Osterøy Museum, Hordaland, Norway.

A while back we did a post on varafeldir by Hildur Hákonardóttir which is the Icelandic term for pile weaving. In Norway it is known as the same thing, varafeld. 

It is unclear where this technique originated  but evidence suggests remote origins in the Mediterranean where to this day, various types of pile weaves continue to surface, for example the flokati which is based on the same principal but rather than being woven is felted.

Looms aligned back to back so more weavers could take the class

Last June, 2019 I attended a weaving work shop on pile weaving at the Osterøy museum in Hordaland, in Western Norway.  Over the course of three days we learned how to warp our warp weighted loom and make this type of cloth. Needless to say the experience was intense and the second day we wove from 9 am to 9 pm! I didn’t sleep that night and had images of yarns, tufts of wool and loom weight floating in my head.

The results were impressive, we ended up with squares approximately 55cm x 55 cm and to this day I continue to work this technique on my own warp weighted loom.

Weaving during the weaving class at the Osterøy museum.

For more information on the museum and its classes:  https://www.facebook.com/Osteroymuseum/