Marianne isager

Marianne isager

Marianne Isager has, throughout the last 40 years, been at the forefront of Danish knit design, and through her extensive production of patterns and books she has been instrumental in maintaining the continuous development of the old craft. Marianne Isager is also known for her instructive courses, lectures, her numerous exhibitions and classes and her workshop business. The former often have their background in her inspirational travels to Latin America, Asia and Africa, and in her work as an NGO in countries as different as Peru, Nepal and Greenland. In addition to this Marianne Isager is the author of a string of inspiring knitting books, published both in Denmark and internationally.

Marianne Isager (1954 – ) grew up in an academic family in North Jutland and even though the family later moved to Århus she spent a large part of her youth in the family’s summer house, Østerklit, in Tversted Plantage. She began training as a weaver and textile printer at the textile line at Skolen for Brugskunst (The School of Decorative Art), but her appetite for knitting was aroused during a stay at Skals Håndarbejdsskole in 1973, where she met knit designer Åse Lund Jensen. This significant meeting was instrumental in shaping Marianne Isager’s career path, as she four years later, at the death of Åse Lund Jensen, inherited her mentor’s company. After finishing her education as a weaver, Marianne Isager established the company Isager where she continues a line of Åse Lund Jensen’s yarns together with a number of other quality yarns.

For years,  Marianne Isager lived half of the year in Japan, where she resided in Tokyo. The other half she spend in Tversted, the area in North Jutland where she grew up. Now, she permanently lives  in Tversted and from here, she also runs her popular summer workshops.

BOOK RELEASES
Strikkede trøjer ÅRET RUNDT (Danish, 1991, Swedish 1995). SOLD OUT.

INKA  – Strik med latinamerikansk inspiration (Danish 1996, 2005, German 2007) Inka Knits – Marianne Isager Collection (USA 2009). SOLD OUT.

AFRIKA – Strik med afrikansk inspiration (Danish 1999, 2007). SOLD OUT.

KNITTING OUT OF AFRICA ( USA 2006). SOLD OUT.

JAPAN – Skandinavisk Strik med Japansk inspiration (Danish 2007, German 2008) Japanese Inspired knits – Marianne Isager Collection (USA 2009). SOLD OUT.

STRIK a la carte I (Danish 2003, 2010, German 2011) Classic Knits – Marianne Isager Collection (USA 2009)

STRIK a la carte II (Danish 2012, German 2013)

SNEDRONNINGEN – med inspiration fra H.C. Andersens eventyr (Danish 2012)

FORÅR, SOMMER, EFTERÅR og VINTER (Dansk and Engelsk 2013). SOLD OUT.

デンマークの暮らしから生まれたニット KNITS FROM DENMARK by Marianne Isager (Japanese 2014, Chinese 2017)

DÆXEL (Danish, English, German 2016).

ÅLJ – Åse Lund Jensen – En dansk strikdesigner (Danish, 2017). – ÅLJ – a Danish Knitwear Designer

KNITTING NEEDLES AND CHOPSTICKS (Danish, English 2020)

EAT & KNIT (Danish, English 2021) SOLD OUT – available as single patterns

A KNITTING LIFE – BACK TO TVERSTED (Danish, English 2022)

A KNITTING LIFE 2 – OUT INTO THE WORLD (Danish, English 2023)

A KNITTING LIFE 3 – TOKYO TVERSTED (Danish, English 2024)

A KNITTING LIFE 3 – TOKYO TVERSTED (2024)

The book A KNITTING LIFE 3 – TOKYO TVERSTED is the third volume in a series of three, in which Marianne Isager talks about her life with knitting over five decades.

A KNITTING LIFE – OUT INTO THE WORLD (2023)

“A Knitting Life – Out into the World” is the second book of three in which Marianne Isager reveals her knitting life through five decades. In the 90s, Marianne explores the world and finds inspiration in Latin America, Africa, Greenland, and Nepal.

A KNITTING LIFE 2 – BACK TO TVERSTED (2022)

‘A Knitting Life 2 – Back to Tversted’ is a book about Marianne Isager’s first 20 years as a knitwear designer and as owner of the yarn company, ISAGER. Marianne tells about her inheritance from Åse Lund Jensen and about her efforts to combine family life and knitting life in the small village of Tversted. The book contains stories and pictures from the 70s and 80s, and 15 new patterns with knitting instructions using the same techniques seen in designs from the two decades.

Knitting needles and Chopsticks (2021)

Japanese everyday fare & hand knitted scarves by Jens Rahbek Hansen and Marianne Isager

Eat & knit (2020)

Knitting patterns by Marianne Isager and food recipes from Camillo’s Kitchen. All recipes and patterns in Eat & Knit are built around a fruit or a vegetable. You’ll find six beautiful pullovers, crisp pizzas, fresh salads, delightful snacks, sweet cakes and drinks for the sunset on the beach. Eat & Knit is about the need to pause, and finding pride in creating with your hands.

ÅLJ (2017)

Åse Lund Jensen – a Danish Knitwear Designer