The Yarn Magician & The Uma Sweater
The Yarn Magician & The Uma Sweater
“From the moment I empty the bags of raw wool onto my work table I start listening to and sensing the life and potential of the fibers. I let the colours, shapes, locks, the first feel in my hands speak to me and form my first ideas and visions. .”
- Per Jensen
Family related to Stine, co-founder of Proem Parades, Per has been a creative soulmate from the very beginning. The Uma Sweater is a tribute to the love for specially made handcraft that we all share in Proem. Per spins the yarns for The Uma Sweater at his very own woolen studio next to his home where he lives with his wife Constanze and their Samoyed dog Grisjka, in the countryside of Jægerspris, Denmark.
The contribution Per has made during the years of the Uma Unikum Sweater is, and has been a journey of sheer collaboration, inspiration and admiration. We use to call Per our very own yarn magician.
Come along and see for yourself.
Per & his Samoyed dog Grisjka. Per wearing Edith Jumper, Grisjka wearing own fur.
Fun facts
- Uma Yarns are hand spun from a mix of raw material from Sheep, Alpacas and Samoyed.
- The Samoyed Dogs fur is a top quality super soft and glossy fiber material.
- Potential allergenes sits is in the dogs skin and not the fur.
- The dog sheds hair especially twice a year where it can be collected.
- We mostly use Grisjka´s hair but sometimes other kind Samoyed dog owners find it meaningful to give it to us instead of throwing high quality good stuff away.
Slowly step by step
From the moment I empty the bags of raw wool onto my work table I start listening to and sensing the life and potential of the fibers. I let the colours, shapes, locks, the first feel in my hands speak to me and form my first ideas and visions.
We often refer to Uma Unikum as a "Slow Beauty" because the proces is such a long and beautiful tribute to artisan handcraft.
I then sort the wool constantly letting my first impressions guide my hands. Already here additional ideas start forming. At this stage it is crucial to get to know the personality of the fiber of each individual breed of sheep or alpaca: how will the material respond to what my hands, fingers, ideas and my tools expose it to.
Next is washing particularly lanolin rich fibers by hand and drying in the sun and wind. Washed fleeces frequently then need to be picked to open the locks to facilitate carding. The washed and picked fibers can then be carded on the hand operated carding drum and during this step in the process also be mixed with other fibers and colours.
The fibers are now ready for spinning.
Using a number of different spinning techniques I give the Uma yarns their final individual shape and personality. During this stage I must listen to the feedback from the individual fibers and let this be my guide in the final touches my fingers put to the yarn. No two Umas have therefore been spun in exactly the same way. Finally the finished yarns are hand washed and air dried.
At this point I pass it on to Proem Parades who then pass it on to the knitter.
- Per
Fun facts vol 2
- We often refer to Uma Unikum as a "The Slowest Beauty of them all" because the proces is such a long and beautiful tribute to artisan handcraft.
- Per gives the yarn for each sweater a name after the inspiration he has been working with. For example Morning Hug, Milky Way and Chocolate Swirl.
- From Jægerspris to Vogue UK. Uma Sweater has been featured in several magazines also Vogue UK, highlighting the uniqueness of the sweater.
Taking a brief moment, the story is about to come alive...
The Story at the wheel of my Mind
It is interesting that in both the German and the English language the word or phrase ‘spinnen’ and ‘to spin a yarn’ means both to spin a yarn for knitting and to tell a story.
And this is exactly my experience of the entire process and in particular the spinning: at the wheel my mind, hands and fingers ‘tell a story’, give expression to a story. Every single grip of my hands and fingers that shape the next short length of the ply or the yarn is the next word, phrase, image, incident etc of the long ’story’ behind the idea of the design of the Uma.
Allowing the fairly unruly fibers to determine the options my fingers and my mind quickly have to choose between is often a hard struggle!
But a wonderful struggle! For when I see my mind’s visions appear at the tip of my fingers I am happy!.
Did you know....
- We source the sheep and alpaca wool from small individual farmers in Denmark, Sweden & England that are specialised in breeds and animals with the highest imaginable quality fibers.
- After the handspun yarns have been finished, the sweater is knitted by hand by local talents living all over the country, thank you Marie, Mette, Gitta, Josephine and Caroline.
- You will never find two similar Uma Sweaters, each is unique and can never be repeated.
- The Uma Unikum Sweater is only made-to-order and when you are first in line you can choose from any next newly made Uma.
- One customer waited eight months for her sweater (specific with her choice of colours), however the average waiting time is 9 -12 weeks.
Yarns coming up
Every Uma Sweater is unique
Warsan wearing Uma Unikum Chocolate Swirl.
Sidsel wearing Uma Unikum Snow Meadow.
"When such processes are at their peak in me I go about all day even for long periods of time with very little else in my mind but ‘the story’ I so long to spin. And that is a wonderful way of being."
- Per
Natural Inspiration
The inspiration for my vision of the expressions of the Uma I most frequently find in nature; The early morning mist on the meadow, first morning light breaking through a slit in the dark clouds of the night. The starry sky and the Milky Way. The falling big furry, soft tufts of snow slowly covering the greying ground. The wet and soggy ground of the forest in the winter with all its overlooked beauty of browns, blacks, grey and silver. The wonderful multicoloured pebbles adorning the sand on the beach.
The texture, the structure, the colours, the feel and the overall expression of each individual design should keep as close as possible to the uniqueness of the material.
Other designs express a lovely feeling like the first morning hug from a wonderful friend, a heart warming thought, or a particular story, experience or even animal – anything that tickles the imagination and warms the body. What all the designs share is that they each of them have a story spun into the yarns that gives them individual identity. Each of these ‘stories’ needs time to develop and mature before the yarn is ready for knitting.
"Spinning the Uma yarns is therefore a process that follows the natural laws of meditative thinking. "
-Per
Astrid wearing Uma Unikum Brownie Swirl with Grisjka by her side.
Uma Unikum Victoria Flame. The designs are always given a name.
Martina Carlotta wearing Uma Unikum Snowflake on the beach of Begtrup Vig.
Pass in on
Every skill and bit of knowledge in everything I do and master are gifts from other people. I am grateful and very conscious that I have been given it all. I have the greatest and humbling respect and admiration for the generations of people who have perfected this craft and more often than not through years and lives of both extremely hard and dedicated work to which my ‘hard’ struggles bear no comparison. I do not consider it strictly my ‘property’ although of course my craft has grown its own identity in me during my work. Instead I see it as my obligation to pass it on to others. And I do so whenever someone is interested.
I believe this is a central part of the value core of Proem Parades, to recognise that only by collaborating and sharing values, concerns and visions may we grow in quality, beauty and creational skills and power.
-Per
A smiling dog.
© Copyright 2025 Proem Parades
Photography by Petra Kleis