A BIG thank you to everyone who has left a comment! It has been so much fun to follow the work of the jury. It seems as if the white Karin hat is the winner.
I do think it is the hat that I wear the most, but it is good to have a black one, too. I like them both a lot.
The pattern is not quite finished yet, though. I need to knit another pair of mittens – the first mittens were just for trial. If you look closely you can see that they are not completely identical.
The next pair will be white to match the white hat. Even if white mittens are not very practical – they tend to get black...
I took this picture while waiting for the boat to take me over to Djurgården for another weekend workshop at the HV School.
This time we learnt tvåändsstickning – translated as "twined knitting" or "two-end-knitting", an old traditional technique from Dalarna.
Our teacher, Karin Kahnlund, is a master of this technique. She first learnt to do twined knitting when she was 20 years old and she has practised ever since. She can now make a pair of mittens in only ten hours.
Respect!
This is how far I get in approximately ten hours. And maybe a few hours more.
Very impressive, I know.
And that ball of yarn took me an hour to wind – by hand. Don´t laugh. This is no laughing matter. This is hardcore knitting. You aint been knitting until you´ve tried this twined thing, I tell you.
Usually when I return home after a weekend at the HV School I feel rejuvenated and rested. Last night I was beat. I was more exhausted than after a really hard workout in the gym.
But my speed keeps improving and one round of 72 stitches now takes me about ten minutes. I have a feeling that this could make me slightly obsessed. It´s exactly the kind of thing one could easily become obsessed with, because it is such a challenge.
Two End Knitting is Da Shit!
Besides, all the loveliest, prettiest, most beautiful patterned sleeves belonging to the Dala-Floda folk costume is made in twined knitting. Karin had brought a few examples to show us.
Sorry about the blurred photos. I guess I was a bit overexcited.
One of these days I have to knit a sleeve like this. Or it will be the one thing that I regret as I lie on my death bed.
I love the mittens! And by the way, I would have voted for the black hat.
Where do you sell your patterns?
Posted by: Syd | January 12, 2010 at 04:36 AM
Det där med att kunna sticka, eller handarbeta öht, eller inte är väl relativt. Men tvåändsstickning verkar coolt, minst sagt.
Posted by: Clarissa | January 17, 2010 at 12:36 PM