A Bit about the Transparent Portieres of Frida Hansen

By Astrid Bugge (1902-1988)

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in “By og Bygd” (Yearbook of the Norsk Folkemuseum), 1962, pp. 133-138. Today many of the tapestries described in the article are in the digital collections of museums and available for us to enjoy in color.

When the Norsk Folkemuseum acquired a pair of portieres¹ in transparent weaving technique in 1962, it was the fourth time this special type of weaving turned up in the museum’s collection.

The first time was in 1954 when a set of two curtains and a single piece came from Louis Nicolay With’s villa, Haugen, at Hoff in Skøyen. Haugen is a typical Swiss-style villa with an interior of painted timber walls. A photograph from 1908 shows how the portieres hang in a broad doorway so that the woven pattern appeared clearly against the transparent ground threads, as was intended. Now the same portieres are displayed in the dragon-style room in the city collection. The materials are all wool in many strong colors. The design: roosters, large flowers and twining leaves – all strongly stylized – are woven in with regular tapestry, but the ground consists only of uncovered warp, in this case two-ply dark blue yarn, doubled and tightly twisted, and “see-through” as the technique intends. The warp ends in long fringes at the bottom and the top. In the tightly-woven border at the bottom “DNB 1901 LXXXIII” is woven in, meaning “The Norwegian Tapestry Studio, production number 83, 1901.” The Norwegian Tapestry Studio was a company founded by Mrs. Randi Blehr with Frida Hansen as its director to undertake a revival of historical coverlet and tapestry weaving on a modern basis. It was active from 1897-1904.

Villa Haugen. Photo: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011013387071/haugen

Frida Hansen, née Petersen, was born in 1855 at Hillevåg near Stavanger. She intended to become a painter and had studied drawing at home and abroad, but in the middle of the 1880s she became interested in our historical weaving. At the first Almindelig Norske Husflidsudstilling [Universal Norwegian Handcraft Exhibition] at Tivoli in Kristiania [now Oslo] in 1890 she displayed her first tapestry, Birkebeinerne, after a lithograph by Knud Bergslien. The exhibition catalog noted that “all the yarn for the tapestry was dyed and handspun by the artist.” Some time after the exhibit Frida Hansen moved to Oslo, and in 1892 opened her studio, with instruction in weaving for students from the city and countryside. This studio became the Norwegian Tapestry Studio in 1897, with large, light-filled rooms in the merchant Simonsen’s building at Stortorvet. The tapestries were woven on large vertical looms, one of Mrs. Hansen’s improved models.

In 1894 Frida Hansen began a dye studio that worked with plant dyes and, after Miss Augusta Christensen’s method, dyed unspun wool that would be carded together afterwards. This allowed her to create yarn in a myriad of nuances and shades from 3-4 simple main colors. The jury at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 wrote that in this way Miss Christensen’s yarn attained color combinations that were more full of energy and fresher than by dyeing already-spun yarn. It was the theory of deconstructing colors in modern painting translated to yarn.

One of a pair of portieres. Warp: two-ply wool yarn doubled and tightly twisted, three threads per centimeter. Dark blue with some lighter blue. Weft: two-ply wool yarn, six ends per centimeter. Light blue, medium blue, bright red, dusky rosa, beige, light brown, orange. All yarn is handspun and plant-dyed. Height: 340 cm, width 111 centimeters. Fringes on both ends. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185980/portiere-1-fag. Note: Throughout the article, reference numbers have been replaced with links to the museum records.

Each yarn is specially spun for its location in the weaving, just as every nuance is specially blended for the painter’s brush, the jury concluded.

This is a form of expression that we don’t fully understand in our time. With few exceptions, and perhaps especially with Mrs. Hansen, tapestries from the Art Nouveau period worked with their imprecise colors. Yarn from carded-together wool gives a different appearance than the juxtaposition of pure color areas in painting. Frida Hansen, who drew for tapestries herself, was moreover clear over the need for good cartoons and in 1897 received a royal grant of 1000 kroner for a studio for pattern designing.

The first time The Norwegian Tapestry Studio [DNB] appeared was at the husflidsutstillningen [handcraft exhitibion] in Bergen in 1898. Among the things the press noted and was excited about was a pair of “distinctive portieres with dense flowers and transparent base…the see-through curtains, one of Mrs. Hansen’s artistic inventions.” A hanging in transparent weave with flowers in white and orange marked NABV 1898 X, which in 1962 was purchased by Kulturen in Lund [a museum in Sweden] is the earliest known example. (http://carl.kulturen.com/web/object/60480) so far. At that time the studio signed pieces with the original name, Norske Aklæde og Billedvæveri [NABV; Norwegian Weaving and Tapestry Studio], and had only reached example #10.

But it was at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 that Mrs. Hansen’s work caused a sensation. We quote the judges committee: “Our attention was immediately drawn to a whole group of transparent weavings in the form of portieres. The greatest honor is due to Mrs. Frida Hansen, who has created the compositions of these completely modern portieres. They reveal her deep knowledge of the possibilities of weaving, and that with nuanced areas in a limited number of strong yet well-balanced colors you can create the most enchanting decorative effects. These textiles in transparent tapestry are the only ones of that type in the exhibition and they are, we will declare in two words, truly new. These weavings are designed to work as portieres between adjoining rooms. They are woven in a way that allows a person in one room to see what is unfolding in another room. The weaving, which is created like other tapestry on an upright loom, is woven on the warp threads only in the areas that create the pattern. The warps are left bare in the areas that would have been a one-color background.

“As you will understand from this short explanation, this is tapestry in which you weave only the pattern and not the background, and it is through the free spaces between the warp threads that you can see what is happening on the other side. Therefor you need an especially meticulous composition for the work. Even though the jury regrets that such a technique requires a high sales price, we admire the skill with which they are made and spare no congratulations in connection with this new creation, of which several examples are laid out for us in a variety of lively colors.”

Then the jury switched over to discussing Frida Hansen’s tapestries from Gerhard Munthe’s cartoons. The DNB, Frida Hansen, and Gerhard Munthe all received gold medals.

When Frida Hansen returned to Oslo she was interviewed by Urd [a magazine], and she described her gold medal and the orders that came from museums in Copenhagen, Basel, Brno [in former Czechoslovakia] and Kensington. “‘It was especially the curtains in transparency that were sold at the exhibition, and now I have a new idea regarding them — ceramic beads. I think they will be beautiful — here you can see, I’ve made them myself,’ and she brought out some small things, glimmering in strange metal colors. ‘Don’t they remind you of antiquities, as from an old Egyptian find? They will form the sepals in flowers.’”

No examples of transparencies with beads have been found to date.

Frida Hansen had taken a patent out on her discovery. When the Norwegian Tapestry Studio was discontinued in 1904, she gave up her patent. There were several others who took up the technique. According to Einar Lexow, the most important weaver in the Gobelin and transparency technique, in addition to Frida Hansen, was Ulrikke Greve. Using her own designs, Greve wove the other hangings the Norske Folkemuseum received from the Haugen villa, commissioned between 1910-1914. These are a pair of portieres in front of one door and a single hanging in front of a door in the same room. They are more tame in their designs than Frida Hansen’s rooster portieres, they have almost rug-like patterns in subdued tones, the first in reds and greens on a rust-red warp (https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185982/portiere); the other in green, lilac and beige tones on a deep red warp (https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185981/portiere-1-fag). The yarn is hand-spun and carded together, from dyed wool.

Ulrikke Greve. Portiere. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185982/portiere

Ulrikke Greve. Portiere. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185981/portiere-1-fag

At Norway’s Jubilee Exhibition at Frogner in 1914 there was a large showing of transparent weaving. Frida Hansen delivered two hangings, Hvite Fugler [White Birds], a long, narrow panel, and a large rectangular hanging, Sommernattsdrøm [Summer Night’s Dream]. The last had a completely tapestry image with trees, greenery and water, all quite stylized. They were both particularly noted by Carl W. Schnitler in the official exhibition document, who determined that it was the technique that gave Summer Night’s Dream its dream-like effect.

Photo: Nasjonalmuseet/Annar Bjørgli https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/samlingen/objekt/OK-1973-0063

Others who wove in the transparent technique around 1914 included the wife of Consul Robertson in Hammerfest (using a cartoon by Anette Schirmer); Ingeborg Arbo; Titti Karsten (sometimes with her own, and sometimes with her sister Marie’s designs); Ragna Nicolaisen; Agnes Røhr; and Aslaug Mohr in Bergen.

Ingeborg Arbo: Nasjonamuseet/Andreas Harvik. https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/samlingen/objekt/OK-1991-0394

The Norsk Folkemuseum’s newest transparent curtains were also at the Jubilee Exhibition in 1914. They were woven by Miss Aagot Lund from her own design: large red rowanberry clusters and leaves in different shades of green and brown against a warp of medium blue, doubled, tightly twisted three-ply wool yarn. The wool yarn here was also dyed, carded together, and handspun.

Aagot Lund. Photo: Anne-Lise Reinsfelt. https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023193360/portiere-1-fag

Transparent weaving was taught in the tapestry course at Statens kvinnelige industriskole [National Women’s Arts and Design School] up through the mid-1920s. Husfliden [the Handcraft Association] in Oslo wove the last example of weaving in transparent technique, Ygdrasil, after a 1939 drawing by W. Nickelsen. Then it ended — unless there is still a romantic person sitting and weaving a dream into an open warp in this uniquely neo-romantic weaving technique.

Astrid Bugge (1902-1988) was a conservator and author of many articles in museum magazines and yearbooks, in addition to several books. She was appointed the Senior Conservator for the Norsk Folkemuseum in 1954.

Translated in March 2023 by Robbie LaFleur and Katherine Larson

¹A portiére is a curtain hung in a door opening, from the French word for door: porte. Wool transparent curtains or portieres were often sold as pairs, known as “et fag” in Norwegian.

Sources:

“Selvhjælp,” Stavanger Husflidsforenings Tidskrift, I. February 1897, I. November 1898.

Husmoderen, 1898, p. 250.

Norges Deltagelse i Verdensutstillingen i Paris i 1900. K.V. Hammer, Kra. 1904, page 175.

Urd, August 4, 1900, page 313.

Marie Karsten, Billedvæv og Prydsøm. Kunst og Kultur, 1912, page 61.

Schnitler, Carl W. Norges Jubileumsutstilling 1914, Officiel Beretning, Kra. V. II, p. 432.

Norske Kvinder, Kra. 1914, p. 421 ff. (Randi Blehr)

Einar Lexow: Moderne Decorativ Kunst i Norge. Kunst og Kultur 1919, p. 159.

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You can Count on Wool

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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

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

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

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 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?

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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

Kristina Austi: Dialogue between the Ancient and the Digital

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Kristina Austi. “Swim here, swim here, little boy. I will give you a white shirt and a red ribbon!” (The phrase refers to a Lithuanian folk tale.)

By Kristina Austi

Background

Kristina Austi (former name Kristina Daukintytė Aas) was born in 1978 in Klaipėda, Lithuania, and now resides in Bergen, Norway. Austi’s multifaceted work spans digital jacquard weave, embroidery, installations, video, and collage. Her artistic inquiries challenge our perceptual understanding and the relationship we maintain with our surroundings, pushing the boundaries of textile art into new realms.

Kristina Austi

After graduating from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design in 2011, Austi’s journey in the textile arts has been marked by a profound engagement with digital Jacquard weaving since 2013. This technique, which marries traditional weaving methods with digital technology, has allowed her to explore the woven surface in innovative ways. Her work as a part-time textile designer at Innvik AS, a small weaving mill in Western Norway, further enriches her practice, blending industrial techniques with her artistic exploration.

For Austi, the allure of digital weaving lies in its ability to extend the ancient craft of weaving into the digital age, allowing for unprecedented creativity and precision. This fusion respects the past and embraces the future, reflecting Austi’s deep respect for textile tradition alongside her commitment to innovation.

Current exploration

In my latest endeavour, Hybrid, I venture into the realm where folklore, poetry, and advanced technology converge, creating a narrative fabric that weaves together the mystic charm of Lithuanian folktales with the profound verses of William Blake. This project is an artistic endeavour and a textual exploration that bridges centuries and disciplines. It represents a dialogue between the ancient and the digital, embodying a quest for a new aesthetic and conceptual vocabulary in textile art.

Kristina Austi. “And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright” Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen

Central to Hybrid is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) as more than just a tool—it is a collaborator in the creative process, pushing the boundaries of traditional craftsmanship and digital innovation. By feeding AI algorithms with images of my handcrafted weaves, I challenge them to reinterpret 16th-century tapestries. The outcomes are mesmerizing yet unsettling, blurring the lines between creator and creation and prompting a reevaluation of authenticity, originality, and the role of the machine in art.

The project further explores the potential of AI to generate novel patterns that draw inspiration from historical textiles while simultaneously questioning established notions of artistic genesis and authenticity. This inquiry extends into the domain of 3D printing, where digital weaving patterns are transformed into tangible models. These intricate structures, reminiscent of futuristic cityscapes or sophisticated microchips, serve not only as a testament to the versatility of weaving techniques but also as a metaphor for the intricate interplay between tradition and innovation.

Kristina Austi. “The Princess Tears”

The exhibition Hybrid encapsulates this duality, showcasing the collaboration between artisanal expertise and machine intelligence. It’s an invitation to perceive textile art as a tactile experience and a medium for conceptual exploration and technological experimentation. I aim to showcase the tangible outcomes of this artistic journey and initiate a conversation about the evolving landscape of art in the digital age.

Hybrid I marks the beginning of this larger project, with further developments and revelations anticipated in Part II, to be exhibited at KRAFT, Bergen, in April and May, 2024. One selected piece from this series will be displayed at the “Tendencies 24” exhibition at F15 in Moss from March to June. Later in 2024, I will show the project in Lithuania.

In 2023, I started my own company, VEVFT, together with three of my former students. This initiative is born out of a deep-seated desire to explore the boundaries of digital weaving myself and cultivate a thriving professional environment for this innovative craft in Norway.

Through VEVFT, I am dedicated to sharing the knowledge and insights I have garnered over years of experimenting and creating with digital looms. It is a platform for learning, collaboration, and experimentation designed to empower artists to harness the potential of digital weaving in their work. The establishment of this organization reflects my belief in the power of community and education in advancing the arts and crafts. It’s gratifying to witness the impact of these efforts, as a growing number of young artists are now embracing digital looms in Scandinavia. As digital weaving continues to evolve, so will the ways we think about, create, and interact with textiles.

March 2024

Editor’s note: The author sent a link to a review of her current show at the Soft gallery, with the pieces shown above, by Katia Maria Hassve for paragone.no. Because it is difficult to understand the impact of Austi’s tapestries with photos, it is fun to read Hassve’s reactions to seeing them in person. For example, “Turning to the right, I encounter another impressive tapestry with the text “Swim here, swim here, little boy, I will give you white shirt and red ribbon!” This piece immediately captures my attention. I begin to wonder: Is this a forest? Is the forest burning, or is something else happening? My gaze shifts to the stones in the water, and I ask myself if someone could drown there. Could someone drown in the tapestry itself? I notice that this seems more intricate, and I start to think that some form of data must have been used in the creation process. It’s almost like a woven snippet of a video game.”

See more of Austi’s work on her website, austikristina.com, and on Instagram:

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

Annemor Sundbø’s Latest Book: An Eminent Exploration of Nordic Sweater History

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By Mary Skoy

Norway’s Knitted Heritage: The History, Surprises, and Legacy of Traditional Nordic Sweater Patterns. By Annemor Sundbø. Publisher: Schiffer Craft (May 28, 2023)

book cover In 2020, Annemor Sundbø won a major Norwegian literary prize—the Sørlandets litteraturepris— for her book Koftearven: Historiske tråder og magiske mønster. In 2023, this extraordinary book was released in English as Norway’s Knitted Heritage: The History, Surprises, and Legacy of Traditional Nordic Sweater Patterns.

This review appeared in Fædrelandsvennen, a regional newspaper based in Kristiansand, Norway, when the Norwegian version was released in 2019. It provides a nice summary from a Norwegian’s point of view.

The Crown of a Life’s Work

With the book Koftearven, Annemor Sundbø has delivered a work of cultural history, religious history, philosophical history, and much more, and of course, also a knitting book.

It may well be that there will be more books from Annemore Sundbø’s hand, but if that doesn’t happen, then she has crowned her remarkable life’s work with a book that fills me with deep respect. She often repeats that it all started in a “pile of rags,” when she took over Torridal Tweed and Ulldynefabrikk in 1983.

Since then, she has spun threads, woven and knitted, carded and spun, and I mean all the expressions literally and figuratively. Because of course she is a master textile artist. But even more, she is characterized by an almost unruly and unrestrained interest in digging into the past. She also says at the outset that she is not an academic when she writes. And I’m tempted to say thank you and praise her for that assertion. Nothing wrong said about academics. But academics must always be rock-solid and objective in all their conclusions. Annemore Sundbø uses her rich experience with knitted garments in combination with a knowledge of patterns and symbols in textile art to dig deep into the fabrics she mentions.

If I now mention that the knitted “lice” jacket is perhaps the same as Christ’s drops of blood in bishops’ robes and the like, then maybe it sounds a little too fantastic? But not after you have read Sundbø’s adventurous walks in tracks and trails through history.

Night shirts, striped shirts, Fanakofter or Mariuskofter are all part of a tradition that for the reader grows and becomes interesting as they go from chapter to chapter in the voluminous book. We’re stopping by the workhouses in old Kristiansand, the ones older people remember as Handicrafts School and Karl Johans Minde Skole,with pictures for nostalgic recognition. And so we are in Egypt’s pyramids, Hindutemples, Jesus’ seamless robe, Italian altarpieces from the Renaissance, and back into the rag pile, the sweater.

The book is unusually rich in visual material, and the collection of this for Sundbø must have been at least as time-consuming as the writing process. And even as one who doesn’t knit and weave, the book is extremely exciting.

Emil Otto Syvertsen (via https://annemor.com/).

This is a big book. Meg Swanson, renowned knitter, teacher, author, purveyor of knitting supplies and books, and head of Schoolhouse Press writes, “Having known Annemor Sundbø (and the translator Carol Rhoades) for many decades, I should not be surprised by the excellence of this tome, but I am stunned nonetheless! 400 pages with nearly 900 images; I am nearly speechless.”

And the book weighs almost 5 pounds! I mention this to emphasize the grand scale of Annemor Sundbø’s comprehensive and richly illustrated history and analysis of iconic Norwegian sweaters.

Sundbø’s journey as “Norway’s Sweater Detective” came about when she applied for an internship at a “little shoddy factory that recycled wool.” The owner placed only one condition for her training: she first had to buy the factory (p. 302). In 1983, sixteen tons of wool rags including several tons of sweaters destined for the shredder entered Annemor Sundbø’s life.

In the introduction to Norway’s Knitted Heritage entitled “I Found, I Found,” she writes:

During the work of shredding that knitted wool into recycled wool, I wiped out pattern traditions from our knitting heritage.

The Norwegian sayings “to disappear like a spirit in a rag pile” and “with Handwork the Hands are at the Service of the Spirit” haunted me. They led me to believe that there was a spiritual dimension in the art of hand knitting. I set out on “the tracks of wandering souls.” The mind game of summoning a spirit or the souls in the sweater heritage awakened in me a hunting instinct. This was followed by a deep dive into the rich source materials I found in over 16 tons of knitted rags…

On this journey, I found miracles in legendary myths, Christian faith in salvation, the magic invulnerability of victory shirts, and star sweaters’ symbolic protection as a means of grace and a free ticket to paradise. Knitted sweaters in our time are a national treasure of Norway, and our sweater heritage is an adventuresome source for the power of creation and knitting happiness (p. 1).

The clues to what makes up the spirit of Norwegian sweaters are recorded in the 31 chapters. The titles themselves are enticing. For example, Chapter 3: “What Defines a Sweater;” Chapter 7: “Knitting for God and the Fatherland;” Chapter 19: “The Destiny of Sweaters, Nature, and Beings in Mythology and Etymology;” Chapter 28: “Patterns as Chaos Control;” and Chapter 31: “A Key to the Enigma of the Nightshirt.” Readers interested in language history will appreciate Sundbø’s amply-illustrated discussion of the words used to describe what we call “knitting” and “sweaters” today going back to the 16th century.

Each chapter is made up of short essays with illustrations (the book contains almost 900 illustrations), presenting the reader with what Annemor Sundbø has discovered in this journey through her ragpile.

Here are some highlights from the book:

(Left) “Finding an authentic sweater offers possibilities for assessing the wool and spinning qualities. In addition, we can see what techniques were used for casting on and binding off as well as being able to study the patten on the shoulders and cuff` .”(p. 85). (Right) “A sweater remnant that served as insulation in a doorframe on a farm. The pattern corresponds to a description of rose or star sweaters, also called “Nordland nightshirts” in advertisements. The night heavens shining stars have been used symbolically in all cultures.” (p. 254).

“From the moment I decided to save traditional sweaters from being recycled wool, it was only a few days before I was setting aside more than I recycled.” (p. 28).

A Norwegian wool knitted star-pattern night sweater (Nordland nightshirt) with decorative ribbons around the neckline. (p. 59).

Dance Chain and Eternity

“Three-leaf clovers are symbolic of the trinity in the Christian belief, but, in folk belief, they represented the life force, vitality, and vigorous growth. The ring dance can be interpreted as a “mandala,” a decorative circle to keep evil out.” (pp. 340, 341).

The Tree of Life, Wise Mother, and Art and Craft Tree

“Memories constantly turn back. Life’s wisdom and handwork knowledge are our heirloom silver. Helen Engelstad, rector of the National Teacher’s School in Design, was my “wise mother” in textile history, and I became one of the branches in her “art and craft tree.”…Reminders of her exquisite sense of form have turned up in different variations in the ragpile. Inspired by a pillow pattern from 1672, Helen Engelstad designed a sweater-jacket in 1939, a pattern heritage that wandered even further in gold and purple to honor her memory.” (p. 328). `

Lice Sweater

“Lice sweaters, a Setesdal tradition, are classic and immortal. The knitted sweaters were a common part of the men’s costume in the valley. If a new one was knitted for the wedding ceremony, the custom was that one would be buried in the same sweater.” (p. 342).

Many of the model sweaters presented in the book include graphed motifs. For adventurous knitters wanting to create their own Norwegian sweaters, Sundbø provides tables of measurements and stitch counts, graphed pattern designs, and 224 snapshots of individual sweaters that were “among the drop-offs“ from the rag pile (pp. 305-314).

Sundbø writes, “I have tried to recreate knitted sweaters for our time. You can choose the yarn that suits the models on the basis of your measurements, and you can knit the sweaters with shaping you like. The measurement schematics are, therefore, only suggestions.” (p.318). She encourages knitters to “design your knitted garment by choosing patterns from the past and knitting with joyful colors for the future.” (p. 387).

I found her instructions for neck openings particularly useful (pp. 318-319). She explains how to stitch and cut the knitting and then pick up stitches using a crochet hook to then knit a facing. The instructions are clear and smart.

Neck shapes. (p. 319)

From the Pattern Bank:

The sweaters in the ragpile offered many examples of iconic, traditional Norwegian sweater patterns, among them: dance lines, deer, domestics animals, cross and circle, birds, stars, roses, and zigzags. Sundbø has provided charted patterns in the “Pattern Bank” on pages 371-386 for knitters challenged to design their own sweaters. (So many reindeer!)

Annemore Sundbø writes, II have desired to reach the outer limits for uncovering new sides of our knitting history…..And at the same time, I want the rag scraps to be used as inspiration for new models in our common sweater heritage, so that they can become useful and joyful and bring fortune for all the future.” (p. 304).

This book is the extraordinary record of Annemor Sundbø, “Sweater Detective” and “Hunter,” discovering, illuminating, and sharing the spirit in the ragpile.

December 2023

Mary Lønning Skoy is a weaver, knitter, and member of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota.

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Nordic News and Notes, December 2023

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Upcoming Webinar Featuring Norwegian Knitters Arne & Carlos

“Healing Trauma through Craft.” World Hope Forum. December 17, 2023, 9 am-11 am CST. Register for free.

Recent events continue to challenge our sense of humanity on an international scale and so the next edition of World Hope Forum has gathered speakers who practice mending, caring, and giving; a hopeful attempt before the Holidays to knit society back together. Among the featured guests are well-known authors Arne & Carlos: “Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrisson are highly regarded fashion designers, textile artists, YouTubers, and authors. Their work is highly influenced by their Scandinavian background and everyday life in rural Norway. They work under their artist name ARNE & CARLOS, established in 2001. Today, the duo designs for and works closely with Rowan and Regia yarns. They have also written ten books.”

Upcoming Webinar on Norwegian Knitting History

“The History of Norwegian Sweaters.” Presentation by Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Thursday, January 4, 2024, 6:30 pm CST. Sponsored by the Sons of Norway, Nidaros Lodge #1-001, Minneapolis, MN. Click here to register. (Trouble registering, or accessing the Zoom event? Email Carolyn at cjtownsen@comcast.net.)

Learn about the history of different types and styles of Norwegian sweaters, including Setesdal, Fana, Marius, and Olympic. Laurann Gilbertson will also talk about the symbolism behind some of the patterns and colors on sweaters made today. Those attending are invited to wear their sweaters! If you do, make sure to have your camera on!!

Upcoming Webinar on Norse Textiles

“Norse Textiles and Women in the North Atlantic: Iceland and Greenland from the 8th Century to the 15th Century. Sunday, December 10, 1 pm EST. Free. Register here.

The International Hajji Baba Society (Washington DC) will host a Zoom webinar by Dr. Michèle Hayeur Smith. The webinar is free of charge, but preregistration is required.

Dr. Hayeur Smith is an experienced anthropological archaeologist who has done extensive field work, primarily in Iceland and Greenland, to examine a large number of textile fragments from the Viking era up to the 15th century. She has also examined trade records from the period, which show that the textiles were not only critical to survival in a cold climate, but also key to the economy of these North Atlantic cultures. She looks at the evolution of the weaving structures to corroborate hypotheses regarding developments of the woven products to different clothing requirements between the two islands, to their use in local and international trade, and in response to the advent of increasing cold during the Little Ice Age.

Sihren Dahle: Tapestry and Concrete are a Winning Combination

Norske Kunsthåndverkeres Årsutstilling 2023 [The Annual Craft Exhibition 2023], sponsored by the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts, is the largest display of contemporary crafts in Norway. 63 works by 56 artists are on display at the new Nasjonalmuseet through the end of December. Many textile works are included each year; this year, 17. The full catalog is linked here.

This year the winner of the Artisan Prize for the most significant work in the exhibit went to Sihren Dahle for Concrete Life (Gladengveien 14), 2022.

The jury wrote about her work: “The contrast between the soft tapestry and the hard concrete tapestry frame evokes a sense of unease that corresponds to changes in the urban space. The uneasiness is heightened by the unclear state of the building; it may be in the process of being built up or torn down. The motif gave the jury immediate associations with a tendency in today’s Oslo, where existing buildings are demolished and new ones are built without thinking about the importance of architecture in telling the city’s history. Among other things, the dismantling of the Y block comes to mind. While parts of the city’s heritage are quickly disappearing, it takes a lot of time to hand-weave jacquard.”

See more of Sihren Dahle’s work at her website.

Take an Online Fiber Arts Class: Vesterheim Folk School

Cozy up at home this winter and learn traditional fiber arts from Vesterheim Folk Arts School. Each instructor is an expert in their craft and skilled at instructing people of all levels online from anywhere in the world. Find out more and register today.

Knit a Norwegian-Inspired Hat with Kate Running, January 6, 2024.
Knitting Selbu Mittens with Jane Addams, January 7, 2024.
Exploring Hardanger Embroidery with Shan Rayray, February 6, 2024.
Introduction to Tapestry Weaving: Level 2 with Laura Berlage, February 8, 2024.

Take an Online Fiber Arts Class: American-Swedish Institute

The American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, offers in-person and virtual Nordic handcraft classes. These virtual fiber arts classes are coming up.
Wet Felted Soaps with Kayla Ann. December 10, 2023.
Felted Folk Ornaments with Kayla Ann, December 13, 2023.
Needle Felted Gnome with Laura Berlage, December 15, 2023.
Stamped Tea Towels with Kayla Ann, January 18, 2024.

Reproducing a Patterned Silk Fabric takes Strength

Åse Eriksen is known for her research into Viking-era textiles. She described a new project from a different time period in a Facebook post on September 16. Be sure to watch the video she made – it take muscles to weave the silk fabric! She wrote, “Project: Making a pull loom to replicate a patterned silk fabric woven in Italy in the 13th century. In Norway, a few fragments of this material are preserved in churches, and now in museum magazines. A “pull-loom” in the Middle Ages was handled by several people. A project to study the weavers of the past, how they worked and produced the most incredible fabrics with completely different tools than we have. It has taken time to collect equipment and materials for the project, and a lot of trial and error to find good solutions. The most important equipment is a harness board (inherited by Sissel C.) and metal heddles with 10 gr weights, which enables me to pull/pull the pattern which is around 8 kg (thanks for help Julie H.). If I manage to attach a small film, you will see that I both push the harness warp for the pattern weft and pull the same warp for the bottom weft, [in the past] this work was shared by a “draw-boy” and a weaver. It was fun to weave as I found the rhythm of the work and became friends with the thin silk threads.”

Happy holidays, and thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial and very much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber!

Robbie LaFleur

Here is the easy-to-use link to donate:

Nordic News and Notes (November 2023): Bunads

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Webinar from Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum

Making Folk Costumes w/ Barbro Storlien: History of Craftsmanship, Patience & the Love of Traditions (via the Vesterheim YouTube channel) November, 2023.

From the Vesterheim website: Barbro Tronhuus Storlien grew up in a community strongly influenced by folk art and has made a living out of folk costumes and cultural intangible heritage. She is a certified maker of folk costumes, a writer, and the chairperson of Norges Husflidslag, the Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts. In 2019 she published her first book, Barbro broderer [Embroidery by Barbro], and she will publish her second book this year. Storlien has her own studio and teaches the art of embroidery and the making of folk costumes.

Barbro Storlien had a large audience for this webinar and the Q & A and chat boxes were continuously scrolling with comments and questions. Obviously there is wide interest in traditional Norwegian costume.

Storlien is passionate about the value of bunad traditions and preserving knowledge of the handcrafts necessary to make them. “In a time when we spend too much time on our phones and our computers and still manage to complain about lack of time, we need to take a deep bow to generations before us and pick up our tools, especially our needles, in their honor.”

Norwegians wear their bunads for special occasions such as weddings, christenings, and school graduations. “And sometimes at your father’s 80th birthday party,” she noted. Every folk costume has two stories: the one we can see, and the one that has to be told. The one you can see immediately is the style and embroidery, the place it was made. There are over 450 varieties. Equally important are the stories that are not evident — who made it? Who used it before you? So the costumes are both beautiful and practical; Barbro noted, “As long as the bunad is clean and well-fitting, you always have something to wear and something to talk about.”

In the last century bunads have been used primarily for festive occasions, but some costumes based on folk dress were used as everyday clothing up to more recent times. The Hallingdal bunad was worn up to the 1970s. The shirts underneath might be a patterned fabric for everyday; white shirts were for formal wear. Barbro heard that many patterned shirts were made from fabric sent by American relatives after the war. “There was even a Micky Mouse shirt, I was told. Sadly, I haven’t seen it.”

In the 1970s Barbro knew she wanted to do something practical that would occupy her hands and her mind; an office job seemed unappealing. She discovered that she could get a diploma in the handcraft art of making bunads, combining her love of history and tradition. “There is so much feeling and history in these costumes,” Barbro explained.

Will the bunad tradition continue? If you ask a woman over 60 where her bunad was made, she could likely tell you who made all the various portions. This was a time when bunad-making skills were passed down through families. These days, when manufactured bunads are purchased and not made at home, the bunad has less meaning as a form of community and connection.

Yet, Barbro is optimistic. When she began teaching embroidery and bunad-making skills around 2007, her students were primarily grandmothers working on costumes for their families; now she is seeing more mothers, and even young people in their 20s who are making their own bunads. Barbro related that today at least 80% of adult Norwegian women own a bunad, and 20% of men, and the tradition is getting stronger for men. “It’s about belonging. It’s a love affair with the bunad.”

BBC Culture Article on Gender-neutral Folk Costumes

Tyril Skaar retained a woman’s blouse in their gender-neutral bunad. Photo: Tyril Skaar

“The Scandinavian Folk Clothing Right for Now,” by Matilda Welin. BBC, January 23, 3023

The article profiles Norwegian and Swedish attempts to find non-binary forms of folk costume that both honor tradition and are more inclusive of gender-fluid wearers. In Norway, Tyril Skaar, who is non-binary and transmasculine, had a woman’s bunad since confirmation, but it sat unused in their closet. Skaar developed a new bunad that incorporated portions of their old bunad, with a more masculine presentation. They were worried that traditionalists might be critical of change, but received positive feedback.

In Sweden, Fredy Clue collaborated with artist Ida Björs to develop the Bäckadräkten unisex folk dress. They researched historical clothing, traveled to culturally-rich areas in Sweden, and held focus groups with five young, non-binary people.

The article includes much more. The title seems appropriate, “The Scandinavian Folk Clothing Right for Now.” It struck me that nothing seemed radical. All of the new variants of meaningful costume are beautifully tailored and thoughtful — both in the incorporation of a regional and national expression, and in skillful construction and quality of the materials.

Traveling Exhibit from the Nasjonalmuseet

Márjá Karlsen. Screenshot from the Nasjonalmuseet YouTube video about her project.

Skakke Folkedrakt [Queer Costume]. Oslo, Nasjonalmuseet. In various locations.

From the website:” Many Norwegians feel a close attachment to folk costumes like the bunad and the kofte. These traditional garments can generate a strong sense of belonging, but also of alienation. They carry messages about where the wearer comes from and what they stand for, but they can also be worn in the quest for acceptance and inclusion.”

Six artists are participating in the multi-year project. One artist of Sami descent, Márjá Karlsen, is deeply researching kommagband patterns. The designs in the bands used in Sami gáktis (the traditional Sami dress) reveal the region and family of the wearer. But how can she reclaim the patterns for her family, who moved from Sweden to Norway generations ago, abandoning their ties to traditional Sami dress? In her project “Láigecála” [yarn script], she is using handcraft as a personal and political tool to reclaim the culture of her origins.

Read about all the artists, and watch short videos about their projects, here.

One More Article about Bunads

Marthe Mølstre, who also owns a traditional bunad, in a festdrakt of her own design. Photo: Marthe Mølstre

“Folk er positive til festdrakter: – Det som er artig, er at det er ingen regler.” [People are positive towards festive-costumes, and the fun part is that there are no rules.] NRK Nordland, May 9, 2022. In Norwegian.

This article was published shortly before Syttende Mai in 2022, when Norwegian were looking forward to gathering for the annual National Day celebration after two years of covid isolation. According to a survey by NORSTAT, four of ten women planned to wear a bunad, and one in ten men. Others were planning to wear festdrakt – festive, creative costume that didn’t follow the traditional, formal, geographically-based rules of traditional Norwegian bunads. Interest in creating festive-costumes with a personal touch is becoming more popular, often inspired by the fantasy-bundads from Eva Lie Design.

Is this a problem? A threat to the strong bunad tradition in Norway? Perhaps not. Barbara Tronhus Storlien, Chair of Norsk Husfliden [Norwegian Handcraft Association], commented, “Some people think it is wonderful to have a bunad that reveals where you are from. And then there are some who would like festive dress that expresses them personally, a dress in which they can put their own creativity and fantasy.” Bunads continue to be important, Storlien said, and many people value bunads passed on through generations. She stressed that when bunads are used, attention should be paid to using the proper accessories.

In the survey, 69% of respondents said they didn’t think the new creative festive-costumes would water down the bunad tradition. 23% answered that they were worried.

The article ended by quoting Marthe Mølstre, who had sewn a festive-costume with silk from Thailand. She also owns a traditional bunad from Sunnhordland, and plans to keep wearing it. “It’s the finest clothing I own. But it’s also fun that I can mix it up.”

November 2023. Happy holidays!

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial and very much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber!

Robbie LaFleur

Here is the easy-to-use link to donate:

Tales of Magical Weavers Keep a Medieval Tapestry Tradition Alive

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By Marianne Vedeler, Professor, Cultural History Museum, University of Oslo (UiO), and Lars Mytting, Author

This article was published in Forskersonen.no on November 23, 2022, and translated by Katherine Larson.

A battle is fought in a pictorial tapestry from Oseberg, 9th century. Drawing Stig Saxegaard.

For over 300 years, stories about the Hekne sisters have been an important part of oral tradition, but no one has found tangible evidence that they actually existed.

In the beginning of the 18th century, a priest named Stockfleth wrote in the Dovre church records that two conjoined sisters from a place called Hekne gave the church a tapestry that they themselves had woven. He called them a monster. Since that time the legend has lived on in Gudbrandsdalen.

The story of the Hekne sisters is connected to a very special form of weaving. Through their textile pictures, local artists brought forth central stories from the Bible as well as chivalric ballads. This manner of telling stories had deep roots in the oral traditions of the Middle Ages.

A Special Tapestry Tradition in Gudbrandsdal

A special form of tapestry weaving flourished in 17th century Gudbrandsdalen and certain other areas of southern Norway. These were tapestries woven in a technique that likely came from Flanders, but one that developed its own style in Gudbrandsdalen.

The characteristic manner in which figures and patterns were combined, as well as the use of color, make these textiles distinctive and easily recognizable. But it is not only the stories told by these pictorial textiles that make them a living and treasured expression of art.

In the past when stories were to be told in halls and dwelling places, pictorial textiles were well suited to evoke emotions. They showed highlights of the shared stories that everyone knew, and they also served as “memory cues” for the story teller.

A line runs from the pictorial textiles of the Viking Age Oseberg grave through the Middle Ages and forth to the Renaissance textiles from Gudbrandsdalen. Medieval sagas suggest that pictorial tapestries had a very special role in the story-telling tradition.

In the Lay of Gudrun from the Poetic Edda, Gudrun weaves all of her sorrows into the bloody story of Sigurd the Dragonslayer. In the Orkneyinga Saga, there is a scene in which two skalds compete over who can create the best descriptive verse from the stories depicted in the hall’s tapestries. In this case the weaver and the skald go hand in hand.

Weavers with Unusual Capabilities

In stories from the Middle Ages, weavers are not simply visual story tellers. They often have magical capabilities that can change the course of history. They can see into the future, but also cause ill fortune and sickness, rob people of their wits and strength, open mountains and gravemounds, and even commit murder.

After the Reformation it seems that the connection between magic and tapestry weaving remained. Written records from the end of the 16th century indicate that at least two of the women burned as witches during that time were associated with tapestry weaving. On the other hand, the Hekne sisters gave their fantastic tapestry to the church so that God would arrange their deaths to be at the same time. And God did in fact do this, writes Stockfleth. Even so there are several hints in the Hekne sisters’ legend that they had almost magical capabilities.

The Hekne Sisters Embodied a Warning

When the priest of Dovre church wrote down the story of the Hekne sisters, he devoted most of his narrative to describing the sisters’ unusual appearance. They each had a head, he says, but only one hand and one foot each. That he called them a monster [et monstrum] is a very important detail, since at that time the word had another meaning. It is derived from monere, which means to warn.

The birth of a malformed child was considered a warning from God, a message that should be meticulously interpreted and decoded. This was part of a common European notion. In early modern Europe, monstrous births found their way into everything from illustrative prints to books about miracles to medical works. These were extreme creatures, lying at the intersection between human and animal, between man and woman, between one and several. This points back to a pre-Christian symbolism of natural omens that was now interpreted in a new early modern understanding of the world.

The Stories That Kept Each Other Alive

For over 300 years stories of the Hekne sisters were an important part of the oral tradition in Gudbrandsdalen, despite the fact – or perhaps precisely because of the fact – that no one had managed to find tangible evidence that they ever lived. It is striking that many officials of the 18th and 19th centuries, among them Gerhard Schøning, found space to describe the Hekne sisters in otherwise succinct accounts of the Dovre area.

The textile is described in several old records, locally called the Hekne weaving or Hekne decoration. It is not an exaggeration to call this Gudbrandsdalen’s most legendary weaving. It eventually disappeared from the church and became – especially following the travels of antique dealers in the 19th century – an object shrouded by myth.

The description of the subject varies, as does that of the textile’s fate. It may have been sold abroad, perhaps purchased and brought back, possibly switched, or falsified or kept in secret. The stories about the sisters would never have been so enduring if they were not tied to a weaving that had disappeared, just as fascination with the weaving would never have been so strong if it had been made by a person with an ordinary life story.

What Was the Motif of the Hekne Tapestry?

The oldest sources give us no indication of the motif in the Hekne tapestry, but one of the most influential families of weavers in the area was convinced that it depicted the Biblical story of the Three Wise Men. Women in this family made two weavings with this motif, one in 1860 and another around 1931. This was long after the time when this special tapestry-weaving tradition flourished.

Tapestry from Gudbrandsdalen, 17th century, with the Three Wise Men motif. Photo: National Museum. Full record here.

The “new” tapestries are almost identical, and both are described by the weavers in family records as copies of the Hekne weaving, and with descriptions of the Hekne sisters. Thus the legend of the Hekne sisters lived on through new weavings.

Collective Wonder

The stories of the fantastic weavers from Hekne bring forth actors that otherwise are often silent or rarely seen in the sources. They give a glimpse of skilled craftswomen’s contribution to setting the stage for collective storytelling, and in that way incorporating a continental trend into a local tradition. In this context it makes little difference whether the incredible stories are “true.”

The legend of the Hekne sisters and the surviving tapestries from Gudbrandsdalen are sources of both wonder and new knowledge about the past. They are our common cultural heritage. What is more natural then to bring them forth in the light and look at them from several angles at the same time? Searching out the sources and discussing them with curiosity can provide an opening for both stories and research.

Marianne Vedeler holds a position as Professor in Archaeology at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. Her primary area of research is the Viking Age and late medieval periods in Scandinavia.

Translated in April, 2023, by Katherine Larson, Affiliate Assistant Professor,
Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, Seattle

Editor’s note: Lars Mytting wove the story of the Hekne sisters into his novel, The Bell in the Lake. Listen to a Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum bokprat [book talk] with the author and Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College’s Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director. View on YouTube.

For a more detailed investigation of Norwegian historical tapestry, storytelling, and the legend of the Hekne sisters, see Marianne Vedeler’s article: Gudbrandsdalen Tapestries and the Story of the Hekne Sisters.

October 2023; originally published October, 2022

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

Nordic News and Notes: October 2023

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A Finnish Weaver in Michigan Inspires her Granddaughter to Study Rya in Finland

“Studying Rya Rug Weaving at Omnia, Espoo Adult Education Centre.” A blog post from Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo region, Finland. October 2, 2023.

Lisa Wiitala from the very Finnish-American town of Hancock, Michigan, studied rya rug weaving at Espoo Adult Education Centre’s weaving studio in the summer of 2023, with support from the American Scandinavian Foundation. Her grandmother was a weaver of rag rugs, but never passed on her skills to her granddaughter. Now Lisa has learned to weave and traveled to Finland to expand for expertise and inspiration.

From the post: “At the start of August I arrived in Tapiola to begin my studies at Omnia, Espoo Adult Education Centre, using a Finnish-made Toika loom generously lent to me by the Weaving Studio. For three weeks I studied with Ulla Karsikas, learning different ways to create a design template, how to choose yarns and color combinations that blend well and achieve the right density, and how to properly finish a rug after being removed from the loom. I also learned to weave a rya in a shape other than rectangular, and how to use different lengths of yarn to create a transitioning of height along the surface. During my time at Omnia, I wove a total of three ryas – I tied a lot of knots in a short amount of time!”

A Norwegian Cat in Love with Knitting

Perhaps you have owned a cat who likes to bring rewards to your doorstep, a baby mouse, perhaps – but probably not hand-knit mittens. The story of Siri, the kleptomaniac cat, was described in the Norwegian media earlier this summer, in Aftenposten and NRK. You can meet Siri in this one-minute video (Scroll down a bit in the article.) It is in Norwegian. You could largely get the point even without a translation, but here are the titles that appear, in English translation.

Meet: Kleptokatt Siri. Tone Lund, cat owner. “She is especially interested in wool clothing. She came home first with a Selbu mitten. I didn’t know it was her who showed up with it. But then another one came. Then it was like they came one after the other. And I didn’t know where she got them.” Siri has built up a large collection of mittens. “In all there are 12 mittens, a knitting project with knitting needles, and two hot pad holders. I am sitting with them and wonder who is missing them. It’s begun to be embarassing. I’ve begun to feel like a thief myself, having these things I don’t own.” Where do the mittens come from? “No, unfortunately I haven’t found the owner, But I really hope the owner turns up. Then she will get back all the beautiful things she knitted. If there is anyone out there who has knitted Selbu mittens and can’t find them, there are here in my house.”

An American Weaver Helps Save an Old Swedish Loom

Judy Larson also helped restore an old Swedish tape loom

“Swedish Loom Restoration at Gammelgården.” Lisa-Anne Bauch. Scandinavian Weavers Study Group Blog, July 7, 2023.

From the post: “Scandia, Minnesota is the site of the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota. Gammelgården Museum in Scandia helps preserve this history … while celebrating the stories of all immigrants and their communities. On the second floor of the Välkommen Hus, there is an old floor loom. The loom was made in Sweden by a father with the intention that it would go to America with his daughter and her husband who would leave shortly after their wedding. The year 1879 is painted on the loom.”

Judy Larson, from the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group, brought the loom to working order and taught the museum volunteers how to help visitors try out the loom. She said, “I reset the worm gear rotation wheel to engage correctly, and then got the treadle cords and heddle cords to pull evenly and adjusted the reed height to get a better shed. The loom was now functional, and weaving could happen.”

The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group Experiments with Telemarksteppe Technique

Telemarksteppe by Melba Granlund

“Telemarksteppe Project.” Lisa-Anne Bauch. Scandinavian Weavers Study Group Blog, July 4, 2023.

The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota warped a Glimakra loom for a group project. It was the group’s first warp set up in the new home of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, the Open Book building in Minneapolis. It was a joy to work in this bright space and also have the opportunity to demonstrate weaving Telemarksteppe to visiting students, guests, and Guild members. People were especially interested in the loops left on the edges of the pieces, which is traditional to this Norwegian technique.

Pop-up Exhibit of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group in Minnesota

Swedish Art Weaves pillow by Jan Mostrom

“Scandinavian Showcase” at Weavers Guild of Minnesota.” Scandinavian Weavers Study Group Blog, July 2, 2023.

In connection with a Scandinavian weaving workshop at the Weavers guild of Minnesota, the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group held an open house. The wide range of weaving brought by members for a pop-up display was remarkable, and visitors were very interested in several demonstrations underway. See more photos of the pop-up exhibit in the post.

Exhibit in Norway

Alt Henger Sammen: Billedvev [Everything Hangs Together: Tapestry] Nelly Aasberg. Veien Kulturminnepark, Hønefoss, Norway. October 1-.

The artist statement: “Everything together” is an exhibition that holds experiences and impressions from nature. It’s everything from forests, mountains, plains, marshes, trees, plants and even small seeds and soil.
Everything has a connection, a reason, and an end that in turn gives life. People, animal life, insects, nature – Everything has a connection. The loom is connected with warp and weft – warp and yarn… I am a tapestry weaver and painter; one does not exclude the other. Nelly Aasberg.” Nelly Aasberg Instagram: @nellyaasberg. Nelly Aasberg Art Facebook: Nelly Aasberg Art.

Exhibit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The American Swedish Historical Museum is honored to debut the artistic work of Karin Larsson for the first time in America! Immersed in the world of the Swedish countryside, Karin Larsson’s work in the textile arts, furniture construction, and interior design reflect her artistic training, curiosity, innovation, and openness to the emerging trends facing life in the late 1800s. Karin’s contributions to the prevailing art movements like Art Nouveau, the Arts and Crafts style, and regional folk techniques, are distinguished by her boldness, simplicity, and taste for abstraction. Karin embraced new methods while embroidering, weaving, knitting, crocheting, making lace, sewing clothes, and producing tapestries for the home she shared with her children and husband, the celebrated painter Carl Larsson. Read more…

Exhibit in Red Wing, Minnesota

Click on the image for a pdf version

Domestic to Decorative: The Evolution of Nordic Weaving. Red Wing Arts Depot Gallery, 418 Levee St., Red Wing, Minnesota. October 27 – December 24, 2023.

Woven textiles from Nordic countries evolved over the centuries into an acclaimed decorative art, both in the home countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland and wherever immigrants traveled. The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota traces this journey in the curated exhibition “Domestic to Decorative: The Evolution of Nordic Weaving,” as each of the twenty weavers present a personal take on the theme. Some are inspired by treasured family heirlooms and traditional techniques, others by the possibilities of modern looms and materials. The exhibit will include demonstrations of weaving and spinning.

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

Burning the Midnight Oil in Bergen

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By Peg Hansen

I happily studied weaving at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, in the 1980s. I had no idea what a long interruption my fiber work would have as I started my career as a Red Wing High School art instructor. I took a refresher warping class in 2012, but still my weaving stood still. In the meantime I sewed a Beltestakk bunad and started to explore band weaving. Frankly, I was surprised I was so rusty.

Peg Hanson’s bunad pieces.

Peg Hansen’s handwoven hairpiece.

During Covid isolation I joined the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group. What an amazing group (even if my first meetings were only on zoom)! The conversations were familiar, but my skills weren’t there anymore. When group member Melba Granlund planned a post-pandemic trip to Norway for a week of study in Bergen with Ingebjørg Mønsen this year, I cast my doubts aside and signed up. What a great decision!

All of the participants seemed to already know so much. I was open to learning whatever I could, so I went with the flow. I did a dreiel sample and really enjoyed it. But then, it appeared that nobody wanted to weave on the blanket warp so Ingebjørg assigned me. This would be totally new to me and I assumed I would weave a sample and be on to another loom. Ingebjørg had other ideas. Periodically I would say I was ready to move on, but each day she would say, “Weave more.” On Wednesday I wove until 10 at night and thought surely that one meter was enough. Oh, no…I ended up returning to the hotel at 2 AM! Ingebjørg stayed with me until I had a complete blanket – in just 4 days – complete with unweaving many times.

My finished Norwegian wool (Ask) twill blanket is 157×135 cm plus a beautiful fringe.

I think that Ingebjørg could sense that, as an eager learner, I had pulled many all-nighters in the past with art projects I found irresistible. I am incredibly happy that I can wrap up in my wonderful Norwegian experience on this side of the Atlantic.

Peg Hansen, October 2023

Peg Hansen, From Red Wing, Minnesota, has been working with fiber for over fifty years. She learned to sew on her own in the eighth grade, in order to make clothing to fit her tall frame. Her first degree was in Home Economics. Since retiring from teaching in 2010, Peg has concentrated on fiber pursuits, with increasing attention to Norwegian textiles. She is happy to be at her loom again, after a hiatus since her study in the 1980s, and enjoys projects with colleagues through the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group.

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

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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.

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!