Hey, I just figured out how to have bigger pictures so you don't have to click a thumbnail. I am calling this learning curve Blog Everest.
I mentioned a couple posts back that I went to the
John C. Campbell Folk Shool at the end of March to teach during the annual Scandinavian Week. Sandra David who has taken both of my classes I offered there, sent me these great photos. I hope you'll enjoy them and get even a small idea of the variety of classes available at the school. The sense of community isn't as easy to convey but it's there and it's wonderful. And it's especially magical in the spring, while Maryland is still cold and grey. This is the building where I taught. The top floor houses some of the students.
The porch is a favorite hangout. Down the hill a little is a handmade porch swing under an arbor. So peaceful!
My class was called a Nordic Tour of Mittens. Basically, my students knitted classic Norwegian mittens, Swedish Twined (Two-end) mittens, and Latvian mittens in five days. OK, so Latvia isn't actually Nordic, but close enough for horseshoes...it's just across the water and down a bit.
Here are some of the Latvian mittens in my collection. The ones that seem to be the same pattern are my design--the sampler for class in a couple different weights.
I also brought along some mittens and gloves from Estonia so my students could see them.
And bless the Norwegian cooking class (which was right next door to our classroom). They invited us one day to have dessert with them. WOW!
At the end of the week, there is an evening show of all the students' work. How satisfying to see what others have been working at so diligently while we were knitting! But first here is some of the work my students did. They worked so hard and did a really wonderful job. You can see all three types of mittens in this picture.
Now on to the rest of the school! There was a clay class with a theme of leaves:
Basketry, focusing on Scandinavian Birch Baskets:
Paper cutting (At a demo, we were told Hans Christian Andersen used to cut pictures related to whatever story he was telling at the time!):
Metal work (tinsmithing):
Woodworking, creating Norwegian-style bentwood boxes called
tine.
Painting, using traditional
rosmaling designs:
Rosmaling fascinates me because I see a connection between the painted motifs and the embroidered ones used today on the Norwegian Setesdal
Lusekofter. This sharing of ideas, motifs, colors, what-have-you, across different mediums (wood, fiber, paint, etc.) is pretty exciting and inspirational.
The following photo isn't an outstanding example of some of the fabulous embriodery seen on
Lusekofter, but it may give you an idea. This photo shows a store-bought hand-embroidered neck piece. This is so that when you are too exhausted to finish the hand-knit sweater, because it took so long to knit, you can take a short cut and use this ready-made piece to sew in. Sounds oxymoron-ish to me, but hey, *I* bought one.
