Faroe Isla Nd K Nits

DUPLICATION PROHIBITED Faroe Island Knits Island Faroe by copyright holder The Faroe Islands, a far-flung archipelago lying halfway between Norway and Iceland, have a rich and longstanding knitting tradition—knitting was once one of their largest export industries, as well as a dearly-loved pastime. Inspired by this bountiful heritage, knit designer Svanhild Faroe Strøm and her mother Marjun Biskopstø have brought contemporary style and classic Faroese motifs together in this striking collection of patterns. 52 traditional Faroese designs come to life in a unique and eye-catching trove for any knitter with an interest in the twists, turns, and hidden treasures of Island Nordic knitting history. Learn about the traditions and culture of these fascinating islands, and follow the footsteps of each motif through folk history, painstaking documentation, and living memory. Knits Discover the beauty and flexibility of traditional Over 50 patterning. Knit hats, sweaters, tunics, jackets, Traditional Motifs socks, slippers, and more, including designs for men and 25 Projects and women, children and adults. from the North Atlantic Strøm & Biskopstø Strøm $27.95 USD ISBN-13: 978-1-57076-863-7 5 2 7 9 5 9 7 8 1 5 7 0 7 6 8 6 3 7 Svanhild Strøm & Marjun Biskopstø © Svanhild Strøm and Marjun Biskopstø, and Trafalgar Square Books Printed in China Printed www.trafalgarbooks.com www.trafalgarbooks.com FaroeIslandKnits Full Cover.indd 1 11/29/17 5:39 AM DUPLICATION PROHIBITED by copyright holder First published in the United States of America in 2018 by Trafalgar Square Books North Pomfret, Vermont 05053 Originally published in Norwegian as Færøysk strikkebok. Copyright © 2016 Forlaget Press English translation © 2018 Trafalgar Square Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine or newspaper or on a website. ii ISBN: 978-1-57076-863-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017955883 Thank you to Sandnes Garn Photography Miriam & Janus Photography Design and Chart Illustrations Eivind Stoud Platou, Handwork Pattern Instructions and Charts Siv Dyvik Text Translation Marita Thomsen Pattern Translation Carol Huebscher Rhoades Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 © Svanhild Strøm and Marjun Biskopstø, and Trafalgar Square Books www.trafalgarbooks.com FaroeIslandKnits_Interior.indd 2 11/28/17 6:18 PM DUPLICATION PROHIBITED by copyright holder contents Preface v Inner Sweater Motifs 74 Faroese Knitting Motifs vi Sigvald 77 Tróndur 83 Hans Marius Debes viii Panels 89 One Big Family 91 Knitting on the Faroe Islands 1 One Big Family—Children 99 Basic Knitting Tips 4 Sandoyargentan 105 Read through the Entire Pattern First Malena 113 Gauge Elin 121 Short Rows Buttonholes Men’s National Costume Motifs 129 Picking up and Knitting Stitches The Tailor 131 Working Back and Forth or Making a Steek? Women’s National Costume Motifs 136 Steeking Anna Kathrina Súsanna 139 Bind off or Set Aside Stitches? Reinforcing and Cutting Steeks Beinta 147 Attaching Sleeves Rakul 153 Facings 6 Anna Maria 161 Abbreviations 6 Josefina 169 Anna Sofía 177 Fisherman’s Sweater Motifs 9 Maria Christina 181 Fisherman’s Sweater 13 Tova Poncho 189 Sigrid 25 Seven Stars 33 Skóleistar—Knitted Shoe Liners 197 Ingibjørg 41 Poula 47 Acknowledgments 208 Urd 51 Lena 57 Jacobina 63 Socks 69 © Svanhild Strøm and Marjun Biskopstø, and Trafalgar Square Books www.trafalgarbooks.com FaroeIslandKnits_Interior.indd 3 11/28/17 6:18 PM DUPLICATION PROHIBITED by copyright holder KNITTING iN THE FAROE ISLANDS The Faroes are a North Atlantic archipelago, mid-way used for nålbinding, preserved from graves at Kvívík and between Scotland and Iceland. The country consists of Tjørnuvik, which suggests the Faroese did knit with a single 18 islands of volcanic origin, and was previously part of needle for some time, as was common in the rest of the Norway. When Norway’s capital moved from Bergen to Nordic region. Christiania (now Oslo), the islands became less important Knitting as we know it today came to the Faroe Islands to the Norwegian king. After the 1814 Treaty of Kiel, when in the 16th century. The earliest references to knitting in Denmark lost Norway to Sweden, the islands were split from the Faroes are found in Norwegian documents. The Bergen the rest of Norway and remained part of Denmark. Since county ledger lists a pair of old threadbare stockings that 1948, the Faroe Islands have been a self-governing part of the were seized after a man was executed, and says they were Kingdom of Denmark, with their own law-giving assembly, knitted in the Faroe Islands. parliament, and government, the National Executive Written Faroese sources refer to the value of stockings as Committee. The Faroese also have their own flag. an export product. The prices of goods for export were fixed The islands are mainly made up of grassy mountains during a parliamentary session in 1584, and records list the 1 teeming with small flowers. There are no natural forests. prices of hides, wool, vadmal, and stockings. Moorit brown Sheep husbandry and the export of wool and knitted stockings fetched five hides, while white stockings were garments were once the backbone of the Faroese economy, worth four. but they’ve been displaced by the rise of the fishing industry. The export of woolen stockings was critical to the Nevertheless, sheep and wool remain central to Faroese Faroese economy in the Middle Ages. In order to increase traditions and identity, and the Faroese coat of arms is production, Scottish spinning wheels were imported to the emblazoned with a ram. Faroes in the late 17th century. A man and a woman were Knitting is a cornerstone of Faroese culture. As an old brought in from the Shetland Islands to teach the Faroese Faroese adage says, “wool is Faroe gold,” and even a cursory how to use them. This new technique boosted stocking glance at Faroese knitting history confirms this. Although production, and stockings overtook vadmal as the prime fewer than 5,000 people lived on the islands in the 17th and export product. These changes in production also led to 18th centuries, annual exports of knitted woolen stockings a certain amount of social reform. Not everyone had the numbered in the hundreds of thousands. equipment or the space to produce woven goods, but anyone The sea has always been central to the Faroese way of who could get some wool could knit stockings to sell. life—and to Faroese trade with neighboring countries, since Unfortunately, the increase in production soon led to all goods moving in and out of the Faroes must be shipped oversupply; the Faroese were knitting too many stockings. across the Atlantic. Exports have historically consisted By 1683, it was estimated that it would take three years to mainly of skins, wool, vadmal (fulled woven fabric), fish, sell one year’s supply of stockings. Prices tumbled, and the feathers, butter, and fish and whale oil, in exchange for piles of unsold stockings stored in Copenhagen began to imports of wheat, malt, timber, and other processed goods. grow. Moths got into these stores, and in the first half of No historical account of knitting would be complete the 18th century, a total of 177,000 damaged pairs had to be without considering nålbinding (single-needle knitting), destroyed. However, production continued, and stockings which may have been common in the Faroe Islands before remained the main export product for the Faroes throughout regular two-needle knitting arrived. Archaeologists have the 18th century. By 1770, over 100,000 pairs of stockings not uncovered any nålbound garments in the Faroes, but the were sold each year, which made up around 98% of all National Museum in Tórshavn has some needles typically exports from the Faroe Islands. These stockings were sold in © Svanhild Strøm and Marjun Biskopstø, and Trafalgar Square Books www.trafalgarbooks.com FaroeIslandKnits_Interior.indd 1 11/28/17 6:19 PM DUPLICATION PROHIBITED by copyright holder northern Europe and were a popular choice for militaries in uniforms for soldiers and sailors. Everyone who needed or wanted a little extra income was knitting stockings, but not everyone owned land or kept sheep. This led to a spike in people traveling through Faroese villages to beg for wool. In order to stamp out this problem, the authorities enacted a new law on bonded labor, which became known as Trælalógin, the Bondage Act. It stipulated that the working classes and the poor had a duty to take on work at farms. Anyone failing to do so would be punished. Subsequently, the law was altered to bar landless couples from marrying until they’d served on a farm for a period of four years. The farmers, in conjunction with the authorities, alleged that people were needed to farm the land, and the stated aim of the legislation was to curb begging and reduce The quality of the sweaters knitted for sale probably poverty—but many bonded laborers on farms were ordered varied. In 1833, detailed guidance was published that to knit instead, because it was so profitable. set standards for the required number of stitches, Stocking production fell in the 19th century, and people measurements, and weight. According to these standards, began to knit sweaters for export instead. By the end of the motifs should be small, with short floats crossing over four 19th century, only a few hundred pairs of stockings were stitches at most. Yarns for pattern knitting should be dyed exported annually. with orchil (lichen), the darker the better. The guidelines Sweaters were knitted in the Faroes as early as the 17th also specified how wool should be handled.

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