Knitted slippers

My godmother knitted many "slippers" such as these. When I was a child they were welcome presents during the cold season. I don´t know if she ever had a pattern for them - I think that she just knitted and created which ever size and shape she aimed for.  My mother had a similar approach when she knitted socks and mittens.

A couple of years ago I found an old pattern book that had a very similar pattern. I have made some minor alterations and is now pretty close to the "slippers" that my godmother knitted.

"Norwegian Pick-Up Bandweaving" by Heather Torgenrud

This is a very interesting book by Heather Torgenrud that was published in 2014. It is written in English and it is all about Norwegian bands.

Part 1 "History and Tradition" tells the story of how the bands were used in the 18th and 19th century in Norway.

Part 2 "Vesterheim Collection" is about twenty bands and their patterns, colours and materials. The bands were brought to America by Norwegian immigrants.

Part 3 "How to weave Pick-Up" has instructions on how to weave pick-up on simple, traditional band heddles.

Heather Torgenrud is born and raised in Montana and has been weaving bands for more than forty years. In this book she presents comprehensive and detailed information about pick-up woven bands in Norway from the late 1600s to today. She also offers clear instructions and more than 100 charts for weaving bands with the beautiful patterns found on old bands in museum collections.

Using the needle instead of a loom / Med nålen som vävstol

Vävsöm by Rita Sehlstedt

Today I visited a very nice exhibition at the Upplandsmuseet in Uppsala. It is all about an embroidery technique that looks as if it was woven, in Swedish it is called "vävsöm". I am not sure what the correct English name for this technique is, but checking the internet I think that "German Brick Stitch" could be it.

Vävsöm by Rita Sehlstedt

In Sweden this technique goes back to the Middle Ages, and it has had a revival in the last years after an exhibition in Kalmar. The Kalmar Hemslöjdsförening arranged workshops and courses and the interest for the technique gained momentum. They also sell embroidery kits that can be ordered via mail or telephone, see more information on their homepage.

Vävsöm by Rita Sehlstedt

All the items at the exhibition are made by Rita Sehlstedt and they are a true feast for the eye. The patterns are all based on old originals, most of them stunningly beautiful. 

Vävsöm by Rita Sehlstedt

In the old days this technique was a way of making beautiful things with limited means. The result looks woven but could be made with a simple needle, you did not need an expensive loom to make them. This technique was also very "portable" which meant that you could carry your work with you and use spare moments to work on them.

Vävsöm by Rita Sehlstedt

The exhibition is small (only one room) but truly inspiring and I recommend a visit. It has just opened and is open until April the 6th.

Poster for the exhibition

Uppsala is a very nice town well worth a visit. There is much to see and you will have no problem spending a day there.

Upplandsmuseet

Plain brown mittens in twined knitting

These are plain brown mittens in twined knitting. The yarn is spun at Wålstedts and the wool is from the breed Värmlandsfår. One of the reasons that I have no decoration on these mittens is that I intend to use them to practise wool embroidery later this year. I plan to take a 5 day course on "Påsöm", the traditional wool embroidery from Dala-Floda. The dark brown colour ought to make a good contrast to the embroidery.

I made a crook/hook stitch pattern at the beginning to avoid curling.

Plain white mittens in twined knitting

These are plain white mittens in twined knitting, featuring only a simple decoration along the thumb gore. Sometimes it is nice to go "back to basics" and knit simple things that do not require a lot of concentration - I have had such a period for quite a time now. 

The nice thing about knitting is that even if you choose simple projects the knitting is still very enjoyable.