PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
Furniture usually gets named for how it looks or who commissioned it. The Knitting Chair is named for what people did while sitting in it. When Ib Kofod-Larsen introduced the design in 1951, the two cut-outs at the base of the backrest were placed there to give working elbows room to move, and the name simply followed the function.
The chair was produced only as a limited edition, and for decades the surviving examples circulated as collector's pieces. Audo Copenhagen brought it back into production under its Modernism Reimagined concept, the brand's first move into reissuing classic furniture, which says something about how highly the Danish design house rates this particular chair.
A Limited Edition, Then a Long Wait
The 1951 chair confirmed Kofod-Larsen's command of proportion and sculptural form, but it never reached wide production in his lifetime. The examples that survived became increasingly sought after on the collector market, which is usually where a design like this ends: admired in auction catalogues, sat in by almost no one.
Audo's revival changed that ending. The designer's son, Jan Kofod-Larsen, has said that "Ib's furniture was rooted in reality," and described a father who worked iteratively, staying close to his manufacturers until every detail landed. That is the standard the reissue holds itself to: the same proportions, the same exposed construction, built for rooms people actually live in.
The Cut-Outs Behind the Name
The chair is built on an exposed triangular construction: three clean lines of solid oak meeting at angles that carry the seat. The seat and back are gently curved plywood, pitched at angles Kofod-Larsen refined through close work with his joiners for real lumbar support. The cut-outs sit exactly where elbows fall when hands are busy in a lap, whether that means knitting needles in 1951 or a book and a phone today.
The proportions are the specialist's reason to care. The chair envelops like a full lounge chair yet measures 28.1" wide and 26.3" deep, a footprint that fits a condo living room corner without crowding it. The 11.8" seat height sets a true low-lounge posture, the kind you settle into for an hour rather than perch on for a minute, and it pairs naturally with a low side table at the same relaxed register.
The back view deserves a mention of its own. The rear of the chair is as resolved as the front, the triangular frame reading as sculpture from behind, which lets the chair float in the middle of an open plan instead of hugging a wall.
The Designer Denmark Exported
Ib Kofod-Larsen rose through the Danish design era of the 1950s and 1960s with an unusual trajectory: much of his work was created for international markets, which made him better known abroad than at home. He saw himself as an artisan rather than an academic, stayed deeply involved in production, and favoured teak, palisander and leather for furniture built around comfort and tactile quality.
His organic, well-proportioned silhouettes are having a sustained rediscovery, and two of them now sit in the Audo catalogue. The Knitting Chair is one. The other is the Seal Lounge Chair, and seen together they show a designer who kept solving the same problem, deep comfort in a sculptural shell, in different ways.
Boucle or Sheepskin
The Black Lacquered Oak version with Barnum Boucle is the graphic take: the looped texture of the ivory boucle reads soft and matte against the black frame. It holds its own in rooms with dark-stained timber and deep-toned upholstery, where the pale seat becomes the point of light.
The sheepskin versions lean into the chair's tactile side: Sheepskin Natural on wax oiled natural oak, or Sheepskin Root on dark stained oak. Sheepskin is a natural material, so every hide varies slightly in tone and curl, and each chair leaves the workshop as a one-off. In a reading corner by a window, the long hair catches side light through the day and gives the chair a living texture the hand goes to automatically.
The leather and fabric versions widen the frame choices to natural oak, walnut, or dark stained oak. Leather was among the materials Kofod-Larsen himself favoured, and cognac Dunes on natural oak or black Dakar on walnut let the hide pull tight across the curved shell, keeping the plywood's shape fully legible. Logan Jasmine fabric on natural oak keeps the chair pale and soft-toned for rooms built around natural textiles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called the Knitting Chair?
The cut-outs at the base of the backrest were designed to give elbows room to move while knitting, and the name followed. Audo's own description extends the same logic to reading: the openings sit exactly where arms rest when hands are occupied in a lap.
How big is the Knitting Lounge Chair?
It measures 28.1" wide, 26.3" deep and 35.7" tall, with an 11.8" seat height. The seat is low and enveloping while the overall footprint stays compact, which is why the chair works in condo living rooms and bedroom corners as comfortably as in larger spaces.
What finishes does the Knitting Lounge Chair come in?
Three ranges: black lacquered oak with Barnum Boucle; sheepskin, either Natural on natural oak or Root on dark stained oak; and leather and fabric versions on natural oak, walnut, or dark stained oak frames, upholstered in Dunes or Dakar leather or Logan fabric. Every version pairs a solid wood frame with a curved plywood seat and back.
The Knitting Chair is a 1951 idea that reads as current: an exposed frame that shows its construction, a seat pitched for long sits, and a name that describes exactly what the design does for the person in it. For a piece that spent decades as a collector's item, its second life is refreshingly practical. It wants a corner, a side table, a lamp, and someone with their hands full. If you are weighing it against other seats for the same corner, our guide to Scandinavian lounge chairs covers the wider field.
If you are deciding between the boucle and the sheepskins, or planning the corner around the chair, our in-house design team works with clients across Canada on everything from a single piece to a full room.
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