A tribute to the beautiful Fanø Knitting Festival

A tribute to the beautiful Fanø Knitting Festival - Önling INT

A tribute to the fantastic Fanø Knitting Festival

This weekend, Önling was exhibiting at the very last Fanø knitting festival. This festival is a completely unique and cozy festival, that brings together knitting enthusiasts from all over the country (and from abroad) and it is a pleasure to have been part of the festival for the last 10 years (first as guests and then as an exhibitor).

 
It has always felt like an extra - and somewhat forbidden - holiday to be part of Fanø Festival and the island has always shown itself from its most beautiful and unique side.

Önling has had many wonderful trips to Fanø, and we have enjoyed meeting the many enthusiastic knitters in the beautiful autumn weather. No doubt these are intense festivals and we always return home full of new impressions, tired feet, lots of feedback from our customers as well as new ideas for knitting projects.
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We have always enjoyed each other's company within the team, and despite being very tired in the evenings, we have always had the energy for lots of knitting and talking, once back in our accommodation.
As always it is the trips that have offered something extraordinary, that you remember the best, and we especially remember the trip where it was so windy, that we had to station a team member at the tent poles, to avoid the tent knocking over our entire exhibition. Or the year when we ended up in the ditch with our truck full of yarn, because it was so slippery, and had to get roadside assistance to pull us up.
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But now an era is over, and the Fanø festival is a thing of the past. With a wish to commemorate the many, cozy knitting moments and pay tribute to the good idea, that Christel got, when she first established a knitting festival in one of the very westernmost corners of Denmark, we have created 3 new 'Fanø designs' .

With these designs, we want to say thank you to Fanø for many good times as well as plenty of time for reflection and fun - we love your pretty beaches and your cozy island-feel! Thanks to co-exhibitors and co-guests for great talks, new inspiration and the urge to meet to share a common interest, delight and lots of tips and tricks. And not least, thanks to Christel Seyfarth for putting so much time and effort into running a hugely inspiring and beautiful festival for 16 years in a row.

We understand the urge to stop while it's still a success, and we look forward to seeing what new knitting events Christel and Co come up with in the future.

We hope to be part of the journey in the future, so that we can continue to meet our happy and lovely customers face to face.  

With those fond memories in mind, let us now present our 3 new Fanø designs:

1. Marehalm shawl:
‘Marehalm’ shawl (Marram grass shawl) is the first of our 3 contributions. It is our colleague, Inge-Lis, who has designed this beautiful shawl based on a brief that read as follows: Make a design that pays homage to Fanø Knitting Festival and the many cozy moments we have had there

This is Inge-Lis' suggestion for a beautiful shawl, to be worn on a cool winter by the seaside. The shawl has many, interesting techniques. The color is inspired by the mare straw and the dunes on Fanø.

The color is inspired by the marram and the dunes on Fanø. The shawl contains lots of exciting knitting techniques.

Marehalm sjal - Fanø strikkefestival design

 2. Øguf:

The Øguf scarf is our second contribution. This beautiful scarf is designed by our colleague, Bettina, and she has every reason to be proud of it! The scarf is a beginner-friendly project and is written as an Easy Peasy pattern without abbreviations, so it is easy to follow by new knitters.

The pretty colors are inspired by the beach, the sand, the lyme grass, and Fanø’s sand dunes, and the faded effect comes from mixing Önling yarn No 20, Shetland wool with No 10, silk mohair.


 3. Vest for Fanø

'Vest for Fanø' (West of Fanø) is the last of our thee contributions. It is our colleague, Mie, who has designed this slipover vest based on the same brief as above; create a design that pays homage to Fanø Knitting Festival and the many cozy moments we have had there. This is Mie's idea of a beautiful vest, to keep you warm in your seaside cottage. The color is inspired by the beautiful sunsets over the dunes on Fanø. The vest is knitted in our lovely, rustic Shetland wool; Önling No 20 by Hanne Falkenberg and our silk mohair Önling No 10. Both yarns are available in so many beautiful colors, so the combination possibilities are almost endless.

Vest for Fanø - Fanø strikkefestival design

We hope that you can recognize some of the special Fanø spirit in the three new designs and that you will welcome them into our (and perhaps your) collection.