Brua artikkel fra Hadeland Folkemuseum

August 2006

”The Hadeland-mitten” / Hadelandsvotten

The name ”Hadelandsvotten” have been in use since 1945. Several female knitters produced a special kind of mitten and sold them on Hadeland Folkemuseum. The pattern for these mittens has a long tradition. Pernille Pedersdatter Rosendal, born on Egge in 1823, was the first woman we know who knit Hadelandsvotten. Pernille was married to farmer Peder Pedersen Rosendal, born 1822, on Rosendal in Brandbu. Pernille was an efficient knitter. Pernilles great-grandchild Marta Prestkvern said that her great-grandmother knitted all the time. Marta remembered from her childhood that Pernille sat on a bench and knitted mittens.

Pernille and Peder Rosendal had one son and six daughters. All the daughters learned how to knit the Hadelandvotten, or the Rosendal-mitten as it also was called. Especially the oldest daughter, Karen Pedersdatter born 1847, carried on the tradition. She taught others how to make the mitten. That is how the tradition was kept alive until the mitten was sold on the museum after the war.

Marte Egge from Brandbu is interested in local history. In the 1980s she went to the museum to see what kind of mittens that was kept there. She borrowed old mittens from all over Hadeland. She found that the variations were numerous but some elements were the same. With some trying and failing she was able to copy some of the patterns. Hadeland Husflidslag (home craft organisation) invited Marte Egge to sell Hadelandsvotter on fairs in the late 1980s. The mittens were easy to sell. Marte Egge invited others to make mittens to meet the demand.

What is a typical Hadelandsvott? Marte Egge writes that the diversity is huge but some elements are the same on the old mittens. The collar or shirt cuff is double with a row of holes in the fold at the bottom. The thumb is increased in a fishbone pattern and the decrease is on the backside. The colours vary. Some think that most of the mittens were brown or grey, but there are also examples of bright colours.

Marte Egge has worked out three different models of the Hadeland mittens. She calls them Røken, Rosendal and Haug. The Haug mitten is a recipe of a mitten for children. Since 1997 the Husflidslag has been the owner of the recipes. They print and sell the recipes. Marte Egge is still knitting Hadelandsvotter and sell them private and at Hadeland Folkemuseums museum shop. Both the three kinds of mittens and the small souvenir mittens are popular for tourists and the local population. The wool threads remain double in the two-coloured pattern and make the garment incredible warm and a “must” on cold winter days.

Source: “Hadelandsvotter” by Hadeland Husflidslag 1999.

Kari-Mette Stavehaug