Book review: Grønland by Annette Danielsen

Det er jo ikke nogen hemmelighed, at jeg elsker Grønland. Derfor var jeg også rigtig nysgerrig efter at få fingrene i Annette Danielsens nye strikkebog med inspiration fra Grønland. Jeg skal være ærlig og sige, at da jeg blot så billederne af modellerne, tænkte jeg egentlig, at de var da fine, men at jeg ikke helt kunne forstå al snakken. Men på Fanø Strikkefestivallen havde jeg muligheden for både at se modellerne i virkeligheden (og prøve et par af dem på), samt bladre i bogen, og så var jeg faktisk solgt.

I probably don’t surprise any of you by admitting that I love Greenland. So when I heard that Annette Danielsen had made a new book with inspiration from Greenland, I was rather eager to see it. I will be the first to admit, that when I first just saw the pictures of the models, I thought that they were pretty, but that I couldn’t understand what the fuss was about. Fast forward to Fanø Strikkefestival, where I had the opportunity to see the models in the wool (and try a few of them on) and hold the book in my hands, which resulted in my being completely sold.

Det er muligvis den flotteste strikkebog med den mest sammenhængende fortælling, som jeg har set. Jeg er ret vild med ideen om at forfølge en visuel inspirationskilde, sådan at bogen jo faktisk ender op med at være en strikkefortolkning af nogle smukke fotos, som de tog på en tur på Grønland.

It is probably the most beautiful knitting book with the most cohesive story, I’ve ever seen. I really love the idea of following a visual source of inspiration, which means the book ends up being a knitted interpretation of the beautiful photos, they took in Greenland.

Der er 16 modeller i bogen, 2 kjoler og 14 trøjer og cardigans. Flere af dem bliver jeg nødt til at strikke på et eller andet tidspunkt her i livet. Særlig er jeg forelsket i ‘Isbjerg‘, som jeg prøvede på Annettes stand på Fanø, men også ‘Sort is’ er på drømme-strikke-ønskelisten herhjemme. Alle designs er illustreret med smukke billeder af de visuelle inspirationskilder fra Grønland, detalje fotos af modellen og en fin stregtegning. At der så også er et gennemgående tema med fine grønlandske “grafiske landskaber”, gør det jo bare endnu bedre.

There are 16 designs in the book, 2 dresses and 14 sweaters and cardigans. There are several that I feel I must knit at some point in the future. I’m especially in love with ‘Black Ice’ and ‘Iceberg‘, which I tried on at Annettes booth on Fanø. Both are on my dream-wish-knitting-list. All of the designs are illustrated with beautiful pictures of the visual source of inspiration from Greenland, pretty shots of details on the models and a lovely drawing of the design. The cohesive theme of pretty “illustrated landscapes” for each design just adds an extra level of beauty.

Prikken over i’et for mig er dog, at jeg havde fornøjelsen af at se Annette fortælle om modellerne og inspirationen bag dem på Fanø Strikkefestival. Det var en rigtig stor fornøjelse, for hun er et fortællemæssigt naturtalent. Særligt kommer jeg nok aldrig til at glemme konstateringen om, at det var svært at strikke “Grønlænderhunde”, for hvordan fanger man egentlig lyden af en hundeslædetur over sneen og lugten af hundene (og angsten for at de skider på en). Som Annette så fint og tørt konstaterede, så nøjedes hun med sporene i sneen og de filtrede skagler, og lod resten være i minderne.

The absolute top point, however, has to be the wonderful presentation that I saw Annette make on Fanø Strikkefestival. She talked about each design and the construction of it, the special details and the inspiration behind it. It was a great pleasure as she is a story telling genious. I’ll probably never forget how she rather dryly commented that making the “Grønlænderhunde” (i.e. sledge dogs) was rather difficult, because how would you capture the sound of the sledge across the snow and the smell of the dogs (and the fear of them shitting on you). As Annette said, she’d narrowed it down to the tracks in the snow and the tangle of the lines and let the rest be preserved in memories.

Jeg synes, at hvis I ikke allerede har haft mulighed for at kigge på bogen, så bør I “bladre” lidt i den på Annettes hjemmeside og se, om også I bliver fanget. Jeg er i hvert fald helt solgt.

I must say, that I think it’s a beauty and would recommend that if you haven’t already seen it – try “browsing” through it on Annette’s homepage and see what you think.