Bohus, Poems of Color, and Kimmet Croft Fibers

Ever wonder how the patterns in Poems of Color and the Kimmet Croft Fibers compare to the vintage Bohus Stickning sweaters? This photo went a long way in explaining in to me.

Both hats employ the Blue Shimmer color work that Anna-Lisa Mannheimer Lunn designed in 1947, and are part of Susanna Hansson's collection.


The hat on the left is the Poems of Color version, knit at a gauge of 7 stitches per inch, in Kimmet Croft Fibers' Fairy Hare (60/40% Rambouillet wool/Angora).

The hat on the right is from a kit sold by Solveig Gustaffson, knit at a gauge of 8.5 stitches per inch in yarn she hand dyed to match the original Bohus fibers (50/50 wool/Angora).

Bohus Stickning, the sweaters I can't name

Here's the last of the photos from Susanna Hansson's Bohus Stickning workshop. She had names for all of vintage sweaters she brought, but I don't remmember them all.

This yellow one has a gorgeous combination of colors, including a strand of hot pink (click for bigger or to look at other views). It looked like it was never worn, but not many people are flattered by bright yellow:


I like this one almost as much as the Large Lace Collar. It reminds me of burnt toast:

Susanna must have said the name of this one about a dozen times. I think it was something like the Dark Palm:


Hats are probably my favorite type of handknit. I have lots of them, but I'm always thinking about more, and I wish this one was mine:

A pair of tams that were probably designed by the knitter:

And, last but not least, a cardigan that's quite unlike the others. It's my favorite. Susanna pointed out that some of the triangles are purled and some are knit. Also, it's kind of felted (well-loved):

I didn't mention that Solveig Gustafsson offers a few kits for making a tam and scarf set or a hat and scarf set. I think I'm going to order the tam kit in the Large Lace Collar pattern.

Bohus Stickning, the Large Lace Collar

Here's another one of the vintage sweaters in Susanna Hansson's collection, done in the Large Lace Collar pattern, which was designed in 1960 by Karin Ivarsson (click on photo for bigger):

Here's the same pattern appearing in a Bohus Stickning advert (click on photo for bigger):

Mmmmm, do you think they intended for one to wear a matching hat, sweater and mittens gloves. Seems a bit much.

Regardless, if you've fallen in love with this striking pattern, Solveig Gustafsson is selling kits here with exquisite, hand dyed yarn for making either a pullover or jacket version. Maybe there would be enough leftovers for making a pair of those mittens gloves.

Bohus Stickning, the Myrten

I tried doing a mosaic so that these photos would load faster, but I didn't succeed. So, without further ado, here are photos of Susanna Hansson's vintage Myrten sweater with replacement button. It was designed by Kirsten Olson in 1963. The yoke was knit from the top down, then the stitches for the back, front, and sleeves were segregated and knit flat, because side seams were a sign of quality.

Susanna Hansson's Bohus Stickning workshop

In mid-April, Susanna Hansson, a Swede who has been living in the U.S. for about 25 years, traveled from her Seattle home to teach knitting workshops in Chicago for the Windy City Knitting Guild.

Susanna offers about a dozen different workshops focusing on garment shaping and finishing techniques, as well as bead knitting, modular knitting, and an introduction to Bohus Stickning (sounds like boo-hooos, not beau-haus).

Bohus Stickning was a Swedish handknit business that sold fine gauge luxury sweaters and accessories in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The enterprise was started during war time as a way for women of Sweden's Gothenburg and Bohus counties to earn money without leaving home.

Susanna brought vintage garments she has been collecting for approximately a decade. I've got photos but I'll save them for another post. It was obvious from their buttery soft angora/wool blend and intricate color work why authentic sweaters sold for several hundred dollars even during the 1940s and spawned copies and commercial patterns.

She also brought a colorful slide show, some Bohus books, and kits for our workshop project, the Blue Shimmer wristlet:


The workshop project required the tiniest needles (for me, size 000s) and yarn with such subtle color differences that it was difficult to choose the right skein at the right time. The colors are apparent in the full skeins, but not so much when I was working with just the 2-ply strands.

The angora/wool blend yarn that Susanna brought with her is hand dyed (painstakingly!) in Sweden by Solveig Gustafsson to match the original Bohus yarn. Solveig sells Bohus kits on her website, but if you want to make the Blue Shimmer Wristlet, you'll have to take Susanna's class. Here's a vintage hat and a new wristlet:

Bohus Stickning designs incorporated not only subtle color changes, but also well-placed knit and purl stitches:

After a full day of instruction and knitting, we gathered all our wristlets together and admired our work. (Really, it wasn't just Susanna, there's a whole bunch of camera shy women on the other side of the table.)
Susanna is a wonderful teacher. Although she's been leading workshops for a few years, she's not as well known as other instructors, probably only because she is not a prolific writer. Search her out, she's wonderful. :)

Eye Candy Friday

Happy Friday! Chicago is having marvelous Springy weather this weekend, but I'm not fooled into thinking it's here to stay. It's not Spring until it's safe to head to the garden center and load up on gorgeous tender plants for our flower beds. Let's see what this next week brings us.

I'm still having issues with the photos I took at the Bohus workshop, but this one seems to be OK: