Weekend Fun Carving Spoons

A couple months ago, my friend Emily and I took a wooden spoon carving class in quaint Decorah Iowa.  I had won a $50 gift certificate for a class at the Vesterheim from the Minnesota Weavers Guild silent auction earlier in the year.  It was the jump start I needed to plan a trip.  Emily, graciously agreed to all my proposals.  We camped along the river at Pulpit Rock Campground and opted for the wooden spoon carving class.

 We learned kolrosing-a carving technique to add embellishment.  You first press the wood with a kolrosing tool and then rub with finely ground coffee or tree bark.  The design appears when you finish with oil.  I chose a traditional Swedish Dala horse.

 I especially loved carving my teeny tiny salt spoon.  It was just what my salt dish needed.

 It was sunny but chilly camping weather.  The morning walk to class was particularly fun along the foggy river.

 One of the class highlights was our excursion to the museum archives.  The museum archiver focused on the hand carved wooden spoon collection.

 In Sweden each person gets one spoon.  All of these spoons were day to day eating vessels.  I love the attention to detail on the handle and the elaborate kolrosing.

The highlight of the collection were these wedding spoons.  A typical Swedish gift; the entire spoon set is carved from one piece of wood!!