knitting, history and culture in the island of gotland, sweden, with erika åberg, DESIGNER AND author of books on knitting
April 2-9

GOTLAND KNITTING AND HERMANNA STENGÅRD
Hermanna Stengård was born in Väskinde on Gotland in 1861. She was a teacher and also worked with handicrafts in the public school in Rone. Out of personal interest, she began collecting older Gotland knitting patterns and garments. She published her collection in the book "Gotländsk sticksöm" which was first released in 1925.
The collection was later cataloged and is now managed by the Gotland Handicrafts Association.
It has inspired many designers and authors and has spread widely over the years, especially in various knitting books on Nordic and Scandinavian knitting traditions.
In 2014, Hermanna's book was reprinted and here we encounter a large number of knitted fragments and garments, many of which originate from the island, while others have a clear background elsewhere.
Many of the garments are multi-colored knits with graphic, now classic patterns such as roses, sun wheels, and lingonberry twigs. Others are knitted with lifted stitches or structural patterns.

GOTLAND
Gotland is Sweden's largest island, situated in the Baltic Sea about 100 kilometers east of the Swedish mainland. The island of Gotland also includes Fårö, the Karlsö islands, Gotska Sandön,Östergarnsholm, and several smaller islands.
The geography and wildlife of Gotland differ from the rest of Sweden. This is partly due to the island's isolated location and partly because the rationalization of agriculture and forestry came later than in the rest of the country. However, it is primarily the barren limestone bedrock that has created the conditions for a very unique flora and fauna.
There are several endemic species here, such as the Gotland grass snake, the brown eyebright, and the Gotland pasqueflower.
Gotland’s prehistory dates back more than 400 million years, to the Silurian period. At that time, present-day Sweden was near the equator, and Gotland was likely a tropical coral reef environment in a shallow, warm sea, rich in species like crinoids, brachiopods, and trilobites. Over millions of years, dead organisms, silt, and corals built up
the bedrock as limestone and marlstone around the reefs.

LANDSCAPE, FLORA, AND FAUNA
Gotland’s bedrock is very rich in fossils, which are visible everywhere along our stone beaches. The island got its current shape during and after the last ice age. Gotland looks a bit like a wedding cake on the western side, rising in high, steep cliffs that continue below the sea surface where the depth suddenly increases. The eastern side is generally flatter, with gently sloping beaches.
The island has rocky outcrops, low-growing pine forests, deciduous meadows, grazing and farmland. Several inland lakes, called swamps here, remain despite extensive drainage efforts, including Tingstäde swamp and Bäste. Along the coasts are shingle fields, and beach ridges alternating with long sand and stone beaches. The vegetation is rich
with many species of orchids. Birdlife is intense, with the Baltic Sea’s only bird cliffs on two islands off Gotland’s west coast, Lilla and Stora Karlsö, where both guillemots and razorbills nest.
North of Fårö, on Gotska Sandön and on Lilla Karlsö, there are colonies of grey seals. However, many mammals common on the mainland, such as moose, badger, and weasel, are absent.
With 92 medieval churches still in use, Gotland is Sweden's most church-dense municipality. The island’s antiquity, history, and tradition are evident and visible in everyday life here, in everything from picture stones and burial mounds to distinctive place names.
In 2019, according to the Swedish Board of Agriculture, there were 68,300
sheep: ewes, rams, and lambs on Gotland, representing 12% of all sheep in the country.