In Episode 138, we present a two-part interview featuring the dynamic mother-daughter duo behind the Danish brand Knitting for Olive. Starting from humble beginnings, Knitting for Olive has evolved into a global favorite, captivating knitters with their elegant and stylish designs for all ages. They’ve also developed their own ranges of eco-friendly yarns to go with their designs. Madeleine is currently working on their “Barbroe Blouse,” and I’m working on a very special Christmas project by Alan Dart! On top of that, you have a book review and a quick Duplicate Stitch tutorial to look forward to!
Knitting For Olive – Danish Designs & Yarns
We met with Pernille and Caroline from Knitting for Olive in September when we travelled to Denmark. I think this interview is one of our best! The mother is Pernille, and she’s the designer behind the company. The daughter is Caroline, and she’s essentially responsible for all the marketing and sales.
Knitting for Olive started very humbly at home around the kitchen table. Pernille designed and knit gorgeous baby and toddler clothes for Caroline’s children. Caroline’s friends all started asking for the patterns so they could also knit these designs for their own children.
After some convincing, Pernille agreed to start publishing her patterns and over time, they expanded to adults garments. They also developed their own ranges of environmentally friendly yarns to complement all their designs.
Pernille & Caroline love coming up with very particular shades and variations of the same color, which is why they have such a large assortment of colours. For many of Pernille’s designs, you use one strand of Merino and one strand of Soft Silk Mohair. That’s why they offer those two yarn ranges in all the same colors.
Pernille and Caroline are smart, diligent women who’ve grown their business with solid business know-how. I found them inspiring and delightful, and I’m sure you will too. Plus, their designs and yarns are stunning.
Finding Knitting For Olive
- Website: knittingforolive.com
- Instagram: @knittingforolive
- Ravelry: Pernille Larsen
Patron Discount – Knitting For Olive
Knitting for Olive is generously offering a 15% discount to Fruity Knitting Patrons on all their yarns and patterns in their online store. With over 160 patterns for babies, children, and adults, and a variety of 80 colors for their yarns, it’s a fantastic opportunity. A big thank you to Pernille and Caroline for this generous offer. Fruity Knitting Patrons can find all discount details here.
Under Construction
Blue Lagoon Flowers – Dario Tubiana
In Episode 137, we interviewed Dario Tubiana, an Italian designer known for his intricate use of embroidery on hand-knitted garments. I am knitting his vest called Blue Lagoon Flowers. This is one of his simpler designs and it uses intarsia and Embroidery together.
It’s very striking, and I particularly love the bold retro flowers and the color combination Dario has used. You knit the vest in pieces and then seam the front and back together with side seams. There are also intarsia flowers on the back of the vest, but I have chosen to just knit the back in plain blue with no flowers.
The design combines intarsia and duplicate stitch, a form of embroidery. The large yellow and pink flower petals and the green leaves are done in intarsia. And the shading in the flower petals of both flowers (that’s the orange and purple parts), the centre of the flowers and the black outline around the centre of the flowers are all done in duplicate stitches.
You may have noticed that my flowers have more bling than the original design. Madeleine had the idea of adding some glittery highlights, which I liked. So, I ordered some sparkly yarns and embroidered them onto the vest using duplicate stitch.
Duplicate Stitch Tutorial
Duplicate stitch is also known as Swiss darning and it’s a form of embroidery. You are tracing over existing knitted stitches with a strand of contrast yarn. The new strand of yarn should be the same yarn weight and type as the yarn used in the original knitting. This is because you need to properly cover the original stitches and match the shape with your new stitches.
This glitter yarn that I’m using, won’t completely cover the white yarn but in this case I think that’s a good thing and will add to the effect that I want.
Snowflake Angel by Alan Dart
Madeleine and I are spending Christmas with some family friends and as a gift, I’m knitting a Snowflake Angel by the designer Alan Dart. We interviewed Alan in Episode 118. Alan is one of the best-known, most talented, and experienced toy designers in the U.K.
Without a halo the angel stands at 38cm (15 inches) so she is quite tall. I particularly like her wings and her hair and the little dove that is resting in the cup of her hands. The Sirdar yarn Alan recommends for the feathery wings and skirt has been discontinued but I found a perfect substitute from Schachenmayr – Baby Smiles, Lenja soft maxi.
I also came across this yarn called Creative Bubble from Rico Design. It glitters like crazy and I thought it would be perfect for her skirt and the fluffy collar and cuffs on the bodice of her dress. So far, I’ve knitted most of the pieces. Here is the skirt, her feet, her head and neck, and the bodice.
Barbroe Blouse & Yarns by Knitting For Olive
Madeleine has started working on the Barbroe Blouse which is a design from the Knitting For Olive book, which we brought home with us from Denmark. Madeleine gives a short review of the book during the episode.
It’s a long-sleeved top covered in a simple lace pattern that resembles sea shells. It has set-in sleeves, a short turtleneck, and a pretty eyelet opening at the back, fastened with three little buttons. It’s very elegant, and depending on what you combine it with, you can wear it casually but also on more formal occasions.
The Barbroe Blouse is designed with negative ease. Madeleine is making the second size, meant for a bust measurement of 83-91cm. But the finished top will be 80cm around the chest, giving her a negative ease of 6cm. I actually wear the Barbroe Blouse in size 2 during the interview.
The rows within one pattern repeat all have different stitch counts. To create this shell shape, you decrease every few rows, meaning the last row in the pattern repeat has fewer stitches than the first row. Because you increase the stitch count again in the first row of the following pattern repeat, this stretches the last row of the shell underneath to have the same width.
That’s why you need to know which row to measure the stitch gauge on. For the Barbroe Blouse you measure the stitch gauge on the last row of a pattern repeat (row 8).
After interviewing Knitting For Olive in their shop in Copenhagen, we had a lot of fun exploring the yarns and designs on display. In the end, Madeleine brought home enough yarn for three different sweaters!
Apart from the “Dusty Sea Green,” she now has two sets of Merino and Soft Silk Mohair, one in the colour “Caramel” and the other in “Pea Shoot. Madeleine is considering the Fern Sweater for her “Caramel” yarn and the Karl Johan Sweater for the “Pea Shoot” yarn.
Support the Show as a Patron
Producing this show is both Madeleine’s and my full time work and we also carry significant expenses. Therefore, we rely entirely on the financial support from our viewers through Patreon to continue producing interviews and engaging knitting content for you all.
This is our Patreon page. Recently, Patreon has added several new features to its platform. For example, if you go to collections, our posts are now categorized by topic. So, if you want to listen to previous Fruity Knitting Live Events or use a patron discount, you’ll find the related posts right here.
So, if you enjoy the show and want to enable us to keep producing it, please become a patron. We’ve named each level of support after a different sheep breed. You can choose to become a Hebridean, a Merino, or a Shetland patron. Thank you very much for your support!
Upcoming Fruity Knitting Live Event – The Knitting Pilgrim
We’re hosting a Fruity Knitting Live Event on 2 December with the Canadian actor, knitter, and textile artist Kirk Dunn. We interviewed him in Episode 136. This summer, Kirk toured Austria and Germany with his one-man play called The Knitting Pilgrim. The play recounts Kirk’s fifteen-year artistic and spiritual journey of hand-knitting three huge panels that look like massive stained-glass windows. The pictures in the knitted windows explore the similarities and differences between the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
- Details to attend the Live Event here (Shetland patrons)
- Comment your questions for Kirk here (Shetland & Merino patrons)
Additional online Knit & Chat
Starting December, we’ll be hosting an additional monthly Knit and Chat session for our Shetland patrons! The idea is to create a fun space where Shetland patrons can meet regularly and get to know each other. You’ll have the chance to share your progress on your latest knitting project and ask the group any related knitting questions.
What we are wearing
Andrea is wearing the Barbroe Blouse by Knitting For Olive during the interview and the Ariel Pullover by EweKnit (Claudia Quintanilla) on the couch. Madeleine is wearing her Good Grandpa Cardigan by Caidree.
Credits
- J. S. Bach, The Well Tempered Klavier, Prelude No. 3 in C-sharp major, BWV 848, performed by Kimiko
- Henry Eccles, Violin Sonata in G Minor, II. Courante, performed by Thrax, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
- “Alright, Okay, You Win” by Peggy Lee, from the album Things Are Swingin’, ℗ A Capitol Records release; ℗ 1959 Capitol Records, LLC
