Getting the Swede On

I took some time off work to attend the Nordic Knitting Conference last weekend (at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle) and needless to say I had a great time! Knitters from around the country arrived, keen to learn from the teachers who had flown in from Scandinavia--Elsbeth Lavold, Vivian Hoxbro, Annemor Sundbo--and those based in the US with a particular expertise--Terri Shea, Susanna Hansson, Marilyn van Keppel, Carol Rhoades.

I took a class on Bohus Knitting, taught by Susanna. This was a MINDBLOWER, for sure! Bohus Stickning was known for the use of color--unlike Fair Isle knitting, the Bohus style was unrelated to any folk tradition (I refer you to the Bohuslan Museum website for an interesting summary of the history of this cooperative; also, Poems of Color by Wendy Keele is an excellent book, although the patterns were re-written for the heavier gauge the publishers thought Americans would prefer). The designers incorporated texture stitches into the colorwork, and the designs could call for 3 or 4 colors per row.

Not all sweaters were in the yoke style--it just happens that I didn't take photos of the other designs. The sweater construction was highly influenced by couture design--Susanna had us "excavate" the vintage garments to learn what we could about their construction.

I was wrong more often than I was right in my guesses, which means I learned a lot! We knit a wristwarmer from yarns dyed by Solveig Gustafsson to replicate the original designs--the yarn, a mix of wool and angora, was lovely to work with.

Kits for sweaters, hats, and scarves are available--their quality is quite simply amazing.

Susanna and I have had discussions about the difference between Bohus Stickning designs and Fair Isle. I was fascinated by a sample cuff she had: taking the class design, which incorporated most signature Bohus techniques, another cuff was knit without the texture--that is, Fair Isle style. This cuff was, to be blunt, uninteresting and, well, ugly. This is not an indictment of Fair Isle design, however--it's just that each mode of knitting requires different design considerations to come to life.

Comments

[Nancy J]

Sigh. Very, very interesting that the same design executed in two different techniques could be so totally different.

[KarenJoSeattle]

I had to go out of town this weekend for the first time in months and I missed both this conference and trunk shows by Fleece Artitst/Handmaiden. If here, I would have attended classes by Elsbeth and Vivian.

At least I can get a feel on-line for how the weekend went. Thanks for the taste.

[Rabbitch]

Despite my fear of colourwork, I love me some Bohus. My downfall may be imminent.

[vanessa]

i saw a photo of boths cuffs together and was shocked by the difference.
those old bohussies sure knew what they were doing.

[jeanne]

I made my sister a Finnish Spike pullover from Wendy Keele's book, and have the yarn for a Red Edge pullover for myself (shown in cardigan form in the fourth photo above). Once you go Bohus, you never go back! ;D

[Gail]

What beautiful photos!

Bohus/fair isle/Bohus/fair isle: it'll be interesting to see what direction your knitting future takes: what do you think you'll be knitting, say, five years from now?

Glad you came up for air even as your work deadline looms. You've taught me so much about balance (you know, that elusive thing that is found, then lost, then found, then lost...)

Hope we can get together soon!

[Barb]

Wow very "advanced' knitting there. It is amazing!
Glad you were able to carve some time out for the classes.

[Romi]

:droooool: What gorgeous pieces!

[colin]

Now these pictures certainly get the juices flowing. Thank you.

[Susanna in Seattle]

It gave me particular pleasure to read that you too found the non-purl version of the Blue Shimmer cuff to be flat and, well, ugly.

I'll also be curious to see if you go off on a Bohus tangent of your own sometime in the future. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me and I know the results would be exquisite!