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Sari Nordlund: “I Love the Puzzle-Solving in Knitting
Sari Nordlund is one of Finland’s most well-known knitwear designers, known for her textured knits and meticulous construction. We are super happy and excited to publish Sari’s latest book, Foundations: 20 Knitted Accessories — a collection that brings together beautifully crafted accessory patterns, including hats, shawls, mittens and socks.
In this Q&A, we learn more about Sari’s creative process, sources of inspiration and the role knitting plays in her life.
Sari, tell us the story of how you became a knitter and a knitwear designer!
“I started knitting in my early twenties to help me concentrate during university lectures: it was easier to sit still and listen when my hands had something to do. I didn't know any other knitters at the time, so I started a blog to share what I was making. It grew more popular than I expected, and that's what eventually opened the door to publishing my own designs.
Before knitwear, I worked as a furniture conservator in museums, but constant government budget cuts made the job increasingly stressful. When the opportunity came to knit full-time, I took it, and I've never regretted it.”
How has your design style and philosophy changed over the years?
“I've always gravitated towards complicated, technical, textured knits; I love the puzzle-solving of figuring out how something works. These days, though, I prioritise knittability and timelessness over intricacy for its own sake. What hasn't changed is that everything I design has to pass two tests: Am I excited to knit this? Am I excited to wear it once it's off the needles? If either answer is no, I don't make it.”
Your new book Foundations focuses on accessories. What do you most love about knitting accessories?
“Accessories let you explore new techniques, yarns and colour combinations on a small scale. They're also endlessly wearable: you can change the whole feel of an outfit just by swapping one beanie for another in a different colour. Winter dressing can get repetitive when you're wearing the same parka every day, so accessories are a great way to bring some personality to cold-weather layering.”
All the book’s accessories are unisex. Was that an important factor to you?
“My previous two books, especially Summer Knits (Cozy Publishing), were quite feminine, so with Foundations I wanted to offer a different perspective. It was interesting to think about wearability from a new angle while still keeping the designs unmistakably mine, and to question my own assumptions about what counts as feminine. Lace knitting on socks isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of unisex design, for instance, but I think it works.
Gift knitting was part of it too: I might not want to knit my husband a whole sweater, but a beanie, a collar or a pair of socks is manageable. I taught him to knit during Covid, and while he hasn't ventured into sweaters yet, he loves making small accessories for himself.”
The patterns in the book are inspired by architecture. Tell us more about this.
“Architecture has always fascinated me (I even considered studying it at one point), and it's often a major source of inspiration. I think knitting and architecture have a lot in common: both are rooted in structure, shelter and framework, but what you do within those boundaries is up to you. You can let the shapes themselves — beams, corners, walls; seams, shoulder lines, edgings — carry the design, or fill every surface with texture.”
What would your own dream house be like?
“It changes by the day. Some days it's an old wooden house by the sea in Finland; other days it's a minimalist seaside house on a Greek island, or a little chalet with a huge library somewhere in southern France. The constants are a fireplace, a garden and big windows.”
Which accessory from Foundations do you think you will be using the most this autumn?
“The smallest version of the Passage scarf is my favourite from the book. It's so wearable — no styling required; you just put it on and go. It’s warm enough for a Finnish winter without ever feeling heavy.”
As a designer, you are known for fabrics that feel rich and detailed. How do you balance visual impact with the practical realities of knitting a pattern?
“Coco Chanel is often quoted as saying, ‘Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.’ That's roughly how I think about designing: I pick one textural element and let it carry the piece, rather than layering in too many ideas at once. Colour plays into this too: a design in a bold colour usually calls for restraint elsewhere, while a white pullover can carry more detail.
‘Rich’ doesn't have to mean complicated to knit. A lot of my favourite effects come from very simple techniques — a couple of easy cables combined to create larger patterns, some easy texture like moss stitch, a few beautiful finishings — repeated across an entire piece. The eye reads that as intricate, but your hands are doing something quite meditative.
I also test everything on a swatch long before it becomes a pattern: if a stitch pattern looks stunning but is miserable to knit for more than one pattern repeat, let alone a whole sweater, it doesn't make the cut. Knittability isn't a compromise on beauty for me — it's part of what makes a design good.”
Where do your design ideas come from?
“Everywhere! Architecture, books, TV, film, fashion magazines, street style, nature. Sometimes it's as specific as the way light falls across a stairwell, or the colour combination I see on a billboard; other times it's just a mood I want to recreate, like the feeling of a particular season or a place. I keep a running note on my phone of things that catch my eye, even if I don't yet know what they'll become.
My best ideas tend to arrive on their own, usually when I'm not trying: mid-walk, mid-dance class, half-asleep. The ones I go looking for, sitting down and forcing myself to be inspired, rarely turn out as well. I think there's a difference between research and inspiration: research helps me solve a construction problem once I already have the idea, but the idea itself almost never comes from deliberately searching for it.”
What role does knitting play in your life beyond being a profession?
“Knitting is how I relax, unless I'm under deadline — then it becomes something closer to problem-solving under pressure, which is a different feeling entirely. But at its best, it's also how I express my creativity and stay present. There's something deeply comforting about wearing something you made yourself, and a real sense of accomplishment in it that's hard to find elsewhere.
So much of daily life is now spent mindlessly scrolling, with nothing concrete to show for it at the end of the day, but knitting is the opposite. You can always see the progress, even if it's just one row, and that visible, physical evidence of time spent means something to me. It's also given me a kind of patience I don't think I'd have otherwise. You can't rush a sweater. You just do the next stitch, and then the next one, and eventually it's finished.”
What other hobbies do you have – what do you do when you need to reset?
“I dance at least twice a week. Music gives me energy, and when I'm concentrating on the steps and choreography, there's no room left in my head for anything else.”
Name three knitwear designers whose work you admire!
“Michele Wang, hands down. I knitted a lot of her designs before I started publishing my own, and her eye for detail and structure has shaped how I design. The other two are my dear friends Leeni Hoimela and Veronika Lindberg (Kutova Kika).”
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