Wednesday, August 5, 2009

viking summer, part 4: craft

this year, i sold every piece of childrens linen clothing i had brought. i sold wristwarmers made in the needle binding technique, using plant dyed yarn. i sold every bottle of homemade elderflower syrup i had made, and the first day i even persuaded my kids to walk around the marketplace and sell pre made elderflower lemonade in small glasses. it was a hit. i also sold several of my felted pouches. new this year was hand stitched, embroidered linen napkins like the ones you see in the above pictures. the motives are bronze age rock carvings, embroidered with plant dyed linen thread.
my friend, the bone carver
from around the market:
we both came home with one of these each.
salt smoked with juniper.
leather work

needle binding - hats, wristwarmers, socks. needle binding was the technique used before knitting and crochet was invented. even though i would say it's almost impossible to learn without having anoyone to show you, randi - a norwegian woman living in the u.s. - proved me wrong. she visited gudvangen last summer, was intrigued by the technique, and when she came back this year she told us that she had tought herself from various tutorials on the internet. i'm impressed!

11 comments:

kristina - no penny for them said...

sounds like you made lots and lots of beautiful things, wow! i really like the hats and wristwarmers...

Terri said...

Fascinating! I love the modern use of iron-age techniques. I will have to look into the needle binding technique - it looks interesting!

Francesca said...

So glad you're showing us some of your own work (well done with the sales!), and some other crafts on sale at your event: all very interesting and beautiful.

Ana Cristina Abreu said...

wow
everything is so beautiful!!

Anonymous said...

I am seriously in awe of you and your work! Just gorgeous! And so inspiring...I think I will have to look into heritage crafting myself!

Elizabeth said...

You don't know how wonderful all of this looks to someone who lives on the other side of the world, seemingly!

Helene said...

Hvordan gikk det med nålbindingstommelhullene, forresten?

therese said...

helene: coming up! :)

Palmer and Co said...

I'm so glad you had a successful trip!! Love the napkins!

saga said...

Jepp, det var sånn jeg også lærte nålebinding. Gjennom internett. :-)
Kjøpte først husflidens lille hefte om nålebinding, men det er kun laget for å ikke føre denne gamle teknikken videre. At de får lov til å selge ett så dårlig produkt er helt utrolig. Ellers må eg si at det er en fryyyd å være innom bloggen din. Ha en kjempeflott dag. :-)
Saga.

Kaffeslabberas said...

Nydelige broderier!
Var på Gudvangen i år, men fant ikke igjen saltmannen..! Har snart brukt opp saltet fra i fjor! :)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin