Icelandic Handknits

Icelandic Handknits is a beautiful new book by Hélène Magnùsson. When I received my copy, I was in awe of all the beautiful scenery and the amazing photography, as well the intricate designs. I was intrigued by how the environment and culture inspired Hélène - naturally my stop on the blog tour has taken a Hattish slant - yet I hope the questions also give you some insight into the history and culture that feature so heavily within this book.

©Arnaldur Halldorsson, reproduced with kind permission

1) When you start a fresh design, is there one part of the construction or a physical point that you start with first? For instance, when I design a Hat I start with the crown, and provided the maths of that works out, I move downwards into the body and brim sections. It may not be knit in that direction, but that's where my thinking starts.

Absolutely. Because I'm mostly working from traditional Icelandic items, in the hope to preserve the knitting traditions by giving them a new life, it is very often a particular construction or motif or way of doing things that will be my starting point. It is quite clear for example with the Checkered beanie: it's all about the crown made from a succession of mitten gusset thumbs. I "just" had to determine the number of repeats according to the yarn I had chosen and the resulting gauge and then calculate my way down to the brim. The lace hood is also a good exemple: I thought I could give a hood shape to a triangular shawl by playing with the central and side decreases. The rest, choosing which shawl in the Museum, which lace motif, which colors, which yarn came later.

 ©Arnaldur Halldorsson, reproduced with kind permission

 2) What was the greatest challenge to you when writing this book?

The little time versus the number of designs, 25 in all but there were originally 30 and 5 were cut down. I usually knit all the prototypes myself making amendments and correcting as I go, especially since I'm not always sure my ideas will work out or how they will work out. But in this case I only had the time to knit myself a limited number of items. So I did knit very many swatches and wrote down all the instructions as precisely as I could from the beginning. Then my sample knitters had to knit blind from those instructions! I made a lot of sketches to help them "see" the items and often the instructions would include in neon yellow: "Here please stop and talk to me, I'm not sure if I should add one or two repeats" then we would talk on skype and I would sometimes let them try the item on to see how it fit and ask many many questions. Communication and trust were the key and I was lucky to work with marvelous knitters who kept me updated regularly of their progresses, never hesitated to ask and made suggestions on how to improve this or that. It was actually very exciting! I remember when I received the finished samples: I was seeing them for the first time!

3) In the introduction to the Lacy Skotthufa Hat, you hint at the headwear traditions of Iceland - can you expand on what it is about the skotthufa that interests you?

The skotthúfa, or tasseled cap, is part of the everyday traditional costume and a very popular item in Iceland. There are many modern versions of the skotthúfa, handknitted but also machine knitted, for men, women and children and for sale in selected stores in Iceland, Museum shops, etc... You will see one version for the great outdoors for example on the Icelandic Knitter website, knitted with very thick lopi wool and felted, and adorned with a modern stainless steel tube. I wanted to make one that would be quite different, very light and airy, and again my starting point were the triangular lace shawls, since you can create a circular shape from triangles.

©Arnaldur Halldorsson, reproduced with kind permission

4) The recipes are such a great addition to the whole collection - how did they come to be included in the book?

It was the editor's idea to include recipes in the book. I loved the idea! Food and clothing are often the first exposure to another country's culture so I found it very exciting to have recipes as well. During the knitting tour to North Iceland and the Textile Museum this summer, beside the knitting workshops, we will also prepare together a few traditional dishes from the book, so it's going to be a complete immersion in the Icelandic culture!

It' s not the first time I've mixed together food and knitting: in the book, you can see the copper cutters I have designed that allow you to make colorful cookies and food with the shape of an eight-petal rose, like the Icelandic shoe-inserts motifs. I worked as a chef in a popular Icelandic restaurant and as a mountain cook before I started as a mountain guide. And I have written a cooking book too: "The secret of good vinaigrette revealed to Icelanders" (Salka 2005, also in Icelandic, German and French)

5) The scenery in the photographs is absolutely stunning - is there a particular moment from the photoshoots that you'd like to share with us?

The photoshoot happened to be in January. At that time of the year, there is very little light in Iceland - only three hours a day - and it's the middle of the winter. There was a snow blizzard when the pictures were taken. Or it was freezing and the wind blowing like mad, meaning it was really really cold. I was never supposed to be on the pictures either, but my models couldn't last long and I had to jump in and use the time with the photographer! I like that the pictures convey a sense of the weather but also reflect a cultural trait of a tough and strong Icelandic woman.

 

©Arnaldur Halldorsson, reproduced with kind permission

6) Which is your favourite design in the book, and why?

That's a tough question! I don't know, I like them all ! Some I would certainly wear more than others. The Halldora scarf is special to me because I'm using my own Icelandic yarn, Love Story, a fine artisanal lace made of pure Icelandic wool. I select the wool very carefully, it is not bleached not treated and it is very soft compared to other Icelandic yarns. It really makes the difference for this design: the shawl is so light and airy, almost like the old ones!

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Thank you Hélène for sharing your thoughts and asnwering my questions! The book really is stunning, and I'm sure it's going to be very popular.

You can purchase the book from Hélène’s website, and here's the linky to the Ravelry page.

And finally, here are the blog tour details, so you can follow along:

April 11th, 2013: Donna Druchunas – sheeptoshawl.com
April 18th, 2013: Woolly Wormhead – www.woollywormhead.com/blog
April 25th, 2013: Mary Jane Mucklestone – maryjanemucklestone.com
May 2nd, 2013: Susan Crawford - justcallmeruby.blogspot.com
May 9th, 2013: Terri Shea – spinningwheel.net
May 16th, 2013: Alana Dakos - www.nevernotknitting.com

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The book's publisher, Voyageur Press,  have very kindly donated a copy of the book as a giveaway to one lucky winner! To take part simply leave a comment here and I'll randomly select one in a weeks time, on 25th April. Don't forget to leave your email address in the right field when leaving your comment, so I can get in touch!

ETA: this competition is now closed & the winner has been notified. Thanks so much for your interest!

Around our garden

Spring has well and truly settled in here, with warm sunny days and relatively high temperatures of around 25degC. I've taken the chance to take a few days off, to try and get my head straight over a few things, and working on our garden has been the ideal way to spend time.

One of the very first things we did in the garden when we got here a few years back was to build this tyre planter. It was in a corner of the garden which is now more private, with trellised walls and a canopy roof, and the planter had become hidden.. it took a fair amount of effort to move it, and to try and replant it; fortunately succulents such as these Sedums are pretty tolerant of abuse.

The tyre planter now sits  at the top of the path, near the bus door, and at the entrance to the secluded eating area. The perfect place for such a feature.

It's kinda hard to see, but at the centre of the planter is a baby Cordyline. Last summer my Dad had to remove a giant parent plant from his garden (one of the red varieties of Cordyline), as it's roots were causing structural damage to his garage. We rescued a few offshoots and only one survived. Now it's in a prime spot with room to grow.

In the corner of the secluded area, near where the tyre planter used to be, we've now planted a Passiflora (Passiflora Caerulea) that we got at a garden centre yesterday. I'm not keen on many of the climber plants yet the leaves and flowers on this one are more unusual and interesting, and it's both tolerant of shade and lower temperatures, making it ideal for the spot.

We've still a bit of work to do on the secluded area, but it's almost ready for barbecue season. The ground is real hard and needs to be levelled off a bit in the corner where the big planters were, and then we may swap the table and benches around with the sofa, which in turn will provide a more private area for relaxing and hanging out.

We moved the herb garden to this spot next to the bus during autumn last year, where it catches the morning the sun. It needed a bit of weeding as it'd been overrun by self-seeding Valerian leaves, and we planted some lemon Thyme and another Rosemary shrub.

We've gained a new bench, and this spot next to the bus is a morning sun-trap; ideal for enjoying the first coffee of the day.

We nabbed this abandoned ceramic double sink and have seeded Rocket on one side and mixed salad leaves on the other. (we're kinda keeping the edibles on one side of the garden - the morning sun is ideal for the veggies. The other side of the garden scorches!)

A second old sink has been put to use under the tap, and it's now surrounded by old hollow terracotta bricks, which were also hiding away in the now secluded corner.

I've potted up a variety of Sedums, Echeverias and succulents in the pots on this side of the garden. Some of them are plants I've propagated from cuttings, others we've found in garden centres recently. I used to have a largish collection of succulents and cacti in the flat in the London, and the balcony would overflow with them. It's heartening to be able to grow  a few species outside again, especially given that the climate here is much more suited to these types of plants, and there are many more varieties available, as you'd imagine.

A friend on site found a discarded Opuntia plant a couple of weeks back, and together we broke the plant up into it's separate pads, to let them dry out for propagating. There's still a box of them waiting; even if only a quarter of them take we'll still have more than we need! This type of cactus is pretty common here, and I'm told this will likely fruit in this climate.. eventually. Opuntias are generally surprisingly hardy - I had about 3 different varieties growing on the balcony in London and they all survived even the snow without a flinch (though none of those ever bore fruit).

A few varieties of Sedum grow like weeds by the river, and yesterday the boys collected a few whilst out walking. Some of these are going to join a similar yet different variety growing around the Cordyline in the tyre planter.

Jimmy and Fi have been enjoying the spring, and are endlessly curious about all the changes in the garden, as cats tend to be.. Fi was spotted digging at the freshly dug soil, in true terrier dog style, attempting to catch bugs.

For my birthday earlier in the year I was gifted a rose bush, which has now been planted in a recycled washing machine drum. I've never really grown roses before, and I'm interested to see how well it fairs. Around it's base is yet another variety of trailing Sedum, that I'd grown from cuttings in the secluded corner. I think they'll appreciate being moved to a much sunnier spot.

I've one potential planter left, but we're not sure what to use it for. It's another piece of innards of the broken washing machine we took apart, this part being the support and mount for the drum. It's pretty big and will take a fair amount of soil, and methinks it will be ideal for growing garlic, or maybe even onions. Mind you, the last time we tried to grow garlic the snails did their worst.

Working on the garden has been a welcome break, and we're really pleased with how it's coming along. It's been good to think about something else; not about work, or any of the other anxieties circling in my head. That said, I really ought to get on an finish the last samples for Playful Woolly Toppers! Last week's photoshoot didn't happen and time is ticking on.

On being a Traveller

Sometimes I have difficulty with the term 'traveller'.

It's not as if I don't identify as a traveller; whilst I haven't always lived in a bus or a vehicle, I've moved around a heck of a lot as I've worked or studied. I've never had a mortgage as the thought of a commitment that great to one place scares the heebies out of me! Many folk aspire to own their home to provide security for the long term, yet to me those same four walls feel more like a prison. I've never been able to settle anywhere; the one time I tried - when I had the council flat (social housing) and worked as a school teacher for 6 years - I experienced 2 nervous breakdowns and it was almost the death of me. I may have spent a fair bit of time in mainstream society, yet I've always kept one foot on the other side of life, in the alternative or sub cultures or whatever you want to call them. I tried to fit in because I was conditioned to believe that I should fit in, and eventually gave up on trying. We've just had our 4th winter here and despite the fact that this is the closest I've ever felt to 'home', I can't ignore my itchy feet and the want to move on to pastures new.

I identify as a traveller not only because I don't belong in the mainstream, but because I am nomadic by nature.

That's not why I have trouble with the traveller label, though; I have trouble with it because it creates a "them" and "us" situation.

In the last 6 months we've experienced continual inspections from various authorities. We had 3 police inspections in a matter of weeks, and one of those inspections saw the police coming into our homes to take photographs as evidence of how we lived without permission or warning. We've had inspections from other government offices, all trying to determine what and who we are, and whether or not the permissions we've been led to believe we have are actually legal. We've had an increased level of tourists - folk who come to see the wonder of the sculptures and the environment, many of whom are seemingly oblivious to the fact that people live here. We've been interviewed by newspapers and authorities all wanting to hear what we have to say. We've had film crews and journalists wanting to make documentaries about the art work or about the alternative lifestyle, in support of our right to be here. 

Whilst we know that the majority of things have happened in support of us and this site and the legal situation we find ourselves in, it sometimes feels like we live in a zoo. This place is different to a lot of sites because we have so many active artists and work on show to see, but still. 

Would all of this have happened if there wasn't a "them" and "us" situation at play? I doubt it.

Seriously, we're just a bunch of people who don't live in houses, who want the freedom to move, and who place their values in different things. That's all. We do what we can to live inside the law and keep ourselves to ourselves. I don't like this feeling of victimisation, yet given everything that's happened and continues to happen, it's getting increasingly difficult to rise above it. 

The label is irrelevant, really. But when pushed into a corner I will dig my heels in and wear that capital "T" on my forehead.

I get asked a lot of I can share more about the traveller lifestyle, and honestly, I'm not sure if I'm the right person to do it. I can't speak for everyone and New Travellers are very different to Irish Travellers or Romanies or other traveller groups. It's a very wide umbrella. Even amongst the New Travellers, everyone has different reasons to live as they do. 

We've all been feeling the glare of the spotlight, and for me that's meant hiding that side of our lives in fear of negative reactions, which in turn doesn't help the "them" and "us" thing, or that feeling of victimisation. So I'm going to try and go back to blogging about life as the normal thing it is, and share how we live that way. When I remember to have my camera with me, that is..

PS/ if anyone wants to read more about New Travellers, I can recommend this book: 'A Time to Travel?'

I have an old well thumbed copy in paperback but it's now out of print. You can however buy a digital copy on CD direct from Enabler Publications.

I'd say a chunk of it is out of date, as legislation has changed and sites have become more settled (mostly due to the changes in legislation) - it's a more a history of how things were at the time. But it does give an insight into why people choose to live on the road, the origins of New Travellers, and how folk go about keeping 'home'.

It also includes a lot of quotes from the media and the government of the time, providing valuable insight. I wasn't really part of the scene then; I was off having other, different adventures, and flirted on the outskirts with the festival culture and such, so for me the book filled some gaps.

"The time has come for Gypsies to be banished into the wilderness. What is needed is more harassment and more discouragement" John Carlisle, Conservative MP

Crooked Beauty

A friend told me about this video the other day. Our internet doesn't always play nice with videos but once I'd watched it, I had to share.

It feels rather poignant, the whole thing is so beautifully done. 

"Birds with perfectly symmetrical feathers cannot fly".

You can find more info on the Crooked Beauty website.

Around site

The last few days have seen events that have made me feel... well, reactionary. Whilst I'm not keen on how it's made me feel, it is important to remind myself *why* I feel like this and not let the source of the problem be dumbed down. I'm not sure how much I want to say about this here just yet, and unless you've been following my vents on Twitter this might all seem a bit cryptic; it's of a political nature, and that's not the easiest of subjects to broach when emotions are running high. 

This site grew, like many others around Europe, as a reaction to the events of the early Eighties in the UK. Many, many travellers left the UK, pushed out by a Prime Minister and Government who were determined to rid the UK of travellers of any creed. (for the record we fall under the classification of 'New Travellers'). 

They were difficult times, and really, little has changed. The media still plays the 'Travellers are a Problem' card and prejudice and intolerance have been normalised. As many of you know this site is under threat from another wealthy, and therefore powerful, source determined to be rid of us because we're different. There's a wave of anti-gypsy laws sweeping Europe and few people seem to care about the effect that this is having on so many communities. Actually, I think relatively few people even know this is happening, which is even more saddening.

Yesterday I felt the need to celebrate who and what we are. I wandered around The Yard taking random photos whilst still being mindful of folks' privacy. Here are some of those photos, in no particular order.

Nearly everyone who spends time on this site works in a creative area, which in turn means that we work long hours for relatively little pay. Living as we do allows us to support our families on these low incomes, as well as provide a varied and cultural upbringing. Folks who accuse travellers of being spongers or layabouts really won't get the irony of their words.

Aran has a level of freedom that he'd have never have known should we have stayed in that council flat in London. He's able to see creativity in action, to see the diversity that it brings and gain those skills for himself. He's been able to learn a second language and develop an open minded view of the world. He's been able to learn to ride his bike at such a young age because he has the space and security here to explore by himself, unhindered. He's learnt how to interact with people of all ages and from all walks of life without realising that this is something rare and special. His world isn't a consumerist one; in his world, everyone reuses and recycles and will learn how much can be achieved by simply being practical, mindful and resourceful.

As I said, feelings are running high. Forgive me if I sound a little defensive.

I'm going back to my sample knitting now; tomorrow sees the first photoshoot for Playful Woolly Toppers, and our location is right here, on The Yard.