Norsk Needlework: at Home

Vernaaide linten: The Ribbons of Marken, The Netherlands

2012-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is my daughter Tracy Horner at 7 months on the island of Marken

I have been interested in this embroidery for years.
Marken island, in the Markermeer bay off
Volendam in the Netherlands, is a very picturesque
village. The women, as part of their national costume,
wear small white, dainty, lacy caps with embroidered
ribbons which are usually tucked inside. The patterns are
elaborate and no two women make the same design. In fact
the designs were kept secret and never shared for many
years. Each woman had many ribbons and decided
which to wear according to the day or occasion.
Christian holidays had special biblical ribbons.
The Geloof, hoop en Liefde (Faith, Hope and Love)
were for confession or when banns were published.

I first found the patterns on my friend Gigi Ries site in

Belgium. Scroll to the archives and you will find wonderful
pictures of Marken and even more wonderful pictures of
antique embroidery and Gigi's new patterns to buy. Gigi is my
friend of many years from our stitching group in Portland.
Yes, she flies all the way from Belgium for this! Also we get
to see her at the TNNA shows.
I lived in Germany for quite a few years. Tracy was born there and
when she was 7 mo. old we traveled to the Netherlands and Marken.
Unfortunately I had no clue to the wonderful embroidery then!

Gigi's picture of a Marken girl with ribbons.

Couple wearing old costume (1966 picture of mine)

5 little darling boys on a hay barge

My favorite picture of the dykes and bridges

fisherman working, note wooden shoes

local fishmonger

Lots of people strolling with baby carriages

Woman on Marken with cap but I can't find the ribbons!
Probably tucked under. Note the embroidery on the
back of the cap.

This lady was not too happy having her picture taken. In the next picture, she was scowling at me! Pretty curtains.

Doing the wash on Marken, lots of aprons!

Flower seller. It was April and we just came from the Keukenhoff (another story)

Heroic, Determined, Merciful (Heldhaftige)

This pattern is from Gigi's private collection of antiques, charted by Margreet Beemsterboer
for Kunst and Vliegwerk.
The linten were almost always embroidered in
black on white and have aged to a dark brown
in many cases, as Gigi's antique piece below.

One of Gigi's original pieces, see initials of original embroiderer at edges.


Gigi's bands charted by Joke Visser, pattern purchased at	Kunst & Vleigwerk

My sampler from a compilation of patterns

I started to do the "Coat of Arms Sampler" on the
Yahoo group with Martina Dey but got a little
waylaid doing my favorite bands from
Johan Sibmacher's Schon Neues Modelbuch 1597
and then the Vernaaide linten and heaven only
knows what other motifs I will add. I will stop

a little before the 55" of the linen. I am using

Carries Threads crimson silk and plain natural 36ct. linen.

Bird band from Joke Visser's vernaaide linten pattern (K&V)

The alphabet is from a French source in the 1500's. I am having more fun than you can imagine
researching the 16th century patterns. They are
all over the internet now, with charts. Check out
the blogs and university libraries. It helps to have
"Patternmaker" to organize charts and fit to size.
In other words, I am not getting too much work
done around my house!

Norsk Needlework, New Shetland pattern, "Bishop's Lace"

2012-02-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

Bishop's lace in its glorious colors!

Here is the sweater I have been making for almost 1 year.
I got slowed down by tendinitis but after a hefty plan of
physical therapy I am cured and knitting/ embroidering like crazy.
This pattern includes 16 colors of Jamieson's Spindrift.
Beautiful colors like "Moorgrass", "Paprika", "Fern".
Don't panic at the #. You never use more than 2 in a row.
My charts are super clear and include the symbol plus
the colors. The instructions are extremely complete.
The motifs include the "Bishop Lace" Flower, (garden
variety of Queen Anne's Lace) and from my Norsk roots
the "Selbu Rose". Knitters of my mittens will be familiar
with this pattern. It looks very different dressed in all the colors!

Check out the yarn colors with the MOSS colors!!! even turquoise.

It goes with Ivy and Ferns too

Here is a closeup

Bishop's Lace well known in English gardens.

It has many little flowers off one stock just like my flower in the pattern.
The pattern will be available both on Ravelry and my website http://norskneedlework.com
in a few more minutes.

Yaquina Fiber Arts annual Spin-In, Newport Oregon 2012

2012-02-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

Whimsical Ewe, felted lamb by Dana Nishimura

This happens every year and it keeps getting more fun!
There were way more people and since the
weather was as perfect as it gets on the
coast in February they came from far away.
There were terrific vendors representing all
kinds of fiber, yarn and little felted lambs.
I must confess I am a fiber addict, sometimes
drawn to the new colors of roving, sometimes
simply to the feel of it. I fell for some Merino/
Tussah silk top from Opulent Fibers.
I got some in pale turquoise and some in
apple green. Maybe for some fair isle?
I also got some pure white wool from the Falkland
islands. This was from my friend, Elsie.
This feels as soft as marino but Elsie said it will fluff up more.
I am anxious to try spinning it.

We spun, visited, ate, drank coffee (all provided by Sassafrass Sue's of

Toledo, yum)and spun some more.

One more booth that was as always, beautiful, is Spindlewood for

for fantastic hand worked spindles. Sorry I did not get a picture.

They have great Nostepinner too
More of Dana's pretty lambs


Bags and more lambs by Whimsical Ewe soon to have a shop on Etsy

197 spinners turned out Sat on a bright, sunny windless day!

It is hard to get over 100 wheels in a picture!

Every wheel maker represented with women of all ages.

Elsie of Elsie's Discount Roving 3mi N of Depot Bay

Tash, expert felter! made her own dredlocks

Margret's vest made of her spun wool

Remember, any one can come visit our guild meetings at the
Toledo Library the third Saturday of the month from 10-3.
Bring your lunch and drinks. Welcome!

Freda and some of the Yaquina FA's spinners

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

This is going to be odds and ends of things that don't fit anywhere else,

but I want to wish all my friends and family

Merry Christmas!!

Pretty iron heart candle holder from my friend Kim!

My Nisse that I made a long time ago...knit the clothes and then stuffed them. Super fine skis of tongue depressors and sticks of barbeque skewers.

Super fine skis of tongue depressors!

My daughter took this picture of my 6 grandkids sitting on a log.
It was taken in August when they all visited.
I think it is the only one I have of all 6 and it is pretty special to me.


Masquerade... finished for my youngest, Darcy, for her birthday.

The pattern is from my daughter Tracy's Ink Circles.

I used all limited edition silks I had been

storing up. I love the colors from Carries Creation,

and the linen is Tarnish from Picture This Plus.

Have a Happy New Year too!!!

Thanksgiving to Birthday with a Gold Mine in the middle!

2011-12-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

What a fun vacation!

Old bank vault door is now entrance to the mine

entrance to mine with wine cellar along sides

I flew to my son's in Nevada for Thanksgiving, then my daughter Darcy's family took me to northern Ca to visit their "cabin" with a gold mine on the property. We had a fantastic time in warm sunny weather. I was able to go way back in the mine. It has not been actively mined since the 30's.
It was owned by Germans until the 2nd world war and all the details of production and such were lost after the war. It was fun to see the old pick marks, left over cart rails and initials on the walls. I really love the beautiful design in the old bank vault door.
Just inside is a wine cellar with quite a few bottles in pipes aligned along the walls, perfect temp! It was pitch black inside so I was amazed how well my Cannon G10 flash lit up the walls, also in the later picture where I was knitting. The generator went off but I was pre warned and had my mine headlight. Again my camera lit up everything. It was REALLY
dark with no street or other lights!

tunnels go way back in and branch off

picked out roof

dates from in the 30's

My grandson mining, he is getting good at this!

curvy winding roads for miles to get there

view to west where my SIL proudly waves his flag!


living room with lots of deer, elk, moose horns and chandelier

My children call this "the cabin" but I felt like it was a gorgeous hunting lodge!

Extremely comfortable.

Best view to capture the blazing sunset

antique bow and arrow

more antique tools


cozy kitchen

catch and release of 2 praying mantis, my grandkids

grandson with his bow

Darcy's chuck-it game after breakfast with Dex, Elsa and Leo

my "dog"grand child 6 month old Elsa

Leo and Elsa

Darcy climbing "the rope"

Knitting in the sun, even barefoot! it was so sunny


Truly tuff, continues to knit when generator was off with	mine headlight!

totem pole SIL carved for cabin/ gorgeous!


Birthday present from my 3 children, painting of my dogs!

They were also featured in our local animal shelter calendar! Miss and Mr "January"

Daughter Darcy's beautiful table for my birthday dinner!

What a fantastic vacation! I was wiped out for a couple days after returning home.
I don't have quite the same energy as the 4 grandkids and 3 dogs!

Published Today: Til Karin - 4 Elements

2011-10-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Til Karin - 4 Elements

                      Karin Larsson, wife to Carl the famous Swedish painter, wove
                      a tapistry in 1903 that was very modern for her time.
    The first time I saw this tapestry shown in their home,
                      I thought it was about Pentecost with the
cross in the center and the flames. It was much later I
                      found out it represented Earth, Wind, Fire and Water.
                      It has fascinated me for years. Her piece is shown in nearly
                      every picture of their dining room, on the back of the sofa.
                    It took me about a year to design my version, and
                      another 6 months to stitch the piece.
                      It is done on 36 ct Legacy linen from Picture This Plus,
                      Gentle Arts Sampler threads. The small details are in
                      Assisi style with some backstitch. It is fairly easy to stitch and
                    to see the colors evolve. Their overdyed thread is a joy to use!
    Karin has always been my heroine. She had 7 living children.
                    She wove tapestries and embroidered many pieces for the
                      home plus sewed most of the clothing for the family, cooked

and took care of them all. She made the Larsson home a

beautiful, warm environment.

                      The pattern for my embroidery will be at the
                       "Online Needlework show" today.
                      It may be purchased by shops but viewed by all.
                      It will be available at needlework shops now,
                      but also at my daughters site Ink Circles in the future.

Stitch Weasels' Retreat at Olivia Beach

2011-10-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Granddaughter and her mum on left stitching

                           Actually it is the Oregon/Washington stitchers
                            but my husband calls us the "Weasels" and says we
                            bite off our threads with our tiny teeth!
                            The house rented for us was a real "Mansion",
                            It sleeps up to 30 and has 7 bathrooms.
                            It was beautifully decorated in Ocean themes.
                            People came from all over Wa, Or, and the coast. 23!

My Tracy with her new release for next week an addition to "Love Letters"

Happily stitching at dinning table

A Maple leaf from our little Canadian

Some fine finishes!

A lovely piece of counted stitches from Sue

3 more stitchers in a cozy nook

More finishes!

Stairs that take you over the hill to the ocean showing the cottages and park

the beach at Olivia

132 steps down to the beach!

                          I walked down then went to a flat spot to come
                          back. Even then I had shin splints the next day.
                          We went on long walks every day in the SUN!!!

Past and Present, my new start I worked on with threads gathered mostly from silk LE's.

I have collected this silk in my stash for years for just such a
project.

My version of our Martina Dey stitch along

                          It is called "Coat of Arms Sampler" on our yahoo group.
                          I have been saving up old patterns to add to something
                          like this and used Carries LE crimson and new solid crimson.
                          I did nearly all this stitching in our 4 day retreat and
                          finished the first lamb last night. I plan on continuing with
                          Martina's chart from here. I am having an addictive

spell of stitching! That is what these retreats do to energize

you. It is already booked for a repeat next year!!!

Toledo/ Oregon not Ohio! Wooden Boat Show and Yaquina Fiber Arts

2011-08-26T13:32:00.000-07:00


The Gal This boat is featured on the "T" shirt

                Saturday the 20th was maybe one of the sunniest, beautiful days
                we could have had in Toledo for the annual Wooden Boat Show.
                There were many beautiful boats and I just loved the rock 'n roll
                of my friends, husbands band. It was great 70/80's stuff!
They will be playing at "BurntWoodsStock" Aug 26.
               It was about 75 with a cool breeze off the lovely Yaquina River.

Yaquina river with boats the day of the Wooden Boat Show

My friend Bonnie

A sailor with the
"Gal" T on, cute shirt, I bought 2!

Oregon sailor with his dog


The Eddie St Claire band with my friend Bonnie's husband center


Yaquina Fiber Arts Guild Aug 20, 2011

                   We meet every 3rd Sat at the Toledo library and spin,
knit or anything you want to do with needles and fiber.
                    I took home a nice bag of lovely chocolate fiber off my
                    friends alpaca. Makes nice yarn, especially mixed with a
                    little wool for stretch.


Only 6 of us this day but we had fun knitting and spinning.

Much quieter group than normal!

Margaret's really pretty single ply

Jan's very pretty first ply

Jan spinning, me knitting my newest pattern(this is a sneak peak!)

Lovely colors of Alpaca


Connie's Shawl

As usual I put up too many pictures, but couldn't resist.

Whole Family here for Vacation!

2011-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

My 3 kids, spouses and 6 grandkids here at once!
( Missing 1 grandson,sil and husband not in pic)

E at Oregon Coast Aquarium watching seals

Tidepool At OCA with 3 grandkids

Marine gardens below our house with youngest
grandson.

Huge gumboot chitin all curled up; we put him back!

My favorite Great Blue Heron. I always take
his picture!

Smallest granddaughter with snail. Can you believe
it was this warm and sunny here? The whole week!!!

One of our 100 seals and gull

Searching out all the nooks and crannies full of
anemones and starfish.

                                   We have never had such great weather during our
                                    vacations and my grandchildren (all from dry areas
had more fun than ever at the ocean.

                     I got to keep Hannah (17) for an extra week as
         we do every summer. She is part fish and loves our
   beaches as do my dogs.

New Norsk Needlework Embroidery pattern

2011-08-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

                                    Norsk Fairytale was adapted from 17th century
                                          Norwegian woven coverlets. It has a Queen and
                                          King riding their horses in a field of flowers, under
                                          the shadow of the castle... and of course they lived,
                                          as you can guess,"Hapily Ever After".
                                          Stitched on 36 ct Picture This Plus, Relic, linen
                                          with gorgeous Gentle Arts Sampler threads.There
                                          are hardanger style stars, but no cutting and very
                                          large clear diagrams that make it easy to stitch.
                                          The model is on its way to Baltimore for the TNNA
                                          needlework show and will be in the "Ink Circles"
                                          booth. Both this pattern and the following
                                          "Project 99" will be for sale at the show and then
                                          on the Ink Circle site as well as many fine
                                          needlework shops all over the world.

Early 17th Century woven coverlet

                                                  "Project 99"

                                                  This fun project was stitched by Tracy (my
                                                  daughghter, the designer of "Ink Circles")
                                                  after she solicited favorite local brews
                                                  from stitchers.
Tracy wrote:
                                                  Last summer I asked my friends and followers
                                                  to tell me which brands of beers they liked.
                                                  I had enthusiasts from around the globe tell
                                                  me about their local breweries, spots they hit
                                                  on vacation, and tastiest drinks.
    This design was stitched on appropriately
                                                  "Ale" linen by Picture This Plus. 32 ct. with
                                                  DMC threads. I find it amazing that with a
                                                  few well placed stitches the brews are
                                                  recognizable!

Waldport/ Yachats Secret Garden Tour

2011-07-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

This was the "Secret

Garden" tour of Waldport

and Yachats, to up in the

hills to the east. It included

8 gardens. Most by the

Alsea and Yachats rivers.

The proceeds of the tour went to the

"Samaritan House" providing shelter for

the homeless along the Oregon coast.

                                   This Alium Gigantus was the most
                                              spectacular flower.
                                   Further down is a variety of the regular size.

This old tree was struck
by lightning and landed
with the pieces like this.
It is HUGE. The whole
top half is out of the
picture. It makes a lovely
cover for this nice
garden.

                           Two of the gardens were
on neighboring properties
                                  separated by a wonderful
                                     path strewn with
                                    evergreen huckleberries
                                           It was my favorite,
                                    magical place.

An apple blossom viburnum.
Strikingly beautiful.

Escalonia pruned into gorgeous trees!

Many, many glass chickens in this garden.

Colorful Watsonia. Some
turn red, purple, or pink
if grown near the white.

So, this white one is kept by itself!

A very unique octopus.

Along the Yachats river.

An oriental garden

This is quite
a few pictures,
but I narrowed it
from over 100.
My friends and I
enjoyed our day.

"Christiania/Oslo" Finished!!!

2011-06-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have been stitching since last July on the 2nd biggest cross stitch kit from
Eva Rosenstand of Denmark. It was a pure joy to do and wonderful to work
on. Now it is finished and hung. Yeah!!! 10 months is a real record for me.

Many years ago I stitched the largest of ER, "Stockholmia". It was started
in 1982. I remember, because as I was setting up the colors, marking
the middles ect. I was watching TV and saw that President Reagan had been
shot. It is one of those clear moments when you remember exactly where
you were. I finished it in 1993. So... it took 11 years. This is because I was
working full time as a critical care nurse and raising 3 children. I also knit a
whole lot of sweaters during that time. It was entered into a large EGA
jurried show when I lived in California and won best of counted work
over approximately 350 entries. Needless to say I couldn't have been prouder.
I think the judges were wowed by the sheer endurance and tenacity.
Also the colors are stunning. On both these pieces I just loved
doing the ships.

These large pieces are so fun to work and I actually feel a loss when they are
finished because I want to haul them out and get back to work! I learned
to cross stitch when I was about 23 and living in Europe. A Norwegian
girlfriend introduced me to Eva Rosenstand kits. I did quite a few of them and
then carried them in my old Norsk Needlework shop in Wyoming. These
kits can still be ordered from several places on the internet for those of
you that want to get stitching.

Rhododendren at Home

2011-05-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Of the things one can count on at the Oregon coast, certainly it is lots of rain and more of the Rhododendron!

These photos were all taken in my yard or within a 5 min walk! It is a spring paradise. Actually our first variety bloomed in January and the last will go to August, but May is prime!

The entrance to our street.

This is a wild "fern garden" by a little stream.

This bank of blossoms is 12 feet tall!

a purple bell flower called a campanula.

First Post at Home

2011-05-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Annie, short for "Oleanna", my 3 year old Aussie. Loves to go for walks on the ocean.

Mac, 7 year old Border Collie. Loves to go for a walk carrying the biggest stick he can find.

I picked out Annie one day without too much for-thought as she looked like Mac's little sister!

They even both have 3 tan legs and one left white front leg. Annie is a little fluffier, Mac more wavy
fur. She has more black around her eyes and he has more tan. They both weigh 53 lbs! To this day people think they are brother and sister. They had a few dust ups to begin with but now truly love each other and play well.