Episode 22 Norwegian Knitting Book Reviews and A Finished Norwegian Cap

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Norwegian Patterns for Knitting
Classic Sweaters, Hats, Vests, and Mittens by Mette Handberg
Trafalger Press 2010  $24.95

Purpose:  To reawaken interest in Norwegian knittting and push the boundaries of these traditional designs.
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in colorwork and traditional Nordic knitting.
Favorites patterns in this book:  Wilderness (p 38), Women's Long Jacket (p 69), Man's Jacket (p 72)

Norwegian Handknits:  Heirloom Designs from Vesterheim Museum
Sue Flanders and Janine Kosel
Voyageur Press, 2009

Purpose:  Make the historical pieces in the Vesterheim Museum available for knitters today.
One of my best knitting purchases in the past 10 20 years.  Beautiful layout with bits about Norwegian culture and the immigrant experience in the U.S.  A whopping 34 patterns with large charts and plenty of white space on the page so not to make me crazy.  Many new and interesting techniques explained clearly.  Charming vintage photos from late 19th century to early 20th century of Norwegian people both in Norway and in the U.S.

Ruth's Cap.  Pompom, tassel, or leave as it is?

I knitted Ruth's Cap and found an error.  The sample cap shows a picot edge on the hem but the pattern will produce a straight purled edge.  Beware because the instructions for Ruth's Blanket will produce the same effect.  The pattern instructions should produce the sample.  Hopefully this type of error will be corrected in future printings.  And yes, I have notified the publisher.  Erratta are here but this is not yet listed.  The publisher wrote that corrections are being made to the second edition.

Our Honeymoon Backpacking Trip

After camping through Norway (mostly in the rain) we were happy to arrive in Kjelbotn to cousin Elisabeth and her husband Magnus. 

Elisabeth Ingebritsen (cousin to my MIL), Paula, and Bob.  Our honeymoon is the only time Bob has had a beard.  Although it was late June, the weather was chilly so Elisabeth loaned me one of her handknit sweaters.  This photo was taken about 10:00 PM.  We were way above the Arctic Circle so it never got dark while we were there.  They didn't sleep much either.

Voss, Norway.  June 1975

Looking grave in the Ursin family graveyard at Lille Grosnaes, north or Tromsoe in northern Norway.

Elisabeth and sheep.

Leaving Elisabeth and Magnus at the train station in Narvik.  On our way to northern Sweden!  One more month of traveling to go before we travel home to the U.S.

See that little red dot way up high on the map where it says "Hammerfest"?  Below that is Tromso.  We were just north of Tromso.  From Trondheim on up the traveling was pretty slow because the train ended in Bodo (not shown) so we had to travel by bus and ferry.