Nordic Knits with Birger Berge: Traditional Patterns, Exciting New Looks

by Birger Berge

Overview

Breathe

new life into Norwegian tradition with one of Norway's hottest knit designers. Birger Berge is a study in apparent contradictions: he's a trained historian—and an Instagram star—a trend-setting contemporary knitter—who's deeply passionate about traditional patterns and their origins. Berge learned to knit as a child from his mother and grandmother, and for him handcrafts have become a source of comfort and creative energy, and a well of endless inspiration. Now, he combines his own distinctly modern style, a love of contrasts and dynamic color combinations, and the classic beauty of Norwegian patterning in a collection of gorgeous knitwear designs freshly adapted for an American knitting audience. Eye-catching and varied knitting projects, including sweaters, cardigans, scarves, hats, mittens, and home décor and accessories Striking, wearable garments for women and men, featuring timeless motifs in vivid colors and compelling combinations Beautiful full-color photographs, easy-to-read charts—and Birger Berge's characteristic attention to detail and flair for composition, indulged to the fullest

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646010349
Publisher:	Trafalgar Square
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Birger Berge is educated as an historian and works at The Holberg Prize, UiB. He is passionate about traditional craftsmanship and spends much of his time developing knitting patterns that show the rich tradition we have. He resides in Bergen, Norway.

Preface

When I started my Instagram account in 2016, I didn't think it was going to be anywhere near as big and important a part of my life as it's become. I remember trying to choose a name for it; I thought about picking something knitting-related, but I decided against that pretty quickly. I was afraid it would end up sounding too pretentious, and I wasn't even sure how much knitting was going to appear there, at the time.

In the end, the solution was to use my own name. After all, no matter what else I took pictures of, I was certainly going to show up on my own account—and my parents had kindly given me a nice alliterative name, easy to remember and certainly good enough for Instagram. My parents also deserve most of the thanks for the existence of this book. I was always different from my brothers, and from most of the other boys I knew as I grew up; they recognized that readily, and they made it easy for me to be myself. It was never a problem for them that I wanted to play with dolls, or that I liked to wear skirts sometimes, or that many of the nicest things I owned ended up covered in little hearts.

When I was old enough for it, I was also allowed to learn to knit and sew, activities I loved the moment I tried them. During school, this turned into a bit of a problem; I had a lot of first-hand experience with bullying. It wasn't exactly "cool" to be able to load the bobbin on a sewing machine, and I might have had an easier time of it if I'd put some effort into sports instead. But I stuck with my handcrafts, and the love and acceptance of my parents and my brothers made me confident enough to be comfortable being myself. The most popular elective in my last year of junior high was all about mopeds—I opted to crochet a tablecloth instead. Looking back, I'm proud of myself for it: I can remember exactly how nervous I was about going against the grain, and how much it mattered to me what other people thought of me, but I did it anyway.

So my interest in creative pursuits started early, and didn't waver. It became even more important to me once I reached university—my studies, and most of my jobs coming out of university, were all about abstract numbers, theories, and data-sets. There's a lot to love about being able to create beautiful, warm, practical clothing, but the best part for me was always the simple tactile pleasure of being able to make something with my own two hands. Handcrafting tradition matters to me in multiple senses of the word; not only is it important to me to know that I'm part of Norway's knitting history and culture, it's also a personal tradition.

My Instagram account contains a lot of what I like about knitting, design, and aesthetics, and I hope lots of people are familiar with it already! But there's something special about the process of putting together a book, knowing people will buy it and hold it in their hands. I've been working on it for a long time, and all these patterns feel like a part of me.

I can only hope that those of you who pick it up enjoy the designs, and are inspired to knit some of them. The best thing about designing patterns is to see others knit them and bring them to life in their own way.