Patent Poncho in Familien 04/19

For the second time around, the Patent Poncho has been featured in the Norwegian bi-weekly magazine Familien, I am pleased to say. The first time was in the special issue Familien Strikkebok that came out in August in 2013, then with photos taken by their in-house photographer Esten Borgos. These new photos were taken at Ingierstrand Bad, just outside of Oslo in May in 2017 by Eivind Røhne. Alexandria Eissinger, with hair & makeup by Jens J. Wiker and jewellery by Kaja Gjedebo Design, looks stunning in it. Check out the selfie posture, in this blogpost: Behind the Scenes Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad.

Inspired by all the Fisherman’s rib patterns in fashion, I have designed a poncho in an oversized sweater style with longs splits in the side. The poncho is knitted in parts to create a contrast between the unstructured cable and the linear rib, called patent in Norwegian. The large splits on the sides make the poncho less voluminous. The sleeves are knitted long, to keep you warm on cold days. The poncho is knitted in a beautiful Camel Brown Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, Ask, a pure wool with plenty of bounce, using a 3 mm/US 2.5 knitting needles.

The poncho is one size with a 150 cm/59”  bust circumference. The side and back view are also shown next to the pattern on the following two pages. Both the English and the Norwegian pattern is available from both Ravelry and from Loveknitting.

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Strikke 2017 at Hadeland Glassverk

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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Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad: Patent Poncho

Next series of brilliant photos taken by Eivind Røhne at Ingierstrand Bad of the gorgeous model Alexandria Eissinger/Nordic Model Agency, with makeup & hair by Jens J. Wiker and jewellery by Kaja Gjedebo, is the Patent Poncho. It is not a new design, but the poncho was only previously photographed by the Norwegian magazine Familien back in 2013. I wanted to style it my way and with Alex modelling it. I was very flattered that Alex liked it so much that she had to take a selfie, see my blogpost here: Behind The Scenes Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad.

Inspired by all the Fisherman’s rib patterns in fashion, I have designed a poncho in an oversized sweater style with longs splits in the side. The poncho is knitted in parts to create a contrast between the unstructured cable and the linear rib, called patent in Norwegian. The large splits on the sides make the poncho less voluminous. The sleeves are knitted long, to keep you warm on cold days. The poncho is knitted in a beautiful camelbrown Ask-Hifa 2, a pure wool with plenty of bounce.

Ask-Hifa 2 from Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrik is made of 100% wool with 315 meters/344 yards per 100 g skein. The poncho in one size takes 6 skeins of Camelbrown sh 6098: 1890 m/2067 yds. The bust circumference is 150 cm/59”. The gauge is 16 sts and 20 rows in Fisherman’s rib, 24 sts and 32 rows in st st using 3 mm/US 2.5 circular needles equals 10 cm/4” square.

The poncho is knitted in 4 identical Fisherman’s rib side panels and 2 cable panels where the front is one pattern repeat shorter than the back. The sleeve is an extended cable panel with 3 cables instead of 2 and worked in the round. Just as the cable collar which is a continuation of the cable panels. The length, including sleeve length, can easily be adjusted by knitting the panels/sleeves longer or shorter. Please note that if knitted in pure wool the panels shrink in length, but grows in width.

The pattern is currently with my technical editor for a review, and will be updated as soon as I receive it back. You will nevertheless find one project made from it on Ravelry.

While I was on holiday, my husband completed my studio. When I have finished cleaning the building dust away, you will see it finished. It is so light and neat! And I cannot believe all the space I have in my studio and the yarn bunker (storage room), next door. I look forward to showing it to you!

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Behind the Scenes: Photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad

On Monday I had a photoshoot at Ingierstrand Bad, just outside of Oslo, with an amazing crew. The weather was perfect; warm and sunny. The restaurant, open for private parties during the weekdays and for the public at the weekends, is a popular spot for weddings due to its location next to one of the most popular beaches with a diving tower in Oslo. In fact jewellery designer Kaja Gjedebo, who came to join us, had her wedding party here 11 years ago and this was the first time she was back. You can find a video she made at Instagram. While Jens J. Wiker worked on gorgeous model Alexandria Eissinger‘s hair & make up, photographer Eivind Røhne, second photographer/roadie/technical manager Michael Marveng-Puckett looked at possible back drops. As always it was a day filled with laughter and breath taking results. Eivind always gives everything, above you see how him delivering on his promise to make Alex taller. Jens, next to him is checking his mobile.

Here you see Kaja and Eivind sharing Instagram tips. It was marvellous to have the whole place to ourselves. On the to do list was taking photographs of a total of 10 designs where 5 are new designs; 4 for yarn kits for Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk and 1 secret design; 3 designs returned from Interweave Knits and knit.wear in the US and 2 designs only photographed by the Norwegian magazine Familien previously. Judith Bech had as usual sent me a selection of dresses and skirts to choose from. One day I hope she will be able to fly from Northern Norway to join us. I find her dresses magical, hence I am spellbound and ask for more than I need so that I can see how they look together with the knitted garments. Just as with my ideas, some work better in my head than in real life. I ended up using only 2 of those.

Eivind and I are talking strategy, while Alex with Jens’ assistance is ready for action. We speak partly in Norwegian and partly in English all day, even though Alex speaks Danish and Michael Norwegian, they both prefer English. But Alex knows me very well and know that I want front, back and side photographed. Eivind is living in the hope that I will not demand full length photos of all designs, but I rarely give in. Alex is ready for photography of the back of Kathe Cardigan, made for Interweave Knits Fall 2016.

Alex heard a double set of camera clicks as Michael joined Eivind and photographed as well. Thankfully, neither Eivind nor Alex had any issues with that and knew that the Eivind was indeed the photographer of the day. Even Alex joined in and took a selfie, here she is, captured by Michael. Above she is wearing Aki, a new pullover designed for Hillesvåg and below wearing an old design Patent Poncho. Despite the heat, Alex managed to look incredibly cool and only suffered for a brief time when I added 3 cowls on top of each other. Yes, that would only be useful on a very cold day and not on a hot day, with women in bikinis nearby. Kaja wished that she had brought her swimwear.

Unlike me, Alex is always in control of her face when she is being photographed and do enjoy pulling some faces. I have reached the age where I tend to do so unwillingly so much of the time. That is why the back of my head as well as the side feature so much in the photos Michael take of me.

Take a look at the photo above and you understand the tone we have during the day as well as the fun! It took a few second before I saw her face! Alex is wearing Wa, a shawl vest as well as Kaja’s Abelia earring with pearls and Abelia necklace. I saw a number of Eivind’s photos during the day and know it will as usual be extremely difficult to choose photos from the hundreds of magical moments he has captured. Yet, I cannot wait to see them all!

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