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Cowl in nalbinding

I have been nalbinding and this is the result - a cowl. I used some old 2-ply wool yarn and bound a fairly loose fabric in the shape of a tube. Circumference 80 cm (about 32 inches) and 40 cm in length (about 16 inches). A total of 140 grams of yarn was used.
After washing and a light fulling the finished cowl measures 75 cm (30 inches) in circumference and 37 cm (about 15 inches) in lenght. I used the Brodén stitch.

"STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer" av Ulla Engquist

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

(English summary at the bottom of this post.)
För ett par månader sedan var jag på boksläpp för Ulla Engquists bok "STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer", utgiven av Hemslöjdens Förlag. Det är uppföljningen till Ulla Engquists bok "STICKA - Detaljer som gör skillnad" som kom förra året. I denna bok fortsätter Ulla att ösa kunskap över oss och behandlar områden som:

• garn (olika typer, olika fibrer, spinning och tvinning skrivet av Gunnel Axelsson)
• konstruera en tröja efter personliga mått, anpassa storlek, beräkna maskor och antal varv, garnåtgång
• kragar, sprund, ärmar
• knapphål och knapphålsslåar
• fickor
• kilar av olika slag
• mönsterstickning

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

Liksom den förra boken är detta en lärobok i stickning. Det är en bok att rådfråga när man stöter på problem. En bok att gå till när man vill se alternativ till hur man t ex stickar fickor. För att få ut det mesta bör man nog också investera i den första boken då det ibland refereras till tekniker som finns beskrivna i den. 

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

English Summary:
The above post is a presentation of "STICKA -  Egna modeller och fler detaljer" (a rough translation would be "KNITTING - Your own models and more details"), the second book written by Ulla Engquist. This book deals with different yarns and fibres, different kinds of collars, button holes, sleeves etc. There are also instructions on how ta make a sweater based on your own measurements. I think this is as good and as useful as her first book "STICKA - Detaljer som gör skillnad" (a rough translation would be "KNITTING - Details that make a difference"). That book, we were told at the book release this autumn, will be published in the USA in 2017.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser was published by Heimilisiđnađarfělag Íslands, 1981. When I saw this title the first time I thought it was about twined knitting, due to that the word "Tvi̕bandađir" resembled "tveband", the Norwegian word for twined knitting. Both words refer to knitting with two yarns, but in different ways. I soon discovered that the book was about Icelandic patterned mittens.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

Many mittens in this book have a strong resemblance with mittens from northern Europe. We know that there was a lot of contact between the North Atlantic countries (in the form of commerce) and that through these contacts many things, including patterns, have spread.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

There are also mittens with patterns that I think are not as common. Very interesting. The book is in Icelandic, but the mittens are presented with both photos and charts.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

If you are interested in Icelandic textile pattern traditions (not only knitting) I can recommend the book "Íslensk sjónabók - Ornaments and patterns found in Iceland".

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

"Selbuvotter" by Anne Bårdsgård

Mittens from Selbu and the traditional Selbu patterns can be found almost everywhere in Norway. Anne Bårdsgård grew up in Selbu and she has now written a fantastic book about the Mittens from Selbu.

This book tells the history of the Selbu mitten tradition from 1850 until today. The oldest of these mittens were fine gifts often made for the bridegroom and his family. The mittens were examples of an advanced craft regarding the skill required for knitting them but also regarding the sorting and spinning of  the wool to get the yarn. The patterns were often elaborate and there are many examples of advanced pattern construction.

This book also has thorough and educational chapters on how to knit mittens such as these, the different groups/types of patterns (all chartered) and their variations (also all chartered) and background, the yarns used and  the stitch count. 

In short, everything you need to design your own Selbu mittens according to the Selbu tradition. If you are not fond of making your own patterns there is also an entire chapter of chartered mittens with presentations of the knitters that provided them.

It is rare to find a knitting book this well written and that provides this amount of useful information. "Selbuvotter" was  released this year and at the moment it is only available in Norwegian. But it deserves to be read also  by other knitters than the Scandinavian ones. Just under 300 pages and propped with knowledge it is one of the best books on knitting that I have read.

"Selbuvotter" by Anne Bårdsgård
© MUSEUMSFORLAGET Trondheim 2016
ISBN 9788283050370
www.museumsforlaget.no