Scandinavian Weavers Study Group

Blog

  • A Traditional Gathering

    For the third year in a row, Lila Nelson hosted our Scandinavian Weavers Study Group December meeting in her home, our annual holiday gathering.  It would be hard to find a more festive setting.  As Lila’s friends, I know we look at her beautiful collections of objects and textiles and know just what they mean.  They are indicators of a passionate interest and involvement in textiles and art and they are gifts from well-loved friends.

    We talked and ate.  (Thanks, Jan, for the kringle!)  And even though Lila would never say, “Come and see what I am weaving now,” the group managed to find its way back to the studio to admire the latest tapestry on the loom, one with flowers.  Perhaps Lila needed to concentrate on a more pastoral image after finishing a recent tapestry listing the names of American-run prisons around the world.  “Guantanamo isn’t the only one,” Lila said.  It’s a powerful image.

    Carol Colburn came from Iowa, tempting us all to sign up for her course in Norway this summer, “Refashioning Vadmel: A Weaving and Design Workshop in Telemark, Norway.”  We admired two garments made in previous workshops, the lovely drape of the fulled wool, and the construction of the garments with individually silk-lined pieces.

  • Summery Images in Boundweave

    Spring will come.  As a reminder, two weavings in the show use a boundweave pattern to create summertime images.  In “Pastures by the Cemetery,”  Nancy Ellison formed rows of pastors, farmers, the farmer’s wife, sheep, fences, and crosses from the cemetery.   Jan Mostrom wove the flowers in “Garden Path.”

  • Sarah Williams’ Rosepath Rug

    The worship area of the Unitarian Society has huge windows opening onto a snowy city landscape.  Sarah Williams beautiful rosepath rag rug is the first piece you see when you walk through the rear doors into the narthex area.   The impressive scale and warm autumn colors of the rug create a wonderful first impression of the show.

  • Timeless Tradition

    The Timeless Tradition show up at the Unitarian Society looks great.  The textiles look wonderful against the brick walls.  I stopped in to take photos on the first Sunday after the show was hung; several people were around following the morning service.  They were so appreciative!  A man said to me, “I suppose you’re going to try to do that now!” – a friendly comment meant to convey how it would be amazing  that anyone could create such pieces.  “Oh, I have,”  I replied, “A couple of my pieces are here.”  Other people came up to me and thanked me.  Most pieces line two brick walls of the narthex area.  Nancy Ellingson’s “Three Billy Goats Gruff” is at the far end, hanging over the guest book on a podium.  Much of the wool in the piece is from Nancy’s own sheep, including the unspun wool of the charming sheep’s bodies.  (More photos of Nancy’s farm and sheep can be found here.)

  • A Great Place to See Scandinavian Woven Pieces

    If you can’t get to Norway to view or purchase beautiful woven textiles, you have an equal opportunity this month in Minneapolis.   The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group, part of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, is displaying a selection of woven textiles through Christmas in the gallery of the Unitarian Society of Minneapolis.

    The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group has been meeting for more than twenty years, providing a consistent forum for the study of traditional Scandinavian weaving techniques.  The members weave traditional patterns and also use the weaving techniques and pattern elements for modern expression.  The group studies a particular technique each year, most recently concentrating on boundweave techniques, in which the warp threads are covered, or bound, by the weft.  Many of the pieces in this show are woven in krokbragd, a three-shaft technique that yields pieces with an immense range of points, squares, and linear elements.

    Most pieces in the current show are woven with wool, primarily Norwegian yarns. They hold the connotations of  traditional textiles – warmth, the multi-generational appeal of folk patterns, and ethnic identity.  On the other hand, the weavers’ personal design and color choices, and high craftsmanship, result in abstract art pieces.

    Maybe you can’t get away to a “hytte,” a Norwegian cabin, this Christmas.  But you can admire many weavings that would be perfectly at home in that setting, as well as in our contemporary Minnesota homes.

    Timeless Tradition: Selected Weavings

    November 28-December 26, 2010
    First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis
    900 Mount Curve Ave
    Minneapolis, MN 55403

    Hours:  9am – 3pm, M-F
    (The office entrance is to the right of
    the main entrance doors.)
    Sunday: 9 am – 1:30 pm
    For other times, call: 612-377-6608

    Download a flyer for the exhibit.

  • Gradation in Color in the Stripe

    Jan Mostrom brought in a piece that had lovely color gradations in long stripes.  From a distance, the color shifts look like a painterly progression.  Close up, you can see the alternating yarn colors.

  • Cottolin Makes a Satisfying Background for Monksbelt

    This is a monksbelt piece woven by Jan Mostrom woven entirely in cottolin – warp, background weft, and pattern weft.  The sett is 24 epi.  Jan suggested that for someone completely new to the technique, using cottolin can be satisfying.  “It’s more fogiving than linen,” she noted.  With the cottolin warp and weft you could also use prydvev yarn (a thinnish Norwegian wool yarn) for the pattern.

  • Monksbelt examples – The Good and the Bad

    Syvilla Bolson brought along some monksbelt samples; it’s so instructional to see swatches.  The first was an example of what had NOT worked well when she was sampling.  The pink and white linen floats in the pattern weave of the first piece were a bit too long, proportionately.  The look a bit draggy and limp.  On the other hand, the very precise, short floats on the all-wool blue piece were perfect in proportion.  The fine wool was lovely; Syvilla thought it might have been Maypole yarn.  The unexpected color combination is also lovely, a deep rose tone with a slight heathery cast on blue.