This collection of designs by Helga Isager is named after Room 606 of the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Designed by Arne Jacobsen the hotel epitomises the sleek lines, muted tones and subtle textures of Danish modernist architecture and Room 606 is now the only room which retains the original decor.
Helga co owns the the Isager brand with her mother Marianne and since 2005 she has been bringing together the best of knitting craft with fashion-forward design under her Amimono brand www.amimono.dk.
I must admit that it’s been quite a while since I’ve looked through a collection of designs and wanted to knit more than one of the patterns. The problem, if there is one, with Room 606 is deciding exactly what to knit first. From the minute you start to browse through the book you can tell that there’s something different about these patterns. Both the garment styling and photographic lighting are understated and each of the 11 designs (9 garments plus 2 accessories) has a simple silhouette but may feature an unusual yarn combination, interesting stitch pattern or construction detail that lifts them to a completely new level.
The pattern instructions are clearly laid out and have a very friendly, easy to read tone with measurements given on the drawn schematics and knitting tips & abbreviations at the back of the book. Most styles are offered in 3 sizes: small, medium and large and range in skill level from beginner to advanced although this isn’t indicated on the patterns.
As both a designer and knitter I’ve always enjoyed mixing yarn types within a project much in the same way that a painter mixes paint on a palette. It allows you to create new, blended colours and produces unusual handling effects so of course I was really excited to find this is a key element of Helga’s design signature.
My personal favourite pieces from Room 606 are the Lone cardigan and Ingrid sweater. Lone is the kind of cardigan – or should that be jacket – that you dream of snuggling into when it’s freezing cold outside. It’s a colour blocked design worked in a Brioche rib with the 3 ‘colours’ are created by using two different yarns mixed together. So Col A is Silk Mohair & Highland Silk, Col B is Silk Mohair & Alpaca 2 and Col C is Silk Mohair & Tvinni.
Using the same deliciously soft Silk Mohair as a base for all three colours has a certain continuity but also creates three new but quite beautiful sludgy colours and gives the cardigan a luxurious halo of warmth. There are so many yarns in the Isager range (16 in fact) that if this colour combination isn’t to your taste you could spend hours poring over the choices trying to find a replacement. What else do I like about this design? It’s a really wearable shape with generously sized patch pockets for enclosing (my) freezing cold fingers and the V shaped wedge detail on each sleeve is both original and stylish.
Along very similar lines the Ingrid sweater has a simple silhouette, a slightly widened round neck edged in rib and features the same wedge detail on the sleeve as the Lone cardigan. Once again it mixes yarn types to create the 3 ‘colours’: Cols A &B are both Spinni & Silk Mohair, whilst Col C is a mix of Spinni & Alpaca 2.
If you’re new to the Isager yarn range have a look through the website http://shop.isagerstrik.dk and you’ll see what’s on offer. There are pure wools like Highland which have several tones within each shade, the slightly heavier Aran Tweed which is softly twisted and flecked with flashes of accent colour, two weights of alpaca (Alpaca 1 & Alpaca 2), the cobweb-fine Silk Mohair and three linen mix blends Merilin, Bomulin and Viscolin.
If you’ve become a little bored of top down garments that look too tight or have been designed with an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ type of design process you’ll enjoy Room 606 collection as it’s a brilliant fusion of great craft skill, contemporary style and surprising little details you’ll love to knit.
The Room 606 book is available directly from Isager priced 199 DKK – that’s around £20.00 – and you’ll find the full range of yarns available there too.
Isager online shop: http://shop.isagerstrik.dk
Helga Isager’s website: http://amimono.dk/?lang=en
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