My friend Nanne wrote about a book that looks interesting, Drakar og Åklevev, or Dragons and Tapestry. It turns out to be the story of two dedicated craftspeople who lived and practiced in Balestrand, Norway, in the early 1900s, Eli and Ivar Høyvik. Ivar was a talented woodcarver and Eli was a weaver. The cover of the book is gorgeous.
I am especially drawn to the rutevev pattern. I read more about the couple in this article, “Ny bok om kunsthandverkspionerar,” in the Ytre Sogn newspaper. That article showed a large rutevev weaving in a pattern I don’t remember seeing before.
I think the translation would be “emperor pattern.” That evening, when I reviewed my daily list of weavings posted on finn.no, a rutevev turned up in the same pattern! The colors are used in a different way, but it is definitely the same pattern/symbols.
The rutevev for sale is huge and only around $300. The yarn alone, if you were to buy it and make a similar weaving, would cost much, much more.