SHORT COURSE SUMMER 2024
Crafts & Primitive Living
June 18th - 24th
Join us as we head to our highland pasture for a week of back-to-basic crafts in a rustic setting. We will go fishing, tan the fish skins of our catch, and eat the fish. Learn to spin yarn using a drop spindle, and practice the viking craft of nålebinding using a wooden needle you just carved. Spend slow evenings by the fire whittling, singing and telling stories.
Sign up by email to [email protected]
Crafts will include green woodwork, simple wool techniques, bushcrafts and primitive skills, fishing, fish skin tanning, and making fire with primitive techniques. A week goes by quickly, and you will not have time to immerse yourself fully in each craft, so you will have to prioritize the crafts you find most interesting.
Quick details
Dates: June 18th - 24th
Spots available: 14
Instructors: Steven Dirven and Ellen Winther Klim
Language: English (Instructors are Dutch and Danish)
Price: NOK 7 500,-. This includes food (self catering), lodging, craft materials, and the course itself. Transportation is not included.
Sign up: [email protected]
Rough plan for the week
Changes may occur, due to weather etc.
Day 1: After arriving and settling in, we will go down to the fjord, row out in one of our traditional wooden boats, and set our fishing nets.
Day 2: Haul fish nets, and gut the fish. Start fish skin tanning and wool crafts.
Day 3: Go to our highland pasture, Lefætten. This is about a 1 hour hike, mostly uphill. Set up camp. Familiarize ourselves with the surrounding area, forage for edible berries and plants, and materials for our crafts.
Day 4: Green woodwork. We will make simple things like “nålebinding” needles, firedrills, spoons, and perhaps even a drop spindle?
Day 5: Making fire with primitive tools. Continue wood or wool projects.
Day 6: Finish fish skin tanning. Walk in the landscape surrounding the cabin. Continue other crafts.
Day 7: Pack up and go home.
Food and lodging
Days 1-2 we will stay at the folk school’s dorm. Days 3-7 we will stay at the school´s highland pasture, where there is a rustic cabin. The cabin has no electricity or running water. We will cook on the wood stove in the cabin, or on the fireplace outside. There is a well for collecting water, and a traditional outhouse toilet with a pit latrine.
We will take turns cooking for the group, with everyone contributing. If you have any food allergies etc, you will be expected to be more involved in the cooking to make sure that your dietary needs are being met.
Course instructors: Steven and Ellen
Steven Dirven
Working at Fosen Folk School as a jack of all trades over the years Steven has developed and focused his skillset towards self sufficiency, traditional and primitive/bushcraft skills, traditional sailing, wild edibles, tanning and woodwork.
Steven is a light and engaging character from the Netherlands whose curiosity and openness for new possibilities, combined with his ability to create solid structures to teach in, gives him a teaching style that makes room to discover and learn in your own way.
Steven also has a fascination for team building, music and stories.
Ellen Winther Klim
Ellen is a lively and energetic Dane who has a big interest in all things traditional handcraft. She spends as much time as she can spinning yarn, sewing, carving spoons and tanning hides.
She has worked and volunteered at an open air museum, with crafts like wool processing. The last two years she has spent at Fosen Folkehøgskole, first as a student in the textiles and traditional handcrafts class and later as teachers assistant in the self sufficiency class.
Ellen looks forward to meeting you all and spending a crafty and outdoorsy week together!
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone wanting to spend a week living communaly in the Norwegian woods, learning primitive skills such as, green sloyd woodworking, wool crafts, and fish skin tanning. The course is targeted towards beginners looking for a taste of primitive crafts, but more experienced crafters are also welcome.
Our targeted audience is about 18-70 years old. There could be a possibility to bring your child however the course is targeted to adults, so please talk to us if considering signing your child up.
Price
Price: NOK 7 500,-
This includes food (self catering), lodging, craft materials, and the course itself.
Transportation is not included.
The price includes a registration fee of NOK 1 500,- to be paid in advance. You will recieve payment information upon signing up for the course. The remaining NOK 6 000,- are due in June.
What do we expect of you?
We expect you to be curious and open, and to take initiative to learn. We also expect all participants to help out in the daily practical tasks such as taking turns cooking for the group, keeping the fire going, carrying water from the well, etc.
You must be able to hike to our highland pasture (about a one hour, medium strenuous hike), and comfortable staying there without running water or electricity.
Course certificate
At the completion of the course, you will be given a course certificate documenting your participation and the contents of the course.
Signing up
You can sign up for this course by emailing [email protected]
What do you need to bring?
- A sleeping bag (It can get cold during the night, so comfort temperature should be 8°C or lower)
- Warm clothes, preferably wool. The Norwegian summer is not always warm.
- Wind- and waterproof outer layer
- Hiking boots, waterproof
- A knife, preferably a carving/woodworking knife.
- Washcloth for personal hygiene. At the school there are showers, but at the cabin there is no shower and nowhere to swim
Other useful, but not essential gear:
- A small woodworking axe
- Sleeping mat if you prefer sleeping in a tent
- Tent / hammock and tarp
How to get here
Trondheim is the closest major city. From there, you can travel by boat and bus. Connections are not frequent, so we recommend looking up the transportation to Rissa before booking your tickets to Trondheim.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us!
School secretary: [email protected]
Course instructors:
Steven [email protected] 0031626493698
Ellen Winther Klim
[email protected]
0045 30255541
