By Norma Smayda

After graduating from Bucknell University with a degree in Biochemistry, I worked at DuPont’s biology lab for one year. I moved to Norway as a new bride in 1956 to begin an exciting four years as a Fulbright wife, working part time at the Institute of Marine Biology and raising our first child. I grew to love that country and its people, many of whom became dear friends. The landscape, the culture – theater, concerts, art exhibitions and craft galleries – all felt right, comfortable and challenging. Perhaps this is because I am of Norwegian heritage, although growing up I experienced few Norwegian traditions. Our landlord was an art collector, introduced me to art galleries, and I bought my first art piece, a lithograph by Knut Froysaa.

I credit the start of my career in weaving to seeing a label on a lovely blanket that said “hand woven by.” I don’t remember if I ever knew the weaver’s name. I knew nothing about handweaving, had never met a handweaver. But something resonated. Six years later we were back in Oslo for six months, and I found a summer weaving school, Monica Skolen. It was located in a charming old fashioned cabin in Frogner Park, behind the royal palace. I signed up for a two week session, and was so enamored that I signed up for a second session. Tom and Susan, now ages 8 and 6, played in the park while I wove, four hours a day, five days a week. I wove beautiful products – table runners and mats, a tote bag, a poncho – in different traditional Norwegian techniques, in beautiful yarns and colors. I still have most of those textiles. We wove on 4 shaft Monica table looms, with string heddles and a swinging beater. The looms were threaded to different techniques, with treadling directions taped to the looms. I was becoming a weaver! By the end of the second session I ordered a loom, loom stand and warping mill. My wonderful teacher, Kari Kaurin, dressed my loom with 15 meters of blue wool, threaded to rosepath. Back in Rhode Island I wove and wove, and soon realized I had a problem. I had learned nothing about designing a warp, dressing the loom, or even where to buy materials.  

[Below, two pieces woven at Monica Skolen in 1965: “Vams,” a wool ski top in rosepath, and a lined wool tote bag woven in krokbragd on three shafts.]

The Weaving Goddess was watching over me. About the time I finished weaving yards and yards of rosepath, I met a woman who was giving a talk on finger weaving. She agreed to help me design and wind on a project, saying, “I will only come back again to help if this is woven off in 3 weeks.” I took good notes and wove it off in less than 3 weeks! Gwen MacIntyre became a mentor and good friend.  

In 1973 we found ourselves back in Norway for a sabbatical. The children were now busy becoming Norwegian teenagers and learning to love the country as I did. I had the time to take a year-long weaving course at the Baerum Husflidsforening (home craft school) 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, plus other textile related classes, including tapestry. Ulla Hansson became my mentor. She was a knowledgeable weaver, an excellent teacher, and she recognized and encouraged my passion for all things weaving. Along with the simpler traditional techniques, I also had the opportunity to delve into Meraker (a non-reversible pick up double weave), kjepskill, and skillbragd on a loom especially adapted for this technique. I was also able to take two week concentrated courses in spinning and plant dying at the Statens Laereskole i Forming [National College of Applied Art].  

[Below: A wall hanging sampler in Meraker, along with two detail shots.]

[Below are two weavings woven in 1973 at Baerum Husflidsforening: a linen unicorn tapestry woven in Beiderwand pick up technique, and a hostess skirt and blouse woven in Monk’s belt. The wool, lined skirt and blouse were designed and sewn at a BHF tailoring class.]

A fun fact: The Baerum Husflidsforening was located on the second floor of the old police station, an historic wooden building. One morning a man appeared at the door and inquired what we were doing to make so much noise. Some weavers were making rugs. He asked if would please stop weaving for a while. On the first floor Sean Connery was being filmed for a segment of the movie Airplane, and our weaving caused the old building to vibrate and disturb their filming. We stopped weaving, but unfortunately never got to see Sean Connery.

[Below are two skillbragd pieces, woven in 1974 at Baerum Husflidsforening: a wall hanging in wool and linen, and a runner woven with a loom attachment to allow for pattern shafts.]

I completed that year in Norway with two weeks in Toijala, Finland, to learn Finnish traditional weaving techniques, and wove more finnweave, with one layer in twill, the other in plain weave, a raanu (a colorful plain weave rug used as coverings for Saami tents), and a lovely blanket that was machine brushed with teasels.  I had seen beautiful tapestries in Norway and Finland, and especially admired historic tapestries, work of Hannah Ryggen and Frida Hansen, and square weave wall hangings.

We returned to Rhode Island in September 1974, and I was in ‘weaving mode,’ weaving on my Monica table loom while I waited for my new loom at arrive, a 54” 8 shaft countermarche Glimakra loom (now converted to a 10 shaft, 12 treadle loom). This was and still is my favorite loom.

My Norwegian teachers, especially Ulla Hansson, had been very generous with their skills, knowledge and time, and I wanted to give back in some way. A few local weavers asked me to teach what I had learned, and fortuitously a wonderful space became available. Neighbors were adding a craft center to their home, and I was given a small section. 

I started the Saunderstown Weaving School.  Over the years I acquired more of the space, until today we occupy all of it. More looms found space here. A few I bought, more were donated, some of historical significance. Among others are two looms from William Henry Harrison Rose (1839-1913), a prominent Rhode Island weaver known as “Weaver Rose.” The niece of Osma Gallinger Todd gave me her aunt’s loom, built by Milo Gallinger. And a little two legged Swedish loom with string heddles and a swinging beater – yes, two legged! – with built-in clamps that clamp to a table, and can be collapsed to fit under the bed. From our original 6 looms we now have about 45 floor looms, 3 table looms and 3 tapestry looms.

What began as one class with 6 weavers, quickly expanded to 3 weekly classes with a student body of 25 – 30 weavers.   Much of the weaving here is traditional, weaving Scandinavian techniques as well as Weaver Rose and Bertha Gray Hayes overshot patterns. I had wanted to teach weaving at the college level, so went back to school, getting my MFA in Visual Design from University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. However, after teaching one semester at Emmanuel College, I realized that I was spending too much time on committees, and really wanted to devote my time to teaching. The weaving school was designed on what I knew from my Norwegian classes. I had no other model. Beginner, intermediate and advanced weavers in each class, weaving on a variety of looms, and creating a variety of projects, gave the weavers a broad experience. We celebrated our 50^th anniversary with a celebratory exhibition at Hera, a local women’s art gallery.

I’ve returned to Norway a few more times. From 1978 – 1982 I planned weaving tours and took eight weavers annually for five years, visiting the places I loved. We traveled from Bergen to Trondheim to Oslo, in mountain and fjord country, took walking tapestry tours in each city, and wove in a small craft school. In 1987 I returned to visit my son, who was working in Bergen that year, and to see my first granddaughter. We continued from Bergen to Oslo, and on to Sweden to attend Väv, an triennial weaving conference.

Along my weaving journey I became active in and teaching at local, regional and national organizations, becoming President of the Handweavers Guild of America in 1988. I attended the first Norwegian Breakfast Club meeting organized by Lila Nelson I think at Convergence held in San Jose. I attended many more Breakfast Club meetings. The Norwegian Breakfast Club eventually became the Norwegian Textile Newsletter. I visited Vesterheim in Decorah twice to give talks and workshops.

[Below: the Norwegian Breakfast Club organized a study group to investigate Flesberg technique, a three-shaft rosepath.]

Because I had access to original Bertha Gray Hayes handwritten materials, I coauthored Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes in 2009. At Convergence in 2010 I took a class on the fan reed, became enamored with ondulé textiles, and researched and wrote Ondulé Textiles: Weaving Contours with a Fan Reed in 2017.  Soon a small but devoted study group was established in Complex Weavers. This led to an in depth series of articles in the Complex Weavers Journal, February 2025.

The next Saunderstown Weaving School exhibition, to celebrate our 55th anniversary, is already scheduled for the fall of 2029!

Bonus photos! Row 1. Crackle overshot detail; Roses of the Sogn. Double weave pick-up with monksbelt border.
Row 2: Overshot table mat; Rosepath and monksbelt blended draft wall hanging. From Sigrid Palmgren’s Vavbok I. Linen. 8 shafts.
Row 3: Stars of the North. (detail) 8 shaft summer and winter. Design from Ekenmark damask patterns. Woven for Convergence 1994, Minneapolis workshop. Linen; Stars of the North.
Row 4: Rosepath and monksbelt blended draft wall hanging (detail). From Sigrid Palmgren’s Vavbok I. Linen. 8 shaft; Rosepath and monksbelt blended draft sampler. From Sigrid Palmgren’s Vavbok I. Cotton. 1980.
Row 5: Monk’s belt pink table runner. Cotton, cottolin.

November 2025

[Editor’s note: See also a wonderful interview on the Handweavers Guild of America “Textiles and Tea” series web page: Norma Smayda.]