Moss, forest floor and fairy tales keep turning up in this autumn's collections. It is a good trend — and one I have been in for a while, without ever calling it anything.
When I read through this autumn's trend reports, I stopped at one thing: the forest. Not forest as a pattern or a motif, but the forest as a mood. Moss, bark, the green that turns towards brown. Light filtering down between the trunks.
And then I went through my own patterns, and there they were. Eight garments that are all about the same thing, made over several years, without my ever having gathered them anywhere.
Here they are.
The Magic Woods
This one is named after the old Norwegian forest. The moss, the wild flowers and the haze between the trunks — the kind of forest that looks like someone has forgotten it, and that is the finest of them all.
The poncho asks nothing of you. No sleeves to thread your arms into, no fit to hit — just something soft over your shoulders.
It is knitted with three strands at once: gold, mohair and alpaca. The gold thread doesn't shine, it catches the light — rather like sun hitting something wet between the tree trunks.
Beginner · needle 7 · three strands · gold, mohair and alpaca
Woods – The Nordic Soul
Woods is the one that sells the most, and I think I know why. It is calm. The eyelet pattern lies like light through leaves, and the puff sleeves give it just enough volume not to be dull.
It is also a good place to start if you have never knitted an eyelet pattern before. It looks harder than it is.
Beginner plus · needles 5 and 7 · eyelet pattern and puff sleeves
Bjørk
Named after the Norwegian national tree — a tree that is strong and fragile at the same time. It stands through the winter and bends in the wind without breaking.
Bjørk is knitted in alpaca from Bestebakken Hotell in Hafslo, in yarn spun from the wool of the hotel's own alpacas. Rusti and the gang graze in the yard. It isn't often you know which animal the yarn came from.
Beginner plus · needle 7 · half brioche and puff sleeves · alpaca and wool
See the pattern → · Read about the collaboration with Bestebakken
Leaves
The leaves are embroidered on afterwards, not knitted in. That means you decide where they sit, how many there are, and what colours they get. No two Leaves are ever alike.
Embroidery on knitting is the simplest way to make a garment your own. You need a darning needle and a little time.
Beginner plus · needle 7 · embroidery and puff sleeves
Krokus
The crocus comes up through the snow before anything else dares to. It is small and it doesn't give in.
This one has an embroidered flower panel and puff sleeves, and it is the most demanding in this collection. Not because the stitches are hard, but because you are keeping track of two things at once.
Lightly experienced · needle 7 · embroidery and puff sleeves · silk
The Dandelion
A lot of people think of the dandelion as a weed. Look closer and it is a beautiful, intricate flower.
This one is a tribute to dandelion children — the ones who manage in spite of the hardest circumstances, and grow into beautiful people.
It is the only waistcoat in this collection, and waistcoats are one of the things I get the most questions about. There will be more.
Lightly experienced · needle 7 · embroidery · alpaca and wool
Wild Rose
The wild rose grows where nobody planted it. It is thorny and it flowers anyway.
Half brioche gives the sweater weight and drape without making it stiff, and it is a technique I use a lot — it makes the garment hang well even in an airy yarn.
Beginner plus · needles 5 and 7 · half brioche and puff sleeves
Forget Me Not
The forget-me-not is the family's favourite flower, handed down through three generations. So there is an extra story in the name, and it is probably the pattern of mine that means the most to me.
Sky blue and yellow, half-wild flowers embroidered on. Simple to knit, and good to give away.
Beginner · needle 7 · embroidery
The colours, in case you are wondering
The forest isn't green. It is grey-green, moss green, bark brown and wet stone. It is the light that comes in at an angle in October and makes everything slightly golden.
If you are choosing yarn for these garments, I would stay in the muted tones and let the embroidery or the texture be what lifts it. A garment rarely needs both a strong colour and a strong texture — pick one, and let the other rest.
And if you have leftover yarn lying about, this is exactly where it fits. The leaves on Leaves, the flowers on Krokus and the dandelion on The Dandelion need only a few metres each.
If you want to start
If you are new to the needles, start with The Magic Woods or Forget Me Not. Both are marked Beginner, and both go quickly on needle 7.
If you want to learn something new, Woods is a good place. The eyelet pattern is the technique most people think is beyond them, and the one most people are surprised to find they can do.
If you get stuck along the way, every technique is explained with video in Knittipedia. It is free, and it is there whether you have bought anything from me or not.
Have a good autumn. Take your knitting out into the forest.
Anne-Turid
All knitting patterns · The best of Mohair · Knitting with leftover yarn · Winter knits