Norway via Iowa

26 Thursday Jul 2012

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Water Street, Decorah, IA.

Decorah, Iowa, has been on my Must See list for quite some time. Located in the hilly northeast corner of Iowa, Decorah is home to the Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum. This extraordinary museum has over 24,000 artifacts in its collections, making it “the most comprehensive museum in the United States dedicated to a single immigrant group.” (Vesterheim)

For me, there is something so special about the moment I first step into a museum collections facility. The storage areas typically have a deep silence, are a bit dark, and are brimming with stories I have yet to learn. Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator at Vesterheim, gave me a wonderful introduction to the knitted pieces in the textile collection and allowed me to spend time looking over the artifacts at my own pace. I’ll share two of my favourites:

1978.027.001. Fana Sweater: Purchased in Norway in 1951. Image used by permission: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa.

1978,027.001. Inside of the Fana Sweater. Image used by permission: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa.

Often, the most important information we can gather from a knitted artifact is on the inside, or what a knitter would call the wrong side. This Fana Sweater (a style of sweater that is identified with Fana, Norway) has sleeves that are knit from the shoulder down. The longer stranded floats of yarn from the two-color knitted pattern are woven in, and the buttonholes have been carefully sewn by hand.

1980.003.027: Indigo gloves with embroidery. Image used by permission: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa.

This glove and glove fragment were very densely knit in wool and then fulled, before being embroidered. The pattern is a beautiful rosemal design. While at the museum, I was also able to see some of the trunks that the immigrants brought from Norway, many of which are also painted in a rosemal design. The Vesterheim has some of the trunks featured in its online collection database. If only there were a few more hours in a day so I could learn more about embroidery, too! Alas.

The main museum also has a nice textile display and spinning wheels in nearly every room. The Fladager Library at the museum has an amazing collection of out of print knitting and weaving books in both English and Norwegian. Definately worth a trip!

Want to learn more?

In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants. Edited and Translated by Solveig Zempel

Norwegian American Women: Migration, Communities, and Identities. Edited by Betty A. Bergland and Lori Ann Lahlum.

Sheep + Heat = Unhappiness.

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Gerald is not happy.

As Indiana makes its way through another week of excessive heat warnings, my sheep are beginning to wilt. We didn’t have a drop of rain at the farm for most of May and June and the pastures have been dry and unproductive.

The sheep were not happy with the situation, but tried their best to remain positive by learning new tricks—unlatching gates, knocking all five hanging grain feeders off the fence twice a day, etc. Clever Jane (see final picture) was involved in all this tomfoolery, no doubt.

Mutiny being hatched around the watercooler.

Now that we have had some rain, heat in the upper nineties has promised a very humid week. This morning, I moved the sheep to a new pasture with a large, shady tree near the woods. As the sun sets in the afternoon, deep shade from the woods moves towards the pasture to offer our wooly friends some respite.

A lovely old Ash to investigate.

But, they are still not pleased, as you can see.

Sue is simply sad.

Jane peering suspiciously out of the corner of her eye.

Balance.

26 Tuesday Jun 2012

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I love travel—to be out in the world, brushing up against new places and new ideas. My latest adventure was to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival north of Chicago last weekend. I had a great time catching up with very dear friends, like John Mullarkey, and meeting new folks on the fiber trail, like Franklin Habit. If you have not visited Franklin’s blog, The Panopticon, I suggest you do! I stumbled upon it early in my blog-reading days and still love it. And the name—how clever and sly. What is a panopticon? Franklin explains it here. As a sociology student in England, I was blown away by Michel Foucault’s use of the panopticon as a sociological metaphor. Heavy stuff. However, Franklin’s book It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons is great fun and not nearly so dreary as Foucault!

And then I return to my studio and the sheep and the farm. I was able to spend this day balancing the weekend’s excitement with a quiet day of work. A day like this always makes me think of a quote from Sylvia Plath: “We stayed at home to write, to consolidate our outstretched selves.” This is what my consolidation process looked like today:

My happy place: Jensen Tina II and a good book.

I love to read while I spin. It finally occured to me to use my painting easle to hold a book—its perfect! Today’s book selection: Everyday knitting: Treasures from a Ragpile by Annemor Sundbø. This is my second time reading this book cover to cover—one of my favs.

Wherein Tess of the d’Urbervilles meets Jane Austen.

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Check this out!, Sheep

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Photo by Christa Tippmann

I often name my sheep after characters in the books I am reading at the time they are born—Gudrun and Gerald from Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence, Jude and Sue from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, and Marcel is named after Monsieur Proust, of course! As a huge Thomas Hardy fan, I also have a Tess.

I recently had an article published in the new issue of Jane Austen Knits (Interweave Press Summer 2012) about Leicester sheep during the Regency period, and I included a picture of Tess!

Tess is one of my most beautiful ewes with strong Border Leicester characteristics. She has a pronounced “roman nose”, or bow-shaped head, typical of both Border and Bluefaced Leicesters. She has a curly, lustrous fleece and a sturdy stance.

Tess at 2 months old.

Unlike Hardy’s heroine, my Tess is convinced she is not only the master of her own fate, but everyone else’s as well. She guards the other sheep in her group and does her best to lead them to the greenest pastures.

Tess at 9 months old. Yes, she is actually sticking her tongue out at me!

Tess in January 2012. Haughty as ever.

Jane Austen wrote a letter to her sister, Cassandra, in 1798 that included news of their father’s flock. “. . . I am likewise to tell you that one of his Leicestershire sheep, sold to the butcher last week, weighed 27 lb. and 1/4 per quarter.” Sheep carrying the Leicester name in Jane’s day were undergoing changes that would influence the as yet uncharted field of genetics for generations. A Leicestershire farmer named Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) began improving the sheep on his farm in the English Midlands. Bakewell developed a new breed, which he called the Dishley Leicester or New Leicester, through his own system of selection, now called Line Breeding. Bakewell would eventually become one of the most noteworthy figures in the history of animal husbandry.

I just love learning about the long and circuitous history of the sheep that graze outside my windows as I write. I can imagine Jane Austen looking up occasionally from her work to see her father’s flock grazing on the grounds of their home at Steventon Rectory.

Photo by Christa Tippmann

I designed Mrs. Smith’s Tea Cozy to accompany my article, “Leicester Sheep in Jane Austen’s England.” Using my own handspun Border Leicester for the pattern was very exciting! Both shades are natural color. The white wool is actually from Tess, because it was just more fun that way! I based the pattern on Regency era pinballs, or pincushions. You can see some great examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection here and here.

Handspun Estonian Lace

31 Thursday May 2012

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Well, it is finally finished! Two years ago, I purchased a beautiful bag of Border Leicester/Cormo crossbred locks from Denise Curtis at Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. Denise told me that this intriguing fleece came from a ram named Billy.

Washed locks from left: Border Leicester lamb (about 7″ long), Cormo, and Billy the Border Leicester/Cormo cross (about 3.5″ long.)

Crossing different breeds of sheep, a luster longwool like Border Leicester and a fine wool like Cormo in this case, can produce a huge variety of fleece types. Many of the crossbred lambs will look like one parent or the other, while others are somewhere in between. Billy seems to offer the best qualities of both of his parents. The locks are lustrous and silky, yet fairly fine and crimpy thanks to the Cormo.

Handspun Estonian Lace—Queen Silvia Pattern from Knitted Lace of Estonia.

I started by spinning samples on my Jensen Tina II and decided to comb and spin each lock into a worsted lace weight yarn. The gauge I settled on is a bit heavier than Estonian lace patterns typically use. My goal was for yarn to keep the crimp and loft that I loved so much in the lock. Some of my favourite yarns are those that are both durable and stable, yet keep the character of the unspun fiber. While this is a fairly bouncy, elastic wool, the air could be easily squeezed out of the yarn if spinning for a fine, smooth, crisp lace weight yarn. A smooth yarn would work well, too, but it was not what I wanted for this project.

By the time I was ready to start knitting, I had made plans to join a tour of Estonia with Nancy Bush. The Queen Silvia is my favourite Estonian lace pattern and I began this project as I dreamed of all the lovely lace and mittens I would see on my trip. (Oh, the mittens! Story for another day.) I grabbed my trusty copy of Knitted Lace of Estonia (Nancy Bush, Interweave Press) and I was on my way. The only modification I made was to repeat the center chart only twice to make a smaller shawl. It was a fun project to knit and for another eighteen months, it was my indulgence knitting. You know, the kind of project you only work on when you really should be doing something else!

Finally Finished and I love it!

Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival starts tomorrow—I see a new bag of beautiful locks in my future!

Yarnbomb the Indiana State Museum!

15 Tuesday May 2012

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The Indiana State Museum is going to be yarnbombed! Swift is participating in the creation of ephemeral fiber objects that will be scattered through the museum. Here is a preview of what I have planned:

Does Kate even own US 13 knitting needles?!

The Indianapolis Crochet Guild also has some great pieces planned—I can’t wait to see what everyone has contributed. The objects will be installed just in time for Memorial Day Weekend and will be on exhibit through June 30, 2012. Go check it out!

Did you know that June 9th is International Yarnbombing Day? So look around your neighborhood—you never know where stealthy knitters might turn up!

John C. Campbell Folk School

04 Friday May 2012

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A view from my morning walk.

John C. Campbell Folk School has been on my To Do list for ages. Have you heard the stories, too? Life-changing weaving workshops, watercolor classes in the misty mountain mornings, new friends made during the fragrant, wooded walk to dinner.

I had the good fortune to be Judith MacKenzie’s assistant last week at the Folk School for her Spinning Recycled Materials workshop. We all had a blast! Everyone in the workshop did a great job and created an impressive range of yarns—from fine recycled cashmere yarns frosted with kid mohair to handpainted paper yarns.

Yummy kid mohair from Texas.  

The spinning workshop was located in the ground floor of this beautiful building looking out over the mountains.

You can see the studio windows beneath the porch in this photo. It is a beautiful, open room—it also happens to be stocked with spinning wheels, combs, cards, dyepots, and anything else you might need!

View from my stay at The Farmhouse.

Meet Nora

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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I didn’t realize that Marcel would become quite so popular when I posted this picture of him as a lamb! One of my favourite things about keeping sheep is watching them grow and change. Each sheep has its own distinctive features- like an arched nose, a wide forehead, or perky ears, that are often passed from one generation to the next. I started my flock of Border Leicesters about four years ago with five pregnant ewes. When I look over my flock of twenty-five now, I still see the familiar characteristics of the original matriarchs repeated over and over again.

Nora was one of my first lambs. She was a very shy little lamb. In this picture she is about a week old.

Here she is a few weeks ago, now five years old. She is still very shy, but did grow into her ears!

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