Visual language is powerful and few images proclaim “Norwegian heritage!” more clearly than a Selbu Rose design on a mitten or sweater. That’s a Selbu Rose, not a star. “It’s an 8-petaled flower,” says Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa. “The Selbu version is now the best known, but the… More The Selbu Rose and Uncle Arne’s Very Warm Mittens
Latvian Mittens Inara Porietis relates her Latvian mother’s refrain during her last few years of life, which was said only partially tongue-in-cheek: “I can’t die yet. I don’t have enough mittens knitted!” The “enough mittens” refers to the tradition of giving Latvian mittens to the people involved in the funeral ceremony, including the pallbearers and… More The Knitted Treasures of Latvia
It’s 2010, and Laura Ricketts is at a knitting conference at Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum. She’s looking at a display of national costumes, absorbed by the “beautiful, clear blues” of the Sámi pieces, when a question pops into her head: “Where is their knitting?” Why hasn’t she heard of it or seen it, like Swedish… More Laura Ricketts Brings Sámi Knitting to Light