Saturday, June 21, 2008

Knotwork




When people hear the word "knotwork" and know what it means, most people think Celtic. That is not entirely true. Knotwork has been found all over the European countries, covering more than just the Celtic areas. Back in the day of the vikings, they did some beautiful knotwork.







So, I wanted to take a moment and share some beautiful knotwork being done today.










Jewelry with knotwork is very popular. CelicKnot sells some beautiful pieces on Etsy. ( http://www.celticknot.etsy.com/ ) They also have painted boxes and other items. I invite you to check out the store!





For knitting, you can recreate many knotwork patterns. The problem is that if you use a standard cablign technique, you'll have holes. It takes some special revisions to get it to look right.







This piece is called Blue Braids. It is named such because of the names of the petterns used in it. The side pieces are called Saxon Braids, and the center pattern is titled Freya's Braids. This lapghan took roughly 70 hours to make.






This is the center piece of another afghan I made as a gift. There are mirrored designs on the sides with a center panel. This off-white center pieces is borded by purple, also with knotwork designs.





Not all pieces have to be so intricate. Sometimes simple designs are the best.



This two-tones piece, done in dusty rose, is a good example. The center portion has a simple zigzag boarder. The darker rose side pieces have a running knotwork pattern. Very simple, yet very striking.
Look for these types of knitted pieces at our Etsy store this fall!



3 comments:

Crafty Mama said...

Those knitted pieces are beautiful! I can't even imagine how to accomplish something so intricate. I'm still on simple lace designs.

Jeanene said...

Thank you. Knitting them is not nearly as difficult as writing the charts for them!

In a few weeks, when I have time, I'll be starting a new one. It will have the knotwork borders, but the center will be trees.

jenscloset said...

Everything is so beautiful! I did just buy some nice things from celtic knot!