(no subject)

[violsva]

The coverlet ... is about 50" wide and 67" long and displays a high level of competence in both design and weaving technique. It was woven by Kiersti Halvorsdatter Rø (1794 or 1795-1874). According to [Torbjørg] Gauslaa, people in the area remembered stories about Kiersti, a talented woman, good with her hands, who never married and was a prolific weaver. When she was twenty years old she fell from a barn loft and injured her hip, and for the rest of her life she needed help to get around. She had a difficult life, but her weaving shows that she found interest and satisfaction in her craft.

Six of the bands in the coverlet have woven-in text. The letters and numbers are elegantly designed. Two text bands near the top contain what Gauslaa refers to as a skjemterim (jesting rhyme). It isn’t clear who the message was for, but it shows that Kiersti had a sense of humor. “GJØR MIG EN MAGE OG SKIK M MIG DEN TIL BAGE DIN SKARV” (Make me a match and send it back to me you rascal) and “DETTE STYKKE ER JORT I MIT 55 AAR DEN FØRSTE NOVEMBER 1849 KIERSTI HALVORSDATTER RØ I VINGELEN” (This piece is done in my 55th year the first of November 1849 Kiersti Halvorsdatter Rø in Vingelen).

-- Norwegian Pick-up Bandweaving, Heather Torgenrud. The coverlet is in the Norsk Folkemuseum.