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Ethnic Knitting:
A Roundtable Discussion
by L'Tanya Durante
Ethnic knitting (also called global or worldly knitting) describes ethnic
knitting techniques and traditions around the world. However,
technique seems to be
just one way of looking at it. Like any art form, individual
interpretations vary. Ethnic knitting is as much about the designer and
their inspiration, the yarn, and the landscape as it is about technique itself.
To
discuss ethnic knitting, I was joined by six
knitwear designers -- Marianne Isager, Gina Griffin, Donna
Druchunas, Kristin Nicholas, Sahara Briscoe, and Susan Lazear. Our virtual
roundtable get-together brought about provocative and enlightening discussions on
inspiration and passion and on what moves them to create
beautiful knitwear.
Marianne
Isager,
Author of Knitting Out of Africa, JAPAN, and INKA,
www.isagerstrik.dk
 On
inspiration…
"I don´t use the ethnic techniques. I still knit exactly the way I learned
to knit as a young girl. I’m often amazed to see knitting techniques from
other cultures, such as the knitting men from the island Taquile in Peru,
with their very thin and fine needles I do, however, feel very inspired
by the ethnic patterns. This can be patterns found in woven or embroidered
textiles or even in pottery, which I have used a lot in the INKA book. I
am not so much into techniques but more inspired by the visual feeling and
the colours I see. It also inspires me that I find the same symbols and
patterns all over the world, just used in different ways."
"I
guess it just talks to my feelings. Like a child who has just learned to
draw and wants to copy what she is seeing, some of these patterns are so
plain and knittable—you just have to make it. I am not inspired by
the complicated patterns. It is always the plain and simple patterns
which touch my fantasy. And working with knitting, I want the work to be
nice and simple to do. It gives a more beautiful result in the end if the
knitter has been able to relax and have fun during the work. I don't want
the yarn to be forced into patterns which are not natural for the
structure of the quality. The aim is always to have the yarn, the pattern
and the knitter working together. This gives the absolutely best result."
On
passion…
"It is not so much
the knitting technique that shakes me, but more the tradition and the
patterns being given from one generation to the next, sometimes and
hopefully with a new twist. I am not knitting the way my mother or my
grandmother did…Oh yes, the stitches are the same but I use these stitches
in a new way. This is the thing which always shakes me when I study
patterns—the little twist from one generation to the next. Even my
daughter, who is also a knitter (www.amimono.dk),
works with the same patterns as I do, and she just finds another way to
use them."
On
process…
"The design process
is very different from model to model. Sometimes the idea comes from
colours and sometimes it can be a drawing in the sand. Sometimes a little
detail from a brick building and sometimes a scarf from a museum. I always
keep my eyes open and I always have a pen and a piece of paper in my bag.
Of course, I also use my camera a lot. But it is first when I start to
knit and try to create the ideas from my mind to the knitwork that I
really get into the details of the pattern. I can work for many hours with
a lot of knitting samples before I am finally satisfied with my design.
After this comes the work with the calculator, the paper and pencil and
how to make the ideas into a nice sweater, with beautiful details that
sometimes, if you are lucky, is close to a piece of art. I used to knit
when I travelled and it often resulted in a good talk with other women. No
matter where you are in the world, this language will always be the same."
On advice…
"A very good way to start the design process is to visit some of these
museums with old pottery and textiles and go through the museum with this
sentence in your mind: “which of all these patterns would be easy to
knit?” You will find a lot of inspiration. But you can also take a walk in
the street and just outside your door there will be many patterns that
could be nice for a sweater. "
"The
good thing about knitting is that you can use the yarn again. With good
yarns you can try over and over, till you have the result you like. But it
is very important to use yarns of a good and beautiful quality. I love to
teach and help my students with this process."
On
her style…
“Less is more. I had a
teacher at the design school and she always wanted us to “cut away” and
find the soul in the patterns we were working with. I think this a very
Scandinavian way of thinking.
<<Continued
on next page>>
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