Weaving, Thick and Thin, and a Mangle

On my Stavanger field trip yesterday, I was struck by weavings both thick and thin.  My friend Ragnhild Wanthne, from the local weaving group at Svithun Husflidslag, brought me to a local rug manufacturer, Ledaal Teppeveveri, family-owned since 1949.  The thick rugs are woven with a signature weft of wool-wrapped hemp, on a sturdy linen warp.

This is a portion of the front window display.

They frequently weave long runners for churches they are preparing to weave one that will be more than 30 meters long. And the warp on this industrial loom? 400 meters long. 400!

The colors are beautiful, both the calm but richly-nuanced neutrals and the bold and bright ones.

The wool wrapping the core of the weft yarn is sometimes all one color, or of two closely-related or contrasting colors.  Stripy weft makes for cool edges.

Oh, and I could have purchased weft to make my own rug, but I don’t think it would fit so well in my suitcase.

After picking up wonderful shrimp sandwiches at a local bakery, we went to Ragnhild’s home for lunch.  It was beautiful and serene and neutral in tone.  I commented that she didn’t have so much color, nor many weavings.  She just can’t handle so much at home, she explained; textiles and color are more prominent at her hytte on the sea.

Ragnhild has a fan reed, like these, and has woven several ethereal, lovely linen hangings. In a window by her front door, a set of three, in different lengths, hang over a long, narrow window.  They slide at the top attachment, so that the pieces can be arranged in different configurations. The subtle patterning from the special reed is beautiful.

She has another single piece in her weaving studio. It works so well, she explained, because  the room is not completely open to the neighbors, yet it blocks little light.  It also has such a different look and feel depending on the time of day, and the sort of light, that passes through.

Another long piece hangs in the stairwell.

There is a mangle in her weaving room, obviously old, so I asked whether she still uses it.  Yes, she said, she mangles all her sheets and household linens.  Not so long ago she remodeled her hytte (cabin) and added a washing machine.  Oh good, she thought, now I don’t have to drag my linens back and forth.  But the first night she slept in her un-mangled sheets, she changed her mind.

Here, Ragnhild shows a Viking-inspired double weave piece, waiting for finishing touches before hanging in the entry. Many thanks to Ragnhild for a fun weaving outing.