"Scandinavian patterns", this phrase has become a household name. So you can headline an article about the fjords of Norway, about the Suomi people in Finland, about a trip to Sweden, Denmark, Iceland. It is legitimate and recognizable - as a business card of the states of northern Europe.
Fashion comes and goes
Centuries later, Norway discovered rich
oil reserves, and for many centuries the countries located on the
Scandinavian Peninsula were agricultural. Hunters, shepherds, farmers - all of them needed warm clothes. Women (the traditional image - a warm jacket and an apron with ornaments, two braids on the chest) took care of the warm clothes of husbands and earning sons, and of maintaining cleanliness and comfort in the house. This is a clear-cut image, originating from "Kalevala" and animated films such as "The Snow Queen" 1957 release. Then, perhaps, thanks to this animated film, “Scandinavian patterns” were popular in Russia. In the photographs you can see sweaters with a round yoke, knitted from the neck, with traditional deer, Christmas trees and snowflakes. Several decades passed, and the fashion for products with a characteristic northern ornament reached such heights that in the winter collections of 2011-2012 there was no one who would go around this topic. The characteristic pattern is even covered shoes.
Favorite New Year theme
It may be fashionable, it’s beautiful (a stereotype embedded in the subconscious), but the “Scandinavian patterns” are really very good. Of course, they are incredibly modern, but still somehow remind childhood. Because their traditional theme is inextricably linked with the New Year. In the northern hemisphere there is no person who would not like this holiday in the classical sense of the name - Christmas trees, deers, snowflakes, Santa Claus will now appear. Moreover, he comes from these places.
The origins of acquaintance with northern ornaments
In Soviet times, fashion for certain things was also present. For example, for some reason, the play “Mistress Niskavuori” was very popular. It was staged by almost all theaters in the country, including Maly. And when the Finnish feature film of the same name was released, the country stirred up. Everything became fashionable - from the main character's hairstyle to the interest in hand knitting, for which threads were bought in kilograms in the film. The main character wore stunning sweaters - so the “Scandinavian patterns” are familiar firsthand.
Pattern Specifics
Domestic needlewomen sat down at work, and from modest improvised means masterpieces were obtained. Not everyone knew that tight knitting, due to the complex interweaving of threads that came from weaving art, was called “jacquard,” but grandmother’s methods achieved both a clean wrong side and a clear execution of motives. “Scandinavian patterns” are characterized by the fact that when performing a large drawing on the back of the work, the thread sags, and if it is not fixed, this will create difficulties when putting on clothes. Northern ornaments are good in that they can be varied. A large traditional snowflake on the back or chest of a sweater surrounded by geometric motifs is also a Scandinavian pattern. In the classic version, it looks like this - a round yoke to the middle of the forearm and the bottom of the sweater are trimmed with large drawings of national themes, usually on two sides of the ornament are limited by “cloves”. The entire field of the product is covered with contrasting dots or small "stars" located in a strict geometric order. It is this "jacquard" that makes the product warm.
National motifs of ornaments
Drawings of the peoples of northern Europe cover all types of clothing - hats, shoes, gloves. Patterns are woven, transferred to clothes using modern photography techniques, knitted on typewriters. But manual work has always been highly valued. The cost of a product made of high-quality, environmentally friendly, synthetics-free raw materials made with the help of products of the same value is over the top.
Now there are a lot of professional magazines offering Scandinavian knitting patterns. You can also crochet, but the front knit makes the field smooth, and the ornament is better visible on it. The color scheme is dominated by natural shades - brown, white, beige, red. In some areas of Scandinavia, all shades of blue and gray were considered national.
The simplicity and genius of the northern pattern
The classic version of the northern pattern implies a small pattern - the deer occupies 14x9 squares, the pattern is constantly intertwined, the Christmas tree - 10x11, the quadrangular snowflake - 11x11. You can not ignore the star of the northern pattern - a snowflake, consisting of 8 hollow or solid rhombuses, connected in two. The drawing is absolutely correct in a geometric sense, all proportions are identical, it is clear, beautiful. This is a small perfection, located on a field of 19x19 cells. From the inside, the threads are intertwined all the time. Snowflake has become a central figure (even a deer cannot argue with it) of folk art in the European North. There are many benefits called “Knitting. Scandinavian patterns. Schemes ”in which these elements are primarily described. Truly all ingenious is simple.