Annikki Marttila
Finnish weaving
Annikki Marttila is a native of Finland who started weaving rag rugs
when she was just eleven. Now a resident of Frederick, she continues this
family tradition using several looms in the studio of her farmhouse. In
2003-2004, Annikki taught her neighbor Peggy Worthy some loom weaving
techniques, specifically the Finnish raanu style in wool, which is
used for wall hangings. Her second apprentice was Diane Fields of
Aberdeen, who learned two different techniques of rya rug making, one
on a loom and one on a canvas backing.
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Diane Fields, Annikki Marttila and Peggy Worthy |
Diane Fields admires her progress on a rya rug. |
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Annikki Marttila gives some pointers to Peggy Worthy
as she weaves a raanu pattern. |
Peggy Worthy set up a loom in the attic of her family
farmhouse near Frederick. |
Marianne Marttila-Klipfel grew up surrounded by her mother’s
weaving, and learned basic techniques when she was young, but never had the
time to focus on the more complex traditional Finnish patterns. Annikki
Marttila has been weaving since she was a child in Finland and runs a
small weaving business out of her farmhouse studio north of Frederick.
During this apprenticeship in 2004-2005, Marianne worked on the Finnish
raanu technique, which uses wool yarn on a cotton warp, and poppana,
which uses bias-cut strips of cotton cloth for the weft. She also helped
Annikki warp a large loom from back to front the traditional Finnish way.
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Marianne Marttila-Klipfel with her first raanu
weaving. |
Annikki Marttila (rear) and her daughter Marianne
Marttila-Klipfel weave on the large looms in Annikki’s studio. |
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A small sign at the entrance to her farm advertises
Annikki Marttila’s weaving business. |
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Annikki Marttila is well known in Aberdeen and surrounding
communities for her skill as a weaver and knitter, arts she learned as a
child growing up in Finland. She is a generous teacher and an active member
of the Prairie Fiber Arts Guild, which is where she met Kelly Knispel
of Groton. Kelly and her mother raise sheep for wool and have a fiber arts
shop in Groton, and she had done some weaving on a small table loom, but
never on a large floor loom. Kelly worked with Annikki in 2006-2007 to learn
how to read a weaving draft, or pattern; warp the loom in her shop; weave
poppana, a Finnish style using bias-cut strips of fabric; and make a rag
rug on one of Annikki’s looms at her studio in Frederick.
Kelly Knispel and Annikki Marttila show off some of the poppana
weaving Kelly did during her apprenticeship with Annikki. |
Kelly Knispel’s loom in her shop in Groton, with a weaving in progress. |
Kelly Knispel and her mother own a weaving, spinning and yarn shop in
Groton, featuring the wool of their own sheep. |
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