Episode 20: My handmade bunad, FO fail and new shawl cast on

In celebration of Norway’s national day I’ve donned my bunad for this episode. It is a costume from the Hallingdal region and handmade by my mum. Next I miserably show my very large completed Skye pullover… It’s not all fails though, I am enjoying my most recent cast on - the Fantastich shawl by Stephen West!

Links to the yarns, patterns and people mentioned in this episode

What I’m wearing

It is the 17th of May today and I am wearing my bunad for the occation! It is a Festbunad from Nes that my mother made me. My bunad ( a Norwegian national costume) is from Hallingdal and has been a work-in-progress for decades until finally completed in 2014. 

If you can read Norwegian I suggest reading about my particular bunad in this article by Store norske leksikon. It’s pretty short and to the point. Also you can browse all norwegian costumes at Husfliden’s website. Still only in Norwegian but the photos are really pretty and you can brows by region.

Bound off (kntting fail)

Skye has been relegated to the pile of shame for a while, but still I brought it along for show and tell. Nothing wrong with pattern or design, this is a failure completely of my own making and I am debating what can be done to fix it.

Skye is published in the “North Sea” collection on Marie Wallins website. But you can also get it as an individual knitting pattern on Ravelry and Lovecrafts. The yarn I’m using is Rowan Felted Tweed in “Duck egg” and “Barn Red”.

On the needles (work in progress)

Fantastitch by Stephen West  has been cast on! I am raving about this knit as I find it very enjoyable so far. I’m knitting my shawl in a mix of yarns from stash; Stranded Dyeworks BFL Nylon, NinaPetrina BFL, Værbitt Hillesvåg Sølje and Rauma Alpakka Lin are qualities I’m playing with. The pattern can be got on Westknits Ravelry store.

I really recommend this tutorial by Stephen West including recommendations for colour choices. It was a very helpful guide to understanding how to tackle choosing all those colours! The cast on guide was also good and probably saved me plenty of fiddling around with those first few stitches.