I have been back to the Strikkefestivalen/Knitting Festival in Fredrikstad for their 10th year jubilee, one hour south of Oslo, Friday and Saturday (11 & 12th of September). It took place in the lovely Fredrikstad Old Town; the oldest fortified town in Norway (founded in 1567) and in the Nordic countries, and one of the best-preserved fortress towns in Northern Europe. The weather was not on our side, but perfect for sitting inside and knitting! Designer & Author Tove Fevang had a pop-up shop next to the festival’s info stand in the first room of the market hall, with plenty of Jamieson’s of Shetland yarn on sale.

The Knitting Stories sells cute yarn kits that you embellish with embroidery.

Anita Strikketante offered gorgeous shades of pink and other vibrant colours of yarn.

The local Garnhuset had a large stand with yarns, project bags and samples for sale.

I held 3 new workshops; Color Your Cable, Tuck It and Gauge Matters. Crunch Your Numbers – which I had called “Matte for strikkere” (Math for Knitters) in Norwegian. The last was the most popular of the three with 10 knitters signed on. The most talked about stand was Cashmerestrikk who sold deadstock cashmere from the high fashion brands like Loro Piana and Balenciaga for NOK 800/EURO 74/USD 84 per 100 grams and you need 300 grams for a plain pullover. No, I didn’t buy any…

I filmed the market hall, my workshop room and the ferry ride from the Old Town to the city centre in a vlog available for my paid patrons.

Above you can see part of the Helgedatter Design stand. The festival volunteers did a marvellous job assisting the organisers. I had a fabulous time, talking to knitters, designers and shop owners! Thank you to the organisers and everyone I met!