My "Valborg" Cawl:An Ode to Light and Deep Change

Cuello de crochet artesanal inspirado en Valborg Suecia 

This cowl is my ode to Sweden and the ancestral instinct of leaving behind the harshness of winter to open oneself to the light of spring—and the explosion of color and life it brings. It is a celebration of the continuous journey of existence, the changes, and the transitions that mark the rhythm of nature and the physical laws of our astronomical world.

Every civilization, culture, and people has celebrated this transition in its own way, leaving behind the hardships and torments of the previous season with a heart full of hope for the joys promised by the next.

The Origins of Valborg: Beyond the Official History

Currently, Sweden celebrates Valborg on April 30th with bonfires, parties, concerts, and student festivals. However, its origins date back long before the monk Ansgar founded a church for the first time in Birka in 829 AD, or the strategic Christian baptism of King Olof around the year 1000—a move made to trade with a Europe that had blacklisted the "pagan" Nordics.

When Swedes still worshiped Thor and his great temple stood in Uppsala, cattle farmers would take their animals out for the first time at the end of April, allowing them to graze on the season’s first fresh, scented grass. Bonfires (majbrasor) were lit to protect them from bears, wolves, and other supernatural evils.

Later, with the arrival of Christianity, the cult of Saint Walpurgis reached Sweden from Germany during the Middle Ages (an English nun who had traveled to Germany to evangelize). Thus, a beautiful pagan rite, deeply connected to nature and its cycles, was "christened."

My Ritual: Death, Rebirth, and Material Agency

The Valborg fire is also an act of letting the old die to keep the mind as fresh as the new grass.

For me, it represents the death of my old self so that a new one may emerge. It is my song to all of us who have ventured into the adventure of living in a different nation, or who simply delve into our own internal changes to know ourselves better.

My ritual hasn’t been lighting a physical fire, but rather stoking the fire of my creativity to stay alive—giving material agency to my hanks of yarn so they may guide me through the creative dialogue.

The yarn acts upon me, reshaping my rhythm, my patience, and my inspiration. Every piece I create shapes me as it acquires structure, modifying my way of thinking and my history.

How I Made It: The Valborg Cowl Pattern

Without further ado, here is how I created it:

I began, as I always do with my cowls, with a magic ring or a chain stitch ring. For the chain stitch ring: ch 5 and join with a sl st in the first ch to form a ring.

• Row 1: Inside the ring: ch 3 (counts as the first double crochet), 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1, turn.

• Row 2: 3 dc in the first stitch, skip 2 dc. In the ch-space of the previous row: 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc. Skip 3 dc, 3 dc in the last stitch, ch 2, turn.

• Row 3: 2 dc in the first stitch. In the next space of the previous row: 3 dc. In the ch-space of the previous row: 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc. In the next space of the previous row: 3 dc. 3 dc in the last stitch, ch 2, turn.

• Row 4: 2 dc in the first stitch, then work 1 dc in the Back Loop Only (BLO) of each stitch from the previous row. In the ch-space of the previous row: 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc. Work 1 dc in the BLO of each stitch from the previous row, 3 dc in the last stitch. ch 1, turn.

• Row 5: 3 sc in the first stitch, then work 1 sc in the Front Loop Only (FLO) of each stitch from the previous row. In the ch-space of the previous row: 2 sc, ch 2, 2 sc. Work 1 sc in the FLO of each stitch from the previous row, 3 sc in the last stitch. ch 2, turn.

• Row 6: clusters of double crochet, ch 1 *

Architectural Shapes and Lacy Textures

For the following rows, I felt the urge to delve into more architectural shapes. I was inspired by images of ancient cultures and lost civilizations, but I wanted to give the piece more air and space so it wouldn't be too warm for the spring weather.

As always, I consulted my stitch dictionaries (once again deciding on Melissa Leapman’s "The Indispensable Binder of Crochet Stitches") and decided to build something with her "Elegant Shells." These structures are based on a round of double crochet, followed by a round of floating chain sections that attach to the double crochets of the previous row via a single crochet every five stitches. Into those chains, you add 6 double crochets divided by a chain, repeating these rows.

To this, I added transitions of traditional stitches like post stitches: back post double crochet (bpdc) and front post double crochet (fpdc).

I also decided to incorporate an adapted version of her "Winged Lace." This involves creating a base of [dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1] rows and then adding a layer of surface chains fixed to the structures with slip stitches in a zigzag pattern, as you can see in the photo.

There is a girl waiting...

Here is a glimpse of the inspiration behind the cowl, bringing me back to a stage of my past.

There is a girl waiting for a bus destined for life, for the future.

She waits at the usual stop, by the sea and the currents.

The stop of her childhood, where everything is lost and won in an instant.

There is a girl waiting; she was old even as a child—a witch, a withered flower swayed by the breeze.

The girl remains, alone under the chestnut trees because they gift her their shade, even after she has left.

The girl endures, a wild heart, a sparrow in the canopy... refusing to fly so as not to get burned.

There is a girl who trusts... in the designs of fate, while the stars laugh when she cries, shout when she is silent, and sigh when she sleeps.

There is a girl who perseveres, with a rose in one hand and a dagger in the other.

There is a girl who does not give up, even with winged feet and a soul that—without betraying itself—remains radiant.

There is a girl who stays, even while already on her journey, with winged feet and her gaze fixed on the horizon.