I'm looking for a very traditional Hardanger pattern for a doily that is not too complex to work. I've promised to make one for a friend who has Norwegian ancestry and I want to do something with traditional motifs. I've done a little bit of beginner Hardanger work before so don't want to tackle anything huge or complex just yet.
Just to play Devil's Advocate here...is your friend's ancestry traceable to Hardangerfjorden? I don't mean to discourage you (not at all!), but that'd be like my Norwegian family excitedly presenting me with a beautiful piece of Navajo weaving to honor my birth country. I'm from West Virginia....not New Mexico.
If your friend seems interested in such a gift, by all means...have at it!
As for NordicNeedle...the "Ultimate Teaching Doilies" designed by Julie Norton are the closest you're going to get to Traditional. The rest don't really resemble (even remotely) anything that comes out of Hardangerfjorden.
I don't mean to come off as a snoot. I guess it's just that there's a lot of stuff out there that uses hardanger techniques...but very little that is actually Hardanger Embroidery (as one would find in here in Norway). It's hard, sometimes, to spot the real thing.
Best of luck to you and let us know how it goes! Becky A.
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