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. 

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