Introduction by Lisa-Anne Bauch
In 2024, the American Swedish Institute (ASI) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted the traveling exhibition “Karin Larsson: Let the Hand be Seen.” Karin Bergöö Larsson (1859–1928) was a groundbreaking artist whose textiles and designs ushered in a new era of interior design and established the iconic Swedish style that continues to inspire artists worldwide. Many of Karin’s works were forever captured in her husband Carl Larsson’s paintings of Swedish life. It was Karin who designed and created Lilla Hyttnäs, the Larssons’ home just outside of Falun in Sundborn, Sweden, which was so often the subject of Carl’s paintings. The home continues to inspire and is open to the public as Carl Larsson-gården, which organized the exhibition. (Note: The exhibition featured reproductions of Karin’s textiles, since the originals are fragile.)
Since Karin Larsson was a weaver, ASI asked the Weavers Guild of Minnesota to help tell her story. Members of the Scandinavian Weavers and Rag Rug Weavers demonstrated the art of Swedish-style rag rug weaving throughout the run of the exhibit. (For details and photos, see scandinavianweaversmn.com ) The Collections staff at ASI also put together a display about Hilma Berglund, one of the founders of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota.
In addition to Karin Larsson, weavers took inspiration from a 14-meter rag rug in ASI’s permanent collection. It was woven by Maria Jonsson in the province of Värmland, Sweden and donated to ASI in the 1950s. Judy Larson, coordinator of the Rag Rug Group, warped a vintage Glimakra loom in “Swedish blue” and designed our first rug to feature a wedge pattern like the ones in Jonsson’s rug. The article below is taken from Judy’s remarks during a panel discussion on October 24.
“From WOW! to HOW?”: Weaving at the Karin Larsson Exhibit
By Judy Larson
Edited by Lisa-Anne Bauch
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Carl and Karin Larsson’s home in Sundborn, Sweden, in 2018 and again in 2022. The first guided tour was all about Carl and his painting, and we were free to take any photos we wanted. It was mentioned that Karin was a weaver, and we could see her handiwork all over the house, but it wasn’t mentioned much. Everything in the gift shop was about Carl.
There was quite a difference in 2022, perhaps because the international weaving conference Väv 2022 was taking place at the same time. There was much more focus on Karin, all in Swedish, and we could no longer take any photos inside the house. But of course, we could purchase books full of pictures of Karin’s weaving, embroidering, sewing, and designing textiles. Her delight at getting a loom to weave tapestry and her skill at creating new macramé and weaving techniques were now included in the tour, with notable stops to look at the textiles that created the classic Swedish décor so evident in Carl’s paintings. Parts of the Sundborn house were now off-limits as they were designated family-only spaces, so it has been especially rewarding to see the excellent displays that the American Swedish Institute has recreated here in the Turnblad Mansion.
Karin’s quote about “weaving with memories” as she wove rugs from fabrics that had been her children’s clothing resonates with every weaver. Her quote that “When women are doing handwork, men think they are doing nothing!” reflects the need for changing the appreciation of her handwork in sewing, embroidering, and weaving, which is so beautifully executed throughout this exhibit. When the Weavers Guild of Minnesota was invited to be an active part of the exhibit, we were thrilled to have the opportunity.
As part of the exhibit, ASI displayed the Värmland Rug, woven by a 76-year-old weaver in Värmland, Sweden and presented to as a gift to ASI from that province in 1952. It had been woven to go around all four sides of a dining room table. Weavers Guild members Phyllis Waggoner and Wynne Mattila had studied the rug earlier, so there was detailed documentation on its structure. But it is a 14-meter, 42-foot rug! The fascination with it went from “WOW!” to “HOW?”
The weavers in the Scandinavian and Rag Rug study groups had a chance to see the rug, but were unable to fathom how it could be woven that long on our looms. It made for some interesting guesses, but it was always a challenge. For example, if you put the rug under you (on the cloth beam), you wouldn’t have room to treadle. If you put the rug over you (on the front beam), you couldn’t reach the beater.
Fortunately, weaver Carol Colburn saw the exhibit and did some research. In the Norwegian book Fra Fiber Til Tøy: Tekstilredskaper Og Bruken Av Dem I Norsk Tradisjon by Marta Hoffmann, she found that there were looms with a split in the front beam, so that the rug could be secured as you wove, and the woven part simply went to the side on the floor, allowing you to weave any length without being restricted by the cloth beam. More inspiration and education! [See a longer technical explanation of the loom at the end of this article.]
Our groups had been invited to do active weaving demonstrations during the Karin Larsson exhibit and decided to weave a shorter rug in the Värmland wedge technique, as we no longer use 42-foot rugs around our dining room tables! The Glimakra loom was borrowed from Color Crossing, a weaving studio in Roberts, Wisconsin and was warped with a Rosepath draft. That draft honors the history of Sweden and all of Scandinavia and allows many different variations in the patterns on the rug. Weft fabric in shades of blue was donated and prepared. Three weavers were scheduled for each demonstration, showing “up close and personal” the preparation, weaving, and finishing skills used in rag rugs.
Preparation includes the washing, sewing, cutting, and, if you prefer, ironing of all the fabrics to make the weft strips. A bias tape maker was used to enclose all the raw edges of the fabric to make the rug finished on both sides. The weaving happens at the loom as the warp threads are lifted and lowered to hold the weft in place. The shuttle holding the weft goes from right to left and back again as the weft forms the patterns on the rug. To some, the treadling looks like playing an organ. The finishing involves creating a stable edge by knotting, sewing, twisting, or braiding the warp threads to hold the rug weft securely in place.
During our demonstrations, we received lots of comments about weaving that had been done by parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents as we inspired old memories and also answered new questions from those who had never seen weaving before. And yes, there are people who still weave! It is not a dying art, and there are 600 members of the Weavers Guild who keep it active, including over 40 volunteers who were excited to share their weaving skills with ASI visitors. The biggest challenge was that the volunteers spent so much time talking that they didn’t get their allotted 18 inches woven during their three-hour time slot! Some even came back to get more weaving done.
The first rug we wove used the wedge technique seen in the Värmland rug, and the next three rugs used Rosepath variations. Some variations were exactly as in the draft and others were “unique.” There was even a little Love’s Path, an Upper Michigan and Iron Range variation, sometimes called Over the Waves, another nod to our ethnic heritage. In addition, beginning in June and continuing into next year, there were weavers working at the Weavers Guild, each creating a unique Rosepath rug of their own, so ASI visitors were invited to visit the Guild as well.
This joint project between the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and the American Swedish Institute continued the legacy that Hilma Berglund and other weavers envisioned, passing on the weaving skills to the current and future generations and keeping this fiber art vibrant for today’s and tomorrow’s weavers. It promoted the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and all that it offers, introducing many new visitors to our new space in the Open Book building on Washington Avenue in Minneapolis. Finally, it allowed the Rag Rug and Scandinavian study groups to learn new skills and share our passion for weaving, spinning, and dyeing, and all the fiber arts with ASI visitors.
October 2024
As the exhibit comes to a close, we’d like to present our version of the Värmland wedge rug to ASI. It’s a bit shorter than the original, but woven with just as much pride and passion! Thank you for including the Weavers Guild of Minnesota in your presentation of the Karin Larsson exhibit. We’ve had a delightful and productive time with you.
Judy Larson has been weaving for 22 years and is still fascinated by learning new things and teaching them to others. Retired after teaching elementary kids for 31 years, she now has a studio at Color Crossing in Roberts, WI. She loves puzzles, and sees weaving as a puzzle that can be varied every time a loom is warped! Shaft switching, Rosepath, Moorman, and other techniques are used to create a variety of rag rugs, as well as scarves, towels, and runners. She leads the Rag Rug Study Group at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, and is also active in the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group and New and Occasional Weavers Study Group. She teaches weaving at the Guild and at Color Crossing to inspire new weavers to share in the passion, curiosity, and creativity that weaving provides.
Carol Colburn Comments on Managing VERY Long Weavings
“When I saw you and the other demonstrators at ASI on Sunday, the question came up about how to manage long lengths of rag rug as in the ASI example. I remembered later that I had seen an historical solution in my Norwegian weaving research. When weaving long warps of vadmel, the loom does not have a separate front beam that winds on the yardage. Instead, the breast beam itself rotates and has a slit in it which holds the tension on the weaving, and when advancing the warp, the yardage is pulled through this slit and spills out on the floor – it piles up, and then is simply pushed to the side outside of the loom on the floor. In Marta Hoffmann’s book from 1991, Fra fiber til tøy [From Fiber to Fabric], she has a series of photographs that shows this. The loom shown is from 1668, and still in use in Setesdal at the time Marta Hoffmann did her research there in 1969. Presumably similar old looms would have been used in Sweden – the English translation caption on these pages mentions that this type of loom was used for a longer time in Eastern Europe. Certainly there was a lot of weaving knowledge and technology shared throughout those centuries. This could have been used for rag rugs in Sweden and among Swedish Americans in the 19th century too.”
Carol mentioned relevant pages from the book. English caption under photo on page 132: “Loom from Setesdal, Aust-Agder, dated 1668. The type is now in Norway only known from this district. The treadles are fastened under the seat and the breast beam is rotating. It has a split for the woven cloth which is pulled down to the floor.
See ill. 172, 173.
Read more about the exhibit
“Summer Weaving Demos at the American Swedish Institute!” posted June 11, 2024
ASI Update: “Cocktails at the Castle,” posted September 20, 2024