Knitch Magazine

Elsebeth Lavold is of Norwegian and Danish descent and lives in Sweden. Already a knitwear designer, she began to adapt Viking and Iron Age interlaced motifs into her knitting after she illustrated a book on archaeological sites near Stockholm. The result is exceptional design based on ornament analysis and a thousand years of cultural history. Translating these symbolic motifs into knitting took more than just charting out the intertwined designs. These intricate knots, twines and cables start, stop and change direction within the pattern. Elsebeth’s innovative method for making symmetrical increases and decreases made it possible to replicate these complex motifs in knitting. Viking Patterns for Knitting, first published in 1998, has been translated into five languages and continues to inspire knitters to this day.

The travelling exhibit displays Elsebeth’s knitwear alongside the sources of inspiration for the designs. More than 50 knit items are paired with photographs and sketches of archaeological finds from all over the Viking world plus eight replicas of symbolic runes and picture stones. These ancient art forms have a symmetry and beauty that continues to appeal to our 21^st century ideals. Each hat, pair of gauntleted gloves, pullover, cardigan, cape, cushion, and even the afghan constructed of test swatches is a tour de force.

Photographs cannot do justice to the complicated raised motifs. The cables twist, turn and change direction on the knitted surface, tricking the eye into seeing a lively surface dance. Knitters know that sticking in a cable in the middle of a row of knitting can create a bulging or sagging in the fabric. Elsebeth solved this technical problem, clearing the way to knit these deeply symbolic motifs. Given the symbolic nature of the Viking and Celtic emblems, knitting these forms can be deeply meditative. Start with a hat, mittens or cushion and transport yourself back to the age of the Vikings.

Located amidst oceans of corn and towering bluffs near the intersection of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, Decorah is a picture perfect Midwestern town. It is the home to Vesterheim, the Norwegian-American Museum and Luther College. You’ll also find excellent restaurants, a newly restored hotel, and a great yarn shop where you can find books and yarn for Viking knitting. The collection of Norwegian artifacts at Vesterheim demonstrates the significant contribution made by Norwegians to the decorative arts. You can see examples of knitting, weaving, embroidery, rosemaling, and carving. As you walk through the carefully recreated immigrant home furnished with examples of textiles and rosemaled trunks, you’ll appreciate the aesthetic sensibility held by these descendants of the Vikings. Stay a little longer to enroll in one of the ethnic folk classes. Add this town to your “must see” fiber arts locations; it easily scores top billing. I rate the trip #10.