Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Knitwear at the Movies: Babette's Feast

This is my favorite Danish movie where characters also speak in Swedish and French.  Let me know if you know a better one.
The town gossips are silently judging you.

Martine and Filippa, the Sisters
The town beauties, the minister's daughters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel/Vibeke Hastrup) and Filippa (Bodil Kjer/Hanne Stensgaard), have pretty smiles and pretty knits.
image via IMDB.com
Most of their really cool shawls are knit and worn later in life.
  1. Martine's fuzzy garter stitch
  2. Filippa's fringed macrame (AKA Filippa's Favorite)
  3. Martine's brown diamond
  4. Filippa's black mesh
  5. Martine's lavender eyelet
  6. Filippa's cream gull pattern
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kinda Remindy:
free Ridged Triangular Shawl [Rav link] by Leslie Weber
free!  textured shawl recipe [Rav link] by orlane
free!  sagittaria [Rav link] by Leslie Gonzalez
free!  Simply Hilary [Rav link] by Tracey Withanee
Winged Shawl [Rav link] by Sarah Fama; $5.50 USD
Marilla's Very Practical Shawl [Rav link] by Rachel Henry; $1.99 USD

Danish Tie Shawl
This movie introduced me to the Danish tie shawl AKA the most practical shawl construction I've ever seen.
 
I love this so much and this is totally going to be me at 70.

Designer Mette Rørbech painstakingly recreated a kællingesjal (I'm going to guess from the context that it means "tie shawl" -- do NOT plug it into Google Translate!) dating from 1897, which totally works for us because that's when the movie is set.  The original is in the Vendsyssel Museum and this pattern is a free Rav download in both English and Danish!

Kay Meadors's free Kay's Tess D’Urbervilles Shawl [Rav link] looks almost exactly like the ones in "Babette's Feast" -- which makes sense, since the pattern is based off a mini-series set during the same time period.  Kay calls this shawl style a sontag: new vocab alert!

Other tie shawl patterns from teh intarwebs:
free!  Dane Shawl [Rav link] by Jane Tanner
free!  Ozark Handspun Danish Shawl [Rav link] by Pat Hebert
Traditional Danish Tie Shawl STR11 [Rav link] by Dorothea Fischer;
    also in Danish! German! Dutch!  €8.75 EUR

KOFing (Knitting on Film)
 
Hi, Babette! You don't wear shawls because you're French!
and there's opera, too!  This movie has everythang.

Women Wear Knits
 
 
Yeah, this is crocheted.  I'm dealing with it and you should, too.

Men Wear Knits
The Film's First Knit:
Is it a hat? Socks all folded up together?  We see the gift recipient, a shut-in, later in the film with something gray around his shoulders, but it looks to be something else:

And there are these guys, too.
Finished.  Hallelujah.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

HALLELUJAH IS RIGHT!
I just watched "Babbette's Feast" for the "umpteenth" time! So in Love with movie. I thought to seek if there are patterns available for the incredibly beautiful shawls the women wore, especially, Ms Philippa's Gray, open work shawl with fringe, and Ms Martine's Black Mesh shawl, and Viola! I found your site. WITH PHOTOS OF EVERY SHAWL! Some of the shawls in the movie look knitted, some looked crocheted. Thank You for the pattern links! I am THRILLED I found your site! I do not knit, YET, but I'd like to learn because of the Babbette's Feast! LOVE YOU!