Bohus knitting was a cottage industri that started 1939 in Bohuslän, a county ( landskap) in the southwest of Sweden. It was a way to earn money amoung the women of the fishing and stone industri communities. The founder was the governer´s ( landshövding) wife named Emma Jacobsson. She employed designers to do the designs that where quite difficult to knit due to many colors and mixes between knit and purlstitches. Yarn where provided, the yoke uses an angora blend. The women knitted and where payed. The sweathers and other items where sold in fine stores in Sweden as well as in the USA and other countries. I can recall a commercial for laundry detergent with a woman wearing a bohus sweather when I was a child. I read in "Poems of color" by Wendy Keele ( Interweave press, discontinued ) that they where not fond of this.
In this book there are patterns for sweathers but with a larger gauge.
If you are interested in seeing sweathers visit www.solsilke.se she makes kits for knitting bohus sweathers and have ajusted fit and size to what we prefer today. There are right now an exibition at the Swedish American institute in Minnesota. If you are not in the neighbourhood visit there homepage.
Bohus knitting lasted until 1969 but has a revival today, a lot of credit for this has to be given to Solveig Gustavsson ( solsilke )
1 comment:
Every so often (like maybe once every 6 or 7 years) I come across a Bohus in a second hand shop. Thanks for relaying the history of those sweaters.
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