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Nordic News and Notes, April 2024

Karin Larsson: Let the Hand be Seen.” American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN. June 8, 2024 – October 27, 2024.

Explore the colorful work and legacy of Karin Larsson—a trendsetting artist, designer, and style icon ahead of her time—in a special exhibition at the American Swedish Institute from Carl Larsson-gården.

Karin Bergöö Larsson (1859–1928) was a groundbreaking artist whose approach to textiles and design ushered in a new era of interior design and established the iconic Swedish style that continues to inspire contemporary artists worldwide. The floral motifs, vivid colors, and charming simplicity of her style remain heavily influential nearly a century after her death, inspiring both independent makers and major brands like IKEA.

Many of Karin’s works were forever captured in husband Carl Larsson’s iconic paintings of Swedish life. It was Karin who designed and created Lilla Hyttnäs, the Larsson’s home just outside of Falun in Sundborn, Sweden, which was so often the subject of Carl’s paintings.

This exhibition presents Karin Larsson as an artist, designer, dressmaker, and style icon through her art and textiles.


Tendencies 2024 – In the Right Hands. Galleri F15, March 23 – June 12, 2024. Moss, Norway.

The 46th edition of Tendencies focuses on craft’s materiality, the work of the hands, and making statements through textiles. The exhibition presents the practices of 15 artists based in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

For those who can’t travel to Norway, a short video on the gallery website gives an overview of the works. The Norwegian text of the video is mostly in English in the exhibit description, except for this, “The source of inspiration for this edition of the Tendencies exhibit is the artistry of the Norwegian textile artist Brit Fuglevaag. She is an 84 year old woman who was very significant n the development of textile art and weaving in the 1960s, and who remains active in textile art today.” Photos of individual works can be seen in the Media Gallery.

Nearly Wild Weaving.  Tapestry: In Conversation – With Robbie LaFleur. Wed, April 24, 2024 7 pm UK time. (Eventbrite calculates the time for each guest’s time zone. It costs 10 pounds, which Eventbrite conveniently charges you for in your own currency.) Register here.

During our conversations we find out how our guests approach their work, what inspires them, what techniques they favour and why. Throughout this season we are taking a more international view of tapestry weaving, and this month delighted to be crossing the Atlantic once again, this time to talk to Robbie LaFleur who is based in Minnesota. And as we talk, we’ll also be travelling back across to Scandinavia, finding out more about Robbie’s long association with weaving in Norway.

Robbie’s work is strongly influenced by traditional Norwegian weaving. She has a particular interest in the work of Frida Hansen, which she studied in depth during a funded research programme in 2019. Robbie has been the editor of the Norwegian Textile Letter for many years and is also an instructor, introducing many others to the different facets of Scandinavian approaches to tapestry weaving.

We will find out what brought Robbie into tapestry weaving and especially the world of Scandinavian weaving, how she approaches her designs, the influences on her work and discover where her work has taken her.


“Early Swedish Folk Weavings” with Wendel Swan. May 1, 2024, 1 pm EDT, 7 pm CET. Registration is required. Click Here to Register. Cost: Free

Wendel Swan, who has loaned 54 rare and exemplary textiles for the current exhibition Swedish Folk Weavings for Marriage, Carriage, and Home 1750-1840, at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia. He will discuss the historical background of Scandinavian weavings since the Viking era and, with numerous illustrations, the enormous diversity and aesthetic merit of design elements, color and weaving techniques of Swedish textiles that were produced for personal household use in relatively small Scania.

bunad

“Norwegian Folk Costumes: A Living Tradition.” Lauran Gilbertson, Curator, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. May 18, 2024. 11 am. Location: New Directions Real Estate Building, lower level, 110 North Main Street, Westby, Wisconsin.

As part of the Westby Syttende Mai celebration, Vesterheim Chief Curator Laurann Gilbertson will explore Norway’s tradition of colorful folk costumes is as old as the Middle Ages, and as young as the 1940s. Learn about the history of costumes from Hardanger, Telemark, Hallingdal, and many other regions of Norway. The forces of politics, fashion, and immigration have left their mark on this important part of Norwegian and Norwegian-American folk culture.

The program is open to the public and starts at 11:00 am. For more details about the event contact Dave Amundson at nissedal@mwt.net or visit HOME | Westby Syttende Mai (syttendemaiwestby.com).


Helena Hernmarck tapestry at Hudson Yards

“Hernmarck Tapestries at Hudson Yards: Artist Talk with Helena Hernmarck and Matilda McQuaid.” Wednesday, May 22, 7 pm. Free. (Reserve tickets.) Scandinavia House, located in New York City at 58 Park Avenue, four blocks south of Grand Central Station.

Tapestry artist Helena Hernmarck and moderator Matilda McQuaid discuss Hernmarck’s latest commission: two sets of monumental tapestries for a residential lobby at 35 Hudson Yards in New York City, Flowers and Maple Tree. The program will also include a screening of the documentary Hernmarck Tapestries at Hudson Yards (20 min.), which showcases Helena’s ongoing collaboration with weavers and spinners in Sweden. The film also explores the complex design and installation requirements for the unique commission, and highlights the relevance of tapestry as an art form in contemporary architectural settings.


Helena Hernmarck

“The Influence of Karin Larsson on the Art World and the Work of Helena Hernmark,” an artist talk by Helena Hernmarck. Sunday, June 9, 5-9 pm. American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis Minnesota. Cost: $30 ($25 ASI members) (Register here.)

Be the first to view Karin Larsson: Let the Hand Be Seen at this preview event featuring a special FIKA Café menu and artist discussion from the renowned Swedish textile artist, Helena Hernmarck, who was heavily influenced by the work of Karin Larsson.

Have you ever caught yourself marveling at the massive tapestry in the Nelson Cultural Center? Now’s your chance to meet the artist herself! Following a screening of a new short film about her work, Helena Hernmarck will discuss her work and the influence of Karin Larsson on the art world.

Join ASI for small plates in the courtyard available for purchase, featuring a menu inspired by Karin Larsson’s cookbook and curated by FIKA Café’s executive chef, Amalia Obermeier-Smith. Dress up inspired by Karin or come as you are!

“Tradition in Transition: A Colorful Baptismal Dress from Norway.” Laurann Gilbertson, Curator, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Piecework, April 3, 2024.

This short essay begins, “Garments worn for special occasions make up a significant percentage of many museums’ collections because they are the textiles that people tend to save and pass along.” Beautiful textiles become even more meaningful when accompanied by the stories of the people who made and used them.


hardanger embroidery

Hardanger Embroidery: Needlework to Do When the Loneliness Comes.” Laurann Gilbertson, Curator, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Piecework, November 3, 2023.

Anna Anderson began her tablecloth on her journey from Norway to the United States. “My mother gave me the tablecloth when I was leaving and told me that when I was feeling lonesome I should work on it,” she recalled.

Nordic News and Notes, March 2024

North House Fiber Art Courses

Among the many tempting fiber arts courses held on the shores of Lake Superior are a few with a specific Scandinavian theme: Scandinavian Band Weaving with Caroline Feyling, Swedish Toothbrush Rugs with Melba Granlund, Tvåändsstickning – Mittens in Swedish “Twined” Knitting with Lily Bell, and Warp Weighted Tabletop Loom: Build and Weave with Melba Granlund.


Vesterheim Folk Art School 

Vesterheim Folk Art School has announced their summer and fall 2024 in-person and virtual classes. Be sure to check out both the Fiber Arts and Weaving categories.

Video

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson. With Sail over the Baltic Sea.” (On the potential connection between the introduction of sails and the Viking phenomenon). Part of a 2022 conference, “Vikings before Vikings.”

From the description: “The iconic image of the Viking Age is arguably the sailing boat, as e.g. seen on the Gotlandic picture stones… Sail production was an extensive and in research often underestimated process, requiring extensive amounts of raw material that then had to be processed, spun and woven. Sailing provided quicker and less arduous means of transportation, increasing the range of travel, but the making of sails was an advancement that required a new level of organisation and planning. The connection between sails and the Viking Phenomenon is significant, but the social development it reflects is equally important, constituting an even more significant indicator of the beginning of a new era.”


Båtryer. Romsdal Museum. 

This brief museum video highlights båtryer [pile coverlets, or rya, used on boats]. Båtryer has English subtitles. (It seems odd they chose to make it black-and-white.)

Exhibitions

Swedish Folk Weavings for Marriage, Carriage, and Home 1750 to 1840.” Swedish American Historical Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 15-September 22, 2024. 

From the description: “Swedish Folk Weavings for Marriage, Carriage, and Home is an exhibition of rare and artful cushions and bed covers woven by women for their households. Many have inscribed dates ranging from 1750 to 1840. Such textiles were used on or displayed for special occasions and were a significant form of decoration for the typical household.

“The design elements and patterns reflect the influence of centuries of trade since the Viking era. Visitors will see colorful geometric patterns, exotic birds, real and mythical creatures, religious depictions, crowns, floral themes, and even patterns from Roman mosaics. Swedish Folk Weavings for Marriage, Carriage, and Home was developed in collaboration with Wendel and Diane Swan, both of whom are of Swedish descent, and whose collection is primarily featured in the exhibition.”


Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you for all your appreciation along the way. Tusen takk!

You can Count on Wool

By Sølvi Westvang Skirbekk

This essay from the Anno Glomsdalmuseet, “Du kan stole på ull,” was translated by Katherine Larson.

No textile fiber has as strong a presence in the museum’s historical collections as wool. In past times, it’s hard to imagine people’s everyday lives in the biting cold of Norway’s interior, along our damp, stormy coastline, or in the festive interior of a church, without the valuable fibers of Norwegian sheep. Can we learn something from the use of resources in former times?

People with a sheep and a bucket. Rachel Haarseth, Anno Museum in North Østerdalen

Vital textiles

Through history sheep have given us materials from which we have made both work clothes and decorative textiles. Skilled hands have carefully transformed these fibers through shearing, washing, carding, combing, spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting and sewing. Thus have our foremothers and forefathers made for themselves the vital textiles that they could count on – in their work and in life in general. In Anno’s collections we find work mitts, coverlets, skin blankets, wadmal trousers, work shirts, leggings, jackets, cushions, blankets and several other types of textiles where wool is used as a material, either in total or in part. Cloth remnants and yarn samples show how valuable a material wool was, especially when you had to spin the yarn or weave the cloth yourself. All these articles offer clear witness to the role wool played in the lives of people in our area.

Fabric scraps of different qualities and a selection of leftover yarns of various qualities and colors. Photos: Emir Curt

At Glomdal Museum we have a collection of nearly 100 houses. A person’s social status, the century in which they lived and their access to resources determined who lived in which houses, but there were some things most had in common. They were dependent on wool, and they had the knowledge of how to work it.

The drop spindle represents the knowledge of the hands and the maximum utilization of time that could not be wasted. One could always spin yarn on the drop spindle while doing something else. Anno Glomdal Museum

Adaptability

Sheep were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Only the dog has been with us longer. Sheep played a key role as we developed agriculture, grazing in scrub and forested areas not easily reachable by farmers. Even today, this is one of a sheep’s capabilities that is highly valued.

The climate in our country, with its extreme changes in temperature and humidity, has contributed to the development of wool with a unique quality, a fine under wool [bunnull] and a protective outer hair [dekkhår].  Together these factors have made wool from Norwegian sheep quite effective at regulating temperature, but it also has a unique glossy quality, pills very little, and is better at holding its shape than its modern international competitors.

These are part of the reason that Norwegian wool is sought after by the modern textile industry. Its ability to “spring” back into its original form after being stretched makes Norwegian wool especially well suited to rugs, and furniture shows no marks as it does in those made of other fibers such as viscose. Did you know that statesmen walk on Norwegian wool every day in the White House in Washington D. C.?

Yarn qualities

In earlier times wool fibers were carded by hand. One could easily separate the under wool from the outer hair, sorting the fibers to suit the textile to be made. For clothing that would be close to the body the soft under wool was best, but for a rya or a wall hanging, the durable and glossy outer hair was preferred.  Today wool is carded by machine, with the result that carded yarn consists of both types of fiber. No one produces combed (worsted) Norwegian wool. As a result we lose the potential from Norwegian under wool. If you want a soft and comfortable under garment [trøye] made from that wool, you have to make it yourself.  It’s not impossible, but it requires a good deal of knowledge that is not readily available these days.

Thrifty livestock

Sheep were kept as domestic animals by all levels of society. The need for wool was large and sheep were thrifty animals to keep.  They could graze on growth that was not accessible to other animals – or to people. In this way households were outfitted with clothes and tools that were exclusively made from local resources. The fiber was local, work tools were for the most part locally produced, and knowledge of the steps in processing was also local. When a pair of trousers was worn out, one repaired it with yarn and cloth that was also produced of the same local resources. When a mitten could no longer be repaired, it was used as insulation around the windows. In this way people and nature, both in their home and in the community to which they belonged, adapted to one another.  Consumption was low, necessity could be great, but riches and possibilities were based on that which was to be found of resources and knowledge in the vicinity. Thus in the course of normal use, a piece of clothing could end up never leaving the community in which it was made.

Work mittens mended innumerable times. Emir Curt, Anno Glomdal Museum

Work mittens mended innumerable times. Emir Curt, Anno Glomdal Museum

A welcome income

Wool provided the basis for both home production of goods for sale and for larger factory production. The knitting of mittens and sweaters commissioned by the Handcraft Association [Husfliden] has provided a welcome extra income for families throughout the country. In 1785 the small industry Enighetsfabrikken was established in Stor-Elvdal, and it later become part of the basis for the successful textile factory Devold. 

The extraordinary in the ordinary

It is wool’s fiber properties that give it such a large presence in museum collections. Here we find stockings with clear indications of long and careful use, and beautiful decorative textiles for church and home.

These stockings received a newly knitted foot when the earlier foot could no longer be mended.  Anno Glomdal Museum

These stockings received a newly knitted foot when the earlier foot could no longer be mended.  Anno Glomdal Museum

Some of these have clearly been repaired time and again with coarse materials, while on others time and exacting skill have been lavished, seemingly with eternity in mind.  Wool fibers themselves are long lasting, and the tools for preparing yarn and cloth have traditionally been well cared for in homes and on farms. These are tools that carry with them stories of knowledge and resource utilization, of wealth and of hard times.

Beneath the decoratively patterned fabrics of different qualities and fibers lies a warm layer of wool batting. Emir Curt, Anno Trysil Engerdal Museum

Beneath the decoratively patterned fabrics of different qualities and fibers lies a warm layer of wool batting. Emir Curt, Anno Trysil Engerdal Museum

Environmental enemy?

In a well meant sidetrack in 2006, climate activists, basing their activities on a metric for measuring the international textile industry’s climate footprint (the Higg Index), accused Norwegian wool of being the least sustainable fiber in which you could clothe yourself. Now wool has resumed its rightful place as the lasting, sustainable fiber that it truly is – still just as perfectly adapted to the climate that we live in.

In the excitement of giving consumers guidance in their choice of sustainable clothes, people forgot to take into account a textile’s lifespan.  The Higg Index did not value a textile’s service life as a factor, and based its metric solely on the climate impact from production.  Sheep are ruminants, and like cows they release gas – a known argument against animal products and materials. What the Higg Index forgot to evaluate was that wool clothes are the ones in our closets that we keep the longest and of which we take the most care.  Many people have a national costume [bunad], an exclusive dress, costly to buy yet infused inside and out with life’s changes. One has a bunad for a long time.  Wool underwear is often kept until it completely wears out: darned, repaired and used again. To maintain wool clothing has again become something to admire, with social media tips for visible and invisible mending shared by eager enthusiasts.

Agricultural- and climate-aware consumers are now for the most part united in their view that wool is a sustainable choice of materials. The understanding that production based on local and regional resources is sustainable has established itself for both food and textiles.

Lasting and timeless

We can draw inspiration from an earlier time’s use of resources. We can shop for quality clothes, make clothes ourselves, and we can lower our climate footprint by increasing our knowledge about washing and caring for the clothes that we already own.

Unfortunately the Norwegian textile industry is only minimally accommodating of Norwegian wool. In order to fully utilize the sustainable properties that wool embodies, you would have to take up wool cards yourself. But on the road towards your finished sweater, you can enjoy becoming part of the long line of those bearing these traditions. The number of artifacts from which to take inspiration in the museum’s collection is enormous, a fact that many designers have discovered.

Veronika Glitsch holds a doctorate in design, redesign and clothing. She is a textile designer who prefers to look back in time for inspiration. For her Bynhild Sweater she found inspiration in older sweaters from Byneset [in Trøndelag].  Instructions for this sweater are available for those who would like to give it a try. Photo: Svensson Glitsch

Veronika Glitsch holds a doctorate in design, redesign and clothing. She is a textile designer who prefers to look back in time for inspiration. For her Bynhild Sweater she found inspiration in older sweaters from Byneset [in Trøndelag].  (Instructions for this sweater can be purchased. Instructions for a version of the original sweater are available via Byneset Husflidslag.) Photo: Svensson Glitsch

Sofa produced by Elverum Møbel- og Trevarefabrikk [Elverum furniture and wood products factory]. The upholstery is woven from Norwegian wool. Roger Johansen, Anno Glomdal Museum

Museum collections of the future

The story of Norwegian wool stands in stark contrast to the modern consumer society in which we live. The textile industry has a higher climate impact than ship traffic and air traffic combined. The dust in our homes is dominated by textile fibers processed with carcinogenic and DNA-damaging flame retardants. The mountains of refuse from Europe’s internet-purchased and returned clothes coming from the other side of the globe is a cause for concern that draws major media attention.

We don’t yet know how the future’s museum collections will reflect the profusion and abundance of fibers with which we live. Perhaps the largest paradox will be that the future’s museums reveal few traces of today’s intense overconsumption?

===

Sølvi Westvang Skirbekk is a museologist and curator with Anno Glomdalsmuseet, the cultural history museum in Hedmark. Anno Museum is a regional museum in eastern Norway; Glomdal Museum is a member of this regional museum.
Translated in April, 2023, by Katherine Larson, Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, Seattle

Editor’s note, Veronika Glitch, whose sweater design is featured in a photo, held a very interesting TED talk, “The Power of Favorite Garments,” basically arguing that well-fitting clothes are more sustainable because you will wear them longer. Smart!

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

March 2024

A Visit to the Icelandic Textile Museum 

By Nancy Ebner

This past summer my husband and I traveled to Iceland for a 12-day self-guided tour around the famous Ring Road. We were drawn to Iceland by its amazing waterfalls, geo-thermal areas, mountains, surrounding seas, crater lakes, glaciers, and glacial lagoons. Its natural beauty did not disappoint! We also took in some of its cultural sites by visiting the Skógar Folk Museum, Skógasafn, along the southern coast, the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjörõur, the Iceland Textile Museum in Blönduós, northwestern Iceland and the Snorrastofa Cultural Center in Reykholt.

The Skógar Folk Museum was a treasure of artifacts, some of which included lovely examples of pieces from the 1800s woven in monk’s belt and glit techniques . (See this previous article on the Icelandic glit technique.)

Saddle blanket made by Sigridur Jónsdóttir in Svartinúpur in the year 1859.

The Iceland Textile Museum (next to the Icelandic Textile Center) houses several permanent exhibits: Icelandic national costume; embroidery (primarily white on white); the role of wool in Iceland from early settlers to the present day; and a section based on the life and work of Halldóra Bjarnadóttir (1873-1981). Halldóra Bjarnadóttir was a teacher and was active in writing and speaking about women’s rights. She promoted women’s unions based on the work women did in their homes to produce wool into clothing.  In 1946 she founded a wool and textile college and ran the school for nine years.

White on white embroidery display.

Each year the museum hosts special exhibitions by Icelandic textile artists and designers. I was able to view the work of Philippe Ricart, (1952-2021) who specialized in tablet weaving. He became a teacher at The Icelandic Handicraft School where he taught tablet weaving, tapestry, leather stitching and Haddock bone carving.

At the Icelandic Textile Museum, I purchased the Second Edition of Halldóra Bjarnadóttir’s  book, Vefnadur [Textile], her 1966 fundamental book about weaving in Iceland. The preface and forward are in English, but the rest of the book is in Icelandic. 

To finish, here are some of the beautiful works donning the walls of the museum. You should visit!

Detail of an Icelandic glit weaving.

October 2023

Nancy Ebner is a newly retired pharmacist from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, who learned to weave in earnest in 2017. She likes the process, the finished product and the math needed to operate the computer precursor: the loom. She has her next six projects planned, two of which include a skillbragd and a rutevev. There is a rich tradition of Scandinavian weaving in Minnesota, and she is drawn to its traditional designs and art weaves.

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

From England to Norway: The 2023 Vesterheim Textile Study Tour

By Edi Thorstensson and Karen Weiberg 

Our 2023 Vesterheim Textile Tour began in London on May 8, two days after the coronation of King Charles III, while the city was filled with celebration. There we visited Marble Arch and enjoyed a stroll along Oxford Street, with its iconic Selfridges Department Store.

The second day brought us to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where we were guided through historical displays of fashion worn in the United Kingdom and elsewhere and had time to explore other exhibits, among them one devoted to William Morris, legendary textile designer associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement.

Next, we were welcomed to the atelier of Hand & Lock, custom embroiderers to the Royal Family, England’s military, and fashion houses.

Traveling on to Yorkshire, we arrived in the lovely, ancient city of York, where we visited magnificent York Minster Cathedral, one of Europe’s oldest and largest cathedrals, and were given an excellent hands-on introduction to the cathedral’s textiles by members of the York Minster Broderers, skilled volunteers who embroider cloth and make vestments for use in worship and for display.

Reserved chapel seating and a detail from an embroidered panel.

The following day, master designer and knitter Angharad Thomas, who has specialized in the Scottish Sanquhar knitted glove, and her colleague from the Knitting and Crochet Guild, Barbara Smith, gave a most interesting and entertaining trunk show of pieces from the Guild’s more than 2,000 items. Once again, we were welcomed to touch and examine vintage pieces, ask questions, and learn from delightful, knowledgeable women.

Above, Angharad Thomas and Barbara Smith. Below: Sanquhar gloves.

On May 12 we boarded a plane in Manchester and flew to Trondheim to begin the Norwegian leg of our journey.  Trøndelag, with Trondheim as its center, is known for its rich agriculture, traditions, and distinctive textile arts. First, we visited Berit Bjerkem’s studio at Henning, where Nord Trøndelag bunader from the 1750s to 1830s are documented, displayed, and re-created for sale. Bjerkem has been recognized by King Harald for her work.

Berit Bjerkem’s modern reproductions of traditional Nord Trøndelag’s bunader.

The next day, May 14, we met Anne Bårdsgård, who has collected, registered, and graphed traditional local knitting patterns for her book, Selbu Mittens (Trafalgar Square, 2019, available from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American store). Anne’s presentation was a valuable introduction to what we were about to witness, the overwhelming number and quality of vintage and modern examples of beautiful Selbu knitting on display in the Selbu Bygdemuseum.

Leaving Trondheim May 15, we traveled by bus to Sandane, Nordfjord, and settled into our grand old hotel, Gloppen.

In Sandane we visited the Nordfjord Folkemuseum and enjoyed an introduction to textile production in local coastal and inland communities. Museum staff had prepared fine displays for us to enjoy, among them local traditional clothing from earlier eras.

Man’s bunad with multiple handwoven and knitted garments.

Also displayed was a colorful assortment of vintage bukseseler, men’s suspenders, one of which served as the model for the tour group’s embroidery project.

Left: Buksesele in the Nordford Folkemuseum collection. Right: Tammy Barclay’s finished project.

Along the way from Sandane to Bergen, we stopped at the home of beloved Norwegian artist Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928) and his wife Engel. Perched above the fjord, this homestead, Astruptunet, in Jølster, has been preserved as a cultural site and museum.

astruptunet

Kitchen interior and view to the water at Astruptunet.

From Jølster our bus took us through the beautiful, dramatic mountains to Lom, then down to Sognefjord, and on to Bergen, where Syttende Mai, Norway’s Constitution Day, is celebrated with enthusiasm! And bunads!

We wrapped up on May 18 with a visit to Bergen Husflidslag’s studio, where artist Åse Eriksen gave an illustrated presentation on samitum, a weft-patterned twill used in historic textiles. We enjoyed, as well, a talk about Norwegian bunad jewelry from Sylvsmidja’s Anne Kari Salbu.

How precarious it felt, for some of us, to venture overseas after the pandemic, to take a chance that all would be safe and good. Vesterheim’s Laurann Gilbertson and Andrew Ellingsen and Norwegian tour guide Ingebjørg Monsen took us on a wonderful adventure, opening our minds and providing us with access to rich textile resources. Enjoying the sights, sounds, and, above all people in England and Norway was an affirmation of what good textile study tours are all about: Camaraderie, learning, and inspiration.

Karen Weiberg and Edi Thorstensson, 2023

Edi Thorstensson is a retired librarian and archivist who has appreciated the history and creation of Scandinavian textiles since her first visit to Europe in 1961. She is a member of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group and the Pioneer Spinners and Fiber Artists guild.  She lives in St. Peter, Minnesota, with her husband Roland and Icelandic sheep dog Ára.
Karen Weiberg has been a member of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum for many years; this was her fifth Vesterheim Textile Tour.  She had a career in textiles, including owning a yarn shop, and now enjoys traveling, often with textiles as a theme. Karen teaches a variety of classes at the Textile Center of Minnesota, and volunteers in the Textile Center Library. She participates in three knitting groups, including one at Norway House and another she has been part of for over 30 years.

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

The Annual Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition–Not this Year!

Each year Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum holds an absorbing exhibition of folk art in the Norwegian tradition. Visitors examine examples of weaving, knife-making, rosemaling, woodcarving, and chip-carving by renowned craftspeople. The Norwegian Textile Letter features the weaving entries each year–until this unprecedented coronavirus year. The exhibition was not held! We can only hope that people are working on extra-special pieces for 2021. For now, here are a handful of early entries to the exhibition instead, from years before the Norwegian Textile Letter began in 1993.  

1981

The National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition began in 1967; weaving was added as a category in 1981. A jacket woven by Marie Nodland of St. Paul, Minnesota, won a blue ribbon that first year. It’s too bad the photo doesn’t show the rya pile inside.

The diamond twill reverses to rya (pile weave) and there are handknit collar and cuffs.

1985

In 1985 Phyllis Waggoner of Minneapolis won two ribbons. She won a blue ribbon and the Handweavers Guild of America Award for a rug done in bound rosepath technique. (wool weft, 12/6 cotton seine twine warp, 8 epi) This rug was also featured in an article by Phyllis, “Boundweave: Learning from the Past,” in Weaver’s Journal, Spring 1986.

Phyllis Waggoner also won a white ribbon for this piece in four-shaft bound rosepath technique. (wool weft, 12/6 cotton seine twine warp, 8 epi)

1987

John Skare won the Best of Show award and a blue ribbon in 1987 for this handwoven rya wall hanging. It was also purchased for the museum collection. It was created with handspun wool yarns and wool blankets scraps from the Faribault Woolen Mill.  Wool carpet mill ends were used for the weft.

1989?

Laura Demuth remembered that this doubleweave piece was exhibited at Vesterheim before 1996. She wove it for her husband on their tenth anniversary in 1988, so 1989 is a good guess! 

As more entries from the early years of the exhibitions turn up, we’ll continue to share. 

On the Road With Vesterheim: Appreciating the Simple Loop

By Kate Martinson

In the early 70s, when I began my real love affair with fibers, I thought that weaving and spinning were the end-all, but as the decades flip by I find ever more techniques to be delighted by. The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum has been a great asset and support in my explorations and research.  The 2019 Vesterheim Textile Tour was an overflow repeat of the 2017 itinerary, with a variety of visits in Denmark and Southwest Norway.  The experience literally “threw me for a loop.”

Loop History

Simple blanket stitch from “A Stitch in Time” (link below).

I will wager that for many of us, one of our first textile experiences included simple embroidery. I recall the blanket stitch as part of my first attempts with a needle and thread. I am not alone in this entry experience. Little did we know we were using one of the oldest textile techniques humans created—the blanket stitch, a form of simple looping. This basic stitch predated even the invention of the needle, which archaeologists suggest was at least 61,000 years ago and was discovered in Sibudu Cave, South Africa. That first blanket stitch, probably done using fingers and fiber strands or sinew, has a whole family of variants.  It was surprising to me to see all the simple looping that kept showing up as we traveled across Southern Scandinavia.

Textile specialists and curators alike define looping using Irene Emery’s book The Primary Structure of Fabrics.  Looping is a single element thread. Emery states that looping is “a technique that has a ‘curved enclosing boundary.’ It is an active element which doubles back on itself to form a complete closed loop.” The single element, or thread, goes through a loop by means of sewing or netting and continuing on to create and sew through adjacent loops. It includes a variety of categories from half hitch in rope work to the blanket stitch used to edge woven fabrics, from a sewn edging for warps while on the loom to simple and complex cutwork embroidery lace in Asia and Europe. This stitch is a global work-horse.

If you are in need of a quick but good review, take a look at “A Stitch in Time: The Buttonhole Stitch and Blanket Stitch.”

Inspiration from Ancient Textiles

Our first full day on the trip found us in Copenhagen at the National Museum of Denmark, at the Viking and Middle Age textile exhibitions. We were introduced to a variety of clothing pieces, jewelry, etc. in two separate galleries. One of the pieces given special note was the Viking Mammen Mantle. 

We were able to take a peek at the fiber strips from a key burial find from the winter of 970 to 971 AD. The high status owner wore these strips either as decorative bands or as a form of headwear.  Discovered in 1868, there has yet to be consensus about use but materials are principally silk and silver and gold thread, and techniques include cardweaving and nålebinding, in Danish. This flexible and complex looping technique is more advanced than the simple looping of blanket stitch, as the needle passes in a variety of directions in the work. The fabric can be made more dense, variously shaped, thin but strong, and flexible with these sorts of variations. Since there were others on the trip who practice this complex looping technique to create items such as hats, mittens, cowls and socks, it was exciting for many of us to see this important and high status archeological find. For those aware of nålbinding, the “mammen stitch” in current nålbinding is named for the work on these strips on display in Copenhagen.

In the late 1980s I was able to study these and other nålbinding items at this museum but because of rarity, these treasures are behind glass and impossible to photograph.  The easiest way to see these pieces up close and to learn more is on the National Museum website.

Looping at the Greve Museum

The courtyard of the Greve Museum…many years ago.

After adventures in Copenhagen, we headed into the countryside and the Greve  Museum, notable for its collection of Hedebosom. This white on white embroidered cutwork is special to the rich farming area of Hedebo. The group toured the farmstead and its extensive and varied collection of the local cutwork. We also had an option to participate in an introductory class with a local teacher. Having the opportunity to study a variety of examples up close and to try our hands at the technique reinforced that looping appears in a variety of forms and uses. In one piece the looping might hold together the decoratively strands of cut fabric, and in another the loops are connected to look like lace.

Hedebo lace from the Greve Museum

Edi Thorstensson, a participant on the 2017 Vesterheim trip to Denmark, wrote about her time at the Greve Museum for the Norwegian Textile Letter.  To learn more about Hedebosom, see her article on the collection and class at the museum with Laila Glienke, “Hedebosyning at Greve Museum.”

Going Back in Time

The Vikings used looping along seams.

Getting off the bus, who knew that in a few hours we would travel back in time through rural 18th century Denmark, to Viking times, and to Iron age living and the mysteries of the stone age?  We did all that at Sagnlandet Lejre, Land of Legends—and with time out for lunch!

This museum-like park is developed as a place to explore experimental archeology, especially in the workshops, including a pottery, textile workshop, and smithy.  There trained staff strive to study, experiment and reproduce handcraft from the past. No surprise that our group enjoyed the various historical clusters of houses and farms. However, the real treat for us was time spent in and around the textile workshop.  

Reconstructed Viking skirt with looping along the seams

We entered when the workshop was very busy, among other things, outfitting some teens in Viking garb for their stay at the park. In my quest for looping, I asked the staff at work around a big welcoming table. One excited specialist led me to shelving along one wall of the busy workshop where samples were arranged to illustrate basic joining techniques used from Viking times onward. The handspun cloth pieces included different applications for the blanket stitch and its loop cousins to create neat, firm, sometimes elastic, and often visually pleasing seams. Imagine finding such interesting uses of simple looping when I had hardly hoped for it!

To get more of the flavor of Sagnlandet, refer to Solveig Pollei’s article, “Sagnlandet Lejre – the Land of Legends (and Textiles).” 

End of Year at Skals

Before leaving Denmark our group had an inspiring experience at the year-end celebration at Skals Design og Håndarbejdsskolethe High School for Design and Handwork, in the small town of Skals.  The day-long celebration included a student fashion show, an outdoor craft fair for local artists, tours of studios, and displays of student work.  We spent hours soaking up the fine design and technical work of these proud students and craftspeople.  While the fashion show was avant garde, much of the student work represented techniques easy to identify from our own fiber work and exploration. Where to start? Weaving of all sorts, knitting, dyeing, printing, spinning, and embroidery were on display. The items were well made, using mostly traditional practices, with a focus on good design.  We were inspired by the work of these mostly young students. As for looping, it was wonderfully represented in a variety of elegant nålbinding articles.  In addition, various forms of embroidery, both plain and cutwork of loops and regular stitches, were on display, looking fresh and new. For those wondering about the future of folk art and handcrafts, this visit was an inspiration.

On to Norway for Hands-On Classes 

Taking the ferry to Norway signaled the second part of the trip and the adventures ahead. Our Norwegian  adventures included an optional half day of ‘hands-on’ work on the 17th of May.  To miss as few of the festivities as possible, early in the day a number of us gathered to attend mini classes organized by our leader, Laurann Gilbertson. Finger woven bands, Singlada balls and Hardanger embroidery classes were offered.  Two of the three options were based on the use of loops, although a quick look at the balls or embroidery would not automatically make the association with a needle formed loop.  

Vesterheim Curator Laurann Gilbertson tries her hand at Hardangersom.

Barbara Berg led the intrepid Hardanger class. Though the technique carries a place name from Norway, its origin comes from much farther south, from India and Persia to Italy, where it evolved into Reticella and Venetian Lacework, Dutch and Danish cutwork, Ruskin Work and many more—including the famous Norwegian drawn work, Hardanger embroidery. Among the many stitches and techniques included in Hardangersom, the classic and important single loop is seen. One of the most important stitches in cutwork is a buttonhole stitch, which keeps the cut edges from raveling. It can also help by filling in the shapes that have been removed with a lace-like look. As in Hedebosom and other techniques in this family, the thread closely stitched in this way also adds texture and shine to the pattern.

Making Singlada balls was another choice.  In northern Europe and southern Scandinavia, the ancient detached blanket stitch was used to cover handfuls of yarn scraps to create a toy ball for a child. A needle and scrap yarn are employed to make a covering for the ball, usually employing decorative geometric patterns. The detached blanket stitch was used in the same manner American natives used when constructing the bottoms of arrow quivers, and prehistoric folks used to make bags to carry their belongings. Medieval English over-decorated clothing with this same technique in silk gold and silver threads. Making a singlada ball is one of a wealth of applications of the simple loop. That day I taught them to squeeze thrums into balls, wrap and tack their ball shapes with scrap yarn and add colorful yarns using the detached blanket stitch needle-looped into a fabric coverings for their balls. Our group, while trying a new technique, were helping to protect and popularize this tradition and become familiar with new textile options.   

While two classes involved looping in some form, the third class worked on finger-woven sock garters, hosebånd, with Ingeborg Monson, our Norwegian tour leader. While no loops were involved in that project, note the book mentioned last on the information list below, for a great compendium of using loops and other sewn stitching in woven projects.

Factory Time

Our stop at the Sjølingstad Uldvarefabrik in Mandal allowed a tour of a living history textile factory.  Built in 1894, in it its day this mill spun yarn, dyed wool, wove cloth and finished that fabric in a variety of ways. It still carries on many of those same activities,  but it cannot exist with that revenue alone. It has been designated as a national monument for the textile industry in Norway. In a spinning and weaving mill one does not expect ‘exotic’ textiles like simple loops—so I thought.  However, around one corner in the finishing department were hung decorative blankets that had been spun, dyed and woven. Before it would be a soft, warm, long lasting item two additional steps were needed. The blankets had to be finished or “fulled” by brushing with teasel heads and lastly, the edges of the fuzzy fabric needed to be treated for longer wear. A sturdy looped blanket stitch is sewn on as the last step before sale and use in a fortunate home.  

Oleana!

The Oleana factory is also a mecca for those who love color.

A Norwegian ‘mecca’ for those who love good design and high quality fibers, The Oleana factory at Ytre Arna was an important stop on our journey.  What is the connection to looping? Well, naturally, knitted garments are made with loops. However, as most of us are aware, knitting and crochet have structures wherein one loop is pulled through another. On the other hand, simple looping passes a thread, rope, wire, agave fiber, etc. through a loop and on to an adjacent loop with fingers or a needle. Knitting ravels, looping does not. Knitting uses long lengths of fiber but simple looping has shorter lengths because the entire length passes through each loop. Many on the tour purchased irresistible machine-knitted garments while at the shop. They may eventually find themselves wearing their garments while using an eyed needle, looped techniques and short yarn ends to create or embellish a piece of fiber work.   Thus they will be connecting the earliest f techniques with the most current methods of fiber work. 

Time Flies By

One of our last adventures found us traveling to the Osterøy Museum, which included a beautiful bus ride out of Bergen into rural Norway. This folk museum is a busy place with a contemporary building for classes and a large hall for events as well as storage, offices etc. We had coffee and the local sweet, stompekakad, and then enjoyed a presentation by Marta Kløve Juuhl on the museum, and on teaching and writing about the warp weighted loom.  (A few tour group members returned a few days later for a class on warp weighted weaving.)

Looped blanket stitches on a blanket at Osterøy.

The museum has collected a number of buildings from the island and arranged them into an open air section that illustrates architecture from different eras. Tour members enjoyed walking through these old, restored buildings, and discovering what life might have been like in this place.  As I entered an upstairs bedroom of a wealthier farmhouse, I heard another loop-wise tour member exclaim “Look, FINALLY, blanket stitch is being used in a real bed!”  In the corner was a beautifully painted built-in bed with stone age loops strengthening and decorating the edge of the bedding it contained. It is one of my favorite memories of the trip, during which many of us became ever more aware and appreciative of simple loops in our textile work and lives.

In Conclusion

Readers can imagine how much of the excellent tour has not been included because of space. It is impossible to express all that was learned, the places visited, conversations shared, food enjoyed, landscape admired and people cherished. 

The loop is a device to organize and make items useful.  So are travel and learning when well done. Readers have missed the tour experience itself, but now have a chance to be more aware of and excited about the history and potential for the simple loop.

Participants in the 2019 Vesterheim Textile Tour

Kate Martinson’s tea cozy in nålbinding.

Kate Martinson is Professor Emerita of Art at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she taught  weaving and a variety of Scandinavian fiber techniques. In addition, she taught bookmaking, papermaking, and art education, and developed study abroad experiences.  She has taught spinning and other textile-related classes throughout the United States and in Norway at Rauland Academy, and is known for introducing nålbinding to many American fiber artists. Kate is an enthusiastic supporter of Vesterheim Museum.

Additional Information:

Collingwood, Peter. The Maker’s Hand: Close Look at Textile Structures. 1987 (various editions).

Emery, Irene. The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification. Thames & Hudson; 2nd edition, 2009.

Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Copenhagen : National Museum of Denmark, 1980.

Hoskins, Nancy Arthur. Universal Stitches for Weaving, Embroidery and other Fiber Arts. Atglen, PA : Schiffer Pub. Limited, 2013.

From the Heart, Made by Hand: An Exhibit of Swedish Textiles

News from Trevor Brandt, Curator, American Swedish Historical Museum

An important exhibit of Swedish textiles, From the Heart, Made by Hand: Treasures from the Women of Sweden, is currently on view at the American Swedish Historical Museum (ASHM) in Philadelphia. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest Swedish museum in the United States. The exhibit includes selections of handmade textiles presented to the museum in 1938 from every province of Sweden. The gift speaks of more than Swedish regionalism, though–for the person who organized the gift, these artifacts represented female power.

Dr. Hanna Rydh (1891-1964) was a member of the Swedish parliament, international women’s rights activist, Sweden’s first female archaeologist, and a great friend of the American Swedish Historical Museum. She organized one of the museum’s most extensive collections—a gift of 75 textiles and other hand-crafted materials made by women in every Swedish province. Through this gift, Dr. Rydh won a place of international honor for Nordic craftswomen.

In celebration of the collection’s 80th birthday, ASHM is presenting the material legacy of Dr. Hanna Rydh through the gift presented in 1938. Of course, the objects are marvels in their own right—all celebrating the identities of Swedish provinces. But even more than highlighting regional craft, these goods are activist objects emphasizing the role of craftswomen through history. To Rydh, handicraft—within the traditional women’s sphere—was a symbol of female accomplishment and signified their equality with men both in Sweden and America. 

What makes the perfect gift?

For many people, it is something that is handmade. This collection is one of the museum’s most cherished gifts. Monsters and animals weave their way around these objects and delight the eye. Both explosions of color and tame geometric patterns inspire curiosity. The variety within this collection means that each object reflects elements from the Swedish provinces to Americans and Swedish Americans.

Explore all that these textiles communicate by visiting From the Heart, Made by Hand: Treasures from the Women of Sweden on view between September 16th, 2018 and March 10th, 2019!

Until then, enjoy these images.

 

 

 

Craft and Identity: An Immersion Course in Norway

By Heidi Goldberg

It was 14 years ago that my friend Dawn Tommerdahl and I began taking weaving classes together. It wasn’t long after that I became aware of the wonderful world of Scandinavian weaving. We both fell in love with weaving (already being avid knitters and fiber fanatics). In short time we had a “string gang” as Dawn and I were joined by friends Charlie Hovde, Sharon Marquardt, and Marian Quanbeck-Dahlberg, who are all marvelous weavers. Fiber communities seem to be ever-expanding groups (particularly with the marvel of communication via social media at our fingertips) where the culture of sharing, support, passion, and knowledge keeps us all moving forward. Over the years the string gang has motivated and learned from each other while taking classes at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa, and at our highly anticipated annual get-togethers. These experiences I revel in as an artist also feed my work as an educator. Exposing students to the thrills of cultivating and working with natural materials through observation and practice is exhilarating. Naturally I want to share this culture of learning and accomplishment with students and see them embrace the joys of seeing, designing, and making. Having the opportunity of going to Norway with a group of students and connecting with artists in Norway was a sweet adventure that I couldn’t have dreamt of in my early days of teaching, and one for which I am extremely grateful. 

After years of preparation and an invaluable scouting trip to Norway to explore and set up contacts, things were set for a summer school course in Norway from May 9th–June 7th, 2017, called Craft and Identity. The goal of the course in a nutshell was to study art and craft practices and traditions, and to look at how they relate to ourselves as individuals, makers, and artists considering the following;

  • influences of history on art/craft
  • fundamental connection of art/craft to nature and environment
  • function and design as they relate to form/intention
  • technical processes of various media
  • critical use of fundamentals of design elements and principles
  • aesthetic/style 
  • integration, support, and importance of art/craft in society 
  • connections between traditional and contemporary arts 
  • connections and differences between Nordic (Scandinavian) arts and arts of other cultures

Our travel group consisted of four students; Allison Pahl, Alexis Anderson, Kristina Brunson, and Rachel Johnson, plus my 13-year-old Aubrie, and me. Traveling from Fargo to Lillehammer went well, and despite full understanding on the part of this northern crew of the necessity of cold weather preparation, some wardrobe upgrades were vital. So, the day after our arrival and an exhilarating morning walking through sleet in Lillehammer and Maihaugen, we discovered Fretex (a treasure trove of second-hand quality goods) where some fine bargain lambswool was procured! Exploring the exhibits at Maihaugen laid the foundation of historical and creative inquiry for the trip with its extensive and holistic collection of artifacts that illuminated the art and culture of multiple eras in Norway.

Niblet, the Concordia College mascot, visits the Olympic ski jump in Lillehammer..

Museum and gallery visits (balancing historic and contemporary foci) were an important part of the course in each location to which we travelled, but the hands-on components were particularly memorable. We took a bus to Gjøvik for a short workshop to learn about and print skinnfell with Britt Solheim in her studio. She treated us to an unexpected traditional Norwegian lunch in her home, the first of a number of very special moments of warm hospitality we encountered. The next day we were treated to a wonderful talk about the prints of Vegard Stalsberg at Galleri Zink, and we investigated the exhibitions at the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum. Another highlight was walking up to the Olympic ski jump at the top of the city. 

When we arrived in Oslo, it was appropriate for us to begin our stay with a visit to the National Gallery. We were happy to find Oslo welcoming and easy to find one’s way around in. We stayed just north of the Royal Palace, allowing easy mobility around the central part of the city. We packed a lot into our 11 days in Oslo, along with a day-trip to Eidsvoll Verk to see Constitution Hall. We toured the facilities of the National Opera, took in the ballet of Don Quixote, window-shopped on Karl Johan, saw Akerhus Fortress and Castle, Vigeland Park, Vår Frelsers graveyard, Grünerlokka, The Munch Museum, Aker Brygge, the Astrup Fearnley Museum, and much more. Occasions when people shared their expertise were particularly special. 

In front of the National Gallery: Aubrie Goldberg, Alexis Anderson, Rachel Johnson, Alli Pahl, and Kristina Brunson

We spent time at the Norwegian Folk Museum and met with ethnologist, curator of textiles and costumes, and bunad expert Kari-Anne Pedersen to prepare for the multitude of bunads from all regions we were to see on Norwegian Constitution Day. On Syttende Mai we had tickets to stand on the palace grounds and see the royal family and the parade from a great vantage point – which was memorable because one becomes completely surrounded by the festivities. The following day we were invited to the home of Kari-Anne Pedersen to learn some basic embroidery techniques. She taught us a bit of the beautifully contrasting geometric technique with linen thread called smøyg, while her friend Helen Juell taught us some organic/floral rosesaum with wool thread. We sat together around the table, talking, listening, and learning. All this while enjoying good chocolate and coffee, and a wonderful lunch with home-made lompe, cheese, meat, and jam. Delicious!

A studio visit with Kari Steihaug

A tour with Kathy Elliott, Lecturer in the Department of Exhibitions at the Cultural History Museum, was wonderful; she imparted rich knowledge and stories and is so passionate about teaching Viking and medieval art. We also explored an island in the Oslofjord called Hovedøya. It was an honor to be invited into the studios of noted fiber artists Inger Johanne Rasmussen (who makes mesmerizing colorful large works with inlaid felted wool), and Kari Steihaug (who creates poignant and beautiful socially active works in the form of installations). It was critical for us to witness contemporary artistic process with the works they shared and make connections between the past and present. We left Oslo with many more miles on our shoes and took the scenic train trip to Bergen en route to the largest inland island in Norway, Osterøy.

We stayed on an idyllic farm, Skjerping Gård, among grazing Vilsau sheep and we walked back and forth to the museum each day. It was at the Hordaland Museum where we took a week-long intensive workshop on warp-weighted weaving. I knew Marta Kløve Juuhl from a previous course at the Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa, and was delighted to meet Monika Sunnanå Ravnanger (a fashion designer and weaver who also has expertise in traditional dying methods), who is also working at the Hordaland Museum. The two were marvelous teachers. 

Preparation for a day at the loom,

We worked on warping and weaving a variety of techniques on warp-weighted looms, with two people working per loom. The students had the choice of making a sampler of a traditional colorful åkle with various weave structures, or a Viking varafel with dehkhår (long fibers of the wild sheep – Vilsau). The students all chose the colorful åkle project while Aubrie and I opted for varafeldur, so it was nice for everyone to see variety of work progressing during the week. We were also fortunate to watch Monika develop a special project. She was weaving white varafel sleeves on the warp-weighted loom as part of a collaboration with a Norwegian fashion designer for a piece for the famous Norwegian musician Aurora. It was exciting seeing this work being done, and it was a striking example of how old craft lends itself to contemporary practice in art. We were treated to Marta’s talk on some extraordinary historic objects in the collection (both tools and weavings), and Monika’s talk on traditional dye methods. Also, there was excitement about Marta’s newly released book, The Warp-Weighted Loom (a worthy investment). The week-long workshop was a well-placed break from the faster pace of exploration we had up to that point. It was good to have time to reflect, walk in nature, and pursue the single goal in learning new technique and weaving for the week. 

Concordia students working on back-to-back warp-weighted looms at the Hordaland Museum in Osterøy, Norway

Unforgettable Bergen antique shop

It was bittersweet to leave Osterøy but exciting to head to Bergen for our last days to explore the famous port city with its incredible fish market and charming streets. We began understanding the city with a ride up the mountain on the Floibanen, where one is rewarded with an aerial view of the city below. We followed that with healthy miles of hiking on the mountain and back down to and through the city. The next day we were kindly given a tour in the backrooms at Husfliden to see preparations of bunads (thanks to Monika for arranging it with a colleague). We enjoyed the Kode art museums as well as antique stores in Bergen. A Norway in a Nutshell tour (by train, bus, and boat) featured jaw-dropping nature along the Bergen Railway, Flåm Railway, Aurlandsfjord, Nærøyfjord, and Stalheimskleiva. It was awe-inspiring to absorb the incredible scenery along the fjords from our front row seats. It was a fluid connection to where we started in Lillehammer at Maihaugen, looking at the objects people used that were inspired by the power of nature and the necessity of navigating through it. Everything comes full circle.

Six months after the trip we shared the results of our work in Norway with our community. We put together a modest exhibition of the weavings we made called Craft and Identity – Summer School in Norway: Learning Weaving Traditions of Western Norway, at the Prairie Fiber Arts Center in Moorhead, Minnesota. My hope is that these marvelous students who helped make the trip so delightful, will be inspired to continue with what they have learned on this adventure and that they let the experience inspire life choices that will cultivate inspiration and satisfaction for many years. 

Heidi Goldberg is an Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Art Department at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, where she has taught since 1995. She graduated with a BA from Hamline University in 1990, and earned her MFA in printmaking and works on paper from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1993. Inspired by topics regarding the natural world and our relationships to it, Goldberg works in mixed media, fiber, and printmaking.  Her works have been exhibited in local, regional, national and international juried exhibitions. She lives in the sand hills near the Sheyenne National Grasslands in North Dakota.

 

Hedebosyning at Greve Museum

By Edi Thorstensson

It was a beautiful Danish summer day when we visited the Greve Museum, a traditional four-winged farmhouse located in Greve, Roskilde, a short drive from central Copenhagen.  Standing in the lovely courtyard, we were warmly welcomed by museum staff.  What awaited us inside was a breathtaking collection of one of Denmark’s signature embroideries, hedebosyning, which is comprised of seven variations of white on white embroidery, cutwork, and needle lace.

I, like every Textile Tour participant, had the opportunity to chose from mini-classes offered at selected sites, such as the Greve Museum, or to use time to explore.  At first reluctant to commit to a workshop in an embroidery technique that I felt I would never use again, I decided to sign up. After all, this was a unique opportunity to learn from a skilled teacher in the country of origin. 

We 12 or so Hedebo novices gathered in a well-equipped classroom, at work stations set for each of us by our fine instructor, Laila Glienke Sørensen, with instruction sheets, needle and thread kits, bits of beeswax, and graduated Hedebo winding sticks (hedebopinder).  With much guidance, we began our work, winding Swedish Bockens linen 35/2 lace yarn 15-20 times around the appropriate portion of our sticks to form a small “doughnut” ring base.  Next, we drew our linen thread rings up and off our sticks and began the process of encasing the rings with Danish buttonhole stitches (see below), followed by needle lace filling stitches (hulgang) and a pyramid on the outer edge of the ring.  To make threading needles easier, we drew the linen thread through a bit of fragrant beeswax from Laila’s own honeybee combs.  

To explain the Danish buttonhole stitch, I refer the reader to pp. 11 and 41 of Udklipshedebo = Hedebo Cutwork, but I will attempt to give my own version here:  Danish buttonhole stitch is worked from left to right.  Beginning from the back of the work, the needle is brought from the previous stitch into and through the center of the ring from the back, then up and over and through the back of the loop formed on the outer edge.  You can see this process at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfYkcluQtdI

The goal for this 1-1/2 hour class was for each of us to accomplish at least one Hedebo ring with hulgang (wheel stitches) in its center and a needle lace pyramid on its edge.  From this base, whole wheels of eight rings can be created by joining the pyramids’ points or by other means.  And, from there, the sky is the limit!  Everything is in the hands of skilled, patient artists, as it has been for at least two centuries.  

Following the class, I took part in a guided tour of the museum, which included exquisite examples of Hedebo embroidery, worked on clothing, household textiles, and celebratory cloths.  The historical and technical connections to Hardanger embroidery are evident.  Although distinctive from one another, both embody stitch and cut open work, white-on-white, and, traditionally, linen thread and cloth in their production. 

It is worth mentioning that, while the exact date of origin for hedebosyning is unknown, most artifacts originate in the early 1800s and later and that certain forms of the embroidery, such as rings and edgings, predominate as embellishments on clothing, while others, such as bound cutwork, are found mostly in larger formats, such as table and window coverings.  And, while lovely examples of Hedebo have come from many settings, the majority of the museum’s pieces originated in prosperous farm homes, where women and girls had the time and means to spend on fine handwork.  Today, Hedebosyning is preserved as a cultural treasure and taught to any who wish to learn, and it has also found new interpretations.

This classic, traditionally white-on-white embroidery is very lovely, versatile, and one that I will do again.  Before leaving Greve Museum, I purchased both an instruction book (Udklipshedebo = Hedebo Cutwork, by Jytte Harboesgaard.  Published by J. H. broderi in 2010, and available in paper format with ISBN 978-87-988931-3-4 and as an e-book with ISBN 978-87-988931-5-8) and the beautiful, turned wooden stick with graduated sections on which to wind the linen thread circles that form the base for the needle lace to follow.   Like the nøstepinne, it might have American equivalents.

Editor’s Note:  The Greve Museum posted a video about the Vesterheim group on their Facebook feed.  If you are a Facebook user, this link should work: video.

Edi Thorstensson is a retired librarian and archivist who has appreciated the history and creation of Scandinavian textiles since her first visit to Europe in 1961.    She is a member of the Minnesota Weavers Guild Scandinavian Weavers Study Group and the Pioneer Spinners and Fiber Artists guild.  She lives in St. Peter, Minnesota, with her husband Roland and Icelandic sheep dog Ára.