Kate Serner will be teaching a Singlade Balls (Singlade Bollar) class at Gammelgården Museum of Scandia to introduce students to this folk craft from Denmark and southern Sweden.

“It’s a craft ordinary working folk did. You could use the resources you had to make a toy for your child. What is inside varies according to what people had,” says Kate. The core is usually scrap yarn, cloth, or sometimes cork. It is a craft well suited for using yarn from one’s stash.

Kate’s Danish grandfather taught her how to make the balls when she was 10 or 11 years old. He had learned from his mother while a boy in Denmark and he enjoyed passing the craft down to another generation.

Singlade, pronounced:  sing’ la deh. Singlade is a Swedish word that has a couple of meanings. The base of the verb is “singla,” meaning to toss or fling. However, in this case, the verb describes the embroidery technique used to stitch these balls. So, you “singla” a ball.