Gladys (Emerick) KNUTSON

EMERICK, KNUTSON, LYNCH, STRYKER, TOILLION, SLAVENS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/5/2008 at 15:36:52

Eagle Grove Eagle, Iowa
May 7, 2008

Gladys E. Knutson, 91, expert in Hardanger, embroidery

Gladys (Emerick) Knutson, 91, of Lakewood, Colo., died Friday, April 25, 2008. Gladys E. Knutson was born in Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa.She was the daughter of Augusta (Stryker) Emerick and Lawrence Emerick. She attended Eagle Groe High School and graduated in 1935. She completed one year of teacher’s college before beginning work for the phone company as an operator. In 1938, she met and married Earl Knutson of Thor, Iowa. He preceded her in death in 1973. She later relocated to Lakewood, Colo., to be closer to her daughter, Lois, and grandchildren. She was very active in the Denver chapter of the Sons of Norway. She was expert in a variety of sewing and handwork. While in her 60s, she taught herself Hardanger, an intricate traditional Norwegian embroidery and cutwork. She went on to win numerous national and international awards and taught many students this traditional craft.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by sister Marcella (Emerick) Toillion of Eagle Grove. She is survived by daughter, Lois Lynch, son-in-law, Daniel Lynch, a grandson, Cameron Lynch of Lakewood, and also by a granddaughter, Stacy Lynch (Roger Slavens), and a great-granddaughter Isabel Slavens of San Antonio, Texas.

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Copyright, The Denver Post, Colorado
May 2, 2008

Expert needlewoman leaves prized lacy legacy
By Virginia Culver The Denver Post, vculver@denverpost.com ; Page B-09

Gladys Knutson took her sewing talents far beyond the ironing-board covers she made at Iowa State University.

Knutson, who died April 25 at age 91, became an expert at hardanger, an intricate type of embroidery.

A reception in her memory will be held at the Denver Press Club on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Knutson's work, which included doilies, table runners, pillowcases and wall hangings, won awards throughout the country, said her daughter, Lois Lynch of Lakewood.

Knutson was almost addicted to doing hardanger.

"It was like starting with one piece of popcorn. She just couldn't stop," Lynch said.

"She would listen to basketball, baseball and hockey on the radio while she did hardanger," said her granddaughter, Stacy Lynch of San Antonio.

The handwork involves sewing thread into linen in exact geometric patterns. After finishing the patterns, the embroiderer cuts small holes in the designs, giving the cloth a lacy look.

"My mother always had a tiny pair of scissors on a piece of elastic hanging around her neck," said Lynch.

Gladys Emerick was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa, on March 24, 1917, and graduated from high school there.

After one year of college, she had to drop out when the Depression hit and she got a job with the telephone company in Eagle Grove.

She married Earl Martin Knutson on Aug. 13, 1938. After his service in World War II, they lived in Eagle Grove and eventually in Ames, Iowa, where Gladys Knutson got a job as seamstress for Iowa State University.

"She worked in a little basement room of a dorm," her daughter said. Gladys Knutson made drapes, ironing-board covers and did repairs, she said.

Earl Knutson died in 1973, and in 1976 Gladys Knutson moved to Lakewood.

Knutson had always done handwork and decided to take up hardanger - also known as Norwegian draw work - a form she knew of because Earl Knutson was Norwegian.

Gladys Knutson ordered instruction books, the thread and the material from Norway, said Stacy Lynch.

Hardanger is named for a region in Norway, according to the Nordic Needle, a shop in Fargo, N.D.

Similar embroidery styles have also existed for hundreds of years in other parts of Europe.

Despite the intricacy of the work, "it was like second nature to my grandmother," Stacy Lynch said.

Knutson's efforts to teach her daughter and granddaughter were unsuccessful.

"We just didn't have the patience. We were bewildered," Stacy Lynch said.

In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, Knutson is survived by one grandson and a great-grandchild.

Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com