“There are many who are interested in Selbu knitting. For an artist and handcrafter, it is an natural choice to focus on the artistic and handcrafting side of Selbu knitting. The knowledge of hand-knitting has traditionally been transmitted orally and with the help of drawings and knitted demonstrations. I have been preoccupied with bringing this subject to a wider audience. Selbu knitting has been and still is a profession, and it has been essential to collect some of the great technical knowledge involved, which extends beyond the basic fundamentals of knitting.” — Anne Bårdsgård, Selbu Knitting
When I saw this book at the library, I was immediately drawn to the cover with all the gorgeous black and white stranded mittens. I’m a simple girl with simple tastes. That was enough for me, so I took it home. When I opened it up and started to flip through it, I discovered I had underestimated what I held in my hands while at the library. This book is a history guide, charted stranded knitting pattern library, and detailed mitten pattern book all in one. The history section reminds me of Alice Starmore’s books on Aran knitting and color-work, but with a more concentrated topic. Get drawn in by the gorgeous cover, and stay for the knowledge! If I were more of a mitten girl, I might have bought my own copy. However, since last weekend I was up in West Virginia for the West Virginia Penitentiary Para-Con and came away with a stack of books I will have to bend the laws of physics to fit onto my bookshelves, I think I’ll need to come up with some self-control. That being said, she does have glove patterns….
There is a section on basic knitting techniques, which isn’t something I was expecting in a book that reminds me of Alice Starmore, but I’m glad to see it. Bårdsgård has also included a large section on charted patterns to use if you are designing your own mittens, but the fully-developed patterns at the end of the book are excellent. They are often replicas of mittens found in museums and during the course of Bårdsgård’s research, and she’s included engaging biographical information on the original knitter. This section includes a pair originally knit by a woman named Brynhild, who after immigrating to America, changed her name to Belle and married a man with the name of Gunness. She became known more famously as Belle Gunness, a prolific serial killer. But one hell of a knitter.