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Designers for Bohus Stickning
Emma Jacobsson
The creator of Bohus Stickning
In 1936, Emma Jacobsson was the wife of the County Governor of Gothenburg. In this role she was approached and asked to help with finding suitable employment for housewives in Bohuslän to supplement household income in the unemployment crisis in the region. After some initial exploration, they decided to focus on knitwear partly because it would allow women to earn an income while also managing their obligations as wifes and mothers. This led to the formation of Bohus Stickning in 1939.
Emma Jacobsson took on the task of producing beautiful patterns and yarns, as well as training knitters through courses and raising the level of needlework. The knitting courses strengthened the women socially and were a prerequisite for the success of this cottage industry.
Emma drew on her previous studies in science methodology to work with the wool, which was bought by the bag and which she ensured was sorted with meticulous care. Only wool of the highest quality was used for Bohus Knitting's own production. Much of the work had her personal touch, such as for the naming of the finished garments, which reflected her wealth of associations for with art and culture. Emma also created her own, often stylized, patterns, including Yxorna, Kransen and Lilla and Stora Nejlikan.
Bohus Stickning produced primarily pullovers and cardigans in addition to headgear, socks and mittens. In order to broaden the range and elevate the brand's desirability, the company desired a yarn which would be softer against the skin. This led them to spinning yarns with angora rabbit wool. Around 1945, wool from angora rabbit was introduced which, in a blend with sheep's wool, became very soft and durable and allowed new and exciting avenues of design. At the same time, circular knitting was introduced. In 1947 the circular knitted yoke was presented for the first time. Ttogether with the use of purl stitches in the patterns, the round yoke became a hallmark of Bohus Stickning.
Emma Jacobsson was active from 1939 to 1969 in Bohus Stickning. A firm that started as emergency relief work for the people developed into an exclusive and luxurious artisanal design house.
Recreated designs by Emma Jacobsson
Design
Randiga Loppan
Yxorna
Vävnaden
Stora Nejlikan
Vridna Randen
Lilla Röda Nejlikan
Den enfärgade
Rådjurspåret
Blomsterstjärnan
Persern
Kransen Blå
Lilla Nejlikan Brun
Randiga Kinesen
Kretensaren
Spetsen
Korset
Fönstret
Oket
Year
1940s
1940
1940s
1940
1940
1940
1940s
1948-55
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
Recreated year
1999
2000
2004
2004
2011
2011
2019
2019
2021
2021
2021
2021
2022
2022
2022
2023
2023
2023
Vera Bjurström
Active from 1939 until 1940s
Vera Bjurström was a good friend of Emma's. She brought Bohus Stickning a very unique type of pattern stemming from her skills in embroidery. She proposed the garments with an embroidered decoration. Her signature became chain stitch embroidery.
With coarse chain stitches in white and gray on smooth knitted surfaces, mostly navy blue, red or gray, she created lively and expressive pattern effects. She mainly used heavy rya wool yarns, typically worsted weight. The embroidered designs offered several advantages: it created a three-dimensional decoration in a yarn-saving way, which was important during the war years, and it allowed garments of this type to be made in stages. Some were knitted, others embroidered.
The patterns Kråkspark and Kedjesöm can be considered Vera Bjurström's best. They became classics and were in production throughout Bohus Stickning's existence.
Anna─Lisa Mannheimer Lunn
Active early 1940s until 1953
Anna-Lisa Mannheimer Lunn was, like Vera Bjurström, a close friend of Emma Jacobsson and she worked voluntarily to produce patterns for Bohus Stickning . Anna-Lisa had her own artistic expression and often used purl stitches in her knitting to frame pattern shapes and create relief and texture.
In the mid-1940s, Bohus Stickning began to experiment with angora yarns. The early angora yarn was called EJA which stood for Emma Jacobsson Angora. It was blended from 30% angora and 70% fine wool. 1947 saw the launch of the most popular pattern of all time in Bohus Stickning's collection, the circular yoke pattern composed by Anna-Lisa: the exquisite Blå Skimmer.
Later on, more and more exclusivity was requested, the yarns were refined further and higher percentages of angora were used - up to for 60% angora towards the end of the 60s.
Another example of Anna-Lisa's work is the beautiful Dean, inspired by the American conductor Dean Dixon who was the conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1953 for 1960. Anna-Lisa was inspired to create the design by the contrast between his skin tone and his blue shirt.
Recreated designs by Anna-Lisa Mannheimer Lunn
Design
Gröna Ängen
Stigbygeln
Blue Shimmer
Scilla Blue
Scilla Gray
Red Stripe
Dean
Härskogen
Yellow Fire
Humlan hat
Blue Stripe
Purple Humlan
Flowerbed
Kedjan
Blue Eskimo Moon
Stigbygeln with yellow stripe
Papegojan
Capri
Härskogen with a round yoke
Scilla with a round yoke xml-p
Year
1940s
1940s
1949
1940s
1940s
1940s
1953
1940s
1948-53
1948-53
1940s
1948-53
1940s
1948-53
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1940s
1948-53
Recreated year
1999
1999
2000
2008
2008
2010
2012
2015
2015
2015
2016
2017
2018
2020
2021
2021
2021
2022
2022
2022
2022
Annika Malmström─Bladini
Active from 1952 ─ 1964
Annika was the first designer formally employed by Bohus Stickning. She started working for Bohus Stickning in 1952 when the style of Bohus Stickning had been established and her task was to develop it further.
She was inspired by the beautiful angora yarn and the rich palette of colours. She liked to build up motifs in a subdued color scheme, often without harsh contrasts and with a distinct feeling for the shape of the pattern figures. Annika also liked to use oblique stitches for emphasis. She preferred symmetrical patterns with clearly drawn verticals and diagonals. Her patterns Allvaret, Vinterdis and Rimfrost are beautiful examples.
The designs were developed in collaboration with Emma Jacobsson who always had comments and suggestions.
Annika preferred not to combine yarns of different types in the same design. She preferred to work with angora yarns of different colours. Annika did not want to translate patterns into more colour drawings, as she felt that a design was the result of an artistic inspiration and should therefore be left intact.
After she left Bohus Stickning in 1959, she continued to contribute patterns freelance until the mid 1960's. Towards the late 50s, early 60s, more graphic designs such as 'Zebra', 'Church Window' and 'Square' were combined, none of which have been recreated yet.
Recreated designs by Annika Malmström-Bladini
Design
Skogsmörkret
Rimfrost
Fjäll
Lemon
Allvaret
Vinterdis
Canna Green
Canna Pink
Bleka Skimret
Mörkt Löv
Mandelträdet
Crevetten
Year
1953
1953
1958
1957
1953
1957
1959
1959
1959
1956
1948-55
1956
Recreated year
2003
2008
2009
2010
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2017
2019
2020
Kerstin Olsson
Active 1958 ─ 1969
Kerstin Olsson was employed as a designer at Bohus Stickning in 1958 and continued to work there until it closed in 1969. Kerstin has been involved in many ways even after the closure of the business. Even today she is supportive of and contributes to the re-creation work.
One of Kerstin Olsson's first patterns was Vildäpplet. It is now one of the most popular patterns, though when it was first introduced special consideration for was given to those who would knit it. There are 13 colours, 9 green and 4 red several rows where three or four colors are worked simultaneously. Vildäpplet has often been referred to as "The Masterpiece". Kerstin liked to use purl stitches in her designs, to ease and blur the transitions between colours. You will notice these especially in her Dimman series and Palmen series, where purl stitches create subtle and harmonious gradiation.
Later, Kerstin consciously took into account for the knitters and often added a single-color row to the increase rows and fewer "difficult" rows. Many later developed patterns were knitted with only two colors in work at the same time, for example, Stärjnorna, Den Rutiga, the series Gallret (Gallret Rött, Blått and Gallret Grönt) and also in the series Palmerna (Palmerna Röd, Sagopalmen, Cocospalmen and Dadelpalmen) which were made after Kerstin and Emma had been to fashion shows in Paris. Inspired by the fashion shows, Kerstin decided to experiment with shading and gradients in her designs. These designs have less intricacy, but use purl stitches to create beautiful shading effects.
In 2005, a vote organised by SVT's Design 365 named the Bruna Dimman cardigan and the jumper Gröna Dimman as the Swedish design object of the century.
Recreated designs by Kerstin Olsson
Design
Ägget
Vildäpplet
Grå Dimman
Sagopalmen
Gröna Dimman
Nya Azalean
Palmen Röd
Guld
Blå Blomman
Ägget Grått
Blått Ljus
Rött Ljus
Turkos Ljus
Gotiska Fönstret Blått
Gotiska Fönstret Rosa
Myrten Grön
Schack
Green Wood
Den Rutiga
Gallret Blått
Gallret Rött
Den Blå
Regnmoln
Gallret Rött light bf
Vattenmelonen
Royal Blue
Blå Dimman
Våren
Ballongerna Röd
Ballongerna Blå
Granaten
Cocospalmen
Ägget Blätt
Den Skära Blomman
Stjärnorna
Blå Blomman Turkos
Vintern
Gallret Grönt
Ränder och Prickar
Prickar
Hägring Grå
Year
1963
1958
1966
1964
1965
1963
1967
1960
1963
1963
1959
1959
1959
1962
1962
1963
1965
1960
1964
1961
1961
1959
1963
1961
1961 1961
1958
1948-55
1964
1963
1963
1961
1964 xml-ph-0031@deepl.intern
Recreated year
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006
2006
2007
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2010
2011
2012
2012
2012
2014
2015
2015
2016
2016
2016
2016
2018
2019
2019
2019
2019
2020
2020
2021
2021
2022
2022
Karin Ivarsson
Active 1960 ─ 1969
Karin Ivarsson came from a background in textiles from Slöjdföreningens Skola (later Konstindustriskolan). In 1960 Karin contacted Emma Jacobsson to work for Bohus Stickning. She collaborated on a freelance basis and created many fantastic patterns, such as Svanen and Stora Spetskragen which became very famous and popular. Karin was a master at creating texture often in monochromatic designs. Notice for how the swan's feathers in the patterned yoke are highlighted and become almost three-dimensional over the background's off-white stitches.
Karin Ivarsson liked to create texture above all else. She worked with yarns of different structures, yarns of different sizes and different fibres to create this. She combined thick wool yarns with thinner and finer angora yarns, often in natural colours. "The same colour tone gives different depth and lustre in the different yarns and the relief effects are more evident with the change of yarn quality", she is believed to have said.
Similarly, Karin used chunky stitches and sometimes braid patterns to create structure and special effects in the garments. The Lagoons and Twisted Pattern are examples of this.
Karin Ivarsson was an active collaborator from 1960 until the business closed in 1969.
Recreated designs by Karin Ivarsson
Design
Stora Spetskragen
Rosa Spetskragen
Gula Spetskragen
Svanen
Stora Svanen
Svanen Grön
Svanen Lila
Ringdansen
Svanen Röd
Year
1960
1960
1960
1966
1966
1966
1966
1964
1966
Recreated year
2001
2001
2001
2006
2011
2015
2018
2018
2018
You can find the collection of recreated Bohus Stickning under "Collection". You can of course also find them in the e-shop.