Introducing: The Hygge Collection & Fika

Yesterday was a bit of a hectic day. We walked all over Glasgow trying to get good photos of the first pattern in the Hygge collection. After having posed in three different locations, David said to me: "I never asked. What's the shawl's name?" - I replied: "Fika. Fee-ka. It's a Swedish word for a coffee-break where you spend quality time sorting out the world with your loved ones." Silence.

And then he marched me to a coffee shop and we snapped a handful of photos there between sips of coffee.

In many ways, the Hygge collection feels different to the other things I've designed. I think that is why I struggled to understand what Dave knew instinctively: I should not be posing somewhere - I should just relax with a cup of coffee. This thing is more personal and very down-to-earth. Maybe this seems odd coming from a designer, but I am slightly shocked that I've allowed myself the freedom to be relaxed about designing. The stitch palette was fun: textures that let the yarns shine and some easy lace motifs. The colour palette was even better (I'll show you more later but how good is that orange Pirkkalanka?).

I have worked on some very conceptual things in the past (and will again in the future) but Hygge is just about the little joyful things I find in my everyday life. While the collection is very much about my Scandinavian heritage, I think you can find your own pockets of hygge no matter who you are or where you live. 

Fika will be released as a stand-alone pattern on August 31, but you can pre-order the Hygge: Knit the Things You Love to Wear collection now. It'll cost slightly different things depending upon where you live, but it is 25% off from now until August 31. The collection contains five small projects (Fika is by far the more time-consuming!) - all accessories and all items you'll keep reaching for again and again.

I am now going to sit in the back yard with a cup of coffee, my pile of books, and I'll get back to my research. August is a crazily busy month for me, but I do need to make time for myself. Sitting in the sunshine seems like a good start.

Announcement: The Hygge Collection

For the past five months I have been working on a mini-collection together with Estelle Faust of Midwinter Yarns. It is our first collaboration, but it has felt very fruitful. Not only do Estelle and I have a shared Scandinavian heritage, but we are also passionate about celebrating beautiful, natural yarns.

And now it is time to talk a bit about what we've created.

Hygge (Knit Yourself the Things You Love to Wear) is a mini-collection celebrating a truly Scandinavian concept. It is a concept that can be difficult to translate, but essentially it means "a feeling of comfort, cosiness, and happiness". Estelle calls it mys because she is Swedish and I call it hygge as I am from Denmark. The mini-collection contains five small projects all relating to aspects of hygge - from spending time with good friends to drinking a mug of hot chocolate after a long, cold day. We have made sure to include authentic Scandinavian tips on how to enjoy hygge. I'll also share a couple of Scandinavian recipes on this blog.

The knitting patterns are all small accessories knitted from a selection of Midwinter Yarns' favourite yarns. All patterns use between one or two skeins of yarns. With hygge being the overall concept, I wanted the patterns to give joy and comfort - both in the process of making and in wearing. The projects are also designed to make great little gifts for people you love. Spread the joy, the warmth and the happiness.

The yarns have been especially selected by Estelle to reflect the landscapes and traditions of Scandinavia. She chose a stunning colour palette that I cannot wait to share with you. It was important to us both that the yarns also reflected our shared sense of hygge - so you'll find an array of yarn thicknesses and textures within the mini-collection too. Estelle is currently enjoying a holiday, so we'll share more details about the yarns later!

What is next? The five patterns will be released over the next month and you'll be able to see more at the Midwinter Yarns stall at the Yarndale wool festival in Skipton this September.

I am going to start pre-orders for Hygge (Knit Yourself the Things You Love to Wear) this Thursday. The eBook will only be available via Ravelry but the patterns will be available as individual downloads from both Ravelry and Love Knitting. Pre-orders get the mini-collection at a discounted price, naturally.

And here's a little video about hygge from Copenhagen (sorry about the squirrel!)

Ten Years

Lego figures built by David Fraser who also took the photo.

Ten years ago a Scottish boy told a Danish girl that he really liked her. The Danish girl went: "Oh shoot, I like you too, but I don't want to ruin our friendship because.." (cue five-minute ramble). The Scottish boy assured the girl that the friendship wouldn't suffer. Ten years later they are still each other's best friend as well as still really liking each other.

I met David online. He had a blog and I had a blog (an earlier incarnation of this one!). True to the era we had no idea what the other person looked like, but we liked the same things (1990s indie pop, art, camp musicals, and books). We were online friends for about four years before we realised we really liked each other's company. We had grown closer over the four years to the point where I considered him one of my best friends. And then he threw that bombshell.

It's difficult to imagine what my life would look like without Dave. I used to say I'd die a spinster underneath a collapsed pile of books - but now I not only know the etymology of the word 'spinster' (someone who spins yarn!) but I also get to talk about yarn, etymology and books for a living. I live in one of the most beautiful cities in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. And I have a life where conversations over dinner revolve around colour theory, art movements, and Star Wars Lego. We have impromptu dance sessions in the kitchen. He takes photos. I knit. We eat cake and discuss politics.

Dave is my rock (and photographer, stylist, sounding board, and biggest cheerleader). Things have not always been easy, but they have been worth it.

Happy ten years to the cool, funny, warm-hearted guy who makes me want to be the best person I can possibly be. Thank you for opening up your life to me. I still really like you too x

(And because I can - here's a Spotify playlist of music we've danced to over the last decade.)

Two Events!

I am currently putting last touches to my workshop schedule for late 2015/early 2016. I am sitting on my hands a little bit as some of the events are not mine to announce, but I can give you the heads up on two of the several one-offs I will be doing.

August 26-28, 2015: In the Loop 4 - From Craft to Couture. This is an academic conference held in Glasgow at which I am giving a paper on the semiotics of knitting with special reference to The Killing. Other speakers include luminaries such as Annemor Sundbø, Lynn Abrams, Jennie Atkinson, Tom Van Deijen, Roslyn Chapman, and Linda Newington. I am so honoured to be involved.

February 27-28, 2016: Joeli's Kitchen Retreat, Manchester. This promises to be so much fun. I'm running classes alongside Kate Atherley, Jules Billings and Joeli herself. Some very special guests are going to be there alongside exclusive vendors. ETA: Joeli's down to just eight four slots, folks!

Aside from one-off events I'll be teaching at various yarn shops as well (old and new friends alike!) and I'll be posting the schedule as soon as we have worked out all the details. Last year got a bit crazy (along the lines of "if this is Wednesday, this must be Belgium") so this year I have included some downtime into my schedule, so I can a) sleep, b) spend time with my loved ones, and c) design!

The Vintage Shetland Project: Stories & Stitches

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It was an early morning in March 2013 that I first heard Susan Crawford talk about her Vintage Shetland project. We were at the inaugural Edinburgh Yarn Festival catching our breaths over a morning brew before the doors opened. And then Susan started sharing her ideas and I forgot all about my cuppa. The idea was stunning: Susan was doing research into Shetland knitting, but she was not just researching a much-loved knitting tradition but she was doing so using her background in fashion history. Could a tradition such as Shetland encompass fashion history? Of course it could, Susan argued, and she wanted to write a book about Shetland knitting and fashion-as-social-history. 

Over the next few years I saw Susan work hard on the book. Working in the Shetland Museum and Archives, she whittled down the pieces she wanted to write about - not only did they need to be unique and beautiful, but they also needed to contain multi-layered stories. The items had to tell stories about Shetland, about the people who live there, and about the vagaries of the Shetland knitwear industry. They also had to reflect larger trends within the early 20th century. Shetland knitting is a complex tapestry of interwoven stories, and Susan knew her selection had to be right. In the end she decided upon 25 pieces that she wanted to analyse in-depth and recreate. Some of the pieces proved to be technical headaches - I will come back to one of these - whilst others prompted Susan and her husband Gavin to launch a new yarn line simply so the garments could be reknitted in the 21st century to the right gauge and colours.

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Fast forward to 2015 and Susan has now launched a crow-funding venture via Pubslush. The initial goal of £12,000 was reached within a few days, but it is heartening to see how people keep wanting to support Susan's book. Anything above the goal will be spent on extra material for the book, help Susan with the cost of hiring extra hands, and take some of the pressure of the publishing process. I have been seeing much of this process up-close and it really does carry an enormous amount of pressure and stress. And I cannot help but be so proud of Susan for imagining this whole project into being and doing so with so much care. It goes without saying that Vintage Shetland backers are richly rewarded: from yarn rewards and ebooks to exceptional experiences like taking a tour of the Shetland Textile Collections with Susan or taking a special workshop at Susan and Gavin's farm.

I have my personal favourites, of course. A stunning late 1920s/early 1930s jumper knitted in natural shades with incredible geometric stitch patterns. A hugely wearable cardigan from late 1940s/early 1950s with bands of light blue and red motifs (you can see it on the left in my little photo montage - who wouldn't want that in their wardrobe?). A fabulous 1920s tunic/crossover jumper which is just so heart-achingly on-point. And then there's this beret which is deeply intriguing.

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I saw an early sample of this hat at the Crawford farm last year. The construction is quite hard to figure out and I spent ages discussing it with Susan (before she let me have a closer look at the hat!): was it some sort of strange intarsia technique? Was it constructed sideways and worked with short rows? What was going on? It turns out the strips of colourwork were re-purposed from another project of sorts (maybe swatches that the knitter couldn't bear to leave unused or maybe surplus strips knitted to line a buttonband? Maybe strips cut from a too-large project? I will let Susan tell you the actual story!) and then re-assembled to make a beret using scraps of yarns - evident if you look at how the crown shaping works. The beret looks quite straightforward at a glance, but it is one of the most technical pieces in the book. I know it was tricky getting the various gauges right between the colourwork bands worked in one direction and the 'joining' stocking stitch worked in another direction. This is what I love about knitting - it is both so straightforward and complex.

Please do check out the other participants in the blog tour - you can find details below. There are so many ways to approach Susan's project - from vintage lovers and Shetland experts to people who just love the stories Susan will be telling (like me!). I have enjoyed reading every single entry in this blog tour. This project has really captured people's imaginations.

Please also keep up with Susan via her blog which is always a great read. I also recommend you listen to her interview with Jo of Shiny Bees - it is a fantastic interview that really showcases Susan's passion for knitting history and fashion. And do support the Vintage Shetland project if you possibly can.

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KnitBritish

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Hazel Tindall

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knitsonik

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Susan Crawford

All images copyright Susan Crawford and used with permission. 

Sizing Tips for the Scollay Cardigan

The Scollay-along is having its Cast-On Party this Friday, July 17. It is not too late to sign up in the Ravelry thread - people have been swatching, discussing yarn choices, and pondering buttons. I have also had a few questions about which size to choose, so I thought I'd write a few words about fit, measurements, and how to think about sizing.

First a little story.

Once upon a time I worked for a yarn company helping people figuring out sizing and fit. One thing happened again and again: people saw a super-slouchy jumper, decided they wanted to knit it and then went up two sizes because they wanted a super-slouchy look. I always wanted to cry at this stage, because the slouchy look was built into the design. Part of being a designer is thinking about how we want things to fit and we do most of the work so you can just start knitting.

So, let's start by looking at the cardigan itself. I will share my fit consideration - then we'll discuss how you can make informed decisions based upon that!

On the left, you see the cardigan on me; on the right, you see the Knit Now photo shoot of the same cardigan! Lyndsey and I are both wearing the 1X cardigan, but as you can see we look vastly different.

Scollay was designed to be a go-to cardigan with a few inches of ease. Ease means there is extra room to spare between the circumference of your bust and the circumference of your cardigan. Designers think about ease when we design - and you need to check how much ease is included in the garment when you are choosing your size and you also need to think about how you like to wear clothes.

Lyndsey wears Scollay with the ease I intended. It makes for a casual cardigan which will look fabulous over a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It has a relaxed fit which makes it easy to wear.

Quick Recap: designers think about how we want our designs to look when we write the patterns. Scollay is designed to be worn with slight ease.

Although I am wearing the same cardigan, I am far more busty than the gorgeous model and so I am wearing Scollay with negative ease. Negative ease means that my bust circumference is larger than the circumference of the garment. I am wearing Scollay with roughly 1.5 inches of negative ease - but because knitted fabric has a lot of give, you are not seeing gaping buttonbands (unlike what you'd expect from woven material). The negative ease showcases the stitch pattern a bit more and I personally like the snuggly feeling I get with negative ease.

Be honest with yourself about how you like your Scollay cardigan to fit. How do you usually wear cardigans? Do you like a relaxed fit? Then pick the size that is closest to your normal size. Do you like how it fits me with zero-to-negative ease? Then pick a size down.

This is the really important bit: find out your measurements.

For some reason (i.e. society and arbitrary high street sizing) we tend to think ourself far bigger than we usually are. I know a lovely lady who's about a size L who knitted herself a size 3XL cardigan because she went with what she thought she saw in the mirror rather than her measurements. One of the things I really love about knitting is that it allows us to make clothes that fits us in shapes and colours that flatter us - so get a friend to help you measure yourself. Be honest with yourself and write the measurements down. Then compare your measurements with the ones given in the pattern (which includes ease, so choose your size with that in mind)

Customising Your Scollay Cardigan

I have really long arms and a short body - the sleeves fit me perfectly and the cardigan hits me just below the hips. You may want 3/4-length sleeves and a slightly shorter body that hits you just above the hips (or maybe you have a long torso and want your cardigan longer). Because all the stitch pattern work happens by the edges and the yoke, it is fairly straightforward to customise the length of the sleeves and the body. There is no recalculation of the lace pattern - you just need to work fewer/more inches in reverse stocking stitch before working increases/decreases.

Likewise you may find you have very generous hips, so cast on for a larger size and decrease down to a smaller size. Or you have very slender wrists, which means you start out with a much smaller size and work your way up to the right number of stitches. Or if you feel you want to include short rows for your bust, you'll be relieved to know you just need to work them in forgiving reverse stocking stitch.

There will be plenty of help, laughter, and chat in the KAL threads.

Thank you to Kate Heppell for kind permission to use the photo of Lyndsey in the cardigan. Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing; hair & make-up Cassie Stewart; styling by Kate Heppell. My photo's taken by David Fraser.