Useful, enjoyable or simply therapeutic? The knitting wave is sweeping Scandinavia.
"I think knitting is popular because people want to make something personal for people they care about or for themselves,” says Ingunn Myklebust, the knitter behind the hit book #bystrikk (#Urban Knitting) (Pitch/ Northern Stories).
Knitting has long been an important part of Norwegian folk tradition but in recent years the hobby has enjoyed an unprecedented boom. This renaissance in knitting is also evident in Norway’s book world: at any given time there will be at least one knitting book on the non-fiction best-seller list – often three or four. Myklebust thinks that the mindfulness aspect of knitting may explain its appeal.
“You’re doing something practical and physical that is useful too. An added bonus of knitting is that you can also shut out the world and find peace.”
New generations of knitters
Not so many years ago knitting was the sole preserve of the older generation. But now, ever more young people are picking up knitting needles. As a result, knitting has become part of the zeitgeist, in which the younger generations are embracing DIY projects, not to mention recycling.
Wenche Haugsand, director of Pitch publishers, rejects the idea that knitting has ever been unpopular: “Knitting has always been popular, hasn’t it? All that’s happened is that in the past few years it’s got trendier and more visible in cities as well.”
In the past few years, the publishing sector has seen some real “monster sellers” on the knitting front.
“The latest big knitting wave started with Klompelompe,” says Jorunn Sandsmark, director of Kagge and Stenersen publishers.
Hanne Andreassen Hjelmås and Torunn Steinsland are the women behind the knitting title with the funny name, Klompelompe. Ever since the first book, Klompelompe: Strikk til baby, barn og voksen (Klompelompe: Knitting for Babies, Kids and Adults) (Stenersen/Stilton Literary Agency) , was published in 2016, Klompelompe has been a market leader in the Norwegian knitting book market. Six books have so far been published in the series, which have, at the time of writing, sold a combined total of around 300,000 copies and have now been sold to nine countries.
From blog to book
One success is often followed by others. Last year, Pitch published Ingunn Myklebust’s #Bystrikk (#Urban Knitting) to a very warm reception from the knitting world. This year, it published the follow-up, Enda mer #Bystrikk (#More Urban Knitting). So far 45,000 copies of the books have been printed and the rights have been sold to the Netherlands and Belgium.
What Klompelompe and #Bystrikk have in common is that the fairytale started on social media. Here, the authors built up a base of followers who loyally followed them to the book market.
Another knitting success that started on social media is the knitting book series by Bitta Mikkelborg, who shares her knitting patterns with the 60,000 members of her Facebook group. Her knitting books Sokker (Socks), Kluter (Cloths), Strømper (Knee-highs) and Luer (Hats) (Pax) have sent Mikkelborg to the top of the Norwegian best-seller lists, and she has also published a popular knitting calendar for four years in a row. Her books have been sold to Sweden and Denmark, and have sold a combined total of more than 100,000 copies in Norway.
Not just Scandinavia
Before the current knitting wave, Arne and Carlos paved the way for trendy, fun knitting. The design duo has focused on knitting since back in 2008 and although their starting point is traditional patterns, they have developed their own unique style. In 2010 they published Christmas Baubles (Cappelen Damm Agency), which was an instant hit. Since then they have published books like Knitted Dolls, Needlework from the garden and 30 slippers – one pattern. The books have sold to 15 countries and achieved combined Norwegian sales of 220,000 copies.
And today’s modern knitters aren’t confined to Scandinavia, as evidenced by international interest in Norwegian knitting books.
“Knitting seems to be on the rise in many European countries.” Klompelompe authors Torunn Steinsland and Hanne Hjelmås Andreassen told me recently that most of their Instagram followers are from Scandinavia, but that an ever-increasing number are from a lot of other countries. Scandinavia is followed by Russia and Turkey, according to Hans Petter Bakketeig of Stilton Agency, which handles Klompelompe’s foreign rights sales.