Finishing date: January 2023.
In my postdoc in Bergen, I collaborate with the Nordhordland biosphere reserve (just north of town) and one of the municipalities within it. We have a core group in this partnership, consisting of four or so members from each of the organizations. Some of the members are also part-time farmers in the biosphere reserve, owning the type of small scale, mountain and coastal farms that the multifunctional landscape in Nordhordland has supported for centuries.
On their farm Isdal, partner group members Kjersti and Hans Kristian produce yarn from their Gammalnorsk spælsau sheep, a breed that has been grazing on the mountainsides and valleys in Nordhordland for as long as there has been farmers here. During the wool festival in the biosphere reserve last October, I bought some.
I made a pair of mittens with the Isdal yarn: My Nordhordland sheep. Shades of grey from the natural wool of Siri and Fjellrose, with a touch of color from yarn dyed at the plant dyeing workshop I attended, also at the wool festival in October (who knew grey-green lichen could give such a bright purple color?). They are thick, and so warm, protecting my hands from getting cold while biking to work, even when soaked from the pouring Bergen rain.
I guess Bergen weather ultimately requires wool from sheep that have been bred for centuries to thrive in the western Norwegian climate. And I love it, how the proximity to the study area allows for other forms of co-creation to take shape. Mitten design: a new level of commitment to my transdisciplinary research.
Katja Malmborg 