Folklore and Knitting

I learned to knit while I was an exchange student at the University of Bergen (Universitetet i Bergen). Little did I know that knitting, like Folklore, would become a pursuit close to my heart.

I came from the University of California, Berkeley, where I was an Anthropology major and has studied with many wonderful professors, namely Alan Dundes and Jim Deetz. In Bergen, I had the fortune of studying with Bente Alver and Torunn Selberg.

After returning from the University of Bergen and finishing my studies at Cal, I went on to graduate school at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. I owe a professional and personal debt of gratitude to my professors there and in the Nordic countries - Henry Glassie, Beverly Stoltje, Warren Roberts, Dick Bauman, Barbro Klein, Perti Antonen, and Stein Roar Mathisen - for inspiring me toward that which I love.

It was at Indiana University that I solidified my love of the study of traditional handicraft and textile arts. I focused my attention once again on Scandinavia, completing a dissertation that featured the work and words of Sami handicraft artists: Sami Artistry, Identity, and Indigenism in Museums and Markets. I owe that same debt of gratitude to the artists I met in Sapmi - Lars Pirak, Helge Sunna, Lisbeth Kielatis, Sara Walkeapaa, Thomas Magnusson. Their commitment to artistry and personal truth has continued to move and inspire me.

It was definitely through my studies, and also through the moments I spent not studying, that I found my passion in knitting. Knitting is itself a form of folklore. But for me it has become so much more.