Pickles Window Takeover: Ingunn Birkeland

In Markveien, right in the heart of Oslo, we give knitwear designers the opportunity to exhibit their creations in our shop window. This is a unique chance for designers to showcase their work to a wide audience, while celebrating knitwear design as an art form.

We are proud to present the next artist in our Pickles Window Takeover series, renowned designer Ingunn Birkeland. With her colorful, geometric designs and distinctive weaves, Ingunn has become one of Norway’s most prominent fashion figures. Her work sits at the intersection of art and fashion, and she is known for creating garments that are both masterpieces of craftsmanship and visual explosions.

Now she has taken over our window in Grünerløkka with two ponchos in garter stitch: CITY basketball poncho 1 and 2.

The idea was born one February evening over cheese and wine at Ingunn’s home, an evening that also included a crash course in contour knitting, led by Heidi from Pickles. Ingunn had long wanted to explore knitting as a medium to interpret her iconic braids, and this technique opened a new door.

The name CITY Basket Poncho is a combination of Heidi’s Basket Case Sweater and Ingunn’s grid pattern CITY. The result is two eye-catching and graphic garments that carry both signatures, in both expression and technique. Poncho 1 is the most comprehensive, while poncho 2 provides a somewhat simpler way into the project.

Ingunn has used four different Pickles yarns and carefully combined colors that flow harmoniously into each other. It is of course possible to use your own color choices, but be aware that strong contrasts can result in uneven transitions. This and more is described in the pattern.

And even though the ponchos are large garments, it’s easy to get hooked – it’s easy to knit just one more square before putting it down.

Yarn packs can be found here. We have created the yarn packs so that you can remove skeins if you already have some of the colors or similar colors at home.

Want to buy just the recipe? You can get it from Ingunn Birkeland.

CITY basketball poncho 1 and 2 are now on display at Pickles in Grünerløkka – come and get inspired!

Happy summer from Pickles and Ingunn Birkeland 🌞🧶