Her er så frugten af vores arbejde i gennem det sidste halve år: Kattegat kollektionen, som består af fire sæt undertøj i en skøn 50 % tussah silke og 50% merino uld fra Jaggerspun, en kombination der gør garnet både let og skinnende, men også varmt uden det fylder for meget under tøjet. Blandingen af de to naturlige fibre er meget behagelige at have tæt på kroppen fordi de lader huden ånde.
Here is the fruit of our labor during the last half year: The Kattegat line (named after a sea in Denmark) which are four pairs of lingerie in a wonderful 50% tussah silk 50% merino wool from Jaggerspun. This yarn is both lightweight and lustrous. The combination of the two fibers will keep you warm and let your skin "breathe" yet the lace weight will provide comfort underneath the clothes.
Sættene i Isblomst, der er et ældre yndigt hulmønster, består af forskellige kombinationer af undertrøje, skovturstrusser, corsage og mammelukker. Mønstret synes måske lidt kompliceret ved første øjekast, men det består faktisk kun af 4 forskellige pinde der strikkes i forskellig rækkefølge. Se flere billeder ved at klikke på de små fotos yderst til højre i vores etsy shop.
Frost Flowers are based on a lovely old romantic lace pattern and consists of a tank top, shorties, camisole, and above-the-knee shorties in different combinations. The pattern may seem complicated at first but is in fact comprised of only four different rows worked in alternate sequences. See more pictures and close ups by clicking on the small photos in our etsy shop to the right.
I de kommende posteringer vil vi give strikke tips og en gratis opskrift og instruktion i at strikke Isblomst hulmønstret.
Coming up: knitting tips and a free pattern and instruction in how to knit Frost Flowers lace pattern.
Det var ikke min Mormor, som lærte mig at strikke. Faktisk tror jeg, at Mormor Osine trods familietraditionen ikke var særlig god til det. Der var simpelthen ikke tid til den slags sysler i hendes liv, for allerede som stor pige arbejdede hun som sypige på sine fosterforældres systue, hvor man fabrikerede "Klipfisk" (den slags skjortebryster med knækflip, som mænd iførte sig før den første Verdenskrig), og da Morfar faldt i Krigen, i Belgien i 1917, og Bedstefar Schjøth kort derefter døde af alderdom, måtte hun allerede som 32 årig påtage sig ansvar og forsørgelse ikke bare af sig selv og sine to børn, men også af Bedste Schjøth og sin ældre søster - vores Grandtante Jane, der var udviklingshæmmet, som det hedder i dag.
Og Mormor var dygtig som selverhvervende kvinde tidligt i 1900 tallet. Da Klipfiskene var gået af mode, slog hun sig på knaphulssyning og manchetskjorter til herrer efter mål af det fineste lærred, som hun havde indkøbt (læs: hamstret) i store ruller hos Hundewatt henne omhjørnet i tiden før Den anden Verdenskrig, da hun så, hvor det bar hen, og belært af dyrekøbt erfaring under den forrige store krig.
Min Mormor havde altså aldrig rigtig tid. Men det havde Tante Jane. Og det på en helt fantastisk måde. Som jeg har nævnt, var hun handicappet i den forstand, at en hjernebetændelse, da hun var syv år, havde sat hendes åndelige udvikling i stå. Hun kunne til sin usigelige ærgrelse ikke læse, kunne kun skrive sit eget navn og kunne tælle til 10. Men med denne begrænsede færdighed var hun i stand til at hækle (og tjene lidt lommepenge ved salg) de fineste mellemværk til hovedpudebetræk - skulle hun hækle fx 37 masker, talte hun blot til 10 tre gange og derefter til syv. Men hun var også dygtig til at strikke, så det blev hende, som lærte mig det.
Efter i lang tid at have plaget hende, gav hun endelig efter den sommer, hvor jeg fyldte fem år. Til gengæld skulle jeg så overtage det forhadte arbejde med at trevle et af familiens fine, hvide, hæklede sengetæpper op. Det var nemlig i 1943. Europa var i krig, Danmark besat og der var mangel på næsten alting. Og Mormors forudseenhed havde ikke strakt sig til hamstring af strikke- og hæklegarn, så et par sengetæpper blev trevlet op og i stedet hæklet til livstykker - en slags kort undertrøje med "hold" i og lange elastikstrømpebånd til at holde de forhadte grove, lange, brune strømper oppe med, for det var først i 1947 eller 48, at de nymodens lange bukser kom til landet. Og det husker jeg ganske tydeligt. Min Mor forstod nemlig godt, at jeg afskyede de brune strømper, så hun fik skrædderen henne om hjørnet i forstaden til Århus, hvor vi boede, til at sy mig et par af min Farfars aflagte mørkeblå statsbaneuniform, så allerede som barn var jeg med på moden, i hvert fald hvad lange bukser angår.
Men nu har jeg foregrebet begivenhedernes gang. Tante Jane lærte mig altså at strikke dengang i 1943, og senere lærte hun mig også at hækle ..... til husbehov, for jeg havde ikke rigtig hjertet med i den form for håndarbejde. Måske var livstykkerne skyld i min vrangvilje. Men strikke, det kunne jeg lide, og Tante Jane havde mange små, kulørte nøgler garn til overs fra før Krigens tid, og hun gik som det store barn, hun var, lige så højt som jeg op i at strikke dukketøj til Mors fine, tyske porcelænsdukke, som var en gave fra Grandonkel Anton engang, da han var hjemme på besøg fra Argentina, hvor han arbejdede som gaucho bl.a. i Ildlandet. Dukken blev efterhånden særdeles vel ekviperet med trøjer og huer og vanter og kjoler - i vid udstrækning i stribdede designs på grund af det begrænsede garnudbud. Der var ikke meget Danish Design over det, for bortset fra at det begreb kun var i sin spæde vorden på det tidspunkt, måtte vi jo anvende, hvad vi havde, og arbejde ud fra de forudsætninger og færdigheder, vi var udstyrede med som henholdsvis 5-6 årig og 7 årig (egentlig 65 år).
Sådan gik det altså til at jeg lærte at strikke og tilbragte en stor del af den vinter i 1943 indendøre, da det var så afsindig koldt, at man kunne løbe på ski oven på det islagte Skagerak mellem Skagen og sydspidsen af Norge.
Men bordet fangede ..... Når først små piger havde lært at strikke, måtte de ikke sidde med hænderne i skødet - og det har jeg så heller ikke gjort ret meget i de 65 år, som er forløbet, siden jeg blev indviet i strikkernes "søsterskab". Det hænder, at jeg pludselig med 3-4 års mellemrum trænger til en pause; men når der er gået et halvt års tid, er jeg i gang igen, og lige i øjeblikket arbejder jeg lidt utålmodigt på at blive færdig med projekterne for denne vinter,, så jeg for alvor kan gå om bord i de forårs- og sommermodeller, som trænger sig mere og mere på i mine tanker.
It wasn't my grandmother who taught me to knit. She probably never really had time for that sort of things in her life as she was a working girl already as a child helping out in her foster parents' business making dickeys (the kind of shirt fronts with wing collars that men wore before World War I). And when her husband was killed in action in 1917 and his father died soon after of old age, she, at the age of 32, had to shoulder responsibility and provision for the whole family including her elder sister, our grand aunt Jane, who was a mentally retarded woman.
And Grandma Osine was a very capable and resourceful woman. When the dickeys went out of fashion, she turned to sewing soft front shirts made to order and of the finest linen, which she had bought (read: hoarded) by the rolls at Hundewatt's round the corner realizing what things were coming to in the late 1930s and taught by bitter experience during the previous Great War.
While Grandma Osine was busy earning a living, Aunt Jane proved the one to learn handiwork from. At the age of 7 she suffered from meningitis which left her with arrested mental development. Much to her annoyance she could not read nor write except for her own name, but she could count to 10, and with her limited mental capacity she was able to crochet (and to earn a little pocket money) beautiful insertions for pillow cases - if she needed to crochet 37 stitches e.g., she would count to 10 three times and then to seven. And she was good at knitting, too, so she was the one who taught me.
After turning five and after relentlessly nagging her to teach me, she finally gave in. But in return I had to take over the unraveling of one of the bedspreads that she had crocheted many years earlier, a chore that I hated for it was very beautiful. It was the year was 1943 and Europe was at war again. Denmark was occupied by the Germans and almost everything was in short supply or in no supply at all. Unfortunately Grandma's foresight had not stretched to such lengths as to hoard yarn for knitting and crocheting. Therefore, a couple of bedspreads had to be unraveled in order to make bodices. Bodices was a sort of undershirt with a certain solidity to it and long elastic bands attached to the bottom edge designed to keep up the coarse, long, brown stockings that I hated so much. It was not until the late 1940s that long pants for women and girls were introduced where I lived..I remember it very clearly. My Mother knew how much I hated those ugly stockings, so she had one of the first to-be called pair of slacks made to measure for me by the local tailor. The material was a fine, dark blue wool from my grandfather's discarded railway uniform ... and I was blissfully happy!
But I anticipate events. As it was, Aunt Jane taught me to knit and later to crochet. However, crocheting never became a passion as did knitting ..... perhaps because of the bodices. Aunt Jane had small balls of colored yarn left over from before the war, and between us we made a lot of clothes for my Mother's German porcelain doll. It was a present from Grand Uncle Anton when he came to visit from Argentina where he worked as a Gaucho in Tierra del Fuego among other places. By and by the doll was very well equipped with sweaters and cardigans, caps and mittens, and dresses - largely in striped designs because of the limited supply of yarn. It was not exactly Danish Design, but then again concept was barely in existence at the time. We just did our best using the skills and qualifications that you may expect from two dedicated little girls of five and seven (or rather 65!).
So that is how I learned to knit. We spent a lot of time indoors that winter in 1943, it was so cold that even the sea froze over and people skied on top of the ice between Skagen (the most northern town of Denmark)) and the southern point of Norway. However, a bargain is a bargain! Once little girls had learned to knit, they were not allowed to twiddle their thumbs, so working with my hands became a way of life as it did later on to you, Charlotte, and for 65 years I have knitted at least a couple of hours almost each and every day. Every three or four years I need a break, but then, after some six months, I am at it again, and right now while finishing the projects of this winter, new ideas for next summer's collection are taken shape in my mind.
From the east side of the Atlantic to the West side
Jeg er født ind i en familie hvor alle kvinderne havde travlt med håndarbejds sysler: Farmor Karen syede, og det var alt fra tøj til små plastik betræk til sylteglassene til genbrugs the-sier lavet af farfars underbukser! - dengang bestod skridtet af et netmateriale lavet i bomuld, perkekt til en hjemmelavet the-si! Men hun kunne også hækle og hun lavede fine hjemmesko med lædersål til alle fem børnebørn. På min mors side er det hovedsagelig strikning det altid har handlet om, mormor Louise,eller Isse som hun altid hed, strikkede fantastiske knæ strømper med hjorte og stjerne motiv - til alle ni børnebørn naturligvis (dem må vi finde opskriften frem til og sætte på siden her). Moster Helle, Hanne og Nette både syede og strikkede, Hanne var i en periode del af et brugskunst butikkollektiv i Norge hvor hun bor, hvor de solgte syede og strikkede textiler. Min mor Jytte har altid haft gang i mindst to eller tre strikketøjer, jeg husker bl.a et shocking pink bukse og vest sæt strikket i tyndt vævegarn som jeg var meget glad for som 6 årig. Hun strikkede også trøjer, veste og kjoler til os allesammen, min bror Ole var dygtig til at brodere korssting - indtil de andre drenge fandt ud af at han syslede med noget så tøset, så holdt han op. Men hænderne er skruet godt sammen på manden, i disse måneder er han egenhændigt igang med en tilbygning til sit hus, jeg er vældig imponeret!
Til jul og andre højtider når vi alle sammen var samlet blev der strikket imellem alle retterne, det var derfor naturligt at jeg som 6 årig også ville lære kunsten.Mormor lærte mig det grundlæggende, hun havde tålmodighed som en engel med mig, for det var svært i begyndelsen. Da jeg blev ældre var det også hende der lærte mig at strikke strømper for de der hjorte strømper var inspirerende! Senere lærte min mor mig hvordan man strikker "hønsestrik" og hulmønstre og en masse fif især om finish. Det at strikke blev "a way of life",og det er ikke helt forkert at sige at jeg strikkede mig gennem gymnasiet, ellers tror jeg jeg var død af kedsomhed! Senere kastede jeg mig over tegning, maling og fiber arts og tog en uddannelse som textildesigner fra Danmarks Designskole i København. Jeg har siden arbejdet med textile designs og billedkunst simultant, nogle gange svinget mere mod det ene end det andet, men håndstrikningen har altid været bestant. Nu synes min mor og jeg det er tid til at viderbringe vores viden om skandinavisk strikning og design, og dele ud af vores forkærlighed til garner der er lavet i fibre af høj kvalitet og indfarvet i skønne nuancer.
I was born into a family whose women were always working with their hands.Grandma Karen sewed everything from clothes to tea strainers - made out of grandpa's underpants! Let me explain; in those days the crotch was made of a cotton mesh material, just perfect for a homemade tea strainer! That is if you had the frugal mind set of my grandma. But she also did crocheting and made cute slippers for her 5 grandchildren. On my mother's side knitting was the main activity. Grandma Louise made fantastic knee stockings in intarsia with reindeer and stars for all her 9 grandchildren. (We need to find that pattern and post it here.) Aunt Helle, Hanne and Anette all sewed, knitted and did embroidery. Hanne made a living as an artisan for a period in Norway where she still lives. My brother Ole was skilled at cross stitching until the other boys found out and called what he was doing "girlish" - as a result he stopped. But he is an artisan also, building an addition to his house with his own hands, of which I'm immensely impressed! My mother Jytte always did and still does have at least two to three knitting projects going. There were plenty of sweaters, vests, dresses, pants, hats and scarves for everyone. I particularly remember a shocking pink pant and vest outfit that she knitted in lace weight worsted yarn. I was only five years old and I cherished it. When the whole family got together there was knitting between meals and it seemed natural for me as a 6 year old to want to learn also. Grandma Louise taught me the fundamentals, she had the patience of an angel because it was so difficult for me at first. Later, since I was so inspired by the reindeer she also taught me to knit stockings. When I was a teenager my mother taught me not only intarsia and lace work, but also showed me tips in knitting and finishing. Knitting became a way of of life and I don't think I could have finished high school without being able to knit during class - it would simply have been too boring. Later I became interested in drawing, painting and fiber arts and graduated as a textile designer from the Danish School of Design in Copenhagen. Since then I have worked with art and design simultaneously, sometimes on one more than the other, but knitting by hand has always been a constant. Now the time has come for my mom and I to share our experience in Scandinavian knitting and design making and also to make it available to the knitters of the world.
