Are you sitting comfortably?

Recently I spent a great morning exploring at the Danish Design Museum.
http://designmuseum.dk/en
I had been meaning to go for ages as I often cycle past it. The chill wintry days continue and museum visits have been a good way to keep exploring the city, and also stay warm.

I was interested in the area of the museum which show cased the mid twentieth century furniture, particularly a huge range of Danish chair designs. There were so many variations on a these wooden chairs. Normally you just see a couple of examples. Here are a few of my favorites, along with shots of the galleries.

Y-stolen, 1950 by Hans J Wegner

Double chieftan chair, 1949 by Finn Juhl

Arne Jacobsen: Egg chair (C) & Swan chair (R)

There was a small room dedicated to the designer and architect Arne Jacobsen.
http://www.arne-jacobsen.com/en/arne-jacobsen  Many of his original designs are still being made. Some will look very familiar as his bentwood chairs have been much copied.

Ant 3100 chair,  by Arne Jacobsen, Fritz Hansen

Sometimes while looking at furniture in museums I want to know what it is like to use it. An added bonus in Denmark is that because many of these chairs are still in production you actually can test them at some of the furniture design shops.

In the case of some Arne Jacobsen's chairs you can visit the Radisson Blu Hotel in the center of Copenhagen. It was designed by Jacobsen, completed in 1959 and at the time was Denmark's first skyscaper. Jacobsen designed everything for the interior as well as the building. There is still one room 606 preserved with all the original pieces. If you want to sit in an Egg or a Swan chair you can go in and enjoy a drink at the hotel bar and try one out.

I am definitely a fan of the mid-century designers, the later rooms from 1970's and 1980's were not so inspiring. If you want to learn more about Danish design I found this site very informative http://www.danish-furniture.com/

Some of the more recent designs definitely raise the question "are you sitting comfortably?"

Arne og Carlos

Carlos (L) & Arne (R)

 
At long last the promised post about Arne & Carlos. If you live outside Scandinavia you are forgiven for not knowing about this dynamic knitting duo - often referred to as "strikning guruer" by the press, yes knitting gurus! 

First a little introductory video:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FoDghBI3F34&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%

I was invited to join a group of knitters who went to an October afternoon lecture by Arne & Carlos at the Louisiana Museum http://www.louisiana.dk/uk in conjunction with the New Nordic exhibit. They were introducing their new book "Strikke-Dukker" (Knitted Dolls) and also discussing what led to their gradual transition and shift away from fashion and knitwear design, to becoming authors. Their now famous "Julekugler" (55 Knitted Christmas Balls) book, which is currently the best selling title in Norway, has inspired many knitters to take up teeny (3mm) double pointed needles and start knitting these christmas balls with intricate traditional Norwegian designs.

As the talk was in Danish, I obviously only inferred what details I could from the photos Arne & Carlos shared. Judging from the animated response from the audience and the amount of laughter they were clearly entertaining presenters! I enjoyed the atmosphere and embarked on my very own first julekugler while they spoke. After the book signing we actually got to meet them. It ws fun to hear how they are now promoting their books overseas. They have a book tour planned in Februrary for the US west coast.

Here is ball #1 in construction (only #2 - #55 to go!!) It could be a while before our Christmas tree is decorated with many different fair isle' red and white julekugler.

Here are some julekugler at different stages of the process knitted by Arne & Carlos.

Once smitten, twice ... not shy but energized. When Arne & Carlos mentioned they would be at the annual Danish Bog Forum (Book Fair) mid November and we were welcome to join them and knit at the booth - we were adding the date to our iCalendars faster than you can say knitting needle. So on a grey foggy Copenhagen wintry day I made the journey out to the vast conference complex south of the city center where I spent the afternoon knitting and chatting = perfect combination.

The art of knitting is a very big part of Scandinavian culture. When you are riding on the bus or train you often see knitters at work, and many of the knitting shops have "knit-in" sessions in the afternoon, or the evening. Now my Danish course has started my knitting time has been greatly reduced!

Don't you love these striped tights

 

 

Of course there are patterns for gorgeous knitted dolls clothes too