From championship sweater to cabin throw: Pernille Døsvik's next chapter with Dale of Norway

At Skeikampen, in the mountains above Gudbrandsdalen, Norwegian content creator Pernille Døsvik is building a log cabin from the ground up with her partner, the cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who this February became the first athlete in history to be named the most gold-medalled Winter Olympian of all time. Its main room is anchored by a fireplace wall crafted from raw, tactile stone and dark metal. It is also where Dale of Norway's new home collection with Døsvik began.

It is not the pair's first collaboration. Last year, Døsvik helped shape Dale of Norway's official sweater for the 2025 Nordic World Ski Championships taking place in her hometown of Trondheim.

While the cabin is new, Døsvik never wanted it to read that way. "I never wanted the interior to feel like a stereotypical new mountain cabin," she says. "I've been much more inspired by old Norwegian mountain homes, European alpine interiors and things that feel collected over time."

The same instinct shaped the collection. "I wanted the cabin to feel warm, timeless and a little imperfect, like it could have been there for much longer than it actually has," she says. "I don't really like interiors where everything is too coordinated or obviously new. I prefer rooms where different materials, patterns, and periods can live together, and it feels like things have been added over time."

Related: Unraveling the 'Lusekofta': How Norway's alpine must-have became a global style statement

Getting there took time. Dale of Norway's design team and Døsvik traded references back and forth: she would send colours and details she liked, the team would test what could actually be knitted, then everyone would adjust again.

The pattern that emerged pairs a Welsh geometric structure with a Trondheim rose worked into its centre. "I'm from Trondheim, so having that reference in there made it personal without needing to be very obvious," she says. "I love that you might not immediately know where the different elements come from. They just work together as a pattern."

The throw in the collection is also reversible. "I love things that can change depending on how you use them," Døsvik says. "I'm constantly moving things around at home, turning cushions, changing textiles. With the reversible design, one side feels slightly more 'loud' and the other calmer, so the same piece can have a different expression. I also think it makes it feel less styled. You can throw a blanket over a sofa without worrying about which side is supposed to be facing up – both are meant to be seen."

The starting palette held four colours – rust red, steel blue, army green, and a light sand tone – tested at different points against copper and wood. Within that palette, the team first tried building the reversible pattern in three colours at once. But it proved difficult, and the idea was eventually left behind. "I really wanted the three-colour version to work," Døsvik says. "But I also think limitations can be quite good for a design process. Once we had to simplify it, the collection became clearer and probably more timeless." Ingrid Brandseth, who led the design on Dale of Norway's side, brought a technical read Døsvik didn't have of her own. "Ingrid also understands the technical side in a way I obviously don't," Døsvik says, "so sometimes I would suggest something that looked very simple in my head, and discover that it was actually incredibly complicated to knit."

The palette eventually narrowed to two. "That was difficult, because I love all of those colours," Døsvik says. "But the steel blue and sand combination had this calmness to it that I kept coming back to. It works beautifully with wood, stone and metal, but it can also live in a completely different kind of home." That was important to Døsvik. "I didn't want to make something that only made sense at Skeikampen. The cabin was the starting point, not the only place the pieces should belong."

"Clothing is personal because you wear it, but your home is personal in a completely different way," Døsvik says. "Especially with this project, because we were designing the collection while I was also making hundreds of decisions about a home that Johannes and I will hopefully have for a very long time. I think that gives the pieces a sentimental layer for me that probably isn't visible to anyone else."

Asked whether there is a detail in the finished collection that only she would recognise as significant, Døsvik returns to the rose. "Probably the Trondheim rose," she says. "It's not something that necessarily announces itself when you first look at the pattern, and I like that. To someone else, it can simply be a beautiful geometric element, but, for me, there's this small connection back to where I'm from hidden within it. I think those are often my favourite details in design, the ones that don't need to be explained, but have another meaning once you know the story."