As I See It: Viking Knitted Designs

Not much blogging lately. David "invited" me to join Facebook and I couldn't exactly say, "No." What it means is there's one more online place to keep track of. But it's also kind of fun.

Anyway, last weekend Betty and I went to Yellow Dog Knitting in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to take a class from Elsebeth Lavold. (No link here. I don't think she has a website. Google her and you'll get links to places to buy her many yarns and books.)

This photo, since I didn't ask for permission to post her photo, is of her back. It shows off the lovely vest she was wearing. Very simple design. It ties under the arms and has a split front. The photo also shows a sample of the types of things we were learning in the class.

Here is my class project about half way through. Once we learned how to follow her charts and how to make cables without using a cable needle or cable hook (not nearly as difficult as it first seemed...just a little scary), then we learned how to turn a 90-degree corner.

There were actually two classes, the second of which didn't end until nearly 5 p.m. So Betty and I asked for recommendations and were told to try Stella Blues. Their website is kind of fun. Anyway, I had the Guinness Ribs. Like the Jack Daniels barbeque sauce you get at the chain restaurant but made with Guinness. Very good. I took half home and ate that Sunday afternoon.

Here's my class project after the corner has been turned. Cool, huh? Elsebeth, when questioned about Celtic Knotwork. She sighed and said that all of these designs originated around the fourth or fifth centuries and can be traced to Scandinavia, the British Isles, Western Europe, and even as far South as Western Africa. She did say that the Irish "are somewhat insular" about "their" designs. Then she smiled and went on with her teaching.

Interesting view of the back. You can hardly see the purl stitches...they so thoroughly rise to the top, as it were. This swatch is about 3-inches wide on size US 7 needles.

Yellow Dog Knitting had some bulky yarn on sale so I bought a couple huge balls of it. These are size US 17 needles. The pattern portion of this sample is 7-inches wide.