By Lisa-Anne Bauch

The Weavers Guild of Minnesota is the largest weaving guild in the United States. Among its many ongoing activities are interest groups, which allow members to study weaving and spinning topics in-depth with others who share their particular passions. 

Longstanding groups include the Rag Rug Weavers, the Banditos (band weavers), the Whorling Spinsters (spinners) and the NOW group (new and occasional weavers). Of these, the Scandinavian Weavers are the largest group, having met continuously for more than thirty years.

Each year, the Scandinavian Weavers weave group projects on a Glimakra loom located in the Weavers Guild in Minneapolis. Group projects give weavers the opportunity to try a technique they might not be comfortable doing on their own, or might not have the equipment to weave at home. The projects allow for collective problem-solving and for experienced weavers to act as mentors, passing along their technical knowledge. Finally, it is always inspiring to see how different weavers interpret the same technique, with a wide variety of color and design choices. “I wish I had woven mine like that!” is a common refrain. Over the past few years, the Scandinavian Weavers have tackled Skillbragd, Telemarksteppe, Dukagång, Monksbelt, and the delightfully named Swedish technique Kukkoladräll.

In late 2019, we were inspired by the beautiful book Från Januariblues till Decemberröd: 18 Kuddar I Rosengång [From January Blues to December Reds: 18 Pillows in Rosepath] by Anna Östlund, an expert in Swedish Rosengång (Rosepath) technique. The book includes designs for pillows, one for every month of the year. Plans were eagerly discussed at our annual holiday gathering. 

Group members warped the loom in January 2020 and weaving began. We were planning to be done weaving by the end of April, because the loom was needed for a class. Eighteen members of the Scandinavian Weavers signed up to weave a pillow. Judy Larson was first on the loom and wove her pillow in rosepath on opposites.

Scandinavian Weavers coordinator Robbie LaFleur had corresponded with Anna Östlund for permission to use her draft, which she graciously gave. Anna shared photos of her latest pillows, including a black and white version with a fleece back she had woven as a gift for her mother. 

At the time, Anna was planning to welcome a group of students from the United States to her home in Borlangë in the spring, curate a summer exhibit in rosepath at the Borlangë library, and then return to Vävstuga in Massachusetts to teach a course there. “But with the Corona virus spreading world wide we’ll see what happens,” she wrote.

We all remember what happened: The world changed, never to be the same again. 

As it turns out, weaving was the thread that kept us connected during this terrible time. We all learned how to use Zoom so that our monthly meetings could continue. Weavers shared photos of their weaving projects at home and encouraged each other on our message board. Rosepath was the trail we followed back to community, and our warp waited patiently on the loom for us to return. In June of 2021, the Weavers Guild re-opened and the project resumed.

We had made some modifications to Anna’s draft because we did not have a metric reed. Instead, we used a 12-dent reed and warped 498 ends of 20/2 cottolin. Since we didn’t have the yardage to weave the pillow backs, members wove their own at home or used fabric. For weft, members used a variety of wool they had on hand, in either singles or doubles, and the project provided a great opportunity for “stash-busting”– using up the yarn they had at home, rather than purchasing new yarn.

The result? A rainbow of rosepath! Nancy Ebner chose lively spring colors and added adornments including tassels. My weft colors of white, green, and blue suggested the Northern Lights over a snowy forest. Veronna Capone chose elegant cream and grey, Judy Larson wove stately blue, grey, and black and Lisa Torvik blended delicate shades of blue.

Brenda Gauvin-Chadwick called her pillow “Joy Exploding,” inspired by the beauty of Scandinavia in the winter. “The pillow was woven with Fåro yarn that I purchased in Sweden many years ago,” Brenda explains. “I carried it all over Scandinavia for weeks in my suitcase. I bought it after skiing the Swedish Vasaloppet. Two weeks later in Norway I skied the Birkebeiner race. The colors represent the forests, the beautiful sunshine and my heart exploding with joy as I skied along the breathtaking terrain.”

The project was an opportunity to explore the technical possibilities of rosepath. Judy Larson wove her pillow in rosepath on opposites. Others worked the same draft on their looms at home, including Nancy Ellison, who used locks of fleece from her flock of Icelandic sheep. Linda Sorrano experimented with five different types of weft yarn—Rauma Ryegarn and Prydvevgarn, Swedish Fåro, and line and tow linen—and provided helpful analysis of each. 

The rosepath project became part of a Scandinavian Weavers exhibit at the Weavers Guild called “Resterydding”—the closest Norwegian equivalent to the American slang term “stash-busting.” The term was suggested by Kari-Anne Pederson at the Norsk Folkemusum. “Rester means leftovers,” she explained. “Rydde means to tidy. Resterydding would mean getting rid of leftovers.”

The exhibit had two rules; Members had to weave a Scandinavian technique using yarn from their stash. Sharon Marquardt wove a delightful wall hanging in goose-eye twill. “I wove this in memory of my great aunt Irene, who lived in Minneapolis,” Sharon wrote. “She was a longtime member of the Weavers Guild. I inherited her loom and materials.” For the wall hanging, Sharon used Irene’s Maysville cotton warp and “her colorful pudgy handspun wool. Aunt Irene loved color, as I do. I threw in my stash of poppana strips.” 

In her email to Robbie, Anna Östlund wrote that she had seen the Scandinavian Weavers blog and that “it seems like you are a talented group of weavers having lots of fun.” Little did she, or we, know just how much fun we would have—and how following that “rose-path” would lead us through the pandemic. To follow along with our latest adventures, including group projects, please visit us at https://scandinavianweaversmn.com/

Lisa-Anne Bauch is a Minnesota-based folk artist whose work is rooted in the traditional weaving techniques and materials of Sweden, Norway, and Finland, as well as their respective immigrant communities. Her writing has appeared in PieceWork, Norwegian Textile Letter, Väv, and Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot.

For detailed notes on several pillows, visit Robbie LaFleur’s blog here.