I have of late been developing an obsession with Swedish textiles, and, it now appears, with all things Swedish. This began at the end of last Summer, when I discovered that several Swedish Etsy sellers had some interesting vintage embroidery on offer . . .
. . . I had to limit my exposure to these wares, as the imperative to fill my house with table runners and cloths and cushions and curtains was just too bloody tempting.
Then I started picking up books about Swedish embroidery, and other crafts . . .
The Eivor Fisher book (which was published in Paisley) is particularly beautiful and inspiring. (Thankyou, Natalie, for alerting me to its existence).
“The Street”
“Gooseberries”
. . .before I knew where I was, I was following the Gävlebocken on Instagram . . .
. . . and sourcing dvd box-sets of Swedish historical dramas
(Anno 1790, which I highly recommend)
The last straw came a couple of days ago, when Mary Jane posted a link on Twitter to this set of images of Bohus knitting
(Reproduced from digitalmuseum.se)
Well, there is nothing for it. I have to go to Sweden. I am perfectly serious, and I would really appreciate any suggestions from readers in that part of the world for must-see textile collections or museums.
Tack så mycket.
KDD & Co 
If I were you I’d visit the beautiful capital, Stockholm and go to Nordiska museet. It’s a great big beautiful museum whith lots of things to discover. I would pop over to Skansen to get a whiff of old Sweden and see som nice Swedish animals and get inspiration. Then I’d head over to Thielska galleriet and Waldermarsudde, where the artist prins used to live. I’d have dinner in a nice restaurant and take a boat ride.
Then I’d head for Gothenburg and visit Röhska museet. Nice place. There you can find more of the beautiful yokes for Bohus sweaters (I hope). Send Röhska an email and ask what they can show you. I would eat lots of seafood at a great restaurant and go on to Skåne and look att their brides wear and the cushions they had on their sleighs. I would as where to go at Röhska.
Gotland is a beautiful island with lots of handicraft, lots of wool and beautiful things…
If you still want more you should go up to Sapmi, where they have beautiful textiles… Have you seen the book “Solveigs vantar”? It’s expensive, but beautiful. So many beautiful mittens.
I’d like to do all of this and I live here :) Anyway, you definately should visit our great country (in spring or summer). Love your work! Petra
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Schoolhouse Press has a beautiful book about Bohus knitting:-)
Think you for a wonderfull blog! Lone
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Kate! Where you at?
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Look at this site: http://www.fingerfarda.com/
Here are both traditional and new sweedish embroidery
Anne
from Denmark
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Hi Kate,
Sweden is my usual holiday destination in summer, and I always come back with yarns and other stuff (some of my favourite DPNs are from Sweden!).
I’ve been to Bohusläns Museum in Uddevalla (http://www.bohuslansmuseum.se/sv/Vastarvet/Verksamheter/Bohuslans-museum/ ) which, I think, is worth visiting.
Halland Art Museum in Halmstad (http://www.hallandskonstmuseum.se/om-museet/english/ ) is said to be a good place to visit, too, but I haven’t been there yet.
As many people suggest, Nordiska Museet in Stockholm is a must, and whenever you find Hemslöjd shop, just pop in. (In Stockholm, there is one at outside of Skansen, and another on Nybrogatan 23).
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Heja Sverige! My husband is Swedish and we lived there for a bit. Until recently I could have directed you to his childhood home. Both his parents, now gone, were only children and inherited lots of stuff, including some lovely embroidered textiles. Some of these are now in my home. I agree, “Anno 1790” was a winner. Sad that it wasn’t picked up for another season. The only other show I can think of to recommend is the Swedish version of “Supersizers go…”, which is called Historieätarna (“The History Eaters”), but while it’s available on youtube, there are no subtitles.
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If you have time in between visiting all these fascinating places, try and go to some Swedish charity shops! Big out of town type warehouses with lots worth looking at: think IKEA crossed with Sue Ryder. There are more handmade items and equipment than in the UK, and a higher standard of skill in the work, too, plus a very characteristic national style. The handmade furniture is worth taking a van over for!
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oh my goodness what a fantastic response from your readers, there is a wealth of information here, i hope it will help you in planning. i am from a swedish grandfather (norweigian grandmother) and have a deep facination of all things scandinavian, these examples of needlework you’ve shared are stunning. i hope hope hope to be there someday too!
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I suggest perusing http://borntoknitblog.blogspot.com/ Ms. Landin doesn’t blog much these days, but she has an interest in traditional Swedish textiles and has shown various collections in her blog over the years. Enjoy!
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You’ve taken me back over fifty years to when I bought Eivor Fischer’s book. I made a lot of the pieces (including The Street, The tree, numerous cushion designs as wall hangings, runners etc., etc.). The white tablecloth has sat wrapped up in a drawer for over forty years as I couldn’t bear to use it and stain it with food after it had taken so long to make! I also have a book called Delsbosom, which I bought when I spent six weeks in Uppsala in the early eighties, which contains a lot of “red” embroidery. Looking at these books again I realise they heavily influenced my book design.
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I trained in upholstery and design and have always loved Swedish design. When I was training we had to create working designs and I based these on Irish and Swedish designs – neither of these were popular then. For my final piece – a wing chair – I even made the top cover fabric. So, like you, and a lot of other people here I love Swedish, Icelandic – Scandinavian design – and a visit to these places is on my ‘I hope to’ list. I haven’t had time to read all the comments here but will do and follow the links on some of the stormy days we are due to have this week on the South Coast!! You have so many suggestions here already for places to visit that I don’t think I can actually add to them, though you might want to put Iceland on your to visit list and visit here: http://www.isholf.is/textile/syningar_e.htm
What I would like to suggest though are a couple of books that I think you, and others here would really like – if you don’t already have them! – and they are:
150 Scandinavian Knitting Designs (Knitters Directory) Mary Jane Mucklestone
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844489345/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
this has 4 projects at the end of the book it is really a book about the designs. By the way the 150 Scandinavian Motifs is just the American title not a different book! – I have never been disappointed with any of her books, the are always well written, clear, full of information and tips.
Also, for sewing I thoroughly recommend: Stitched in Scandinavia: 39 Contemporary Embroidery Projects Karin Holmberg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Stitched-Scandinavia-Contemporary-Embroidery Projects/dp/1408191946/ref=pd_sim_b_5
You might like to look at Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scandinavian-Needlecraft-Clare-Youngs/dp/1907030220/ref=pd_sim_b_4
Sorry for the long post but I do hope it is of some use and interest to you and others here.
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What a joy to read about yout interest in Sweden and all the reactions too. I moved from the Netherlands some 3 years ago to Sweden (Hälsingland, just 100 km from Gävlebocken ☺) and I didn´t regret it for a minute. It is heaven for naturelovers and even more for textile and wool lovers with all the additional techniques. Both traditional as modern. In my neigbourhood lots of visitworthy stuff. Such ass the Hälsinge Gårder (old farms), filtmakeriet.se (ull) and vaxbolin.se (Linen). And for e few kronor you manage to by the most beautiful old textiles in the hundreds of lopppisar (secondhand shops)
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I am also planning a ‘Scandinavian’ trip this Summer – but more in my mind than my husbands – as I plan to go in our VW campervan: if it gets there! I’m not sure if it will be Sweden or not but I have always had my eye on the Skansen Museum in Stockholm which was used as the setting for Kaffe Fassett’s ‘Quilts in Sweden’ book by Rowan – it looks pretty amazing.
Talking about Scandinavian films/tv, get the film ‘A Royal Affair’ which stars Mads Mikkelson which is truly gorgeous – the picture on your blog reminded me of it – and of course there is Borgen, The Bridge, The Killing: all quality TV.
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http://www.utmark.se/php/show.php?doc=tapet&lang=en
This is The Pilgrim Tapestry which is a 40 metre long embroidery in wool on linen cloth which depicts the Pilgrim’s Way from Hammarö in Sweden to Trondheim / Nidaros in Norway.
It’s in a small museum in Ransby, North Värmaland where I’m from. It’s in the middle of nowhere but tons to see and explore! Have a go at the moose safari too! :)
You’ll have an amazing trip/time wherever you go in Sweden, it’s beautiful all over!
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I too have the Eivor Fisher book and I love all the patterns. One day I’m going to customise the Tree of Life just for us.
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What an amazing response to your blog.
On another subject: I want to thank you for the Northmavine Hap pattern. I knitted it as soon as I’d bought your book, and it’s the only shawl that sits permanently on our dining room table, ready for wear. I was listening to the “Thank you” segment of Saturday Live, as I was getting dressed ready to walk my dog, (the Hap wraps cosily round me and ties at the back), and thought I must thank you for such a great pattern.
Jennifer
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Kate ,
A very nice blog is : Hey Tjorven. She visits Sweden very often en has a lot of information about it.
My personal favorite is Annemor Sundbo. She is a designer from Norway and wrote great books.
I bought a lot of traditional books by De Afstap in Amsterdam.
And of course I’m a big fan of you!!!!
Bye Miriam.
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:21:43 +0000 To: m-kleijnen@hotmail.com
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Dear Kate, you are also most welcome to Norway, we are practically your closest relatives when it comes to all things Shetland(ish), languagewise et al. We can also offer loads of regional interesting knitting spanning several hundred years. The “Norsk Folkemuseum” in Oslo, the largest Norwegian Cultural Museum offers a very interesting knitting exhibition – scroll down on this website in English: http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/en/
Eli
P.S. Smiling when reading your entries re. your visits to Jamieson’s – been and bought yarn for a Fair Isle sweater which turned out quite nicely, including my first attempt at steeking!
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Not really related to the Swedish wave, but when I saw one of the pictures in the Norwegian link, I thought of the way Bulgarians in villages carry their young children – at the bottom of the page: http://www.wua.org.uk/appeal_bulgaria.php#!prettyPhoto (this is not knitted, it’s woven).
This is another example of a costume: http://ethnoworld.tumblr.com/post/15024458229/bulgarian-karakachanis-the-karakachani-a
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You should totally go to Sweden, but if you want to look at materials for sale online, Nordic Needle in Fargo, North Dakota (US) has a good selection. http://www.nordicneedle.com
They have lots of hardanger designs etc., which is Norwegian, but also supplies for huck weaving which looks a lot like your pictures. (I don’t work there, just a customer.)
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My non-knitting son lives in Sweden, I’m marooned in a country where yarn is almost entirely manufactured out of acrylic and designed for grannies – it’s not fair. Upside, i can visit him.
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Sätergläntan provides a stimulating meeting-place for handicraft enthusiasts. Here folk art and folk traditions are omnipresent as our knowledge base and source of inspiration.
http://www.saterglantan.se/index_en.php
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Sätergläntan provides a stimulating meeting-place for handicraft enthusiasts. Here folk art and folk traditions are omnipresent as our knowledge base and source of inspiration.
http://www.saterglantan.se/
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There’s a new-ish novel about Agnes Magnusdottir (the last woman executed in Iceland) which is based on historical documents. It’s called “Burial Rites”, by Hannah Kent. Wonderful reading.
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Thank you for the recommendation of Anno 1790, we love Scandinavian dramas. Any others you have found please?
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It is amazing, all this stuff, the embroidery and the knitted things! I think that this kind of women’s craft is very special.
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I will second the recommendations for the Nordiska museet and Uppsala – highlights of my last visit there (and YlloTyll is a wonderful yarn shop). A trip to Skansen – just across the water from the Nordiska museet is a must too. The Svenska Hjemsjold shop is well worth a visit – you’ll find lovely yarns, textiles, books and other craft related stuff as well as excellent quality crafts to buy.
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I highly recommend visiting the K A Almgren Silk Weaving Mill in Stockholm. It is the oldest silk weaving mill still working north of the Alps. It has incredible machinery, examples of their products, and an interesting history of the company. If I remember correctly, the museum is open only in the afternoons as the looms are in use in the morning! There used to be a huge flea market held in a parking garage (not exactly sure where!) where I bought a large number of textiles including a rya rug for very little money. Fortunately I’d taken a half empty suitcase on my trip! Lived in Stockholm area as a child in the 50s and still yearn for a Bohus sweater like I saw in the NK department store. Love Swedish textiles! You really must visit Sweden….
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Oh, yes you should definitely go. I love the Skandinavian style and it would be great to see your designs with such a style. The yarn is great as well: BC Garn, Isager,… but also more locals
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If you like woven textiles there is a big weave fair in Umeå http://www.svenskavav.com/ in september this year. Umea is EUs capital of culture this year, so it´s a lot going on in our region up in northen Swedwn.
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I visited Umeå last week and it is a beautiful city. Neighbouring Skellefteå has an active weaving group in Nordanå, the outdoor museum, and I was lucky enough to have a private tour, including looking through the weaving records and samples. There seems to be beautiful work, new and old, to be discovered throughout the country. Don’t be put off by the cold: ‘there is no bad weather, only wrong clothes’!
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There are quite a few wonderful wool mills that are Worth a visit
http://www.filtmakeriet.se/
http://www.solkustens-spinnverkstad.com/
http://www.walstedts.se/
http://www.ullspinneriet.com/
I’ve heard that the Bohus museum has wonderful stuff too (http://www.bohuslansmuseum.se/sv/Vastarvet/Verksamheter/Bohuslans-museum/), as do a number of museums in Stockholm.
This place is supposed to be great too! http://www.saterglantan.se/
Good luck!
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Hej Kate, varmt välkommen till Sverige! It’s exciting to read about your plans about visiting Sweden. I did not manage to read all the comments so maybe I’ll repeat something. However, when visiting the Nordiska museet (as several people already recommended) I would combine this visit with a visit at Skansen http://www.skansen.se the open air museum just next to the Nordiska museet. Houses, farmsteads and culture from all over Sweden are arranged there with people dressed upp with authentic or even original old clothes guiding you and/or welcoming you inside the buildings. During fall they usually have some linen- and woll-days as well. A Stockholm insider tip: Once a month on a wednesday (except summer months) Nordiska museum has an evening without any entrance fee and a knitting café in the monumental museum hall. Sometimes the knitting cafe is combined with a lecture about a knitting technique or a knitted museum piece. http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/press/stickcafeer
Finally, I’d like to link Ölands Ullcentrum: http://www.ullcentrum.com/ It’s a ‘woolcenter’ founded by Ann in the late nineties on Sweden’s second big island in the baltic sea. She was tired of that all the local wool was just thrown away as it had no financial worth. Today she is very successfull and sells very nice swedish yarn.
Lycka till! Barbara
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I try again
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Wow! It’s perfect design of embroidery! Thank you! I like your blog very much!
My name’s Natallia and I’m from Belarus, my blog – http://belarusaczka.blogspot.com
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Hi Kate! I was lucky to go to a conference in Sweden in 2007 to celebrate the tricentenary of Linnaeus. In Uppsala I had a personal tour of the Linnaeus house, which has a room devoted to the textile production of Linnaeus’s wife and daughters. Upstairs (not usually on public view, but you could probably make an appointment) were drawers full of textiles woven and sewn by hand, including the unsewn pieces of a boy’s waistcoat and the wedding dress of one of his daughters. There is a wonderful yarn store there, Yll o Tyll, where I got some beautiful handspun Gotland yarn overdyed with a lovely green vegetable dye. I used it with a lace pattern I found at the Linnean Society in London in a box of correspondence including patterns collected by Lady Smith after her husband’s death–you never know where you’ll find a great knitting pattern!
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I’m so happy that you love the Swedish design as I love yours. More Bohus knitting you can se here
http://www.solsilke.se/
/maria from Sweden
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Here are the pictures again:
Tack och hej!
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I’m so happy that Sweden and Swedish textiles inspire you!
I’m from the north of Sweden and I highly recommend that you go to the north of Sweden; it’s beautiful all year round, but especially in the winter with all the snow and the northern lights. In the beginning of February every year Jokkmokks marknad (Jokkmokks market) is taking place. Here you can see traditional sami handcraft of all kind, a lot of wood, textiles and food.
Dress warm it is usually very cold ;)
http://www.jokkmokksmarknad.se/home/
While you are up north you can also visit Jukkasjärvis Ice Hotel:
http://www.icehotel.com/
We have landscape embroidery for every province in Sweden. I really like the Jämtlandssöm that have beautiful figurative design:
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(The embroidery on these pictures are by Anna Göransdotter, 1797-1867)
There is so much more to see and find out about Sweden and Swedish textiles and I hope that you get some new inspiration from all the comments on this post.
Snowy and cold greetings from Sweden ;)
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Presume you have a copy of “Poems of Colour”?
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Welcome to Sweden, in summer we have lovely light nights and it is warm too :-) You really should visit Gotland. Check out the Facebook group Online Stickcafé (Knitting café on line) if you haven’t already!
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I spent 8 months in Uppsala and found lots of hand knit, woven and embroidered treasures in the second hand shops, I brought back to the US as much as I could reasonably bring in my suitcases including a woven rag rug. I especially loved the hand knit baby and children’s sweaters I saw and imagined all the granny’s that made them.
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I went to Sweden nearly 30 years ago and it is incredibly beautiful…. I also love all of the textiles etc. I went to an amazing arts and crafts ‘castle’ called Tjoloholm
http://www.tjoloholm.se/in-english?jglmid=43
I would highly recommend a visit, although to be honest I cannot remember what sort of textiles were there.
whatever – GO! It’s such a gorgeous country and the people are beautiful too. I have always wanted to return to Scandinavia, may be a little trickier now I live in Tasmania.
Also – go to Iceland! Do you know of The Icelandic Knitter? I am sure you do…. she is amazing.
travel well! Looking forward to seeing the results of this inspiration in yr work
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You might check out Johanne Landin, a Swedish knitter from Stockholm. Her blog is Born to Knit, and her work is beautiful.
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Beautiful and fascinating. Do hope you get to go and see all this for yourself. Then of course I hope you share it all with us.
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Hi, Kate, Your new post about Swedish design is great, as are all your posts. I have 2 copies of Poems of Color which is a book about Bohus Stickning history, knitting and quite a few patterns for sweaters, one of which you posted. I would be happy to send this book to you if you would like it. Perhaps you can look it up on line to see if it’s something you’d like. email: eblim01@yahoo.com Elaine Lim
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! I can’t wait until you go, cos it’s a place I would dearly love to visit but know I won’t for some time to come. Now I can see it via you!
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We’ve got some beautifully embroidered linen, some of which must be nearly a hundred years old, and quite a few gorgeous tapestries – the Swedes certainly are (were?) talented in that respect!
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Of course you should come! We are many swedish knitters who would love to help you put together a great travel plan, book meetings at some of the museums, visiting knitters, spinning mills and so on! We would love to have you here!
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Kate, I am sure you have Wendy Keele’s Poems of Color. yes?
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If you haven’t found Blekingesöm yet it is another of the beautiful heritage we have in embroidery.Much of the old ones are in pale pinks and blues (embroidered with double thread, both cotton and linen) but it has been apparent that these from the start were in brighter colors but has faded.
https://www.google.se/search?q=blekinges%C3%B6m&client=firefox-a&hs=uba&rls=org.mozilla:sv-SE:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_gvXUpSLOqKlyAOG04GwBQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1429&bih=921&dpr=0.9
Blekinge is situatated in the far south east of Sweden – also called the “garden of Sweden” and has a beautiful archipelago.
and on top you have all the beautiful Swedish folk costumes (and Norway have many beautiful ones too)
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I had the opportunity to vacation in Sweden for 2 weeks this past summer. My son is at Uppsala University working on his PHD, so I had a great tour guide! I loved the textiles displayed in almost all the shops and Uppsala had a wonderful yarn store two blocks from my hotel. I packed light so I had room to bring home plenty of both. Oh, the food was also wonderful! I hope you are able to travel to Sweden in the near future, I can’t wait to return!!
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I’ll second the recommendation of Nordiska and throw in Hallwylska Muséet (same architect btw), http://hallwylskamuseet.se/en
Here’s a collection to peruse from home:
http://digitaltmuseum.se/ (filter it by Nordiska, Bohusläns, Upplands and Skansen and you should be good to go)
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Oh goodness, Kate, are you called a Swedophile, or is there another proper title! I must say I share you admiration for all things Swedish, though I have never been!
This morning in the shower i was plotting how I could learn Swedish for no other reason than all things lovely and inspiring come from there.
“The Street” is a particularly glorious piece.
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My first instinct was to comment something like “YOUCANTOTALLYUSEMYSPAREBED!”, but what I meant by that was that if you happen to come to Gothenburg, you will be welcome at our knitting group. You know that sting of patriotic excitement that hits you when someone you admire seem excited about the place where you live.
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Sigrid, you took the words out of my mouth… My instinct was the same. ;)
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If you go to Sweden, will you consider stopping in Norway on the way? Here in Lillehammer we have an interesting textile exhibition staying till August 31st.
http://www.maihaugen.no/no/Maihaugen/Utstillinger/Tusen-trader—en-historiefortelling-i-tekstil/
http://www.lillehammerartmuseum.com/?p=3846
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I am Swedish and becomes very happy to read all the comments on your post. It is enjoyable that you all are fascinated by Sweden and Scandinavia, while I and many others dream of going to Scotland, Shetland, etc. What lovely exchanges we get!
Here you can see the fantastic books on Scandinavian folklore. The texts are in English and Swedish. Incredible pictures.
http://www.scandinavianfolklore.com/sidor/sidor_ur_bok1_new.html
http://www.scandinavianfolklore.com/sidor/sidor_ur_bok2_new.html
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LOVE THAT HAT!
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Skansen for sure. Have you looked at Laila Duran’s blog (and magnificent books). Just google Folklore Fashion. I think you would really enjoy it.
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At Nordiska museet in Stockholm, you can find a textile collection. I can’t find any information about it in English on their site but you can have a look at some pictures if you follow the first link. (The second link is for the Museums English pages.)
http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/en/node/904
http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/en
Best regards from Inger in Stockholm
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There are so many textile centres in Sweden I hardly know where to begin. I would say a trip to Dalarna is a must, Carl and Karin Larsson’s home is an inspiration. Bohus knitting on the west coast,
but I don’t know of a specific centre. Hälsingland (Delsbo and other places) is known for its beautiful linen weaving. Lappland and the “same slöjd” is a must – see http://www.sameslojd.se
Borås is a textile centre on the west part of Sweden, not far from Gothenburg. I would suggest you go
during the summer months when the days go on forever. Gotland is another place.
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Scandinavian countries are on my wish list – I love their style of housing and decor and the interest in all things Swedish is only to be encouraged!
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Yes, Go!!! I forced my family to visit ‘sheepy-places’ (their words) when we were on Gotland, It was difficult to pull them away from the history and the shore. We traveled to Dalarna but didn’t make it farther north, our only regret of the trip, I copied Krakspark’s comment for the next trip.
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Oh wow, Kate, I love your followers as much as I love your post! SO MUCH Stuff to look at. I also want a Scandi holiday soon, In wishful planning stage with a friend at the moment.May be a while.
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Lately I’ve been really inspired by Scandinavia as well; textiles, knitting but also history and landscapes etc. For me it started with Iceland. But since the summer things have gone really bonkers and I’ve expanded my obsession to the other Scandinavian countries. I’ve never been to Sweden so I cannot offer any advise as to that, but I have enjoyed reading the comments before that do offer lots of advise.
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Well, it is as if this post has been waiting for me. I have been wanting to go to Scandinavia for a long time now. I love it all. If you want a companion……………..
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The Swedish Embroidery Guild introduced World Embroidery Day in 2011 with a brilliant Manifesto which you can find here http://www.broderiakademin.nu/30juli/
They also have info & expertise on Swedish embroidery both historic and contemporary and have branches in most of the regions. the easiest way to get in touch with them is via their Kontact page
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I had the good fortune to take a wonderful trip to Sweden and Norway a couple of years ago. My favorite museum that related to textiles and Swedish cultural history was the Dalarna Museum in Falun, Sweden, only about a 2-3 hour drive from the Stockholm airport. Their collections of textiles, etchings, and Dalarna horses were amazing. Many other great things in the museum, as well, including contemporary art. Falun is also very noteworthy for the remarkable copper mine there, a World Heritage Site. And, nearby is also the beautiful home of Carl and Karin Larsson, in the picturesque town of Sundborn. In Stockholm, the Nordiska Museum is not to be missed! You definitely should go to Sweden…..I hope I can go back to both countries again soon.
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Are you familiar with this site: http://www.svenskhemslojd.com/ ? They have a nice blog, and a shop in Stockholm, and a webshop too. I really, really like your blog, by the way, it is so inspiring!
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In 2008 we went to southern Sweden on holiday, mistiming our visit so we hit a heatwave and an Iron Maiden concert. We visited Gothenburg and the Bohus museum, then drove across to the ferry for Gotland. Amazing churches and Viking picture stones all over Gotland. Returning to Stocklolm, we visited some stunning museums, but the Viking goldwork – huge torcs and arm-rings – was much more in evidence than the textiles.
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Hello – my stepmother is Swedish and lives there so I’ll ask her where you should go for textile collections and museums. I’ll let you know.
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There are some beautiful designs in traditional Baltic states knitting as well
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I got some lovely gloves for my daughter this Christmas from Latvia, on Etsy!
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Lovely! I just bought a book on Bohus knitting yesterday after seeing the link, and having loved some things on ravelry. Maybe all the Scandinavian TV on Saturday nights helps? Although I don’t go all Sicilian when Montalbano is on….
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A person in the knitting world I think you should contact is Karin Kahnlund, her contact details can be found here: http://www.uppstickaren.com/kontakt/index.html
She lives in Dalarna and is a teacher at HV Skola, the school for higher textile education.
And also, Anna-Karin Jobs Arnberg, she is a curator at Nordiska muséet (Nordic museum), her details are here: http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/kontakt/medarbetare/arnberg-anna-karin-jobs
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Lovely post! I especially like “the street” and the pointed hat.
Best,
Sheila
http://sheilazachariae.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-first-knittingcrochet-bookwell-sort.html
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When will you go?
My husband is a frequent visitor of Sweden for his work, maybe I can tag along sometimes! Keep us posted of your plans and progress!
(I agree, it’s wonderful in design and colours!)
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Oh, this post is like a gift meant for me! My mother was Swedish and I am pretty obsessed with that part of myself.I hope to take that trip and make your own book (my own book?) inspired by what you see and learn. It would be so great to have a small group tour with you as our leader. I long to go to Sweden, but only in the warmer sunnier months.
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Oops, meant to say “I hope YOU take that trip”
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I always dream my home will look like Carl and Karin Larsson’s – their home is a museum now, though I have never been.
I also find the textile work of the Swedish Sami people to be amazing- there is a small book on textile of Scandinavian Inuit cultures- title escapes me but will try to find out!
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I´m so glad that you mention Sweden and Swedish textiles!
I can highly recommend you a trip to Sweden! But you have to travel futrher north to visit what I recomend!
Here are some swedish textil related tips:
Märta -Stina Abrahamsdotter was a lady in middle/north of the country and she made beautiful stranded knitting patterns:
http://textilhemslojd.se/sticka/sticktekniker-historik/monsterstickning/vasternorrland-marta-stina-abrahamsdotter
http://stickmanikern.blogspot.se/2013/07/marta-stina-abrahamsdotter.html
http://palett-paleteau.blogspot.se/2012/01/modern-stickdesigner-redan-da.html
And in Delsbo in Hälsingland ( were I live ) you can see this cardigan:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/delsbotroja
Here is a link about two stranded knitting which is an very old tradition in Swedish folk art.
http://www.hemslojd-tidningen.se/handarbetaren/category/tvaandsstickning/
And Mora costume is only one example of all folk costumes we have:
http://www.emmafrost.se/1/category/moradrakt1e32305480/1.html
I really hope that you can translate it to english, otherwise if you google maybe you can find english sites.
If you will look for embroidery we have a lot of landscape embroidery tecnics.
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thank-you Krakspark. We were in Sweden last summer, I wish we had taken the time to go farther north….I copied your links for the next time we are there.
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Krakspark was absolutely right – you’ll love Märta-Stina Abrahamsdotter, a woman born in 1825 who spent her life in poverty, never married, was regarded as strange by those around her, and left a unique treasure of designed and executed textiles. You could try asking Asplund (I forget his first name) if he would translate some of the text on the links Krakspark provides – I’d offer myself, but I’m without broadband access at home at present, and dependent on the charity of friends and the public library for anything online, and other things are pressing.
And thank you, Kråkspark (I assume), for reminding me of Märta-Stina’s name – I was very sad to have lost track of her, and couldn’t find search terms specific enough to identify her.
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Do you know about this blog? He’d probably be a good person to ask.
http://asplundknits.blogspot.co.uk
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some time ago i found this book when i was on a holiday in sweden, and i had to buy it despite not being able to read it. it’s so inspiring! http://www.hemslojdensforlag.se/sv-SE/shop/1122-Vaara_boecker/1450-Yllebroderier.aspx
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I’m totally with you re all things Swedish (except Ikea, which seems to have gone downhill since my youth). If it weren’t so far away and so darn dark, I’d go there in a flash too. Can’t wait to see what inspired things you come up with. And thanks for the tip about Anno 1790. I’m definitely intrigued.
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A veritable treasure trove of wonderful textiles! The Bohus knitting ~ head turning. And who can pass up a great historical drama.
A great post!
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You should have a look at the Nordic Thoughts blog…she always has so many inspirational posts of all things Nordic. I’m sure if you searched Sweden in her blog you would find some tempting ideas! I myself am obsessed with one day going to the Faroe Islands. Hope you have a lovely time. The patterns are stunning yet so simple.
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Lovely work, just beautiful. I love Swedish textiles, knitting, embroidery, not to mention our Swedish friends who have taught us so much about Sweden and Swedish culture. This post is such a treat. Thank you Kate!
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And another obvious place to visit is Carl and Karin Larsson’s home Lilla Hyttnäs, also in Dalarne. Karin Larsson was a weaver and an embroiderer and has made a lot (if not all) of the various textiles in the home. Here’s a link to the official home page which you might already know. http://www.clg.se/enstart.aspx
I can also recommend the TV series Anno 1790, which was shown here in Denmark in 2012. We’re hoping that there’ll be a follow-up someday.
And I didn’t know that you could follow the Gävlebocken on Instagram. But it’s no surprise. :-)
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Just beautiful pieces of work. I will have to look up Bohus knitting, is it a form of fair isle? I would love to go to Sweden someday, I have cousins in that country.
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If you happen to end up in Gothenburg, I’d happily show you my favourite yarn shops. Though as an Australian I’m not really up on swedish designs and techniques. I’ve only lived here a few years.
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Kate, you should come knit with us sometime! http://stickklubbengbg.wordpress.com/kommande-och-gamla-traffar/
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Bohuslan Museum on the west Coast. You should contact Solveig Gustafsson, who just recently retired and sold out of all of her sweater kits. She is a master dyer, and her website was solsilke.se
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I am absolutely bonkers about all things Scandinavian too… wandering about in the dark through snow must resonate with my Canadian sense of self. I loved every museum I went to in Stockholm, and I went to pretty much all of them. For your purposes, though, I would imagine the Nordic Museum is a must see. Skansen would also be fun, since it affords an opportunity to wander through recreated historic homes replete with delightful Swedish design.
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Bohusläns muséum in Uddevalla is a must, is might be best to contact them before you com.
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Can you contact Susanna Hansson? She is a master of Bohus and all knitting Swedish. I know she will be the the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma in February (http://madronafiberarts.com/) Also contact the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle (http://www.nordicmuseum.org/) for their suggestions and contacts. I attended a conference there (Susanna was teaching, along with Annemor Sundbo and many other great folks) and love, love, loved it. Hope you find all that you are looking for and enjoy every minute. All best, Suzanne
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If you go to Stockholm, you should visit Nordiska Museet: http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/en
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Hi Kate, you’d want to go to Dalarna – for its museum on two end knitting – technique, gloves (amongst other things) colour and other knitting history.
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:::::”And i think to myself, What a wonderful world.”::::::::
——Louis Armstrong + me x-x-x
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Dear RockandWool,
Your comment was truly breathtaking.
Enid
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Very interesting, like American embroidery called ” red work”. There is an urban legend quilter,knitter, embroiderer with a website on wordsmith? called completely cauchy that has some beautiful red work calligraphy — you might like to look at that.
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