All you knit is love
„The hat protects the head,“ as the old Croatian saying goes, but why stop at the hat? There is an old-fashioned tradition that’s slowly making their comeback in style (*pun intended) and can dress you up completely, from head to toes. Icelandic fashion has cherished their long-standing tradition of handmade sweaters (so called lopapeysur) for quite a while, with no signs of stopping, mainly because of the climate and the society’s outlook which is generally positive towards this venture. Those who advocate this lifestyle have a tendency to speak about the modern society in negative terms, highlighting the strong consumers’ habits that don’t value the (better) quality of handwork. But every change, as well as the one taking us back, needs time to gain traction; time and people willing to commit themselves fully or partially towards this unique way of living.
Photo: Marta Raljević
Old fashion, new media
Marta Raljević not only doesn’t live in Iceland, but she comes from a much warmer country to the south – Croatia. The hat that protects her head has been made by herself from eco-friendly, locally-sourced wool. She currently works in public service which enticed her to find a more creative hobby to fill up her free time. And she found just the one, 5 years ago.
“My friend once came to me with some kind of a handmade scarf. She had been working as a tour guide and one of the tourists on her bus made her a scarf as a present, while they were traveling around Croatia. I thought of it as one’s extremely well-used time, so I decided to give it a go (on my own, watching YouTube), even though the people around me found it weird, because handwork in Croatia is usually considered a rudimentary, traditional and somewhat unattractive activity.”
A few strange glances from strangers didn’t bother Marta because the benefits of knitting and crocheting heavily outweighed the drawbacks, which she felt especially deep through her role as a mother. Being an extremely social person, Marta found the whole process of adapting your life to be in service of someone else’s challenging, but she quickly realized that “playing with sticks” was a great way to fill the time in-between your child’s busy schedule. And thanks to social networks, she managed to increase her social circle.
“I met so many new people and we have tons of fun. We’ve created a group chat where we discuss new projects and arrange purchases of new materials, which is what we are most excited about. The whole group is phenomenal.”
Moving forward
Even though Marta still considers crocheting a hobby, her skills, interests and business ambitions are steadily growing, year by year. Right now, she has a long list of orders for the winter: scarves, hats, vests, gloves and Christmas decorations. Despite the raging pandemic that, admittedly, did disrupt her rhythm, Marta still hopes that she will soon be able to continue organizing workshops for kids and adults alike, and frequent various fairs around Zagreb, as well as other places in Croatia.
“This summer, on the advice of my partner, I sent some of my products (beach bags and hats) to a gallery in the town of Komiža and their sales are steady. In the town of Samobor, there are a couple of stores that work closely with people who create handwork and I plan to join them, probably even this winter. But, speaking about closer to home, in the past year Zagreb and elsewhere in Croatia have started hosting fairs where a person can offer their own creations to bigger crowds. There are often between 200 and 300 exhibitors selling all sorts of things from ceramics, jewellery and sawn products to coloured fabrics, plants, etc. I do notice mainly the older generation’s interest, but there is a growing intrigue for handwork exhibited by the adolescents, too.”
Photo: Marta Raljević
In YuStitch we knit
On paper, Marta’s success is her own (and it mainly is based on her persistence and creativity), but she owes a good deal of it to the strong support base she found in YuStitchKolektiv, a community of people coming from the area of ex-Yugoslavia, who share the same unique love towards knitting, crocheting and wool, in general.
“One knitter from Serbia started this online group, looking for like-minded people from the neighbouring countries. When the group reached around 50 people, there was an interest towards creating a platform that could be used to change the narrative of what exactly “handwork” meant, as well as to highlight the benefits of this lifestyle to the environment, fashion, etc. From the whole group, there were 10 of us (living in Berlin, Austria, Serbia, the Netherlands, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) who wanted to continue on seriously promoting this “slow lifestyle” through our website and our social media profiles. We interview businesswomen, create video stories from various fairs, introduce new and exciting creators, share free knitting and crochet patterns, … And we do it all as volunteers.”
YuStitchKolektiv has great plans for 2022, as they are already deep into producing their fashion editorial for January. It will feature the individuals of the collective, their affinities and inspirations through their personal stories and experiences. Marta is very excited about this.
From Marta with love
Looking back on the past 5 years, Marta can observe a huge progress and personal growth. Primarily in developing higher levels of patience and persistence, as she learned how to believe in something and keep on doing it, even though it can sometimes be hard. And all of that is achievable through her love: her love for her son, her love for creative work, her love for wool and, at the end, her love for crocheting.
“Everything I make is beautiful, useful and practical. They say a man is the happiest when he is in love, and I would describe the act of crocheting as a constant feeling of being in love.”
And we hope that you never fall out of it.
If you want to find out more about Marta and her Kolektiv, you can visit their website (yustitchkolektiv.com), and if you are interested in Marta’s newest creations, you can find bunch of those on her personal Instagram account: @crnaocica.
DICTIONARY CORNER
Slétt || Knit ||Prava očica
Brugðið ||Purl ||Kriva očica
Fitja upp ||Cast on ||Namicanje
Fella af ||Bind off ||Završavanje
Lykkja ||Stitch ||Očica
Uppskrift ||Recipe/Pattern ||Mustra/shema