K's Traditional Norwegian Selbugenser

 I loved knitting this Selbugener for K, and I loved taking Patricia's (Knitography Farms) online class.  The pattern is 227-R Selbugenser by Rauma Designs.  The pattern was in Norwegian, and Patricia translated it for us and taught us the traditional Norwegian techniques.  K looks so pretty in her Selbugenser!

The neckline was knit using a very small steek and shaping the neckline by using increases on each side.  I reinforced the steek before cutting it.  The neckline ribbing is knit 1, purl 1 until it is long enough, then a purl round for turning, then a facing of k1, p1.  The facing is sewn by hand to the wrong side of the neckline, covering the steek stitches.  

The body is knit in the round from the top down.  The Norwegian motifs are very traditional.  The sleeves are knit until about long enough, and then put on a holder.  I used wool thread to reinforce where the sleeves will go into the body, and then cut the body to insert the sleeves.  The sleeves are knit with a facing at the top, which is sewn down over the steek stitches on the wrong side. The length of the sleeve is finished after the sleeves are sewn in to be sure it is the correct length.
 

                                                                     Sleeve Facing

I really enjoyed knitting this sweater for K, and K loves her sweater!  I love the finishing techniques used in this sweater.  I can see why Norwegian sweaters last a lifetime.

Notes:  Size small.  Rauma Finullgarm, 3 skeins white and 7 skeins red.  Needles:  Size  2.5 mm for ribbing and 3mm for sweater.  I made the sleeve cuffs smaller--60 stitches, and the sleeves longer.

K's Norwegian Kofte, the Gammel Sandvik

I'm really happy with how the Norwegian sweater turned out for K.  She looks so pretty!  She chose the colors, and they look beautiful on her.  I love the flower design.  It will keep her warm this winter!  It was very fun to knit for her!

 

This pattern was quite a challenge since I had never knit a Norwegian sweater before.  I learned a lot of new techniques.  The pattern is over 100 years old.  Norwegian patterns were an oral tradition, taught from mother to daughter, so much of it wasn't written down.

This was an online class from Patricia of Knitography Farm in Norway.  She is an excellent instructor, and she provides videos, handouts, pattern translations, and zoom meetings.   It's wonderful to be able to learn the traditional Norwegian knitting techniques.  The pattern was in Norwegian, and she translated it for us and gave us much more information that isn't included in the pattern.

I'm so glad the sweater fits K.  Since the pattern was given to us in stages, I didn't know the finished number of stitches for the circumference until we got to that point in the pattern, so I didn't know it would be so close to the finished chest measurement.  So, I added 2 inches of ease to the body of the Kofte when I split the arms from the yoke.  So, I added 2 stitches into each flower motif to increase the chest measurement a total of 2 inches (12 stitches), which was just enough.  

I learned so many new techniques.  We raised the back of the neck of the Kofte with Norwegian short rows, which works wonderfully.  It makes a sweater much more comfortable to wear.

Patricia taught me to take my time and make my work as neat as possible.  There is a lot of finishing work by hand in this traditional Kofte pattern.  She recommends handsewing the steek (the stitches where you cut the sweater open) to stabilize it with wool thread, as the knitters did long ago.  She prefers handsewing because a sewing machine can distort the stitches, and also with handsewing you can use wool thread, which matches the sweater.

The vertical buttonbands are knitted with a knitted on facing, and then sewn down by hand.  Then the facing is sewn by hand over the cut steek.  You can add a woven ribbon over the facing, too, if you choose.  

I really enjoyed knitting this sweater for K and learned so much about Norwegian traditional sweater knitting. 

My notes:  Cascade Sport, 2.5 and 3.5 mm needles.  24 stitches/inch.  Size XS/S, increased 2 inches at chest.  

Buttonhole:  I cast off 2 stitches in ribbing pattern.  Next row, I turned to the other side and cast on stitches using cable cast on a little loose.  Before placing the last cast on stitch onto the left needle, take the yarn to the front.  I took the left needle under the stitch to put it on the left needle.

Norwegian short rows:  2 per side of neckline:  at 28 stitches left, 24 stitches left, and 20 stitches left.  Before shaping with short rows, purl one row so short rows start with a knit row.

Cast on 4 stitches for steek (plus the 2 edge stitches which no longer count as stitches for the pattern)  Beginning of round will start after steek stitches.  Increase to 164 stitches (162 plus 2 edge stitches).

Cast on steek stitches with back loop.  Next round, knit them through the back loop.  So, 6 stitches will be the steek (4 plus 2 edge stitches)  I ended up adding 2 extra stitches (6 plus 2 edge), but next time I wouldn't do that--too bulky.

Cut the contrast yarn at the steek for the plain background rows between motifs.  You can catch them in the sewing.  Machine sewing seems more durable.  Or weave them in.  I machine sewed one line of stitching and handsewed another line on each side of the steek.

Before splitting for the arms, I finished Chart B except for the 4 plain rows.  First row after dividing is first plain row.  The yoke is almost 9.5" long, not counting the ribbing.

K's arm is 11".  I added 2 inches to the sweater body width.

Before dividing, there were 288 stitches, 8 repeats.  After splitting the sleeves, there would be 204 stitches, which would be 34 inches plus one buttonband width, not enough ease.

So, I added 12 stitches when I divided the sleeves for 2 more inches=216 stitches.  Continue with Chart B, so 36 stitch motif, 6 times around.

Front 45,  Cast on 20, 86 for back, cast on 20, 45 front.  Take off 56 stitches for sleeves.  216 for body = 36 inches plus buttonband.  So, sleeves will end up a little wider, too.

Body of Kofte: 4 complete flowers for the body length.  From the beginning of the steek to the end of the last flower is 20" before the ribbing.

I used 2.5 mm for ribbing of k1,p1 for 2" wrist cuff and bottom ribbing.  Cast off in pattern using 2.75 mm needle so it's not too tight.

Underarm:  Picked up 20 stitches at underarm, 3 stitches at corners and decrease to 78 stitches.  Knit using Chart C.  Decreases down sleeve: k1 (or p1) k2tog....ssk.

You can do an underarm seam starting about 1/2" from beginning.  Either purl underarm stitch each round, or k underarm stitch one round, p underarm stitch next round.  Repeat.  

Right buttonband is buttonhole side.  Left is button side.  7 buttons, 5/8".

Buttonholes: First is 3/8 inch from top.  Each buttonhole is about 3.5" apart. About 30 rows between buttonholes.  Last buttonhole about 1-1 1/4 inches into ribbing.

 

K's Norwegian Kofte Sweater

Patricia of Knitography Farm has wonderful online classes for traditional Norwegian knitting of socks, mittens, and sweaters.  I've been taking her class on Norwegian Kofte sweaters, and I'm knitting the Gammel Sandvik sweater for K.

The Gammel Sandvik pattern is over 100 years old and is a traditional Norwegian sweater.

I've been learning so much about Norwegian knitting techniques.  We've learned to knit Norwegian short rows to add length to the back neck of the sweater.  This improves the fit of the sweater.  We started with the neck ribbing and then added in stitches for the steek.  The steek is made up of stitches that will be cut open later to turn the sweater into a cardigan.

 I knit the XS/S, but I didn't realize the measurements were the finished sweater measurements, so I added in 2 inches to the body of the sweater when I split off the sleeves.  This pattern is difficult to add width because the motif is so large, so I added 2 stitches into each motif, which added 12 stitches, or 2".

This sweater gives lots of practice in stranded knitting.  The sweater motif has long stretches of one color, so I trapped the other color now and then.  This always takes me longer to knit than motifs without long stretches of color. 

I knit the sleeves using double pointed needles.  Patricia said we could knit a "sleeve seam" under the sleeve by knitting the underarm stitch on one round, and then purling the underarm stitch on the next round, and repeating this pattern.  I didn't do the underarm seam on this sweater.   She said to start the sleeve seam about a 1/2" or inch after beginning the sleeve.

I really like the length of the sleeve and will add a 2" cuff.  I added another motif of the pattern for length on the body after this picture.  The body will also have a 2" cuff.
 

I'm really enjoying knitting this traditional Norwegian sweater.  The buttonband will have a knitting on facing, which will hide the cut stitches.  This will be an interesting technique.  I love learning new historical techniques in knitting.