Better Know A Crafter: Pink Pitcher

Pink is old school Fancy T. She has been coming to our craft night since the beginning of time. She's also one of the fastest knitters we know--always the first to finish knit-alongs, and she won't follow a pattern to save her life. She gets the gist of a pattern and then makes it up as she goes. It always turns out magically awesome. Because of this, we weren't surprised to find out the epic dragon sweater she has been working on is a little of this pattern and a little of that...

Pink Pitcher

How did you learn to knit?
I learned to knit when I was six, but I never really got in to it until I was 16 or so. My mother originally taught me, but everything after basic knit stitch I learned from trial and error. Along the way I also learned to sew, crochet, spin, weave, felt...etc. I am a seamstress, making bags from recycled materials (www.pinkilicious.etsy.com), so I knit to unwind from my other crafting.

Tell us about your project.
This project was inspired by a Ravelry find a friend forwarded to me: Betsala's Valhalla I Am Coming, a much hipper version of the Norwegian pattern, 9 Viking Boat Jacket. I loved the chart and it was nice to see it liberated from the original drop sleeves (I hate drop sleeves!). I found a colorwork yoke pattern 0611-1 Pullover, also entirely in Norwegian, that worked for the fingering weight yarn I used--Imperial Stock Ranch Tracie. 

Fortunately, since I was only using the charts from these two, the language didn't matter. I also used an altered version of the Deathflake chart, a chart from a book I bought in Norway about "Lice-Pattern Sweaters", and then I made a chart of all 24 runes of the Elder Furthark. 

Basically, I stitched together a Frankenstein's Monster of awesome Norwegian designs.

What inspired you to make this?
Plunder. The promise of Plunder. (There may have been some drunken boasting as well, I don't recall clearly.)

Does your sweater transport you to other lands/dimensions when you wear it?
I transport this sweater to other lands and times when *I* wear it! (But it keeps me mighty warm while I'm there.)

Did you put any protection spells on your sweater?
I asked my homegirl Frigga to do me a solid and keep and eye on it. She's a spinner, she understands.

What is your favorite viking weapon?
My fist.

OMG Pink, we love it. Thank you and happy knitting!