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Continental norwegian knitting purl and knit stitches for sue
Norwegian knitting has a long history starting from about the 1600s, where it has been speculated that it was adopted by knitters traveling there from Denmark. Knitted garments found in Norway have been dated as far back as the 1500s. The heritage of Norwegian knitting has been preserved, documented and translated into English language history and pattern books that are available to modern knitters, mostly notably by Annemor Sundbo. Some of the most well known sweater patterns attributed to Norwegian colorwork knitting are the setesdal lusekofte and fana cardigan sweater patterns. The region is also well known for their "Selbu" mittens, which first appeared as a vertical column of two snowflakes on the front side of the mittens, and which remains the pattern motif (selburose) most closely associated with the region. The origin of these mittens is attributed to a young girl named Marit Emstad who in 1857 attended church wearing what we now know as Selbu mittens, effectively sparking the imagination of knitters at the time who had never seen anything like it before. Today there are over 300 "registered" mitten patterns attributed to the Selbu region of Norway. There are several brands of Norwegian yarn available today for knitters, including Dale of Norway (Dale Garn), and Rauma Garn. While Dale of Norway is under new ownership and the wool for the yarn is still from Norway, it is now being made in China.[citation needed] Dale of Norway is also a manufacturer of ready wear sweaters which have been worn by Norway's Olympic athletes since 1956. Many of their sweater patterns most closely associated with knitted "ski sweaters" have been published in English by the company. Rauma Garn has also released a substantial amount of Norwegian knitting patterns translated into English.