Finishing date: July 2022. Styled and photographed by Natalia Salazar in August 2022.
I
Somewhere on the mountain plateau Hardangervidda, during our roadtrip between Stockholm and Bergen in August 2022, Natalia Salazar and I stopped to photograph this oversized blue jumper-dres
The umbrella is not a prop. It was raining, the wind made my eyes tear up. To protect the camera, Natalia had to stand with a second umbrella and a piece of fabric, regularly wiping the raindrops off the lens. Why do we put ourselves through this? An idea comes to me, and then I find it impossible to let go. Natalia is the same. Maybe, making an idea come to life is worth being cold and wet and stared at by German tourists in RVs. Or, we’re just compulsive.
And isn’t that the height of luck? To meet a kindred spirit. Someone who will indulge all your ideas. Because she’s got the same flavor of crazy herself.
II
The jumper-dress is made from an alpaca mohair yarn I got from my aunt Akka ages ago. I think she bought the whole bag of it at a thrift store. It’s a little bit itchy and I’ve been struggling to come up with something to do with it. But then, in a spur-of-the-moment, raw-and-rainy-day-in-Bergen, I-want-to-knit-something-huge-and-fluffy-urge, I just got started on this. Without much of a plan. Big needles. It was quick. I really do enjoy knitting cables.
It is a statement piece. I wonder when I’ll feel up for wearing it. I wonder what my ecologist colleagues will say.
That I must report, though: People do have a real appreciation for knitwear in Norway. At least for that, I had moved to the right place. (For other things too. I like Bergen.)
Katja Malmborg 