Lærke Bagger strik er highend fashion på pinde. Det er tidløst, trendsættende, og bogen giverfuld adgang til alle designer Lærke Baggers teknikker samt 15 strikkeopskrifter. Her er blandt andet strømper, sweatre og en strikket gallakjole. Lærke Bagger strikker farverigt og sprudlende til både børn og voksne. De 15 designs kan varieres i en uendelighed ved hjælp af Lærke Baggers teknikker.
Lærke Bagger gør op med forestillingen om det perfekte menneske og den perfekt strikkede sweater. Hun lader fejl indgå i sit strik (og i sit liv) og lader dem stråle og fylde i designet. Just tie knots er også et dogme; Lærke Bagger hæfter ikke ender, men binder i stedet knuder som en del af sit design. Raffineret og elegant strik med perler og den helt særlige brug af scrap yarn kendetegner også Lærke Baggers design.
Lærke Bagger strik er både for begyndere og øvede. Den indeholder såvel de helt grundlæggende strikketeknikker som de mere avancerede, og det gør læseren i stand til blandt andet at strikke sin egen pels. Bogen har mere end 55 tegnede illustrationer, der helt ned i detaljen viser teknikkerne bag.
Lærke Bagger er uddannet tekstildesigner med speciale i håndstrik fra The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Hun begyndte at strikke som 8-årig og har hele sit liv satset på strik – i dag er hun anerkendt verden over. Lærke Bagger strik er også en meget personlig beretning om at turde satse for at vinde, vende modgang til styrke, slappe lidt af og så strikke en hel masse hammerflot undervejs i livet.
When I was young, Instagram didn't exist, and I don’t think Ravelry did either. There was a bulletin board named Crafty where I first read about Debbie Stoller’s Stich 'n Bitch. I was a German teenager who had learned the basics of knitting from her grandmother a few years prior, but Debbie completely changed my life. There I was, on the floor of my room, surprised to learn that there is not only the style of knitting my grandma had taught me (Continental), but that the rest of the world knits in a completely different way (English). I learned about K2togs and SSKs, casting on, binding offs, and to NEVER EVER tie a knot. To this day, I am confused when I have to decipher a German knitting pattern because I hardly know any of the German terms for knitting. Debbie was my fairy godmother of knitting. She was cool—but more like your-cool-aunt-living-in-NYC kind of cool.
Skip 20 years: Meet Lærke Bagger. At first, her book “Close Knit” (“Strik”) seems to be the Millennial update of Stoller’s book series from the 2000s, but upon closer inspection, there are fundamental differences between the two: For Stoller, mastering the correct techniques was crucial to becoming a confident knitter and, eventually, to developing one’s own designs. Bagger is essentially the Pippi Longstocking of knitting—doing everything you’ve been warned about, such as tying KNOTS (and proudly embracing it), using only one method for casting on and binding off (and boasting about it because you’re too lazy to learn something new), and employing pearls and scrap yarn to create unconventional designs. Lærke’s rock ’n’ roll attitude, writing style, and overall embodiment of her being the cool girl—accompanied by photographs of her drinking beer or being naked and knitting—alongside stories of how she persisted in knitwear design and eventually succeeded, despite being called a “talentless knitting bitch” along the way, sometimes remind me of the now infamous Girl Boss by Sophia Amoruso, another former Millennial icon who, in hindsight, turned into a symbol for the neoliberalism of the 2010s.
So be warned: If you’re new to knitting, this may not be the kind of book you need. Buy Stoller’s classic, get a boring knitting book from your local library or look up a YouTuber who will teach you a proper Italian Bind Off. But if your knitting mojo got drowned by a full-time job, you’re sitting on boxes of unused yarn and are in desperate need of inspiration, this is your book. It will remind you of the times you learned knitting and will give you back a sense of knitting freedom you’ve long lost.
this arrived today. been jealous of swedish and danish people who’ve had it for months. obvs not knitted anything from it Yet. but it’s beautiful. a masterpiece. a work of art. unfortunately i don’t know what the knitting needle sizes mean but i can google it when i get it it i guess. i enjoy the vibes of the book very much. i v much look forward to using my yarn stash to maybe do some ugly knitting!!!
this left me feeling so inspired! lots of new techniques that are right up my alley and some great patterns in here that are so different from the normal, boring ones. i love the layout/style of the book itself & bagger's attitude towards knitting. the autobiographical bits & awesome photos were just as inspiring as the knitting patterns themselves. a few typos throughout the book which knocks it to 4 stars
Yeah, this is a knitting book. It still counts. I've been following Laerke Bagger on IG for years, watching her make all kinds of crazy shit. This book is marketed as a guide to Laerke's techniques for anybody from beginners to advanced knitters looking to learn new cool shit. I think it did a great job of being that! Laerke's instructions are fun to read and she her advice usually comes down to "fuck the rules, but here's some helpful tips so you're successful while you make cool shit". I'm currently working on the Crazy Loop Fur, a jacket with the texture of a bath mat that's taking literal pounds of yarn to complete.
A significant amount of this book is also dedicated to big colorful pictures. Some of them are of complex knitting patterns with unique color schemes and intricate textures. Others are pictures of Laerke hanging out at the beach with her kids or knitting in the nude. This is totally fine with me; her vibe is a big part of the image she's selling and she sells it well.
This is a fun book by a cool young designer. It doesn’t really have extraordinarily original techniques, nor is it suitable for a beginner knitter (knitting a sweater with really big needles is actually very clunky, and best suited for an at least intermediate knitter).
With that said, this book is a refreshing perspective that encourages people to play with yarn and to embrace imperfection. Conventional knitting can sometimes frown on that, and sometimes I think the knitters on Instagram are in a constant infinite loop of show-offery with ever snobbier yarn and their three millionth top down yoke sweater. Laerke got a lot of followers on Instagram, deservedly, with her Alone Together Sweater (ATS) during the pandemic. I can get behind her approach - use all your scrap and crap yarn, forget the rules, tie knots and have fun. I have a lot of unloved sock yarn that’s now destined for a No Limits sweater.
Her reminiscences about design school really struck a chord with me, especially her struggles with drawing. I couldn’t draw for crap when I took the entrance test, and after five years of drawing practice in design school l still wasn’t particularly good at it. But thanks to the decision makers at the National Institute of Design, who saw a spark in me and let me into that marvelous place, I was able to walk in the footsteps of Eames. I still can’t draw, but all these decades I’ve been a successful designer at work and at play.
Laerke’s book took me back and reminded me l need to quit thinking of the MN State Fair knitting judges, and just play with yarn. Sometimes beauty comes out of ugly and success out of serendipity.
A gorgeous book, great for rethinking you knitting work and working outside the box. I love a crafter, who spreads the gospel of scrap yarns! I’m also a chaos crafter, so Bagger’s way of making knits fits my own style perfectly.
However, this book isn’t very good as a guide book. I don’t think it could teach a beginner to knit very well. Too many ”it’s impossible for me to show you in a book form so you should google this” parts. I was constantly comparing the tutorial parts to Molla Mills’ crochet tutorials. Mills’ work is in a different style and medium than Bagger’s, but Mills really knows how to show and teach how to do the craft. Her books manage to be both educative and artistic. I think Bagger went for the artistic route and the tutorials feel like a second thought.
(This is truly a nitpick, but the ”pizza, beer and random XD” relatability and humor doesn’t really hit me, probably because it gives me severe flashbacks to my teenage years.)
I rarely give one-star reviews. I was reading this before bedtime and I had dreams about how much I hated this book. I'm all for inventiveness, being crazy and wild, whatever. I'm an art school graduate. But leaving (ugly) knots all over your sweater is where I put my foot down. Knots can still unravel. They feel yucky against the skin. I (obviously) think they look horrible. I don't understand why the choice wasn't just to overlap the new and old yarn by a couple or six stitches and move along. Answer me that! Okay, and besides ugly knots there are just plain old ugly sweaters. The only sweaters I liked were the beaded ones and, oh, by the way, she doesn't use visible knots "because it's far too cute for knots." Lots of photos, illustrations could be cleaner, and editing definitely could be better. A beginner may struggle with the directions.
I loved this book, so inspirational and made me think creatively. I have been knitting for years and years (with a break when I was working full time, I’ve just come back to it) but this book has given me tips I didn’t know about, like the Butt edge, crocheting seams instead of sewing them and putting in a life line before ripping back mistakes. Just shows that you’re never too old to learn something new. I absolutely love the looped cardigan and will get around to knitting that soon. This book is also the second I’ve read this year that pointed out mistakes are ok and in fact a learning tool. ‘Embrace the Mistake’ - love it!
An interesting read. There is some really good stuff about design. But her techniques and ideas are not as original as she thinks they are, by any means. And her clothing is only suitable as written for very cold climates (which obviously is where she lives); even in the southern part of Australia I could not wear a triple stranded jumper in mid winter. Also, I knit much more interesting scrappy socks than she does 😀which I also made up by myself.
Love, love, love Laerke Bagger. Long time follower of her social media, was so excited she published a book. Her techniques are so fun and she provides “no rules” instruction that keep knitting fun. Also love her honesty about struggling with body image and skill comparison in design school. She’s honest and relatable and definitely one of the coolest knitters (and people) out there 💖
Parents need to beware - this book contains nudity. My 11 year old is crying because she was exposed to nudity in a book she innocently checked out from the library assuming it was a regular book about knitting. It's sad when a crafting book takes away a child's innocence. No one needs to see your breasts for you to explain how to make a sweater.
Det er især hendes holdning, som tiltaler mig. Ikke alt er så fornyende, men måden ting bliver forklaret på og den frihed hun giver strikkeren er så god! Og der er nogle gode opskrifter, og en masse gode fotos.
I'm deep in the middle of a knitting/crochet phase, and this was a fun read. And a pretty book. Inspired me. I want to make my own ATS sweater right now, but I don't really have much scrap yarn, so the timing isn't great.
I read it in Finnish though, couldn't find the right edition here.
less of a traditional knitting pattern book, but more of a diary of an artist and a guide of how you can make the shit you want to make in the way you want to make it. love this.
(3,5) I really enjoyed this book as a source of inspiration for my own knitting journey. However, I have yet to try any of the patterns featured in it.
1. Everything in this book is ugly. 2. The author's tone is annoying. 3. There is full frontal nudity on the third page; unexpected in an knitting book.
Neulojana tykkään noudattaa muiden laatimia ohjeita kuta kuinkin säntillisesti, mutta tässä Laerken kaikelle haistattavassa käsityöradikalismissa on jotain todella kiehtovaa. Vaikka käytän yksinomaan housuja, huomaan nyt unelmoivani kirjavasta helmikoristeisesta jämälankamekosta - go girl!
some interesting concepts, but not my kind of book.
I definitely wouldnt recommend this for a beginner guidebook. inspiration and encouragement for scrappiness and doing what you enjoy? sure! but the instructions on beginner techniques, let alone the patterns, were lacking. some told you to find a youtube video. some had diagrams, but they were confusing or unclear with instructions to match.
it also could have done with another round of edits - there were occasional important words or punctuation missing. an example is that in the initial explanation of the knit stitch, the sentence reads “Knit stitch - also known as ‘plain knitting’ is abbreviated.” I thought this was a translation error til the next page said that purl was abbreviated as p, and realised that it should have read “…is abbreviated as k”.
the illustrations were a bit confusing. often the photo on the page had nothing to do with what the text was discussing - and sometimes the item in that photo was discussed later in the book, with a photo of a different item next to it?
I did find the instructions for pleats fascinating - I hadnt considered using pleats in knitting, and I’m intrigued to try that out. nothing else really caught my eye.
A super interesting approach to knitting. I like the technique portions, but idgaf about her time in art school or whatever. The patterns themselves aren't super well-written or thorough, so this isn't for a beginner knitter. But the best part is just the thought process and encouraging people to take more risks in their crafting. I also just really like a low/no-waste approach to knitting.
Yndisleg, yndisleg. Ekki bara prjónatækni heldur lífstíll. Hver blaðsíða full af gleði og fyllti mig mig af innblæstri. Hún fléttar lífsviðhorf, lífsreynslur og motto inn í praktískar ráðleggingar og uppskriftir. Ég var búin að bíða eftir þessari og pantaði hana af fyrstu búð sem tók hana að miklum aukakostnaði, sé ekkert eftir því. Önnur bókin hennar er komin í hús og ég er spennt að byrja.
A fun book full of colorful, easygoing inspiration — would not recommend as a guide to knitting, especially for a beginner. Any tutorials felt like an afterthought.