I‘m delighted that my new book, Norwegian Pick-up Bandweaving (Schiffer Publishing, 2014), will soon be available online and in bookstores. It’s a unique book—including both cultural history and instructions for weaving—and it’s chock-full of photos, drawings, and more than 100 charts of patterns from bands in museum collections.

Quote from the book jacket

Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, wrote:

Bands are small in size, but they are large in function, history, and folklore. Heather Torgenrud offers a comprehensive and detailed look at pick-up woven bands in rural Norway from the late 1600s to today. She shares the fascinating variety of uses for the bands, worn from head (as hair ribbons) to almost-toe (as sock garters), wrapped around babies, tied around special gifts of food, and given as tokens of affection. She also offers clear instructions and more than 100 charts for weaving bands with the beautiful patterns found on old bands in museum collections. I am grateful to Heather for bringing our bands to you along with their interesting history and rich cultural context. Heather’s meticulous research and accessible writing style, and the inviting photographs, make this book a treasure.

What’s inside

Whether you’re a weaver, or someone interested in Norwegian folk art, costumes, textiles, and rural traditions, you’ll find something of interest in these pages. I hope you’ll take a look.

Table of Contents