“My mission is to let people know about Swedish knitting, “ says Wendy J. Johnson, knitting designer and instructor. Her patterns and classes at Ingebretsen’s have drawn attention to Lovikka, Sweden, population 61 and home to the world’s largest mitten (12 feet tall). Here, in 1892, Erika Aittamaa first created he signature mittens. Erika may… More Wendy J. Johnson: Celebrating Swedish Knitting Traditions
The Atlantic had a great article about the star that has become a symbol of Norway. Today the selburose is an emblem of winter, and Christmas, and most of all Norway. But Norwegians didn’t invent it so much as they popularized the pattern. Precursors arose in the ancient Fertile Crescent and evolved over centuries throughout… More Star of Norwegian Knitting
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