New Design: Gyda

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Linda Marveng

A turquoise fitted cable jacket had to be part of the Nordic Vintage series, I realized as soon as I saw the aqua colors Monica Stålvang had chosen for her Spring/Summer collection. My chosen yarn was the pure wool Ask in Light Green Turquoise 6584 (read: why had I not used this color of Ask before?) knitted on a 3.5 mm/US 4. Very fitted just like the Tyrol Jacket, but with a deeper v-neck and a cable panel that would fit even on the shoulders, was my plan. Instead of 10 or 11 small buttons, I opted for only 3, to be attached just before the v-neck, and I knew instantly that I wanted them bespoke by Siri Berrefjord. Not only are they like small pieces of jewelry, but since I wanted to make this jacket worn with one of Judith Bech’s stunning dresses, I needed them to be outstanding. Above is a photograph of me wearing size S but without the buttons.

I decided to knit the fronts and the back flat, while the sleeves are knitted in the round. On the front and the sleeve I could fit in one cable panel as opposed to three on the back. I made sure that all the shaping could be done in stockinette stitch in the sides and at the neck. The button band is a double hem just as the one at the bottom of each part. I prefer to knit it flat, then fold and sew it neatly on the wrong side by hand to keep it flat, but you could easily use two circular needles and use one as a stitch holder and then knit the two together or use a different method if you prefer.

Framing the cables on the back, like a textured painting make the back as beautiful as the front in my opinion. Before I end the cable panel, I gather the cables together to capture their texture instead of leaving them to a flat end. You can also easily see the flattering shape of the jacket. I have later added a size XS so that the pattern is available in sizes XS to 2XL, with a finished bust measurement of 84 to 126 cm/33 to 49.5″. Of course I could not resist the temptation of combining this beautiful turquoise color with a melange Light Farm Blue 6537 in Ask and a tonal brown made by Huldra Kamgarn held together with Du Store Alpakka, Dreamline Soul. A Tweed Belt to lengthen the jacket, yes with Siri Berrefjord’s buttons – this time with a brown base – as well as a large Butterfly Cowl. The belt is shaped and come in the same sizes as the jacket, while the cowl is one size both can easily be adjusted in width and length. I love being able to wear the cowl as a belt too, see bottom photo.

I had fabulous help knitting the Butterfly Cowl and the Tweed Belt from Airin Hansen. The accessories were knitted after the jacket hence the two different photo shoots you can see above, all the photos are taken by my husband.

Last here is a photo showing the cowl worn as a belt, where you can see the lace panels, divided by reverse stockinette stitch that make up the Butterfly Cowl. The Norwegian pattern will be published in Familien Trend on 23. February, while I will begin the test knit of the English pattern in my Ravelry group in March before publishing it.

New Design: Eira

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Linda Marveng

A sporty looking cowl with a matching belt knitted in a reverisble rice pattern closed with snap fasteners was the idea for Eira; A Norse name meaning merciful. A thin drapey mercerized cotton called Hifa, Perle held doubled, seemed ideal for these accessories. Gorgeous model Alexandria Eissinger at Pholk, brilliantly styled by Sissel Fylling, is wearing a beautiful linen silver printed dress by Judith Bech and perfect flats called Elisabetta black by Monica Stålvang, all magically captured by photographer Eivind Røhne at Hvalstrand Bad. The Norwegian pattern will be published in the Nordic Vintage series in the new magazine Familien Trend which takes over after Made by Me, out on the 23. February.

The Eira sample was knitted by my neighbor Karin Placht during her summer holiday to my utter satisfaction. I was so delighted to have help knitting the smaller pieces for this Nordic Vintage series so that I could concentrate on the larger projects. Perle from Hifa gives a very crisp stitch definition even more highlighted when the yarn is held double using a 4 mm/US 6 needle. The cowl, or loop if you prefer, can be worn draped over the shoulders as above, twice around the neck as below or hanging loose at the front.

Both Cowl and Belt are knitted flat. The Cowl is cast on with a provisional cast-on using waste yarn which is removed at the end so that it can be grafted or bound off with 3 needles to join into a loop. The Belt only comes in one size but can easily be adjusted to your preferred waist length by adding or removing pattern repeats. It is closed with snap fasteners and has a folded hem. The English pattern will be released on Ravelry shortly after Familien Trend is published.

New Design: Freja

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Linda Marveng

I was spellbound by Judith Bech’s black fringed skirt with a train the moment I saw it, and knew I wanted to make a sleeveless top with a similar shape. To contrast the marvelous texture of the skirt, a delicate lace panel swatch knitted in Du Store Alpakka, Dreamline Soul held together with Pickles Merino Tweed using a 4 mm/US 6 needle was chosen. Freja, named after the goddess of love with the added meaning of like a lady, is knitted with a longer back shaped at the bottom. Three lace panels are centered on both the back and front with garter stitch bands and vents in the side, hence having the possibility of adding a belt to the front part. My initial plan with a longer back with a train, but I soon realized that I could not add too much extra fabric on the back to keep the lines sleek. The result was less shaping, first by short rows in garter stitch then by decreasing a few times in between the lace panels. It did not take me long to design an accessory for it; a chocker. The pattern is part of the Nordic Vintage series to be published in Norwegian in Familien Trend, out on 23. of February.

Above, you can clearly see the shaping at the bottom of the back. I did not want the shaping to continue too high up to avoid making the bottom part shaped like a fan. The front I decided to keep straight, to create a clean line and so that it would hang well on the body. I knitted back and front separately, but chose to knit the neckband and armhole band in the round. Below you can see the chocker made of one lace panel with garter stitch edges on all sides. For a closure I attached 3 small snap fasteners.

The art deco interior at Hvalstrand Bad was ideal for this particular shade of turquoise, with a similar shade painted on the wall. There is no doubt in my mind that Alexandria Eissinger at Pholk wears Freja like a goddess! I will share all the brilliant photos Eivind Røhne took soon, do not worry.

Exit Made by Me, Enter Familien Trend

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Linda Marveng

No more Made by Me magazines will be made, but as one magazine exits another one enters. Welcome, Familien Trend! Hence my series due to be published in Made by Me out on the 2nd. of February will instead be published in Familien Trend out on the 23rd. of February. Despite this change all my 10 designs will be published in Familien Trend, I am relieved to tell you even though it means a longer wait. So today I will share a few more sneak peaks from the unbelievable photo shoot we had at Hvalstrand Bad before I begin to present each design separately. One of the sights that totally blew me away was seeing the gorgeous Alexandria Eissinger at Pholk; beautiful hair and make-up by Sissel Fylling; wearing Judith Bech’s wonderful felted wool dress in aqua with my matching Atika design; Kaja Gjedebo’s stunning Paper & Scissors silver earrings and Monica Stålvang’s amazing Elena shoes in blue; all brilliantly captured by photographer Eivind Røhne. The shoes did not fit in the picture and were photographed separately, see below. Atika consists of a loop with matching loose sleeves, all knitted in the round with Du Store Alpakka, Dreamline Soul, a lace weight alpaca mix, held together with Pickles Merino Tweed, a fingering/4 ply using a 4 mm/US 6.

Here is the continuation of the photo and a close up of the Elena Blue shoes by Monica Stålvang. The aqua colors were initially hard to match without choosing baby yarns hence I begin to choose deeper colors, due to the natural distance between garment and shoes. By mixing a melange alpaca color and a tweed yarn in a similar shade, the tone turned towards grey and the yarn created had a marvelous stitch definition.

Hennika, a delicate cropped lace jacket with a scarf collar, knitted in Ask by Hifa, a sport weight/5 ply, worn over Judith Bech’s stunning light blue halterneck dress with a high waist with layers of tulle on top of silk (see Facebook) together with Elisabetta blue flat shoes. To create more volume around the neck, I folded the scarf collar in half before I pinned it together with a shawl pin. It is knitted separately and sewn on afterwards. The sleeves are knitted in the round, while the fronts and back is knitted flat, all using a 3.5 mm/US 4 needle. The solid but worn parquet flooring tiles created a stunning contrast to the blue tulle of the dress, we all agreed before testing with a chair for Alexandria to sit on. The chair worked well for showing the sleeve and the back. More photos will come, project by project while we are waiting for the new Familien Trend magazine to hit the shelves.

Sneak Peak of Made by Me Designs

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Linda Marveng

I am thrilled to share some of the wonderful photos Eivind Røhne took of gorgeous model Alexandria Eissinger at Pholk, brilliant hair and make-up by Sissel Fylling for the Spring/Summer issue of Made by Me. The colors chosen for the series are based on Monica Stålvang’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection in blue, turquoise, grey, taupe and black. The divine handprinted grey long halterneck silk dress was made especially by dress designer Judith Bech for this series (see Facebook). I just had to name my design Bech after it and created a shawl with a collar that can be worn with it down as above, or up around the shoulders or around the neck, together with loose sleeves – held up by elastic encased in a hem and a belt made of tucks. Yes, more photos will come. Bech is knitted in Huldra Kamgarn by Hifa, a pure light fingering/3 ply wool held together with Dreamline Soul by Du Store Alpakka, an lace weight alpaca mixture, using 4 mm/US 6.

Above are some of Monica’s marvelous shoes, in front: Emanuela print made of printed pony skin; actually calf skin (a misnomer that comes from 1960’s fashion trends). Yes, Monica did used to live in Milan and produces her shoes there. You will find her shoes in selected stores in Norway, see Stockists and in her onlineshop here but you need to wait a bit longer for the Spring/Summer collection to be available but there are so many other shoes and boots to add to your wish list: shop.monica-stalvang.com.

This fitted cable jacket is named Gyda from Norse mythology, meaning God is Gorgeous, and is knitted in Ask by Hifa, a sport weight/5-ply pure wool using 3.5 mm/US 4. It has a deep v-neck with 3 bespoke buttons (size small) made by jewelry designer Siri Berrefjord in layers of color matching the melange yarn color. The beautiful ring Alexandria is wearing is made of silver and designed by Kaja Gjedebo. The faux suede dress was chosen after Judith wore it to our planning meeting in July with editor Mary-Ann Astrup at Made by Me, just as my Jakke i kryss/Jacket in Cross was. I brought a large selection of swatches made based on Monica’s color charts, and from seeing photos of Judith’s dresses (and the few I remembered from the time she was a member of the Designerkollektivet), Judith brought a huge bag filled with dresses, and Monica came with her drawings. 10 dresses were selected together with 11 swatches and the four of us discussed garment options (read: Not only jackets, Linda) and photo shoot locations (read: Preferably Mediterranean, and why do we not join Monica for her one of her meetings in Milan?). In other words a lot of laughter, and a fabulous day! To be continued.

Behind the Scenes: Made by Me Photoshoot

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Linda Marveng

The time has finally come to begin to reveal more of the fantastic photoshoot we had at Hvalstrand Bad last October, since the Norwegian Made by Me magazine is out on Monday the 2nd of February. The idea of collaborating further with shoe designer Monica Stålvang, whose shoes are like eye candy to me, and dress designer Judith Bech, whose beautiful dresses I love, came to me last June. Monica needed no persuasion, and Judith (whom I had only meet once) said a resounding yes to my utter delight, just as editor Mary-Ann Astrup did. Judith insisted we pick hair and make-up stylist Sissel Fylling, just as Mary-Ann suggested photographer Eivind Røhne, and we eagerly obliged. We needed a model with a European shoe size 37/UK 4/US 6, so that the sample collection would fit, and I was thrilled to find Alexandria Eissinger at Pholk, never mind that she was in Copenhagen, and not Oslo! Two days beforehand, Monica and I had a quick review of knitted garments, shoes and dresses in her shop but gave up choosing shoes until we saw it on Alexandria. Monica, on the mobile in the photo above, also suggested borrowing silver jewelry from Kaja Gjedebo as an option to the pieces we had from Siri Berrefjord, whom as usual has made brilliant bespoke buttons.

Here is the table with the magnificent shoes, jewelry as well as essential tools like iron, broom and sponge, all kept handy. In the back ground the rail with dresses and knitted garments. Monica thankfully brought the whole collection and assisted in choosing both shoes and jewelry for each of the 10 outfits. Sissel and Mary-Ann were also asked for opinions on the selection. Only 1 of the dresses was rejected since the color clashed with the color of the knitted jacket, and the black dress was used twice. We believed even Judith would have agreed, but unfortunately she could not be there since the birth of her first grandchild was imminent.

While Eivind, Mary-Ann and my husband – the photo assistant – looked at possible photo angles, Sissel prepared Alexandria’s hair styling and make up, Monica taped shoe soles and I ironed dresses. Above, Sissel in a well know posture, checking the make up and hair. I actually have Sissel popping in and out of nearly all my photos, taken in between when I was not assisting Alexandria in picking dresses, or standing behind Eivind checking his view or straightening out folds. It was me that insisted on covering all angles: front, back and side as well as different ways of wearing the garments until our time starting running out on the last garment since we had to leave no later than 4 pm in order for the manager to close up. So as much as I would like to have more photos of each garment, reality kicked in, and I knew there was a limit. The photo shoot was exhausting, but also so much fun and utter brilliant!

Sneak Peak – Made By Me Photoshoot

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Linda Marveng

I know hoping for sunshine late in October in Oslo is pushing my luck, but I actually did. Oh well, instead we had lots of rain during our photo shoot at Hvalstrand Bad – yes, that is a beach restaurant with a lovely diving tower we merely watched through the wet windows – on Thursday. Due to the heavy rain hence solid traffic, we were all running late for the photo shoot. The stunning model Alexandria Eissinger/Pholk flew in from Copenhagen late the evening before, the talented dress designer Judith Bech had to cancel her flight from Ålesund – since she is still waiting for her daughter to give birth to her first grandchild – but the brilliant shoe designer Monica Stålvang came bringing her Spring/Summer 2015 sample collection, the magnificent hair & make up stylist Sissel Fylling came with her magic boxes, and so did the skilled Made by Me editor Mary-Ann Astrup, plus marvelous photographer Eivind Røhne in addition to myself plus my husband as a handy man, that is.

Sissel set the tone for the day by cutting Alexandria’s hair, then we all wanted the same treatment, but there were no chance of that since we were all busy preparing for the indoor shoot by ironing, sweeping the floor, moving tables, taping shoes, discussing possible angles as well as the order to photograph each of the garments. As the photo shoot began we discussed the jewelry; whether to use designs made by Siri Berrefjord, silver jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo or my own Monies jewelry, in addition to selecting the perfect pair of shoes – not easy when there was such a selection to choose from. Above is one result, a new design called Atika consisting of a large cowl and long wrist warmers, stunningly worn by Alexandria over a matching felted wool dress by Judith Bech, silver earrings and ring by Kaja Gjedebo plus shoes by Monica Stålvang – see a few more sneak peaks here: instagram and here: instagram.

Linda Marveng

Knit wear designer and author

Tag Archives: Judith Bech