Bohus Musings

I've always wanted to knit a Bohus sweater. I've been dreaming about it for the past four or five years, always giving in to my anxieties and putting it off. Bohus sweaters are incredibly beautiful, incredibly complex and not for the faint hearted. The knitting requires real skill, and though I've long thought of myself as a better-than-average knitter, there is a mystique surrounding Bohus that kept me at arms length.

There are many reasons for the mystique; the "true" Bohus (as opposed to anything close-but-not-authentic) is usually a yoked pullover or cardigan 1) knit at 33 stitches to 4 inches, 2) in stranded color work and in 3) angora yarn. Any one of the above is reason enough to take pause.

I've been doing two handed stranded colorwork for years, and think I'm pretty good at it. The thing about Bohus patterns is that there are often more than 2 colors worked in any one row; some of the patterns have as many as five! I can manage two, probably even 3 colors at a time. Picking the right pattern (meaning to say one with not more than 3 colors in any row) would be key.

Then there's the fact that I'm a loose knitter, and have to knit on needles 2 sizes smaller than called for in most patterns to get gauge. And 33 stitches over 4 inches is a lot of stitches. A lot of stitches. So a Bohus is not a quick knit project. Especially when you consider that I'd need to knit on size 0, 00 or 000 needles. Not particularly good for my increasingly arthritic hands and wrists.

Angora yarn, like mohair, is notoriously finicky. When knitting with angora I find fuzz flies everywhere; my nose and eyes get red and watery from inhaling the flying fuzz, and tinking a mistake in angora is an exercise in frustration.

Bohus kits, only available from one dedicated dyer in Sweden, are expensive. Deciding to blow upwards of $200 on a sweater that I still have to knit myself is no small consideration.

But the history! Knitting a Bohus sweater is a tribute to the women who made them famous; their tenacity, their skill and their pride become a part of any knitter who successfully completes a Bohus of her own.

Most of us know about Bohus sweaters thanks to Susanna Hansson. I took Susanna's class at Stitches South two years back, and my desire to knit one of these most remarkable sweaters has been growing ever since. Before attempting to knit an "authentic" Bohus from one of Solveig Gustafson's kits, I purchased the book Poems of Color by Wendy Keele. It has many of the most popular Bohus patterns, but at a larger gauge (7 stitches to the inch instead of 8.5. Like that's a big enough difference to make it easier......) Then I started searching for acceptable substitute yarns; the "authentic" Bohus yarn is only available in the kits. I came to know that there are a lot of angora yarns out there, but very few meet the exacting criteria of percentage of angora to wool, and are the correct weight. I purchased every type of angora yarn I could find; my collection now numbers almost 20 balls, each in a different color! (Didn't consider buying each brand in white; dunno why not.) I did finally find a vendor on eBay who had the perfect yarn in a variety of colors. Purchase almost a dozen skeins, many in white, figuring I could always dye my own.

For months I've been reading everything Bohus I could get my hands on. I have the pamphlets, the books, seen the video, took the class on knitting wristlets. Even managed to get my hands on several kits (one is my second favorite, the Green Meadow, but it isn't knit in angora....) and patterns. My heart is set on the Yellow Lace Collar cardigan, a variation on the Rose Lace Collar, a stunning piece of knitting art.

When the Colourmart Lovers group on Ravelry started a contest for May and June 2010, I decided it was now or never. So I am about to embark on a Great Knitting Adventure:

Yellow Lace Bohus, here I come!