The Textile Museum of Iceland

Right next door to the Textile Center in Blonduos is the only textile museum in Iceland. There you will see many national costumes, traditional textiles and an annual exhibition by a current artist. There are many books to look over and many fascinating textiles. There is information on wool production and the tools that requires and educational exhibits of cultural textiles. It was hard to get good photos because the building was packed with textiles, often behind glass cases

The museum includes a room dedicated to Halldóra Bjarnadóttir(1873-1981) who worked with women as a consultant for the National Farmers Union, published a magazine and founded and ran the Wool and Textile College. This room houses much of her collection of textiles, some of her own clothing and tools and items from her everyday life.

These are some of my favorite pieces from the museum. The black needle cases with silver embroidery were elegant. The knit shoe liners are a traditional craft with a long history and are unique to Iceland. It is fun to see the many designs that were used. I also liked the weavings and embroideries, especially this stitched piece with a red background.

Artist Philippe Ricart had the exhibition space. Here are some of the 38 pieces in the exhibition.

The Textile Museum is open the months of June through August. We were lucky to have it opened specially for us while we were there in May. By now a new artist, Björgu Eiríksdóttur, will have her work on display.

For more information on shoe liners, Hélène Magnússon's books, Icelandic Handknits and Iclandic Knitting: Using Rose Patterns have historic information and instructions for knitting the liners. The first book listed also has more history on the Textile Museum in Blonduos.