Bohus Bounty Beret
The Bohus Bounty Beret pairs vibrant stranded colorwork with the softness of Tosh Merino Light and Unicorn Tails, creating a playful, lightweight beret that's full of color and charm for any season.
My Favorite Hat: Bohus Bounty Beret
Lena Skvagerson designs about 50 to 60 patterns a year. Hats, blankets, sweaters, shawls (lots and lots of shawls), cowls, mittens, socks, slippers. If you can knit or crochet it, she’s designed it.
Though we like to think of her as ours, she works for all the MaddyTosh Group brands, designing for Madelinetosh, Yarn Citizen, Jimmy Beans Wool, & Dream in Color, switching design sensibilities according to who’s in her Google Calendar.
As her colleague, we marvel at the output. If we want a cowl to accompany an upcoming Hue of the Moment, it goes in her calendar, she plays with a few stitches, writes a pattern, grades it for size (not every designer can do this), then sends it to a stitcher. When we see the finished object, it feels like a gift every time. For more complex projects, she knits or crochets the piece from scratch then sends it to a stitcher to make in multiple colors or create extra copies.
She waves her hand like this is no big deal, but we see her during Zoom meetings stitching away. We know how big a deal it is to knit and crochet that much.
Lena dismisses it largely because she feels her career prepared her. It’s all about having worked in the yarn industry for decades, first for GarnStudio (home of the international DROPS brand) in Sweden, where she grew up, and finally for Annie’s Craft Store, the online retailer, where she designed 100 patterns a year and helped launch the PBS TV show Knit and Crochet Now and Annie’s hugely successful blanket subscription that came with video tutorials.
“I’ve been doing this my whole freaking life,” she says. “My flowers die and I can’t cook, but stitching that I can do.”
Today, while much of her time is spent designing projects, she’s also architecting yarn and serving as Yarn Citizen’s de facto brand manager. Lena’s also been instrumental in helping to develop an upcoming new base for Madelinetosh (sorry, still a secret) and others for Yarn Citizen and Dream in Color.
Lena, her husband, and college-age son live in San Luis Obispo, Calif. with two dogs Peggy and Nikita. Her daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids live seven minutes away.
What is your knitting origin story?
I learned in school. In Swedish schools we have one lesson a week on a craft from third through ninth grade. We learned woodworking and textiles and the lessons switched off. Swedish teachers have it as part of their credential. Even in Kindergarten, they teach you to crochet those little snakes; how you turn and go back and start to build on that.
Every kid learns to knit and crochet and handle a sewing machine. That’s why you see so much design coming out of Scandinavia.
How did you start designing?
In the mid-’80s mohair yarn was very trendy. I would take the bus into town to yarn stores where they sold these huge hanks of brushed wool or mohair. My friends had their mother make them these sweaters. I wanted one and I just remember measuring my body and making it.
In high school, a friend and I made a collection of 10 different garments and we photographed them ourselves and even had some men’s sweaters. Of course we picked out the best looking guys in school. We shot the collection and printed those pictures at a photo lab and printed a catalog. I still have those pictures and every now and then I post one of those pictures of me and one of those good looking guys.
So what is your relationship with hats like?
I live in California, so I rarely get to wear hats. In Sweden I certainly did and my kids did. But I love hats, because they are fun and quick to design and make. If a male relative is having a birthday, I always work up a hat.
What makes a great hat?
I like a feminine hat for women with a little slouch. A hat for a man, it can’t be itchy; men are like babies. You want it to fit a bit snug for them; it must fit on your head. You want a basic hat for a man. I don’t think they are superfans of the slouchy hats unless they’re young.
Also maybe it shouldn't be an acrylic yarn. You don’t want to take it off and have your hair stand up on end.
How did the Bohus Bounty Beret come to be?
For Hat Club Libby and AnnMarie wanted a variety of projects including colorwork. I wanted to lean into a Swedish tradition and remembered my grandmother wearing a Bohus sweater. I came from Gothenburg, which is in Sweden’s Bohus region.
In the Depression, our region was hit hard and the Bohus project (Bohus Stickning) produced these beautiful knits from the 1930s through ’60s that were sold in stores and exported.
Like so many of these knitting traditions, this was a necessity and a style developed with stranded knitting with small borders and every inch the border changes into something else. These multi-colored patterns were knit with small gauge yarns and angora blends and these knit and purl stitches. I’ve read that some Bohus patterns had 5 colors in a row!
What do you love about it?
When I received the Tosh colors for the hat it made me think about growing up with my grandmother, and now you see so many of these slouchy hats that are beret-like and super cute and very feminine and that’s something I really like.
How do you respond to the phrase, “Knitting is the answer”?
Let’s just say I pack yarn for 5 different projects when I travel, because I’m afraid I'll end up feeling like I don't want to work on one but want to work on another one.
I can’t get on a flight without my knitting, I'd have anxiety. I’ve read that doctors have proven that it's how our brain halves connect, that stitching hyper focuses us, and is a de-stressor for real.
It really is great for mental health and important for recentering. That’s why we should get the next generation into this. Who knows where I would have been without my knitting. Maybe I would have been miserable. It’s been the best ever therapy for all these years to keep me destressed and in a good mood.
To this day before bed, I think I’m going to stitch a few rows.
Lena Skvagerson
Creative Director at Jimmy Beans Wool and Maddy Tosh group, seamlessly intertwines her Northern European roots with the vibrancy of American knitting culture. With an impressive career spanning the continent, Lena’s creations reflect her passion for merging traditional techniques with the dynamic trends of the modern knitting world. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for innovation, Lena’s designs breathe new life into traditional knitting patterns, captivating both novice and experienced crafters alike.