Norway research trip wrap up

I hope that you have enjoyed my diary from my trip to Norway in 2014 to research for Early-Style Hardanger. I certainly enjoyed reliving it!

All the posts are listed in order below so that you can check whether you missed any.
Day 1 and 2 – Sydney to Oslo
Day 3 – Olso to Bergen
Day 4 – Norwegian Constitution Day, Bergen
Day 5 – Bergen to Utne
Day 6 – Hardanger Folkemuseum
Day 7, 8 and 9 – Heading home

I did want to address something from the final post. The taxi driver who took me to the airport wondered how you could gain enough knowledge to write a book from just a few days. The answer to that is that I didn’t! Much of my research was done beforehand, and much was done afterwards. But the important thing for me in a trip like this is to visit the place where the embroidery comes from, learn about the culture, meet the people, and SEE as many historical examples as I can.

I don’t go knowing nothing, and expecting to learn it all there. I learn as much as I can before so that I have good questions to ask. I see the work, speak to curators and artisans, and ask as many questions as I can. Conversations happen in person that just don’t happen over email.

Visiting Is Sinnus cultural association in Teulada, Sardinia

You can see small details that you’d never see in a book or on the internet. Much of the time those pictures don’t show you the back of the work, or how a garment is constructed, or how something is hemmed. These are the sorts of things you can learn with a curator or embroiderer at your side.

And sometimes it is only through seeing the work in person that you can understand scale, fabrics, threads etc. I wouldn’t have believed that linen thread could look as shiny as silk, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Fine, fine Hardanger on 50ish count linen isn’t something you see most days, but you can at the Hardanger Folkemuseum.

It is these things that I go to see, and why my research trips are invaluable to me as a needlework historian. I am convinced that this research and the photos that I take while I am there, make my books much, much better than if I stayed at home and did it all by remote.

It has been lovely to receive so many emails and messages over the past week telling me how much you’re enjoying the travel diary. Thanks! It’s always nice to know that you’re producing interesting content that people actually want to read!

Would you like to experience Sardinia and Guimarães by reading along and armchair travelling via the diaries from my research trips there? Would that be of interest to you?

Jessica Grimm

July 24, 2016 at 8:29 pm

Oh, yes please!

Kathryn J

July 25, 2016 at 1:57 am

Yes please, me too! 🙂 I was particularly fascinated by the Portuguese whitework so I will look forward to that. I’ve really enjoyed following along with your Hardanger trip. One question, at what point in the research journey do you really get a grasp of the new stitch techniques and unique patterns? Is this part of your learning curve done prior to seeing the original embroideries and local craftswomen, or when you are on the spot in the museums with the curators?

yvette

July 25, 2016 at 6:33 am

Kathryn, I think it depends on the technique. Some I can find a lot more information on before I go. Sometimes I understand most of the stitches before (often from other techniques) I go, but there are one or two I want to clarify.

When I went to Sardinia, one of the main things I wanted answered was “how do they start and finish a thread?” The methods I had seen prior to going didn’t quite make sense to me. They seemed cumbersome and unlikely, so I was pleased to be able to clarify a small but important detail like that.

With my study of Mountmellick, I would say that I really got an understanding of the look of the style while I was there. I saw probably close to 100 examples in the 4 or so museums/collections I visited. Seeing that many examples I was able to really see what was typical, what was not etc. But many of the stitches, I already knew.

And sometimes it is only on digesting the information afterwards and going over the photos again and again (often I am allowed to take photos for personal study purposes, but not for publication) that some things crystallise.

Irene

July 25, 2016 at 9:06 am

Me too!

Arlene

July 25, 2016 at 9:18 am

Thank you so much for sharing your journey! This was truly a fascinating series of blog posts to read. I love your books and I love learning the “back story” of this new one! Yes, indeed, I would be very interested to read about your study trips for the previous books – thank you for sharing your knowledge.