Arne & Carlos

Arne & Carlos is the professional name of Norwegian textile designer and knitter Arne Nerjordet and Swedish designer Carlos Zachrison. The duo is associated with Scandinavian knitwear, pattern design, craft publishing, and the adaptation of traditional Nordic visual culture for contemporary makers. Their work combines references to Scandinavian knitting traditions with modern, often playful, graphic design. The partnership is particularly recognized for its books about knitting. Their best-known publication is Julekuler, a collection of patterns for knitted wool Christmas balls. The book helped turn a familiar seasonal decoration into a structured craft project and became influential among knitters in Norway and beyond. It was also published in other languages; the English edition is titled 55 Christmas Balls to Knit. The pair have written or contributed to eight books focused on knitting, giving them a role not only as product and pattern designers but also as educators and interpreters of textile craft. Their approach has been described as accessible to beginners while retaining a strong Scandinavian identity. Nerjordet is the more experienced knitter and learned the craft through several generations of his family, including his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Zachrison brings a complementary artistic perspective shaped by his Swedish and South American background and by an artistic family environment. Together, they present knitting as both a traditional skill and a contemporary creative medium. Arne & Carlos have also attracted attention through projects outside conventional knitwear publishing. Their public profile expanded through social media, where the pair shared an image of a knitted reproduction of Kim Kardashian's nude photograph published in Paper magazine. Nerjordet was credited with knitting the likeness over a period of three days, while the duo chose not to publish a pattern for the work. The episode illustrated their use of knitting for commentary, popular-culture reference, and visual experimentation rather than solely for practical garments. The duo's influence extends across craft media, design coverage, and public workshops. They have been cited as a useful resource for beginner knitters, and coverage in international publications connected their work with the increasing popularity of knitted Christmas baubles during the mid-2010s. Their brand is best understood as a designer-led creative practice spanning knitwear, patterns, books, workshops, and public-facing craft communication rather than as a mass-market apparel company.

Arne & Carlos emerged as a collaborative textile-design practice led by Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrison, whose work draws on both Scandinavian craft heritage and contemporary design. The partnership brings together two different personal relationships with making. Nerjordet, who is Norwegian, is the more experienced knitter and learned the technique within a multigenerational family tradition. Zachrison, who is Swedish with South American heritage, is described as coming from an artistic family and contributes a broader visual and artistic sensibility to the collaboration. Rather than positioning knitting solely as domestic utility, the duo developed a recognizable design language around patterns, seasonal objects, and the reinterpretation of familiar Nordic motifs. Their output includes knitted goods and pattern systems, but books have been central to their public identity. They have written or contributed to eight knitting-focused books. The most prominent is Julekuler, a collection centered on knitted wool Christmas balls. The project transformed a seasonal decorative object into a repeatable craft format, allowing readers to make baubles using published patterns. It was translated into multiple languages, including English under the title 55 Christmas Balls to Knit, and became one of the pair's defining contributions to contemporary knitting culture. The books helped establish Arne & Carlos as educators as well as designers. Their work has been cited as useful to beginning knitters, suggesting that the duo's significance lies partly in making pattern-based knitting approachable to a broad audience. Their designs retain a clear Scandinavian character while using color, repetition, and graphic motifs in a contemporary way. This combination allowed traditional techniques to circulate through modern publishing, international craft communities, and online media. The duo's visibility was not limited to conventional garments or household objects. They became widely discussed after posting an Instagram image of a knitted reproduction of Kim Kardashian's nude photograph from Paper magazine. The work was a technically demanding and deliberately topical use of knitting: Nerjordet was credited with producing the likeness in three days, while the pair decided not to release instructions for recreating it. The episode demonstrated how they could use a traditionally coded craft medium to engage with celebrity imagery and current visual culture. During the mid-2010s, coverage of Arne & Carlos also linked their designs to the increasing popularity of knitted Christmas baubles. Their work was featured in international craft and design discussions, and they were associated with workshops and other educational appearances. A workshop listing at Scandinavia House and coverage of their work for Comme des Garçons indicate that the duo's activities reached beyond book publishing into public programming and fashion-related design contexts. Arne & Carlos therefore occupy an intersection between textile design, craft education, publishing, and cultural commentary. They are not documented primarily as a large apparel corporation or a conventional retail label. Instead, the brand represents a designer partnership whose influence comes from authored patterns, books, knitted objects, workshops, and a distinctive ability to connect inherited Scandinavian techniques with contemporary subjects.

• 2015

  Growing visibility of knitted Christmas baubles

  [1]Arne & Carlosen.wikipedia.org

  International coverage associated Arne & Carlos with the growing popularity of knitted Christmas baubles.

• Formation of the Arne & Carlos design partnership

  [1]Arne & Carlosen.wikipedia.org

  Norwegian textile designer and knitter Arne Nerjordet and Swedish designer Carlos Zachrison established the collaborative practice known as Arne & Carlos.

• Publication of Julekuler

  [1]Arne & Carlosen.wikipedia.org

  The duo published a pattern book devoted to knitted wool Christmas balls, later issued in English as 55 Christmas Balls to Knit and translated into several languages.

• Knitted interpretation of a Paper magazine photograph

  [1]Arne & Carlosen.wikipedia.org

  The duo drew widespread attention after sharing a knitted reproduction of Kim Kardashian's nude Paper magazine photograph on Instagram.

A Scandinavian designer duo that combines inherited Nordic knitting traditions with contemporary, accessible, and visually distinctive craft design.

• Knitting pattern book

  Julekuler

  A pattern collection centered on knitted wool Christmas balls. The book made seasonal ornaments into a structured knitting project and became the duo's most recognizable publishing work. It was translated into several languages, with the English edition published as 55 Christmas Balls to Knit.

• Knitting pattern book

  55 Christmas Balls to Knit

  The English-language edition of Julekuler, presenting patterns for knitted Christmas baubles. It extends the duo's Scandinavian seasonal design approach to an international English-speaking audience and is intended as a practical craft and pattern resource.

• Knitted decorative objects and patterns

  Knitted Christmas bauble designs

  A signature category of Arne & Carlos work consisting of knitted wool ornaments and the patterns used to make them. The designs combine traditional Nordic seasonal references with repeatable graphic motifs and helped make knitted baubles a prominent contemporary craft format.

• Craft publishing

  Knitting books

  Arne & Carlos have written or contributed to eight books focused on knitting. Their publishing work covers patterns and accessible instruction, helping position the duo as educators and interpreters of Scandinavian textile traditions as well as designers of finished objects.

• Decision not to publish a pattern for the Kardashian-inspired knitted workOther

  Background

  After creating a knitted facsimile of Kim Kardashian's nude Paper magazine photograph, the duo received attention for the technically unusual project.

  Action taken

  Arne & Carlos chose not to release instructions or a knitting pattern for reproducing the piece.

  Aftermath

  The work remained a one-off public-facing art and craft intervention rather than becoming a commercial or instructional pattern product.

  Source

1. 1Arne & Carlosen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Knitting Workshops with Arne & Carlosscandinaviahouse.org
3. 3Arne & Carlos for Comme Des Garconshighsnobiety.com