The Island and the Forest is now out in the world! 🩶 I am beyond excited and happy and so so proud of this book that @wynja and me have been working on together for so long. It’s been a dream, a wild ride, and a true privilege.
Thank you Erika for saying yes to this idea back when we didn’t know each other. And thank you @jonnahoo and @laine_magazine@laine_publishing for having this special book and making it so beautiful. ❤️
🌟 Here are the top 5 patterns in the pattern sale that ends tonight:
1. The #AlulaShawl - a brand new design! Knitted in Sägen Light Fe from @elkmarketyarn and Dyed in the Wool from @spincycle_yarns
2. The #RookShawl - adjustable and beautiful. Knitted in Sägen Fe from @elkmarketyarn and Dyed in the Wool from @spincycle_yarns
3. The #PettsonVest - a classic vest for every occasion. Knitted in Bauma from @xollawool
4. The #KorsvirkeSlipover - architecture inspired colourwork. Knitted in Laine x Novita DK / @thefibrecompany Cumbria
5. The #SelkieJumper - simple raglan and lace edges. Knitted in Sägen Fe from @elkmarketyarn
Grab a copy in my Ravelry shop - the 25% discount is automatic (no code needed!) and ends midnight, Sunday May 17 cest.
I started working on what would become the Alula shawl in deepest winter; the first pictures I have are of the shawl propped up in the window to catch the faint January light, nestled among photos from the rocky stream covered in ice and a fine dusting of snow. The picture I sent to my test knitters was taken in February, also by the window, also with the snow outside.
And then... some weeks passed, a lot of stitches were knitted, adjustments were made to the pattern as the test knitters kept at it, and then came May. The gnarled pines on the icy rock and the eternal grey and cold seem like a distant dream as I walk barefoot under the cherry trees and the sun is up both when I go to bed and when I wake up.
I love that knitting is such a slow game that it allows you to capture the seasons in one single project. Winter dreams became a spring shawl, that will in turn fill to the brim with summer thoughts as I wear it on mild evenings and rainy July days. It's a gift of time, this craft. 🩶
All my self-published patterns are 25% off on Ravelry this weekend while I'm at Garn på STPLN. No code needed - happy knitting!
Pattern: #AlulaShawl
Yarn: @spincycle_yarns Dyed in the Wool + Sägen Light Fe from @elkmarketyarn
The Alula shawl is now live on Ravelry! This little gem of a shawl is worked in a crescent shape, using two of my favourite yarns: @spincycle_yarns Dyed in the wool and Sägen Light Fe. Three sections with different textures keep you interested, and the result is a lightweight, beautiful accessory soft enough to wear next to skin ✨
The Alula shawl – along with all my other self-published patterns on Ravelry are 25% off this whole weekend as I'm having a blast at Garn på STPLN, the awesome yarn fair in Malmö. And do check out my wonderful testers' shawls on the pattern page, there are some truly magnificent versions in many different yarns and colours! 🥰
✨ 25% off all patterns, no code needed! ✨
I'm off for the yarn fair Garn på STPLN in Malmö and wanted to share the festivities with you no matter where you are in the world: all my self-published patterns on Ravelry are 25% off this weekend, no code needed!
This includes the shawl I made especially for this event: the #AlulaShawl - a one-of-each-skein wonder I designed using @spincycle_yarns Dyed in the Wool and my ultra soft, hand dyed Sägen Light Fe.
Also in this little collage: the #PettsonVest and #KorsvirkeSlipover from last year 🩶
The Alula shawl is coming your way on Thursday; if textures, colours and softness is your jam, this is the spring and summer knit for you 🪶🩶
Pattern: #AlulaShawl releasing shortly
Yarn: @spincycle_yarns Dyed in the Wool + @elkmarketyarn Sägen Light Fe
One of my favourite photos from one of the photo shoots we had for The Island and The Forest 🩶 I love how the rock and the lake meet right there, and the Virvel socks stand right between, the cables swirling around the back of the foot and heel. Safe and steady at the border between water and earth.
A little before/after blocking of the #RookShawl I just finished this morning 👌🏻 I did my regular blocking routine: put the Thing in lukewarm water with a bit of wool soap. Rinse and squeeze very gently. Roll between two towels. Pin on blocking mats (which are really the kids’ old play mats from twelve years back) and leave to dry. I stretch this one more than I would a sweater because I want the slipped stitch pattern to open up properly and for the fabric to have a really nice drape. Mission accomplished 🙌🏻
When I quit my job to work full time with knitwear designing, writing and running a yarn shop almost seven years ago, I made a very conscious decision to not stop knitting patterns by other designers. I figured that if this is going to sustain me in the long run, I need to keep the fun in it and leave room for playful knitting where I can just follow along an already finished pattern. And well, this project was definitely just that - so many nifty things in one design!
I loved working on this and trusting the pattern, which is very well written with loads of tutorials, even though it was originally intended for my kid and just ended up a bit larger than planned. This #LaurelVest is designed for kids 1-14 years, but it also comes in adult sizes - the #HaliVest, both designed by @nm.ninemountains.nm . Smart and fun knitting at its finest 👌🏻
The Island and the Forest book release on the island 🩶 A huge thank you @bersabutik for arranging this evening so perfectly, and to everyone who came to celebrate with us - for your attention and kindness, and for flowers and tomato plants and hugs and the most beautiful necklaces from @under_tradet_design ❤️
A ittle over a year ago I spent a morning in the Botanical Garden in Visby, in the same weather as I woke to this morning, now that I'm back here: mild, a light drizzle. I like to be among trees in the rain. And while I'm not too interested in parks (too tidy and pretty) I do love walking around botanical gardens with old trees. I even found my favourite here - the katsura, a rather inconspicuous tree that in autumn has a faint scent of caramel, or freshly baked bread, or toasted marshmallows, or cotton candy. It's not the leaves that smell, like a herb where you can rub a leaf between your fingers and feel the scent, it's more like... the tree has an aromatic aura that you can walk in to and be in.
There's also the Gingko, which was my very favourite tree when I was a child even though I had never seen one in real life, the Dove tree with its weird lovely white bracts covering the flower within, the Empress tree that I met in full bloom, and the really gorgeous silvery green and purple Japanese painted fern.
There's some thought to be had about time when visiting trees, I think. And ferns - since they've been around for 400 million years or so. It's very comforting and calming to be among trees, to borrow their perspective for a little while and let the human world spin away without you. I think I also love botanical gardens because of the hope they symbolise. To tend to something someone planted a hundred years ago requires trust, and to plant something that someone else will have to look after once you yourself are gone does the same.
Trust - that there are things that are worthwhile, after all.
