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def: Stitch ; A mode of arranging the threads in sewing, knitting or crocheting

NORWEGIAN-KNITTING

Beautiful Norwegian sweaters, free knitting graphs for your Fair Isle sweater

Beautiful Dale of Norway knitting yarn for your handknit sweater

Norwegian handknit sweater patterns

For centuries, women in the Shetland Islands, 250 miles north of Scotland, have been knitting sweaters decorated
with distinctive, multi colored patterns. The designs first appeared on Fair Isle, an island 25 miles south of the rest
of the Shetlands, and the sweaters became known as Fair Isles, even though for at least 100 years they have
been produced throughout the Shetlands.

The original Fair Isle sweaters were one-of-a-kind pieces, the wool hand spun and hand knit, the colors drawn
from natural dyes, and the rich patterning used lavishly across the whole sweater.
That painstaking handwork may still be found on Fair Isle itself, but the journey is a difficult one, even by Shetland
standards. A boat makes the crossing from Mainland, the largest and central Shetland Island, to Fair Isle only once
a week, and there is no scheduled air service, although private aircraft may be chartered.

The more modern Fair Isle style, one produced in sufficient quantities to satisfy a worldwide market, is a solid-colored
sweater with the multi-hued patterns restricted to the yoke. The patterns are traditional and considerable in variety,
through the arrangement of diamonds, stars and stars within squares or circles, in complementary or contrasting
colors to the main body of the sweater. Patterns are not tied to the towns of origin, the woolens vendors say,
but rather reflect the taste of the individual knitters.

Without pity nothing.
Without affection,
beauty, kindness,
without truth nothing.

Without feeling,
without values,
or respect for what
is given, or creation
nothing.

Original Norwegian and/or Fair Isle knitting patterns, for handknit or knitting machine.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

As a handcraft, knitting developed both as a folk craft, with traditional regional designs, and as a popular craft,
with designs circulating in printed handbooks.
In Scandinavia, regional patterns in yarns of contrasting color became characteristic.
Other regional styles, such as those of Ireland and the Shetland Islands, were distinguished by different patterns.
Local legend has it that the designs evolved from Spanish motifs, after a Spanish vessel was shipwrecked on
Fair Isle in 1588. Other Shetlanders believe that the patterns have a Scandinavian ancestry, like many of
the people themselves.

Ganseys (Guernseys), Jerseys, Aran and Fair Isle are names given to fishermen's knitted pullovers that
were universally popular in the 19th and early 20th century.
Each fishing village had its own pattern and within the local pattern there were small variations, and sometimes
names, that identified the family and individual. Though it may sound macabre today, the garment served as a
means of identifying a body washed up on shore's. Often many days or weeks after the initial loss of life.
Following identification of the individual, the family could then perform the funeral service and bring the painful
experience of the loss of a loved one to some form of closure.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.

A few examples of the Norwegian knitpatterns shown here above, on 1 knitting page.