REUSE OF MATERIALS AND KNITTING FOR FASHION

I spent many times with my grandmother who knitted all the time, making mittens, socks and various other traditional clothing. Icelandic wool was and is still the indigenous material for Icelandic clothing and actually fashion. It comes from the traditional sheep that the Vikings brought with them from Northern Scandinavia. I still have some pairs of traditional Icelandic mittens out of Icelandic wool crafted into the eight leaf rose that has been tradition in Icelandic pattern for over one thousand years. Apparently this patterning comes from South, through the travel of the Vikings to Istambul through the rivers of Russia.

Knitting was a strong tradition and many friends and families are  still linked to making warm clothes and now sometimes more fashionably developed clothing.

Mundi Fashion LIne

Good friend Mundi makes cool pants and linked fashion from knitted stuff. Here is a link to his stuff. People are experimenting greatly in this tradition, also for the recycling of the clothes or the textile materials like Imogen Hedges who has made a tool for redeveloping the textile on a textile tool. This is similar to what was used in my youth, a traditional tool with the name of Rokkur.

Imogen Hedges spinning

Here is a more advanced tool for working yarn or wool, sitting in comfort and spinning. Here is a link to this great theatrical tool. Imogen Hedges sits at it preparing the yarn for knitting, posted in the greatly informative website Trehugger

Something I did with my granny but not with such a fancy tool but using an Icelandic Rokkur. Here on the side is a photo of the traditional wool spinning tool Rokkur. Mellow memories!

November 23, 2012   Posted in: DESIGN, FASHION, GREENLAND, ICELAND, SUSTAINABILITY