I have been back to the Strikkefestivalen/Knitting Festival in Fredrikstad, one hour south of Oslo, last Friday (13th of September to 15th) with lovely weather as you can see in these photos. Continue reading
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Strikkefestivalen/Knitting Festival in Fredrikstad 2017
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!
Strikkefestivalen in Fredrikstad
For the first time there was a Strikkefestival in Fredrikstad. Of course the organizers – or knitting motors as they called themselves – Marit Larsen, Bente Vold Klausen and Torill Stokkan, choose the old town by the river Glomma as the location. Fredrikstad Old Town is actually 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. Above is the Provianthus/Provision house, and downstairs in the vaults the market hall for the knitting festival. You can spot the knitter in the photo above.
The entrance to the market hall was down these steps and they were rarely as empty as this. The festival opened on Thursday and lasted until the Saturday. On the first day there was a majority of retired knitters, while the age of the knitters seemed to decrease by decades for each day.
This is downstairs in the busy market hall on the Saturday. At times several of us visitors preferred to walk around the old town or visit one of the many nearby coffee shops with our knitting in hand. I was lucky to meet several knitters who knew me by name only and happy to share my table at lunch. As all knitters we do have plenty to talk about.
Here is the Norwegian designers stall from left: Mette Hovden – one half of the design duo Pinnedans – Helles Siggerud, Nina Granlund Sæther and Ellen Andresen. Not present in the photo is Denise Samson, but you can see her two books: Hekta på Fletter and Poncho displayed on the table.
There were 21 stands in the market hall separated into two vaults next to each other. On offer in addition to hand knit designers, where yarn shops, the magazines Familien and Hjemmet both published by Egmont, the button shop Perlehuset – run by Aneta Kvist, Thomas’ mother – jewelry designers, machine knit designers, one travel agent and textiles.
Here is a blurry photo of designer Marte Helgetun, who I met for the first time and Mondial agent Thomas Kvist (former yarn producer, now super agent) both at the Flamingo Garn og Hobby stall. Make no mistake this is one of my photos – together with the first, third and eight from the top – the remaining sharp and brilliant photos are all taken by Geir Arnesen. He is married to designer and author Tove Fevang – who usually take part in all the Norwegian knitting festivals – hence he is omnipresent too.
I was promoting the yarn kits made by Hillesvåg Ullvarefabrikk with my designs and spoke to shop owners, other designers I met and knitters. This time I held no workshop and was free to make up my program. I was delighted to stay with Makeløs/Remarkable designer Kristin Elise Halkjelsvik again – in charge of the Makeløs Festaften/Party evening – and to be on the guest list for the party. Her husband was the designated driver, taking runs to the market hall first me, then jewelry designer Siri Berrefjord and then to the party venue all of Saturday afternoon. Thank you, Espen! On offer were also a few exhibitions including a competition organized together with the Fredrikstad Town 450 Years Jubilee to make a Fredrikstad Pullover 2017. The winner was announced at the Makeløs Festaften, which I will write a separate post about. You can find photos and the pattern in Norwegian here: Fredrikstadgenseren 2017
Here is one of the lovely views to be found walking around the ramparts. I was stopped a couple of times by local residents wondering what was going on, and why there were so many women around? I was happy to tell the uninitiated that there was a knitting festival on, and that the old town was invaded by knitters. One of the coffee shop owners were amazed and had never had this kind of turnover before. We were all wished welcome back with out knitting next year.
Above you see Tove Fevang teaching a workshop called: Perfekt avslutning på strikketøyet/Perfect finishing of your knitting. The first of two on the same day, due to popular demand. There were a total of 29 workshops to choose from and 11 lectures were held in a selection of historic buildings.
I was thrilled to be able to attend talks for once without having any workshops that made it impossible nor being too tired. On top of my list of preferences was Annemor Sundbø – the Norwegian knitting legend – with her talk: Strikkekofter med tråder fra malerpensel/Knitting cardigans with threads from the paint brush. She did not disappoint and also talked about how she came about buying a shoddy factory. Above you see her presenting her books. You will find the English ones here: annemor.com. I also choose Nina Granlund Sæther’s talk on Norske Strikketradisjoner/Norwegian Knitting Traditions. It was ever so enjoyable and inspiring to hear! A separate post on the Makeløs Festaften/Party evening is coming.