Lisa Sólrun Christiansen was in Egypt on holiday when Donald Trump intensified his threats against Greenland in January.
She had seen him speak on television. Now, on the last night of the holiday, she lay sleepless and scared. She thought of her children, grandchildren and the rest of the family in Greenland.
On Facebook, she could see that there was going to be a demonstration. She also wanted to contribute something. So she looked in her suitcase where there were red and white yarn keys.
– And then came the neck pain, she says.
We are sitting on a maroon sofa in her home in Nuuk. Between us lies an ongoing project. A knitted sweater that is knitted according to the pearl collar on a customer’s own West Greenlandic national costume. She has created them to order since 2019. This has made Lisa Sólrun Christiansen a well-known name in the knitting world.
The necklace she knitted that night in Cairo was a turning point. It was the same colors as Erfalasorput, but had hearts instead of circles.
– I wanted to send love to my country and make it possible for others to show their support, she says.
So she wrote down the recipe and called the necklace ‘Love to Kalaallit Nunaat’. During a layover in Kastrup, she put it up on the internet for free download.
By the time Lisa Sólrun Christiansen and her Icelandic boyfriend Helgi reached their final destination, Reykjavík, it had already been downloaded hundreds of times.
– I thought, stop it, think that it can mean so much to others than to us in Greenland, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
Otherwise, she is not one to shout loudly. But with ‘Love to Kalaallit Nunaat’ she had expressed something that many wanted to join.
It was a silent protest on knitting needles.
Based on this, she was contacted by journalists, yarn shops and knitting festivals in Denmark. And the publisher with which she is now debuting her knitting book.
– The Icelanders, Norwegians and Faroese have their knitwear. I would like Greenland to also be known for its knitting, she says.
She hopes to contribute to that with ‘Greenlandic knitting – Qilattakkat’, which will be published this week.
Will make Greenland known for its knitting
Erfalasorput has a very special meaning for Lisa Sólrun Christiansen. It was her father, Thue Christiansen, who in his time created the flag.
She thought of him while the necklace was made on her sticks.
– When my father was dying (in 2022, ed), he talked a lot about the flag. He hoped that the flag would one day help bring people together, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen and continues:
– And I think it has contributed to that to that extent.
In ‘Greenlandic knitting’ she shares recipes for what she calls Greenlandic knitting: sweaters, wrist warmers, hats and neck warmers with Greenlandic patterns and symbols.
– I think that’s missing in the knitting world, she says.
Among her designs are the ‘Inuk’ sweater, the backbone of which is inspired by traditional Inuit tattoos “tunniit”, the ‘Maalia’ sweater, which takes its pattern from the nuilarmiut and the ‘Iluuna’ sweater, whose motif is the ulu – the traditional symbol of Inuit women’s strength, ability and industriousness.
All your designs have Greenlandic names. Why?
– We have so many beautiful names, and I would like them to go out into the world and become known, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
With the book, she will not only share recipes, but also convey the stories behind:
– I wanted to tell you why I make my shirts. Because there is always something from culture or nature that inspires me to make these patterns, she says.
One of the stories she includes in ‘Grønlandsk strik’ is about the Icelandic sweater lopapeysa. In fact, it is directly inspired by nuilarmiut (pearl collars, ed.), writes Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
In 1932, the designer Annichen Sibbern Bøhn converted the patterns of the Greenlandic pearl collar into knitted yokes – and thus brought the round yoke into Nordic knit design.
When Lisa Sólrun Christiansen started creating her own sweater designs in 2021, it was with the desire to “take back the design”. As she writes: “bringing the shape and colors of the pearl collar home in a modern, Greenlandic knitting expression created by a Greenlander.”
Patent knit with leather patches
Lisa Sólrun Christiansen has been knitting since she was five years old. It was her mother and her omma, the Faroese word for aanaa/grandmother, who taught her that.
Her mother created many sweaters for Lisa Sólrun Christiansen. Right up until one day when, as a 13-year-old, she came home with the recipe for a patent knit sweater.
– Then she said: You can do that yourself now, remembers Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
At first she was indignant at the rejection. But her mother was right. Soon she had actually knitted her first sweater. It had leather patches sewn on the elbows, which were fashionable at the time in the early eighties.
Lisa Sólrun Christiansen often knitted without a pattern. When she did, she usually changed the pattern.
– I always thought it should look a little different, she says.
She still really feels that way.
– My creativity comes out when I have free hands to knit, she says.
Above us on the sofa hang several of her father’s artworks. Mother of the sea dressed in skins. A woodcut of a prisoner transferred to glass. A Greenlandic mask painted on canvas.
– I am very inspired by my father and his way of looking at art. Because he could see art in everything, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
A sweater takes a week
The day before the interview, Lisa Sólrun Christiansen gives a sold-out presentation in Aurora Hotels’ reception.
Among the approximately 35 audience members is a woman wearing the Iluuna sweater. It is Lisa Sólrun Christiansen’s niece who raises her hand to ask how long it takes her to knit a sweater.
– A week, replies Lisa Sólrun Christiansen.
An impressed gasp goes through the hotel reception, where many of those who have turned up are themselves sitting with knitting in their hands.
Lisa Sólrun Christiansen is wearing her own design: the Nivikka sweater, based on avittat.
– It is knitted on needle 9, so it goes quickly… 2 days, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen and makes those present laugh.
Despite that, there is a 6-month waiting list for her unique sweaters.
– I also go to work, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen, as we sit together in the living room. She is a trained occupational therapist, has a master’s in learning processes and works as a health consultant in the self-government.
Her day typically starts at 4.30am.
Here she sits on the sofa that overlooks the water, listens to an audiobook and knits until she has to go to work as a health consultant in the Self-Government.
Still, time doesn’t really strike.
– I have a lot of ideas that I can’t achieve, says Lisa Sólrun Christiansen and laughs.
The latest is a poncho inspired by the East Greenland national costume.
She had long thought about how it should look. Last week, when she attended a seminar at work, Lisa Sólrun Christiansen could finally see it for herself. When they were finished, she went straight into the yarn shop NaNi in Nuuk to buy yarn.
She just had to see how what she imagined actually looked like. Now the preliminary result is on her dining table. She has decided to change the design and give it a hood.
– I think it will be beautiful. At least it is in my head, she says.
‘Greenlandic knitting – Qilatattak’ was published by Grønningen 1 on 22 October.
