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Norwegian Crafts Take the Stage

During this extended stay-at-home time, I have missed gathering with others who share my love of all things Norwegian. Our Sons of Norway lodges have been shuttered for months. From my local lodge, only the genealogy club has continued with online meetings.

All the other activities for the year so far have been cancelled. We have had no Lodge meetings since March, no Syttende Mai celebration in May, and no summer picnic. The cooking club is on hiatus. It looks like we will not be able to host a lutefisk dinner this year.

When I learned that our District Six umbrella organization that oversees lodges in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah would host a craft Show and Tell on Zoom, I knew I had to tune in. It took place last weekend.

Members from all over these states showed off the Norwegian craft work they have been doing during the isolation period. We have some talented members.

People took turns describing their work on traditional Norwegian folk art projects like hardanger embroidery, rosemaling, and wood carving. Some painted Norwegian scenes. One man wove blankets using patterns from textiles found in Viking burial sites.

My own husband/tech advisor showed a short movie of Norwegian scenes composed from photos we have taken. He set it to background music he had arranged using a Norwegian folk tune. It included a clip of his Norwegian grandfather playing the violin in the 1950’s.

The afternoon Show and Tell event gave us a great opportunity to see all the friendly faces from around our Super Six District. Perhaps some participants even found inspiration to take up a new craft or to begin a new project using a familiar one. Norwegian craft work can offer a wonderful pastime when we, like our forebears during long Nordic winters, must stay home.

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