National heritage of the peoples of the North - Scandinavian patterns

"Scandinavian patterns", this phrase has become a household name. So you can headline an article about the fjords of Norway, about the people of Suomi in Finland, about a trip to Sweden, Denmark, Iceland. This is lawful and recognizable - as a visiting card of the states of the north of Europe.

Fashion comes and goes.

A century later, Norway discovered rich oil reserves, and for many centuries the countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula were agricultural. Hunters, shepherds, farmers - they all needed warm clothes. Women (the traditional image - a warm jacket and apron with ornaments, two braids on the chest) took care of the warm clothes of husbands and sons-getters, about keeping cleanliness and comfort in the house. This is a clear-formed image, originating from "Kalevala" and animated films such as "The Snow Queen" in 1957 issue. Then, perhaps, thanks to this cartoon in Russia, "Scandinavian patterns" were popular. In the photos you can see sweaters with a round coquette, knitted from the neck, with traditional deer, Christmas trees and snowflakes. Several decades passed, and the fashion for products with characteristic northern ornaments reached such heights that in the winter collections of 2011-2012 there was no one who would bypass this topic. A characteristic pattern is covered even with shoes.

Favorite New Year theme

Maybe it's fashionable, it's beautiful (a stereotype embedded in the subconscious), but the "Scandinavian patterns" are really very good. Of course, they are incredibly modern, but still somehow resemble childhood. Because their traditional themes are inextricably linked with the New Year. In the northern hemisphere, there is no person who does not like this holiday in the classic sense of the name - Christmas trees, deer, snowflakes, now Santa Claus will appear. Especially since he is from these places.

The origins of familiarity with northern ornaments

In Soviet times, fashion was also present for certain things. For example, for some reason the play "Mistress of Niskavuori" was very popular. It was put almost all theaters in the country, including Maly. And when the Finnish feature film with the same name came on the screen, the country was stirred up. It all became fashionable - from the hairstyle of the main character to the interest in hand knitting, for which in the film the threads were bought in kilograms. On the main character were amazing sweaters - so that "Scandinavian patterns" are familiar firsthand.

Specificity of patterns

Domestic needlewomen sat down to work, and from modest improvised means masterpieces turned out. Not everyone knew that dense knitting, caused by a complex weave of threads, which came from weaving art, is called "jacquard", but grandmother's methods achieved both a clean underside and a clear execution of motives. "Scandinavian patterns" are characterized by the fact that when performing a large pattern on the reverse side of the work, sagging is obtained, and if it is not fixed, this will create difficulties when putting on clothes. Northern ornaments are good because they can be varied. A large traditional snowflake on the back or chest of a sweater surrounded by geometric motifs is also a Scandinavian pattern. In the classical version, it looks like this - a round coquette to the middle of the forearm and the bottom of the sweater is trimmed with large drawings of the national theme, usually on two sides of the ornament are limited to "denticles". The entire field of the product is covered with contrasting points or small "stars", arranged in a strict geometric order. It is this "jacquard" that makes the product warm.

National motifs of ornaments

Drawings of the peoples of the north of Europe cover all kinds of clothing - hats, shoes, gloves. Patterns are woven, transferred to clothing with the help of modern photography techniques, typed on typewriters. But manual work has always been highly appreciated. The cost of a product made of high-quality, environmentally friendly, without admixtures of synthetics of raw materials, manufactured with the help of the same dignity, goes off scale.

Now there are a lot of professional magazines offering Scandinavian patterns for knitting with knitting needles. You can knit and crochet, but facial mating makes the field smooth, and it is better to see the ornament. The colors are dominated by natural shades - brown, white, beige, red. In some areas of Scandinavia, all shades of blue and gray were considered national.

Simplicity and genius of the northern pattern

The classical version of the northern pattern implies a fine pattern - the deer occupies 14x9 cells, the pattern is constantly interwoven, the Christmas tree is 10x11, the quadrangular snowflake is 11x11. You can not bypass the star of the northern pattern - a snowflake, consisting of 8 hollow or solid rhombuses, connected by two. The drawing is absolutely correct in a geometric sense, all proportions are identical, it is clear, beautiful. This small perfection, located on the field of 19x19 cells. From the wrong side, the threads are intertwined all the time. Snowflake has become a central figure (with it not even a deer will argue) of the folk art of the European north. There are a lot of benefits called "Knitting. Scandinavian patterns. Schemes ", in which these elements are described in the first place. Truly all ingenious is simple.