“I’VE SOLD MY KNITTED VIKINGS FOR YEARS!”
Jo Constantine loves to knit Viking dolls with authentic details to celebrate the heritage of Orkney, her home.
We were thrilled when reader Jo got in touch to share all of her hand-knitted Vikings with us. “I picked up my copy of Simply Knitting 162 at the newsagents and had a little laugh when I saw Vera and Victor, Alan Dart’s Vikings,” she says. “I live in Orkney, which had Viking earls, and have been knitting and selling Viking dolls for nearly ten years. I make the clothing as accurate as possible, based on >ÀV!>i"#"}$V>#%w&`$&}ð»
It’s all a far cry from Jo’s early knitting.“At primary school we made knitted dishcloths using thick cotton yarn >&`%L$}%&ii`#iÃ]»%Ã!i%Ã>Þð%º(Þ%wÀÃÌ% proper piece was a sweater I knitted when I was about 12. The dishcloths were just garter stitch but for the sweater I had to learn a lot more techniques including purling, shaping for raglan sleeves and picking up stitches for a collar. My mother, a wonderful knitter, was happy to teach me.”
For years, Jo was absorbed with family and work. “I didn’t start creating my dolls until I had retired,” she says. º)%*>`i%>%À>}%`"##%6$+$&}%v"À%*Þ%wÀÃÌ% granddaughter, as her parents are Viking re-enactors and she accompanies them to Living History events. Polly was absolutely delighted with her doll.” She then made another to enter a local handicraft show and won a prize! “I sold that one at a craft fair and then decided to see if I could do something similar with my evening knitting.”
Jo is determined to make the dolls as authentic as possible, “I researched knitted dolls to see what would work.”
The hardest part has been kitting them out with shields and axes. “Now I use an i-cord wound round and stitched to make the shield, and the axe handle is a short piece of i-cord which I graft on to the axe blade.”
She knits her characters on 3mm or 3.5mm needles, with a DK acrylic yarn. “I really like Stylecraft DK. It’s not too expensive but knits up really quickly and neatly,” she says. “I’ve also found charity shops invaluable for yarn oddments and buttons. I use stocking stitch for the bodies and limbs, and vary the stitches for the cloaks to give a bit of variety. Different stitches and colour combinations add a unique touch – every doll is different.” SEE MORE OF JO’S WORK AT WWW.DRAGON LADYDESIGNS. CO.UK AND WWW.ORKNEY ARTSAND CRAFTS.COM.