I received a magazine in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been wanting to sit down and write about it ever since. It’s Bladet Garn, a brand new independent Norwegian knitting mag, and the first issue is absolutely gorgeous. The creators, Solveig Engevold Gaustad (aka Surrehue) and Unni Cathrine Eiken (aka Malsen og Mor), have obviously found a niche that had yet to be filled in the Norwegian market, as they launched the magazine after a very successful Kickstarter campaign. Notably, Unni is a fellow linguist, so we probably have her to thank for the fact that the magazine’s logo is rendered in IPA, the international phonetic alphabet. “Garn” is the Norwegian word for “yarn,” and due to Norway’s diverse collection of regional dialects, the pronuncation of this word can vary from place to place. The pronunciation represented in the logo ([gɔːn]) is how you might expect to hear “garn” said in the Hedmark region of Norway, but the editors note several other pronunciations you might hear in their intro to this issue, and they invite readers to share their own pronunciation on Instagram with the hashtag #jegsiergarn (meaning “I say yarn”). So… a Norwegian-language knitting mag that also happens to be embracing sociolinguistics? It’s probably no shocker that I’m a shoe-in for this one. I did record my own pronunciation, and if you didn’t already see it on Instagram, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post. But for now, back to the knitting!
I’ve been looking forward to this project since I first heard about it, but the moment I really got excited was when they revealed the cover in the days before publication – not only is it gorgous, but it features a shawl designed by Nina of Ninapetrina, my nearest local yarn dyer! It’s called Glør and it’s knit up in her gorgeous yarn too, of course. The rest of the issue doesn’t disappoint, either. There are 14 patterns in total, a mix of garments and accessories for both adults and children. You can view all the patterns on Ravelry here. There’s also a nice mix of articles which I’m still working my way through (I’ve mentioned before that I’m a very slow reader in Norwegian) on a range of topcis, including an essay on knitting from Bjørg Myhre Ims, a designer profile on Elisabeth Steenks, and a segment called “one to follow” profiling a knitter on Instagram (in this issue, @pollywantsanothercracker). It’s great reading for someone like me who’s still learning my way around the Norwegian knitting community. There’s also a tutorial for making your own small weaving loom out of a frame, and an overview of some of the awesome knitting books recently published in Norway. In other words, they’ve packed a lot of good stuff in here. Here are just a few of my favorite patterns, aside from Nina’s on the cover above:
Clockwise from top left, these are the løvlibolerojakke jente (the girls’ version) by Strikkelisa (Elisabeth Steenks), a beautiful cabled vest called Flettevest by Cecilie Oddenes, the adult version of the løvlibolerojakke by Strikkelisa, and some gorgeous mittens knit using two-color twined knitting, called Tvebandvotter, by Lene Tøsti. The twined mittens also have an accompanying article which I’m looking forward to reading.
Unfortunately for those of you who don’t speak Norwegian, this is only a Norwegian-language magazine. But maybe some of you out there who’ve spent time studying the language or who are interested in deciphering Norwegian knitting patterns might be interested? And for those of you who are in Scandinavia or speak a Scandinavian language, I hope you’re as excited as I am to see where this magazine is headed. You can pick up your own copy (or a three-issue subscription) on the Bladet Garn website right here.
Lastly, as promised, here’s my contribution to the #jegsiergarn tag on Instagram. This one’s for all of you who have ever wanted to see me awkwardly speak Norwegian on camera. Enjoy!
Paper Tiger 