Fun
Knitwear in Scandi-Noir Thrillers
With Season 4 of the Swedish-Danish crime thriller The Bridge underway, Friday evenings in our Ireland household are once again reserved for a beloved television viewing pastime.
I speak, of course, of knitwear spotting. And indeed, no sooner does the crumpled, chain-smoking cast spill out onto the mean streets of Malmö, than it begins.
Detective Saga Norén in The Bridge.
When deadpan Detective Saga Norén (played by Sofia Helin) appears on screen, she is draped in an oversized cardi so badly fuzzed and stretched out of shape that it surely was knitted out of alpaca, from a brand I think I recognize.
In a subsequent scene, a playfully antagonistic detective arrives in a raglan pullover with all-over honeycomb cables. Excitedly, my husband recognizes the motif, as it is one I have used on several of his hats.
We are, at this point, but minutes into the show, you understand.
Spotting knitwear in a Scandi-Noir series is akin to shooting fish in a barrel. The traditional, quaint, and authentically worn-in sweater has become an obligatory element of the genre.
The Killing
It began in 2007 with the Danish thriller Forbrydelsen (The Crime). In the series, the lead character Detective Sarah Lund (played by Sofie Gråbøl), wears a traditional stranded colorwork sweater by the Faroe Island designer Gudrun & Gudrun.
Actress Sofie Gråbøl with a few of her “Killing sweaters.”
More accurately, however, there are several sweaters. The original garment is badly slashed at the start of the series. It then re-appears later in the show, undamaged. In a different episode, another colorwork sweater seems to undergo a color reversal in the middle of a scene.
It was likely this sequence of bloopers that first attracted viewers’ attention to the series’ knitwear. As attention turned to fascination, the show’s producers obliged, and other sweaters were added to the lead detective’s wardrobe.
By the time the series aired globally in 2011 under the English title The Killing (a more direct translation would be “the crime”), these garments became cast members in their own right, known collectively as “The Killing Sweaters.” It wasn’t long before knitters’ interests were piqued.
Strawberries and Crime, from Series 2 of Forbrydelsen.
Enter Strawberries and Crime, from The Killing Handbook by Emma Kennedy, and a series of “Killing Sweaters” by SKD Yarn.
Elsewhere Up North
As other Nordic thrillers followed and the Scandi-Noir genre began to take shape, the knitwear kept coming. If you enjoy your metaphysical crime dramas subtitled, watch Trapped, Jordscott, Blue Eyes, Thicker Than Water, and Fortitude, just to name a few.
Well-worn fuzziness in Jordscott.
Whether the characters are hiding family secrets, bribing politicians, running from polar bears, or merging their DNA with swamplife, you can be certain that at least some of them are doing these things dressed in captivating handknits.
From a critical analysis perspective, the purpose of the knitwear is both obvious and profound. At its core, Scandi-Noir is about juxtaposing the familiar and comforting with the violent and evil. A sweater makes for an easy symbol of the former. Together with the hyggelig interiors, color-coordinated streetscapes, and constant clutching of mugs containing hot beverages, knitwear forms the fabric, so to speak, of the cozy, reassuring backdrop against which terrible happenings attain maximum poignancy. It is a similar juxtaposition to that which defined David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, set in early ‘90s Washington State, except where Lynch was playful, exuberant, and blatantly tongue-in-cheek, the Nordic directors tend to be sparse, controlled, and terse.
Pacific Noir West
From Twin Peaks humor to Scandinavian deadpan.
While folkloric knitwear reads as authentic in Scandinavian settings, it comes across as more heavy-handed in English-language equivalents of the genre (think Broadchurch, Marcella) and, particularly in certain American shows.
The most blatant example is the US remake of The Killing.
Detective Sarah Linden in The Killing.
Set in Seattle and starring the otherworldly Mireille Enos, this version of The Killing is excellent; some critics have even pronounced it a better show than the Danish original. But to my eye, something feels off about the American Sarah Linden’s inheritance of her Danish counterpart’s penchant for knitwear.
While the Danish Sarah’s wardrobe reads as normal in the context of her personality and culture, the American Sarah’s collection of thick folksy woolens, worn with her otherwise Gortex wardrobe, feels like it needs an explanation which the viewer never receives. Conspicuously rustic, the sweaters she wears are not the type one might buy in a chain store; they look distinctly hand-knitted. But Sarah has no family, and no friends who seem even remotely capable of producing such creations. Where does she get her sweaters? Is she a dedicated patron of the local Nordic-imports emporium? Or does she frequent charity shops in search of discarded Lopi? Given her hectic and unsentimental lifestyle, I cannot picture American Sarah at either establishment. The remaining possibility, however unlikely, is that she is a knitter herself.
Clearly handknitted in the Ravelry Era. But which pattern?
I give this scenario a whirl in my mind’s eye and try to get behind the idea. Sarah Linden, on Ravelry. Location: Seattle. Favourite color: plum. Years knitting: 6. I imagine that she learned how to knit as part of the recovery process after the nervous breakdown alluded to in her backstory. First there were scarves. But with her tenacious investigative mind, it wasn’t long before sweaters followed, their coziness the only form of embrace her damaged psyche can handle.
OK, my theory is farfetched. But I need something, for the American “Killing Sweaters” to make sense.
From Self-Parody to Parody
If there is a spectrum between stylistic device and kitsch, then arguably, the Scandi-Noir sweater has almost from its inception crossed over to the latter territory, as evidenced by the 2014 parody Inspector Norse, staged by the British theatre company Lip Service.
all-out parody in Inspector Norse.
As directors Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding explain, handknits were ingredients as crucial to the genre, as the murders themselves.
Now over a decade on air, the Scandinavian thrillers have become a beloved, albeit somewhat tired genre. The once-fresh storylines and characters are starting to feel repetitive; the styling and aesthetics, formulaic. Unsurprisingly, some say that Scandi-Noir has jumped the proverbial shark. And that may very well be. But I, for one, am still willing to watch. As long as that shark keeps wearing a stranded colorwork jumper.
The Killing (U.S. version) is streaming on Netflix.
See also: Making The Killing (don’t miss the mention of Sarah’s sweater at the end).
Come Shop With Us
Thank you! Fun article. And, I laughed out loud completely relating to “learning to knit in the improvised manner of Eastern European folk tradition…” Teaching my first workshop I was asked if one should slip as if to knit or as if to purl. Thinking to myself that was a ridiculous question, I remember answering that it didn’t matter as long as you worked the stitch as needed next time you get to it. Yes, I had to start knitting from patterns to understand…
At the moment I am forcing myself to knit a couple of my own patterns, verbatim, just so I can truly understand what it’s like. It’s amazingly hard, and I keep wanting to argue with the designer! :))
Terrific article – thank you! I’ve written down a few of the Scandinavian-noir I haven’t seen. The Killing (American style) is one I have enjoyed; my intro to Joel Kinnamon as well. I always figured Linden wore those oversized, Nordic sweaters as a type of psychological “protection”.
The sweaters in the US version of “The Killing” are made by Harley of Scotland and were sold by J. Crew.
Interesting! I tried to find this info and could not; thank you! Looking into it now, I see that a collection was indeed made by Harley of Scotland. But those are not the only ‘US Killing’ sweaters. There are several specific ones (I’ll try to post some links if this platform allows) which you can see are clearly hand-knitted, as the tension on the collar ribbing is uneven, or there are gaps showing at the underarms, as one would get from attaching the sleeves in the round… It occurs to me that Kristy Glass might be a good person to ask about this, as she occasionally features hand-knitters who work for television and movies. Surely someone will know!
Thank you, Lucinda!
Love the shows and following the handknits. Outlander is one of my favorites. And what about the Anthropologie throw in the American crazy runaway movie (I can’t remember the name but I have it half finished in a bag somewhere)
😀 😀 😀
Can anyone identify the sweater-jacket worn by Lars Mikkelsen in The Team? It is grey, fitted, cabled, with a zipper, and I just love it!
I am thinking this needs to be a game show : ))
So cool ! Something new to check out ! But it brought back a funny memory of a poorly knit sweater that was sent to a friend to salvage. It had been knit in some awful yarn and the sleeves had been sewn in backwards so they reached up. This named the help sweater
Hilarious!!!
Thank you so much for the gun cozy from Strawberries and Crime. I have been knitting for 48 years and had a Scandi phase back in the nineties. Gotta run and knit a cover for my AK47 right away 😉 . You know what they say about us New Yorkers.
In the BBC’s “Shetland” (available on Netflix, at least in Canada) there isn’t as much Shetland knitting as you’d think. However, in the first 2 episodes of series 1, you can spot a couple of Kate Davies pieces!
Somehow I have not yet watched Shetland. Luckily, I have a project due that needs to be speed-knitted, so…
I know! They started out well, but let the handknits dwindle over time.
You know Ravelry will make a fake account for Sarah Linden now.
WHY HASN’T THIS HAPPENED?
Now I want to see Inspector Norse!
My daughter and I are currently binging on “Shetland.” Oh, my. Knitted stuff all over the place. We will hit the pause button so we can get a closer look.
Awesome article! Now I have a new osession!
Love Fortitude! Looking forward to seeing some of these other shows and watching for knits!
Great, detailed analysis! My favorite line was early: “….oversized cardi so badly fuzzed and stretched out of shape that it surely was knitted out of alpaca…” Confirms my bias against alpaca!
Great article. Scandi-Noir Knitalong! Let’s go!
Thanks for a great article.I can’t wait to check out the Scandi-noir shows.
To merge this theme with podcasts check out “Death in Ice Valley”a podcast looking into a 1970s unsolved murder by a BBC and Norwegian reporter.Fascinating and creepy— it.
I agree that the sweaters seem a little less “fitted and seamless”- in a non-literal sense- in the American version. I love her sweaters and how many she wears but it did stick out. I haven’t watched the original yet, but maybe it’s because in the American, almost no one else is wearing sweaters or knits like hers? Even her son and fiance, even background characters- no one is wearing as much knitting, at least not as outerwear, as she is.
Just finished hinterland on Netflix, set in Wales. Couldn’t help but notice all the hats & sweaters.
I love this! 😀
Re: “The Killing” set here in Seattle — Yup, it’s quite possible that Sarah got her sweaters at a local “charity shop” (we call them ‘resale’ stores usually). We have sooo many, especially in Seattle proper. So it’d be easy for her to pop in and get 1. or 10.
It’s not hard to find a hand knitted sweater in one of the shops, because this whole area is a hotbed of knitters.
But it could also be that she’s a knitter, too, given all the knitting (and quilting) that goes on around here.
Goretex and fleece are certainly the materials you’ll see here mostly (at least from November to June), but sweaters appear too. So it’s not odd that she’d be wearing them. (Tho’ I definitely did think: “Wow! where did she get that sweater?” a time or two.)
I’ll definitely try to access some of the one’s you’ve mentioned. And “Inspector Norse”… bwahahahaha! If only that were available in some form to watch. 🙂
Good to know! I have also been told by a friend that Seattle has quite a large population of Danish and Norwegian origin, with whom Nordic style sweaters are apparently popular even if it does not otherwise seem to fit in with their ‘look.’ So… I don’t know, perhaps the directors developed American Sarah with greater coherency than I give them credit for. (Although I still prefer the version where she has a ravelry profile!)
I am going to suggest that my nearest charity shop/ resale store, does a Scandi-noir capsule collection… They certainly have enough stock.
Yes I vote that Sarah wears her comfort like armour. And also gets the wool sweaters from thrift shops.
The DH & I have loved watching Fortitude. I have lusted after many a sweater, shawl or other knit object on that show. Months ago, I searched all over the internet looking for the shawls & cowls worn by Dennis Quaid’s wife in the 2nd season. I found the yellow one on Ravelry, but wonder if any of you know where any of the other patterns might be found.
Not a Nordic noir but the shawls in The Guardians, a French movie about women working a farm while the men are off fighting WWI are fabulous—especially the brown one worn by Marguerite. Does anyone have any idea how to get the patterns?
The BBC /Netflix program Land Girls has some fabulous knitting
Anyone notice what looked like a hand knit tam and scarf that Sandra Oh wears in Killing Eve? I tried to find it on line, but was not successful. I’d love to knit it.
loved your post, made me laugh. I love the iconic knits and am off to the Faroes in a few weeks to learn how to knit Faroese style, hopefully I will be able to recreate some fabulous knits for winter.
I have a challenge for the MDK group please:
Watch the movie “Bokeh”. It’s set in Iceland, and in a scene or two the female lead wears a beautiful shawl – but I can’t quite figure out how it’s made. It looks knitted, but could be Tunisian crochet, or something else entirely.
Fair warning, this is not a laugh riot movie. It’s a small film, quite compelling, about a couple who takes a vacation in Iceland only to wake up in their hotel room to discover all the people have vanished from the area. I found it compelling, but your mileage may vary.
The shawl was *extremely* compelling. 😉
Top post! And watch Twin, Outlier and Trom, all with great knits..