Anna Friberg
Socks, socks, socks and maybe a cowl or two? We have the pleasure of Anna Friberg, better known as @Yarnesty on Instagram is one of our NKS designers!
Anna is a fan of designing sock patterns, right now it is the structure pattern on the socks that attracts Anna the most!
But let’s start from the beginning.
– I don’t remember not being able to knit, so I must have learned to knit very early, says Anna.
Since I learned so early, I unfortunately don’t remember who taught me, but one thing I know for sure, I knitted a lot when I was a child and teenager, Anna continues. It was a big event in the group of friends when the Yarn Service catalog landed in the mailbox. Anna’s grandmother
knitted a lot and Anna always got lace mittens from her for Christmas.
– I especially remember a pair that were carmine red, which were my favorites. Anna continued knitting through high school and until she was just over 20 years old. Then, on several occasions, she received sad comments that she was dorky when she knitted.
– There and then I couldn’t stand the pressure, so I lost my desire to knit. I started again slowly 15 years ago,” says Anna.
– 10 years ago I bought my first interchangeable knitting needles and it was incredibly inspiring, later that year I suffered from exhaustion and then I knitted myself healthy. Since then I have continued to knit, I knit for real, every day,” she continues.
Anna prefers to knit socks and sweaters, but also likes to knit shawls and cowls. Like many experienced knitters, Anna has her favorite size of needles, 2.25 mm for socks and 4.5 mm for sweaters.
– I almost only knit in yarns spun from 2-4 threads and pretty much only wool or merino, because it is so forgiving, she laughs.
– When I knit socks, it is usually in yarns that have a little nylon in them for durability. Ideally, I would like to knit in thin sock yarn with spun mohair!
– “Believe it or not, I’ve recently rediscovered fluff mohair,” says Anna. Although I
do not knit only in mohair, in cases where I knit with it, I use an extra strand of fluffy mohair together
with the wool yarn, she says.
Anna’s first design series for the Nordic Knitting Society will not be a garment but no less than four pairs of socks.
– How fun, I get the opportunity to design a series of socks! I will knit the different socks in thin
sock yarn from Opal, Limmo Design or Sandnes, says Anna.
– I will mix toe up and cuff down and
at least a couple of different heel constructions will be among my patterns. Right now I’m
passionate about structures, we can almost promise that one of the pairs of pairs will be a mystery knit, says Anna.
Most knitters have a “go to knit”. A type of knitting that you usually want to come back to, and certainly Anna has it too.
– I always have at least three knits going at the same time, a sweater, a shawl and there is always at least one pair of socks on the needles, they are so easy to carry in my purse or backpack. If she knits on more complicated socks, she also needs a pair of smooth socks as
relaxation knitting, smiles Anna.
Time for the classic watershed – the choice of magic loop or sock knitting?
– Always magic loop! I’ve tried lots of different types of knitting needles for sock knitting and I pretty much only like to use the magic loop technique, preferably solid chiaogoo, because they have a cable that I love, says Anna.
She has a great tip that she uses if the knitting mojo disappears.
– If I lose the knitting mojo, I cast on a pair of basic socks in a beautiful self-striping yarn. Then the desire to knit almost always comes back, she says.
Finally Anna, what is your very best knitting tip you wish you had known long before?
– Without a doubt Magic loop! Even though it’s been over 8 years since I discovered the Magic Loop technique, I wish I had learned it at a young age. I struggled with knitting mittens and socks with classic sock knitting needles, but I really didn’t like it because I felt like I had knitting needles everywhere, says Anna.
– I like to say that I feel like “Edward Scissor-hands” when I have classic sock knitting needles in my
hands. When I learned the Magic Loop, a new world literally opened up before me. I could finally knit socks,” she continues.
And that, my friends, Anna has really done.
She has knitted over 150 pairs of socks since 2013.
Wow! Says us at Nordic Knitting Society.