As always, the Scandinavian Weavers spent the summer volunteering, demonstrating the art of weaving at community events.

These included the Opening Day, Midsommar, and Spelmansstämman celebrations at Gammelgården in Scandia, Minnesota.

Focusing on history, art, culture, and agriculture, Gammelgården is the only open-air museum devoted to preserving, presenting, and promoting Swedish immigrant heritage in the United States.

Housed in six buildings on the historic gammelgården, or old farm, where the community of Scandia was first established, Gammelgården invites visitors to step back in time, experience the stories of Swedish immigrants, and relate them to their own family immigration stories.

Among the treasures at Gammelgården is a loom crafted in Sweden in 1879. The loom was built by a father whose daughter was getting married and immigrating to the United States. It was his parting gift to her. Judy Larson warped the loom in beautiful blue stripes, and it still weaves beautifully.

Another fun event was FinnFest, held in Duluth, Minnesota in August. Barb Yarusso demonstrated weaving and also gave a presentation on reconstructing her grandmother Alma’s rag rug. Lisa Bauch gave a talk called “Rugs, Raanu, and Rya: The Living Legacy of Finnish-American Weaving.”

Mary Erickson demonstrated the art of himmeli and also participated in a panel discussion with fellow Nordic American folk craft artists. Himmeli, geometric figures made from straw, were originally created in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Estonia, and functioned as good luck charms that were hung from the ceiling in homes to ensure good crops and the fertility of fields. 

The art was brought to northern Minnesota by Finnish immigrants. Mary first studied  himmeli making with Elna Hietala in Minnesota and later with Eija Koski in Finland. It is her hope that by teaching and sharing what she has learned that this tradition will continue. Her beginning course “The Geometry, Magic, and Beauty of Himmeli” will be held at North House Folk School in October.

Himmeli was traditionally made of rye straw, intricately braided.

Books by Mary’s teacher in Finland, Eija Koski.

Among the other displays at FinnFest were traditional hand carvings by Alan Anderson.

FinnFest, where Moomins are treated like rock stars!

Of course, no Minnesota summer is complete without a trip to the Minnesota State Fair! As always, volunteers from the Weavers Guild of Minnesota were present for the entire Fair, from opening day to closing night. Demonstrations and talks took place in our new booth, centrally located in the Creative Arts Building.

Yours truly gave a talk on Nordic Weaving in Minnesota, with an emphasis on rag rug weaving. The Rag Rug Group brought in rugs in a variety of techniques to illustrate.

Finally, huge congratulations to the following members of the Scandinavian Weavers Group, who won ribbons in this year’s State Fair competition!

Beth Detlie

Lori Labs

Robbie LaFleur

Cathie Mayr

Lisa Torvik

Barb Yarusso

Special congratulations to Beth Detlie, who won the coveted Doris Tufte Award for weaving in the Scandinavian tradition.

Helpful links:

Mary Erickson’s himmeli course at North House:

https://northhouse.org/course-session/the-geometry-magic-and-beauty-of-himmeli-10-4-2025

Check out this article on weaving at the Minnesota State Fair:

https://walkerart.org/magazine/minnesota-state-fair-170-years-of-creative-activities

Gammelgården

Välkommen

FinnFest. It’s not too soon to begin planning for 2026!

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It’s been a beautiful summer here in Minnesota! While our Scandinavian Weavers group doesn’t meet during the summer months, individual weavers have been busy with all sorts of creative activities.

Holly Hildebrandt wove a tapestry for her wedding anniversary. “For our honeymoon back in 2021, we had to keep it more local than we would have liked because of Covid” she explains, “but ended up having the most magical time in Lutsen and Grand Marais. The North Shore has always been very special to both of us, having grown up in Duluth. We stayed on the ski hill in the middle of summer, when Moose Mountain was covered in wildflowers. This June we recreated our honeymoon and returned there. I got to work on the tapestry with the mountain in view and then again at the lake.”

Holly also took on a weaving commission for a friend’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. “The different colors represent significant life events – the births of the children, weddings, grandchildren, deaths of parents, places they lived, pets. My friend – their son – sent me a spreadsheet of events. I simply translated it into fiber,” Holly explains.

Holly says, “Their timeline created such a beautiful composition. Just such a neat way to visualize their lives together!”

Abbey Nielsen has been busy carving and painting heddles for traditional Norwegian band weaving. Can you pick a favorite?

Don’t these make you want to learn band weaving?

Abbey also wove some wonderfully nubby plain weave on her rigid heddle loom, displayed here among the summer flowers. 

Patty Johnson, who is a master of Swedish weaving, wove this lovely blue piece on her drawloom.

Patty also hosted a day of indigo dyeing at Color Crossing in Wisconsin. Mary Skoy took the opportunity to make a gift for a friend’s cabin.

Alla Hale spent the summer converting a shed in her backyard into her very own weaving studio. “My husband and I even dug a 50′ long 20″ deep trench to run electrical to the shed,” she says, “so that I can weave past sun-down.”

“I bought Jan Johnson‘s first loom from her, an 8-shaft Kessenich, to put in [the studio],” Alla reports. “I’m slowly gathering chairs, shelving, and other furnishings. I’m also considering what color to paint the interior. I am taking suggestions if people have opinions! I’ve been working on a rag rug that shows the elevation profile of Moose Mountain as my husband ran it during the Superior Ultra Marathon a few years back.” (Yes, that is the same Moose Mountain that inspired Holly. Minnesota is full of natural beauty!)

Judy Larson wove a set of towels 8/2 and 6/2 cotton, using a twill draft from Handwoven May/June 2021. “I even got one of my Swedish family visitors to weave a stripe!” she reports. “It was a great way to play with color combinations.”

Another summer project by Judy were these woven paraments. “I wanted to have the [Theo] Moorman graphics work with a monks-belt background,” Judy explains. “I figured out several ways it didn’t work before I was successful! The graphics are woven horizontally, so my monks-belt blocks actually go vertically. This was a project where being stubborn was both good and bad, but figuring it out was a great puzzle. Since I had added two shafts for the Moorman, the back also had a different look than usual monks-belt blocks.”

Lori Labs enjoyed weaving the “Viking Twill” towel pattern from Handwoven magazine as part of a Scandinavian Weavers group project. (See previous blog post). She wove these for her own home in beautiful shades of green and blue.

Fortunately, Lori’s dog Cash gave the towels his seal of approval!

Stay tuned for Part Two to see more summer weaving!