Haugetun, Valle

A small farm on a steep hillside above the river Otra, in Setesdal. Thirty sheep and one knitter.

The flock spread over a steep autumn hillside of birch and heather, above the river Otra and the old log houses.

Ingrid knitting by the window, her face turned towards the valley outside.

From Ingrid

I grew up on this farm, and there have always been sheep on it. When my father stopped, I kept them. Thirty is as many as one person and one barn can look after properly.

I tried making other things: mittens, socks, a blanket. They were fine. The hat was the one people wrote back about, so now I make only the hat, and I make it as well as I can.

Thirty sheep give wool for about 200 hats, and I knit about four a week. So 200 is not a number we picked. It is what the sheep and I can do in a year.

Ingrid Tveit

The flock

Thirty Old Norwegian Spælsau, in black, grey and white. Four of them, by name.

Guri, the oldest ewe, black, on the hillside.

Guri

The oldest, at 11. Black. Her wool is in every Night brim.

Tåka, a grey ewe, looking straight at the camera.

Tåka

Grey. Follows people around, and gets into every photo.

Svarten, the black ram, with curled horns.

Svarten

The ram. Of course he is black.

Bjølla, a white ewe wearing a brass bell on a leather collar.

Bjølla

Wears the bell, so we always know where they are.

And 26 others.

The farm year

Month by month, roughly. The sheep decide the details.

Shearing

April and September, in the barn. The spring wool is the softest, and it goes into the hats.

Lambing

May. The lambs arrive, mostly at night. Nobody sleeps much for a month.

Summer in the mountains

June to September. The flock grazes the summer pasture up the valley, and we walk up to count them.

Knitting

All autumn. About four hats a week, in the evenings, until there are 200.

The release

November. The hats go out to the waiting list, in order, each with its number.

Winter

Quiet. The sheep are in the barn, and next year’s list fills up.

From the year

From the barn floor to the post office, in six pictures.

Shearing in the barn: a grey sheep half shorn, the fleece coming away in one piece. — Shearing, in April.

A raw fleece spread on the floor, curly locks of white, grey and black wool. — A fleece, before it is washed.

Skeins of grey and black yarn, piled on a cream cloth. — Grey and black yarn, back from the spinnery.

Two hands knitting the diamond band, light grey on near-black. — The diamond band, row by row.

A stack of finished hats folded flat, Night and Day, with a paper tag on the top one. — A week of hats, about four.

Four sheep, black, grey and white, standing in fresh snow. — The flock in the first snow.

The waiting list

Write to us with your name, your country, and Night or Day. We reply with your place on the list.

In late October the first 200 on the list get an invoice. Everyone else keeps their place for next year.

Join the waiting list

How the list works

Or write to [email protected], subject “Waiting list”.