This is a fascinating survey. I had no idea that the yoke sweater was related to territorial claims! I wonder whether the association of the pattern with Iceland in Sweden and Greenland in Iceland is related to a marketing gimmick... Like it's easier to market a pattern as novel and interesting if you label it as being from a foreign place.
I don't knit sweaters, but I am a huge fan of wearing yoke sweaters. So it's fun to learn all about them.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think marketing definitely played a role, and I think the nature of the "blank canvas" for colour patterns on the yoke opens up the opportunity to add patterns that at least appear traditional. Designers could borrow motifs from older textiles and give them a new home on the yoke, and attaching a distant place to the design adds a sense of history. A "foreign" origin story makes a new pattern feel both exotic and authentic at the same time.
I do have a lopapeysa waiting to finish. Worked bottom to top so sleeves are ready to join to the body. Haven't decided on the yoke pattern. I used Knitting in the Old Way to make the pattern. There is a good tutorial on You Tube for these too,
Lovely - one of my favourite things about bottom-up yoke sweaters is that you don’t need to decide on the yoke pattern until the end. I made one last year and completely improvised the colour choices and patterns as I went, and it was a lot of fun.
I like the bottom up as you have less work left as you go. The sleeves can be used as a swatch too. I have a finished one that has become one of my favorite sweaters. Just waiting for cooler weather now.
One of the things I think about is how knitters used to use simple yarns, dyed in solid colors, to make intricate patterns and textures. Now we try to build those into the yarns and use simple knitting techniques. I like custom dyed yarns as much as anything, but we've lost a lot of the craft.
As a side issue, A Grand Adventure, about Helge Ingatad and his wife, has a lot about the struggle over Greenland. He was governor of Greenland at the time it was being decided. They are the couple that found the Viking settlement in Canada. Part of the proof was a spindle whorl. The book is by their daughter, Benedicte Ingstad
This is a fascinating survey. I had no idea that the yoke sweater was related to territorial claims! I wonder whether the association of the pattern with Iceland in Sweden and Greenland in Iceland is related to a marketing gimmick... Like it's easier to market a pattern as novel and interesting if you label it as being from a foreign place.
I don't knit sweaters, but I am a huge fan of wearing yoke sweaters. So it's fun to learn all about them.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think marketing definitely played a role, and I think the nature of the "blank canvas" for colour patterns on the yoke opens up the opportunity to add patterns that at least appear traditional. Designers could borrow motifs from older textiles and give them a new home on the yoke, and attaching a distant place to the design adds a sense of history. A "foreign" origin story makes a new pattern feel both exotic and authentic at the same time.
I do have a lopapeysa waiting to finish. Worked bottom to top so sleeves are ready to join to the body. Haven't decided on the yoke pattern. I used Knitting in the Old Way to make the pattern. There is a good tutorial on You Tube for these too,
Lovely - one of my favourite things about bottom-up yoke sweaters is that you don’t need to decide on the yoke pattern until the end. I made one last year and completely improvised the colour choices and patterns as I went, and it was a lot of fun.
I like the bottom up as you have less work left as you go. The sleeves can be used as a swatch too. I have a finished one that has become one of my favorite sweaters. Just waiting for cooler weather now.
Oh yes, and getting the sleeves out of the way first is an added bonus!
The cool weather will come. It arrived here this weekend and I’ve been sporting the mittens and hat I recently finished.
One of the things I think about is how knitters used to use simple yarns, dyed in solid colors, to make intricate patterns and textures. Now we try to build those into the yarns and use simple knitting techniques. I like custom dyed yarns as much as anything, but we've lost a lot of the craft.
As a side issue, A Grand Adventure, about Helge Ingatad and his wife, has a lot about the struggle over Greenland. He was governor of Greenland at the time it was being decided. They are the couple that found the Viking settlement in Canada. Part of the proof was a spindle whorl. The book is by their daughter, Benedicte Ingstad