Bohus and Icelandic knitting are comparable in many ways. They are both knit in the round using colorwork. Their motif patterns are similar and knit sweaters concentrate on the yolk for the design element .
Bohus Stickning of Swedish couture knitting was designed in 1939. Formed in the town of Bohuslan by a group of skilled knitters whose husbands were unemployed quarry workers. It was a way to employ women, using their skills, to pay their bills. Emma Jacobsson ( one of the six designers) was the founder of the group.
The yoke of the sweater (in general) contains the design while the rest of the sweater is a solid neutral. Hats, scarves and gloves were also made in matching sets. Quality yarns of 50/50 merino/angora were used.
Icelandic wool knitting, is from Icelandic sheep. They are a sturdy, breed of sheep that isn't always suitable for next-to-skin wear but very warm. The fiber is dual coated, meaning that it has a long outer coat called tog and a fine inner coat called thel.
In Iceland in the early 1900’s several women began to experiment with knitting directly with lopi fiber. They used unspun woolen fibers, rather than first spinning the lopi into yarn. The lopi sweater designs bear a resemblance to knitted sweaters from southern Sweden.
The difference between these two styles, one from Sweden and one from Iceland is in the yarn. The Swedes use a fine merino/angora blend, while the Icelandic knitters use Lopi. The soft merino/angora yarn is warm, delicate and more dressier with a beautiful angora bloom that surrounds the garment. The Icelandic garments are sportier and stand up to more wear. They are very warm and can last for generations.
Knitting Daily has a Freyja sweater and hat pattern for you to try. Give colorwork a try. If it is your first time working with two or more colors in a row, try a small project like this hat. You can always change the pattern and put in less pattern.
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