Sarah Lund's sweater

Well, you're going to need some fat needles for starters! 7mm as a minimum, but I'd recommend 8mm. These are chunky sweaters knitted out of oily, natural wool.

Speaking of wool, you're going to need some of this… This is Sirri "viking yarn", a natural product, spun from natural carded wool taken from Faroese Sheep. This is the exact same wool used by Gudrun & Gudrun, Kurla and indeed Sirri themselves for the Faroese jumpers shown on our buy one page.

Famed for it's light weight, water and wind resistance and natural anti-bacterial properties. A sweater knitted from this stuff, cared for properly, can be worn all winter, with minimal washing. It is light weight, yet incredibly warm. The wool is available in 5 colours only - the natural colours of the sheep: white, light grey, dark grey, light brown and dark brown.

The wool is available in 3 weights: 1ply, 2ply and 3ply - for a jumper you're going to need the 3 ply, which comes in at 200m per 100 gram hank. For a pattern like the Sarah Lund sweater, you'll need 3-4 hanks of the base colour, and one of the pattern colour. Hanks cost about £5.20 each (plus postage)

PLEASE NOTE! The pattern given in Emma Kennedy's book does not use Sirri wool - she suggests a lighter Merino wool, knitted on smaller needles (size 5). I've asked the pattern author if she would kindly suggest how one might knit it differently with bigger needles.BUY YARN

As mentioned on the home page, The Sarah Lund sweater is a copyrighted design of Gudrun & Gudrun, so we're not allowed to offer you an actual pattern for that jumper. However, the jumper is based on a traditional "raglan" design of which there are plenty available for free download from knitting sites such as ravelry. A few examples are given in the list on the right.

Alternatively, Emma Kennedy's book The Killing Handbook: Forbrydelsen Forever! contains a licensed pattern knit using a softer Merino wool. We are in touch with the pattern author to see how easy it is to make the pattern using Sirri wool - see our blog page

The motif is a fairly straightforward repeating pattern.

I've put together a free download of some simple repeating patterns (including those used on the Sarah Lund Sweaters) click here to download (PDF).

KNIT IT TIGHT! The yarn will stretch once you wear the jumper - tradition says that the sleeves should be "smeared on". You have been warned!

There's a great guide to "stranded" fairisle knitting at about.com here, where beginners can also find everything they need to know about knitting from the first principles. The Sarah Lund sweater (despite appearances) is not a difficult knit, even for a first-timer. Go on! have a crack at it!