By Robbie LaFleur
At the turn of the 20th century, seven-year-old Alma Norha traveled with her mother and paternal grandmother to the Iron Range in northern Minnesota, where her father had already traveled. The farm she came from was Norhala, in Jalasjärvi (in what is now Etelä Pohjanmaa/South Ostrobothnia, in western Finland). They moved to Embarrass, Minnesota, a community that remained almost completely Finnish until the expansion of the taconite mines on the Iron Range in the 1950s.
Did the Norhas know they were moving to such a frigid spot in their new country? Each winter residents of Embarrass frequently report the lowest temperature in the nation to the National Weather Service. The Embarrass website includes the nickname “The Cold Spot.”
Later, Alma married her second cousin; their grandmothers were sisters. Eino had the same last name, Norha, as he grew up on the same farm in Finland before moving to Minnesota at age 19.
Eino and Alma Norha, 1958. Photo provided by Barb Yarusso.
As a young wife and mother, Alma sewed and did various forms of needlework. When her arthritis flared in the early 1950s, she obtained a loom from her sister and took up a typical Finnish-American craft, weaving rag rugs. This was very common in the Finnish-American community, frugal women weaving durable rugs from discarded household textiles and old clothing, sitting at looms like those of their Finnish ancestors. Alma wove many rugs before her death in 1961.
Alma’s descendants own several of her rugs. Photo: Barb Yarusso
Alma’s loom was likely a sturdy, two-shaft loom, as all of her rugs were woven in plain weave, and she only wove rag rugs. Her husband Eino warped the loom for her, and he likely learned the skill as a boy from his mother Josefiina, or “Fiina,” who was a skilled weaver.
A Finnish legacy–a twill towel woven by Josefiina “Fiina” Norhala, from linen she grew and spun herself. Photo: Barb Yarusso.
Another Generation, Another Finnish-American Weaver
Alma’s granddaughter, Barb Yarusso, lives in Shoreview, Minnesota, and is following in her grandmother’s footsteps, or rather, in pushing down the treadles of her loom to weave rag rugs.
Barb could afford to buy the most beautiful new fabric to weave her rag rugs, or just buy new rugs, but recently she chose a different challenge to honor her grandmother and the Finnish-American tradition. She chose to re-weave, shot by shot, rag by rag, a threadbare rug made by her grandmother Alma. The old rug had seen many years of use in the front entry of the Norha farmhouse in Embarrass.
Barb Yarusso’s husband David Yarusso outside the Norha farmhouse, 1979. Photo provided by Barb Yarusso. Side note: the interesting asphalt siding was added in 1932, and is still on the farmhouse today.
Loose rags erupted from the surface of the old rug in many worn patches. But those rags! Could they have come from Alma’s dress, or Eino’s shirt? Think of how many relatives’ feet had crossed the rug. Barb decided to put a strong, new warp on her loom and insert the old rags, to make a new heirloom of old materials.
The old and worn rug, ready for replacement. Photo: Barb Yarusso
Barb is a member of the Rag Rug Interest Group at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, and the members made helpful suggestions. One key piece of advice was to make the new rug a different width than the old, so worn selvedge areas of the weft wouldn’t line up in the same spots.
When the new rug was woven at a different width, these broken rags didn’t end up at each edge, but were tucked into the body of the rug. Photo: Barb Yarusso
Barb found the project satisfying, and discovered that even though she was re-weaving rag-by-rag, the original rug may have looked quite different…
It was a very satisfying project. I could really connect with the decisions made by Grandma as she wove the rug, from the planning of the color changes to working around the color that seems to have been in short supply (the red). I could also tell that the weft was originally even more colorful, because the insides of the strips showed more intense purple and yellow, and there had been a red and white print, as well as a red, white and blue print. At first I thought I could reroll the strips to show this, but they were too fragile.
Another recommendation from the Rag Rug Study Group was to use darker warp, rather than the original blue and white, since new white warp would starkly contrast with the old weft. Barb used navy blue and “linen” (a warm tan) in 8/4 cotton rug warp.
Old to new – you can see the old rags coming out on the left, and being inserted into the new warp on the right. Photos: Barb Yarusso
The reconstructed rag rug is now ready for many more years of use. Memories of Grandmother Alma still burn bright.
Almost complete (only the hemming remains)! The very same stripes are revived. 5’8″ long x . Photo: Barb Yarusso.
August 2022
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Nice story, though could have done without the drama! Wonderful of her granddaughter to think so much of her grandmother.
I also weave rugs and always enjoy a sister weaver’s rugs.
Thoroughly enjoyed this article! I, too, enjoyed my Finnish grandmother’s home having padded across the many rag rugs in her home & mostly recall them used in the kellari because that was where they were woven for both the floor use as well as for use as partitions for when we went to sauna; one family would be getting dressed after having had their sauna time in one partitioned area while in another area another family would be getting undressed to get ready to go into shower room first & then into the heated stone room part of sauna with its 3 tiered benches. I remember as a child the wonderful experience of hearing my mom & dad speaking while my brother & I got ready for saunan aika & the Finnish family members in other areas speaking in the wonderfully brilliant grandmother made rag walled rug rooms in various modes of dress as they, too, enjoyed their sauna times. What wonderful memories as I recall seeing the beautiful colors of the individually made rag rugs used on the floor, on the walls, as partitions, all in the wonderful experience of sauna night at grandma’s home!
Thank you for the lovely article. I have re-woven an old rag rug (for a friend) as well, and it was such a satisfying experience. I loved your guild’s tips, especially the one about re-weaving a different width to help the worn-selvedge problem. Thank you!