Madison Knitters' Guild for April 2007

I just got the notice that my copy of this book has been mailed. I am so excited.



From Terri Shea's website:


Selbuvotter details the history of Selbu knitting, as reflected in the now-iconic black and white star patterned mittens of Norway. I offer thirty patterns for Selbu mittens and gloves, taken from two antique collections: The Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, and Annemor Sundbø, author of "Everyday Knitting" and "Setesdal Sweaters".
A rare occurrence in textile history, the Selbu knitting style can be traced to a single individual; in this case a teenage girl knitting up in the hills while watching the cows graze in summer. Selbu knitting was done for export within and from Norway. Many of the old knitters have passed away, but there are less than a dozen still knitting professionally in Selbu. The story is so interesting; not only in the folk culture traditions that surround the patterns but also in the remarkable business success these couple thousand women enjoyed. Every aspect of business today can be found in the story of Selbu knitting: the vision, production, standardization, outsourcing, branding, marketing, advertising, exporting, the changing tastes of the market, failure, and reemergence. And above it all, thousands of women and men, knitting during any spare moments.
And on top of that are the gorgeous patterns themselves. The Selbu mitten is a masterpiece, marrying the graphic design and structural design inseparably together; once the basic structure is understood, the knitter can create any kind of design imaginable, in any size or yarn. The popular 8 pointed star (selburose, or Selbu rose) can morph into snowflakes, flowers, stars; or use animal motifs or other designs.
8.25" x 10.625" - 128 pages - black and white - perfect bound (paperback)





This ties in with last night's Madison Knitters' Guild meeting. They presented a wonderful program on knitting in Estonia by Sandy De Master and Mary Germain. Sandy and Mary are avid color knitters and teach at Sievers on Washington Island every year. They knit fair isle type garments with a focus on Scandinavian and Baltic knitting. They did a seminar/tour of Estonia a couple of years ago and shared their trip (with slides!) with us last night. It was a delightful trip and had us all wishing we could have gone too. Except for the sleeping on foam mats part it sounded very exciting. Someday I too hope to do something like this trip. Our friend Mary M. did a Scandinavian Knitting tour a few years ago and she has always made it sound truly inspiring...


Also one of the vendors, The Yarn House (940 Elm Grove Rd., Elm Grove, WI 53122; 262 786-5660) had the cutest little sock yarn monkey knit up, and I am told the pattern will be posted in their next newsletter!
Here is a picture of my newest project-a cushion cover done in intarsia. My first try at knitting with little bobbins of yarn, ever! The diamonds are in three colors and the back will be stripes of the colors. Dark purple, mauve, lighter blue and then the smooth blue to hold it all together. I am interested to see how the yarn lays after some blocking. It isn't as smooth as I would like so far but I always have faith in blocking!
Oh, and Frederick is modeling with the knitting.
Handsome fellow, I think.

My mom said that my sister Ann's surgery-scheduled for Tuesday next week-will involve injecting some kind of tracking dye and then scanning her tissue to find out if there is any lymph node involvement in cancer cells and that will determine how radical the surgery will have to be. My other sister Jeanne and my mother will go up to Green Bay for the surgery. And we will just stand by and pray here. I am pretty stressed by this-can't stand to think that it might now be the best possible outcome. Keep thinking the good thoughts and sending up the prayers, OK?
Lynda
Exit, pursued by a bear.
-- William Shakespeare, Stage direction in "The Winter's Tale"