I was back in Fredrikstad last weekend for the second Strikkefestivalen/Knitting Festival located in Fredrikstad Old Town – the oldest fortified town in Norway (founded in 1567) and in the Nordic countries, and one of the best-preserved fortress towns in Northern Europe (see more photos from last year here). Michael was with me – which means I have some good photos to share from the event. We were booked into the Hotel Victoria on the opposite side of the river Glomma from the Old Town. That was not a problem at all, since there is a free ferry across the river. Yes, there are only 2 free ferries in all of Norway and they are both in Fredrikstad. It did not take many minutes before I had spotted the first knitter staying at our hotel. Above is a photo taken Sunday morning, as I walked towards the workshop building just off the ferry.Most of the workshops were held in the Commandor’s building, dated 1768. On Saturday afternoon I taught Smart Knitting Techniques and on Sunday morning I taught Cable Knitting Master Class, both in Norwegian. I met several knitters I knew from previous workshops and presentations as well as other Norwegian designers, agents and shop owners I knew. Rarely have I had such posh surroundings for a workshop nor the amount of space. Coffee and tea were on offer from the kitchen, and I did find the kitchen but I found the wrong one, it was the bigger one they used. So you get the picture. See below the room where I held my workshops. Annemor Sundbø had a workshop before me, and we found wool tops left over from her class.

Here is the room where I held my workshop with a lovely view of the river. Michael is my “roadie” as well as photographer when he joins me at these festivals. I met two lovely groups of knitters in my workshops and spent a weekend in their company. We did not finish all the tasks I had given them in the new Cable Knitting Master Class so the remaining tasks were given as their homework.

On Saturday afternoon before my workshop I met up with designers Tove Fevang and Nina Granlund Sæther – who I tend to meet at International airports, these days; as we met at Preveza Airport in Greece a few weeks back. I also met Annemor Sundbø again as well as finally meeting the founder of Koftegruppa on Facebook (the group has nearly 100 000 members celebrating traditional stranded colourwork sweater knitting) Tone Loeng, who I have only met and worked with through Facebook and e-mails. Above is a photo of one of the exhibitions; strømper/knee highs from Annemor Sundbø’s collection (initially bought by the shoddy factory for recycling).

In the center in the photo above is Mette Hovden one half of the design duo called Pinnedans/Needle-dance, next to Tone Loeng at the Norwegian Designer Stand. We also met at the Strikkefest/Knitting Party the evening before. I am wearing Helka (read: I did wear another design on the Saturday – Yellow Gold Pullover) with the Saqqara shawl. The market hall was jam packed all Saturday, so we gave up trying to have a look and came back on the Sunday, when it was possible to see the stands and the yarn, patterns, buttons and jewellery on offer.

Here is another stand, a local yarn shop called Garnhuset and a great photo showing some action as well as sweater on display.

I also wanted to take a photo of all the beautiful colours in Cascade Heritage on display with Wollmeise yarn in the background from the Projo stand. We discovered two more knitters who stayed at our hotel at the Strikkefest/Knitting Party, who we sat next to. The party was in the same room where the market hall was last year, inside the fortified wall, previously the Provianthus/Provision House. Above you see me wearing my Adoe design, knitting on a new design. As you can see from the photo, it was easy to count the ones that did not knit. One of the organisers, Marit Larsen is a member of the acknowledged choir called KorLuren who sang after our dinner. She is also the founder of the tour operator Explore Travel and used to organising events such as this. The program included a knitting cruise as well as a knitting church service in addition to the exhibitions, talks and workshops on offer. I had a wonderful weekend! Thank you to the organisers, designers, and all the knitters I met!