this photo: www.marveng-puckett.com.

_SBB6510I love how all the rounded details on the buttons stand in contrast to the straight lines created by the cables. These photos also show a bit of the texture of the numerous cables that make up the pattern on Helka. The Norwegian pattern will be printed in the special magazine called Familien Håndarbeid out in March, while the English pattern will be test knitted in my Ravelry group late April before its release.

_SBB6512In the photo above you can clearly see the cable in all its glory while the buttons look less textured than they are. I wanted to show you all these photos so you had the chance to study the buttons. You will find a selection of her buttons available in her shop on Epla here: Siris Skattkammer. Siri sent me 14 buttons in the end, and I am ever so pleased that she did, since I decided to use them all! The professional photos of Helka taken by Eivind Røhne will soon be revealed here, but first I will show you 3 more new designs…

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Icelandic Jacket Pattern Released

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Icelandic Jacket COVERStunning model Pia Cecilie/Team Models, with hair & make up by Janne Skarpeid Hermansen, is wearing vintage styled clothing by Kristin Elise Halkjelsvik of Makeløs/Remarkable, Bettina ankle boots by Monica Stålvang, and my Icelandic Jacket, all brilliantly captured by Eivind Røhne at Bjørnulfgården in Fredrikstad. The pattern was first published in Norwegian in our Jugend Love series in Made by Me in the autumn of 2014. The English pattern has been test knitted and is now available in my Ravelry Store. Here is my introduction to the pattern: Inspired by Iceland’s wild nature, I have designed an a-line jacket with a cable spine panel in fine tweed on the back, framed by stockinette stitch in a lush silk yarn mixture with tucks in a matching tweed on the cuffs. To show off the cable panel on the front, I made it into a cowl.

Sizes: S (M, L, XL, 2XL)                                                                                                                    Cowl: One size

Finished Measurements:                                                                                                           Bust: 90 (96, 104, 114, 124) cm/35.5 (37.75, 41, 45, 48.75)”                                                   Hip: 110 (116, 124, 134, 144) cm/43.25 (45.75, 48.75, 52.75, 56.75)”                                 Length: 70 (71, 72, 73, 74) cm/27.5 (28, 28.25, 28.75, 29.25)”                                                 Sleeve length excluding cuff: 45 (45, 46, 46, 47) cm/17.75 (17.75, 18, 18, 18.5)”                       Cuff length: 8 cm/3.25″                                                                                                                  Cowl: Width: 15 cm/6″ Length: 102 cm/40.25″

Yarns:                                                                                                                                               Col 1: Jaggerspun Zephyr Lace 2/18 in Juniper (50% merino, 50% tussah silk, 4608 m/5040 yds, 454 g/1lb): 1 (1, 1, 1, 1) cone or 2 (2, 2, 2, 2) spools of 100 g; 1015 (1074, 1136, 1257, 1359) m/1110 (1175, 1375, 1486) yds.                           http://www.jaggeryarn.com/wholesale-yarn-lines/zephyr-wool-silk.php                              Col 2: Rowan Yarns, Felted Tweed DK in Watery 152 (50% merino, 25% alpaca, 25% viscose, 50 g, 175 m/191 yds): 1 (1, 1, 1, 1) ball; 70 (90, 110, 130, 150) m/77 (98, 120, 142, 164) yds.  http://www.knitrowan.com/yarns/felted-tweed-dk                                               Col 3: Rowan Yarns, Rowan Fine Tweed in Wensley 371 (100% wool, 90 m/98 yds, 25 g): 3 (3, 3, 4, 4) balls; 250 (260, 270, 280, 290) m/273 (284, 295, 306, 317) yds. http://www.knitrowan.com/yarns/rowan-fine-tweed                                                            Cowl: Col 3: 4 balls; 342 m/374 yds. 

Alternative yarns:                                                                                                                       Col 1: Garnstudio, Drops Lace (70% alpaca, 30% silk, 100 g, 800 m/875 yds) http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/yarn.php?id=100                                                            Col 2: Rauma, Puno Petit Alpakka (56% alpaca, 10% merino, 34% polyamide, 50 g, 175 m/191 yds)                                               http://www.raumaull.no/produkter/garn/alpakka/puno-petit-alpakka                                    Col 3: Pickles, Merino Tweed (100% wool, 100 g, 380 m/415 yds) http://shop.pickles.no/en/products/yarn/pickles-merino-tweed/

Needles:                                                                                                                                          3 mm/US 2.5 circular needle (40 cm/16″)                                                                                         3 mm/US 2.5 circular needle (60 cm/24″)                                                                                       2 sets of 3 mm/US 2.5 circular needle (80 cm/32″)                                                               Adjust needle to match gauge. 

Notions: 3 buttons (17 mm/28L, 0.70″) and 3 sets of snap fasteners to attach on the back. Special ordered buttons on sample are made by Siri Berrefjord, see http://epla.no/shops/sirisskattkammer/                                                                                         8 Stitch markers, cable needle, stitch holders and yarn needle.

Gauge:                                                                                                                                               30 sts and 32 rnds using Col 1 in st st after blocking measures 10 cm/4″.
                                   25 sts and 16 rows; 1 cable pattern using Col 3 measures 6 cm/2.25″.                                     20 sts and 30 rnds using Col 2 in st st measures 10 cm/4″.

Notes:                                                                                                                                             The body is knitted in three panels; Left Panel, Right Panel and Spine Panel. Each side panel is sewn to the Spine Panel and has an interfacing front band which is knitted simultaneously and then folded back. The bottom hem on the side panels is knitted into place. The sleeves with their tuck cuffs are knitted in the round to the armhole and then worked back and forth in rows. The cowl is identical to the Spine Panel, just longer and joined at the short ends.

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Buttons by Siri Berrefjord

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_SBB4025I have for a long time admired Siri Berrefjord’s jewelry, see Siris’ Skattkammer/Treasure Trove, and when I finally met her at a Designerkollektivet event last year, I asked if she could make buttons for my designs. The answer to my delight was positive as long as I did not need 10 identical ones since they are cast from a mold. All that Siri needed was a yarn sample, and an idea of the size I wanted the button to be. I showed her my swatches when a brilliant idea popped into my mind; would she photograph them with her buttons on? Siri is a former professional photographer of antiques and jewelry so she knows exactly how to capture colors and texture, see fredenshavn.no. Here is the unique result of the buttons made to order and the equally stunning photos she has taken. My swatches are of the Icelandic Jacket, a new design I will reveal next week, made in a combination of Jaggerspun Zephyr Lace, Rowan Felted Tweed and Rowan Fine Tweed to be published in Made by Me on 1st of September. The cuff has tucks in tweed and the cables adorn the back panel and the matching cowl. Notice the layers of color that Siri has applied to the buttons making them a perfect match to the color specks in the three different yarns. They are made in plastic inspired by traditional historic national costume silver and each one is unique.

_SBB4027Now, that I have been spoilt with these magnificent buttons, I am not sure I will be satisfied with a mass produced buttons ever again! Yet another addiction of mine. If you want Siri’s unique buttons for a special garment, you too can order directly from her stating what size, how many and sending her a small yarn sample. Just email: siri@fredenshavn.no

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As it Rises Forward. Nation, Tradition, Fusion.

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Invitasjon til utstillingJewelry designer and photographer Siri Berrefjord is currently showing at Bærum Kunsthåndverk, see bkh, in Sandvika, on the outskirts of Oslo. The title of the exhibition is taken from our National Anthem, and the painting shown at the bottom of the poster is from our Constitution, celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.  I have not had time to visit yet, and going away this weekend holding a workshop in Stokke, but hope to have time next week. Here is Siri’s introduction to the exhibition: “I am impressed and excited by Norway’s rich cultural inheritance. I am inspired by the many treasures made here. For a long time, I have used the farming culture with its rich decorations as a basis for my own expression. In this exhibition I wanted to take a closer look on a few selected items; their cultural expressions and interpret these in my own way. I have been inspired by distinctive folk artists and color palettes. I have also used old handicrafts recalled from bottom of chests, and a forgotten past.

In addition I wanted to express something about time. We live in a time where time itself has become scarce. When studying earlier periods, where I find my inspiration, our relation to time becomes a paradox. Two hundred years ago man worked a lot more, they used more time on daily tasks such as house work and cooking. Life was cumbersome. Yet ordinary people used an awful lot of time on decoration and handicraft.

I wanted to do something similar in this exhibition. Both the clothes and the jewelry I make, take a long time to process. I want to make this time visible, in other words the time used on the presentation of these objects. What is really time in such a context? For me, it is also an expression of care, of lasting attention and of love to the thing itself. By using time to make items, you also give them a soul. When things are properly worked and have had time to evolve slowly, but surely, becoming visible, first then can they reach their potential.

Few expensive and exclusive materials have been used in these works, a conscious decision on my part. But they are carefully chosen; right materials – which suits the nature of the things themselves. And then it is time, the duration of the presentation which gives the things their exclusivity  – where they finally rises forward.”

I am thrilled that Siri is making buttons for one of my knitted jackets, and look forward to seeing the result – I will show and tell when I can. It is one of the many special orders she receives throughout the year, in addition to her collection available from Designerkollektivet at Glasmagasinet in Oslo and online from sirisskattkammer.

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