Erika Åberg & Lotta H. Löthgren — On Knitting, Friendship and Nature
Erika Åberg and Lotta H. Löthgren are Swedish knitwear designers whose book The Island and the Forest: A Knitted Correspondence has just been published. And it is not just a knitting pattern collection, but also a beautiful exchange of letters between Erika and Lotta. The chapters in the book flow through the four elements (earth, water, fire and air) and the shifting seasons, and Erika and Lotta reflect on both the big questions and the little things in their lives.
We wanted to dive a bit deeper into this wonderful book and asked Lotta and Erika to tell us more about the project and what it taught them.
How did you two first meet, and how did you end up writing this book together?
Lotta: “We actually got to know each other through making this book, in a much deeper way than I think either of us could ever have imagined. We had never met before and had hardly spoken beyond the occasional short message when I sent Erika an email asking if she wanted to write a book with me. Immediately after I had sent it, I was like ‘What did I just do?’ — it felt as if I had asked a stranger to marry me! But she said ‘yes’ right away, and it turned out to be one of the best questions I had ever asked in my life.”
What drew you to the format of a “knitted correspondence” rather than a more traditional pattern book?
Erika: “It all felt very natural; form and tone falling into place easily. Perhaps because of our shared love of words, wool and nature. I think we somehow share a gaze, gentle and curious, that made the correspondence form perfect. Thoughts and threads somehow attaching, hooking on to each other like stitches.”
How did writing to each other feel different from writing for an anonymous reader?
Erika: “When Lotta asked me back in December 2022, we had been interacting on Instagram and clearly felt there was a resonance of sorts that felt exciting to explore. So even if she were not at all anonymous, we did get to know each other during this process, which added something very special for me. Mostly because of a strong feeling of being received, seen as a human in some way, and perhaps that is the most important thing when it comes to human interaction?”
Lotta: “I’ve always found writing letters to be such an intimate and at the same time open practice, like you get to know different parts of each other in different letters. It takes time, one letter after another. For me, the biggest difference was knowing that, even though Erika was almost a stranger at the beginning, she was a benevolent stranger — someone who would read me kindly and want to understand me. That gave me the courage and space to be both serious and playful.”
How has this project deepened your relationship?
Erika: “In every way possible. It might also come down to the kind of people we are: we dive in, into life and space. And when we let people in truly — well, then they are close. That might have been why the book's theme also felt easy: all the elements, all the aspects of being human. Lotta has become a very important person for me; someone I can share my life but also my work with. That is a rare gift!”
Lotta: “Everything Erika said! Since we didn’t really have a relationship when we started, this book is also about us becoming friends, truly getting to know one another: not just as a work project but as two people trying to figure things out. In many ways, writing this book has been like holding up a mirror and observing both each other and our own reflection with curiosity.”
Living close to nature is important to both of you. Has it always been a significant part of your life?
Lotta: “I moved to the countryside when I was a teenager, after growing up in a city. I fell in love not just with spending time in nature, but with living close to it. Much of my formative years were spent in a cottage in the forest, heating it with firewood and learning about horses and chickens and growing vegetables and village life. Even though I don’t live on a big farm today, having the forest and lakes around the corner is so profound for who I am and what I do, what I can create and how I see life.”
Erika: “It is probably all about personality again. I spent much of my childhood in nature, all year round. Fishing, foraging, playing, walking. It IS life in so many ways; has been and still is. Place of rest, worship, adventure; of learning, comfort and inspiration.”
You live in different environments — Erika in Gotland, an island off the east coast of Sweden, and Lotta in a village in southeast Sweden, among forests and lakes. What has been most remarkable to you about the other’s surroundings?
Erika: “I love the similarities and the differences. There is still much to explore, but I love visiting Lotta’s forest; the lakes, the farmland and the landscape. The refuge of sorts in the forest and the waters. Still, moving fast, whirling — just like us. I think we are shaped by our surroundings in a very profound way, if we allow ourselves to.”
Lotta: “I always feel like a visitor when I’m by the sea — I have such respect for it, and I’m fascinated by how it affects almost all aspects of life for those who live by it. But being with Erika on Gotland, having her as both a practical and a more spiritual guide of sorts, has made me feel more at home in this very different landscape. And also as a photographer, working on an island is just dreamy! The clear lines, the open space, the colours and the light; everything is very different from photographing in the forest, with dappled light between trees and the muted, earthy colours and layers of shadow.”
What was the biggest lesson you learned from making this book?
Lotta: “I think it taught me a lot about trust, which I think is a challenge for any self-employed creator. We are so used to just pushing on and putting in the work by ourselves, and trusting that this book would become something of its own precisely because it wasn’t made by one person alone was scary but also extremely valuable. And also — it’s much easier, and much more fun, when you can share everything, both the highs and the lows. We have been very good at taking turns on both the hubris and the self-doubt that are intrinsic parts of writing a book!”
Erika: “I learned that working side by side like this is utterly valuable and enjoyable. The fact that I could mirror my own work in Lotta’s and let the stitches and words join made the process and the book much better than I could ever have done on my own. 1+1= 3 — at least 3!”
Which three words best describe the knits in your book?
Erika: “Gentle, rustic and embracing. They all carry a story, as all handmade garments do. When you knit them, you add your own story. I think of each of the garments as gentle protection and care.”
Lotta: “Nothing to add here!”
Both of you are deeply rooted in Scandinavian craft traditions. How do they show up in this book? Is there something especially Swedish in your designs?
Erika: “That is a tricky one! It might be easier for somebody else to spot. But perhaps it is the mix of not compromising with fit, durability and design. A garment needs to tick many boxes, but I would say that is a craft thing rather than strictly Scandinavian. Simple but thought-through technical solutions, classic fits and patterns, but with a twist. Wearable in an active everyday life.”
Lotta: “One of the most amazing things about making knitwear patterns is that they can feel very rooted in one tradition and then be transformed into something quite different by other knitters! There is undoubtedly a rustic, Nordic feel in the lines and beautiful, but not loud, design elements, but the aim is always to write patterns that a knitter can make their own. This can be achieved by choosing other colours and yarns or by adjusting things like length, neckline or ease. But then, yes — the patterns are designed to work well for being outdoors in all kinds of weather, and the feel of the yarns and the colours we’ve chosen definitely mirror our very specific landscapes.”
Did any pattern become especially meaningful to you during the process?
Erika: “I could not possibly choose one, but Tistel was special because it was my first one, and it somehow set the tone. Among Lotta's patterns, I would say Mulm. But I am also really amazed by how the designs talk to each other, even though we didn't decide the design elements beforehand. They fit right together and will probably fit great in the same handmade wardrobes.”
Lotta: “Bris was my first pattern, so that one is special to me. It has been with me ever since 2023 and somehow embodies all the hopes and wishes I had for this book, like a symbol of the whole process. But then we have the Stig hat, which was the first of Erika’s designs I knitted, both because it’s so darn pretty, but also because it was my grandfather’s name and it felt very comforting to make.”
In your letters, you often write about your local folk tales and myths. Which of these stories is your favourite?
Lotta: “I love the Gloso, which is like a nightmare version of a wild boar with razors across the back! It’s a rather local story, which makes it special to me. We have very detailed records of historical folk tales from my area because one of Sweden’s most important ethnologists, Gunnar Olov Hyltén-Cavallius, was born here. I love thinking about how place and landscape shape the people and their beliefs, so it’s special to learn about how those who lived right here hundreds of years ago saw this particular place.”
Erika: “Ah, again — so hard to choose one! I think it is more about the amazement and curiosity of how we have always wanted to understand and put the world in some kind of order: to understand the stars, the waves and our fellow humans, to understand grief, love, fear and hope. But with that said, I feel very kindred to Di sma undar jårdi (“the small ones underground”) — Gotland’s little people, who are invisible and very helpful if you help them.”
You say in the book that one of the hardest questions to answer is ”what inspires you”. So, that is exactly what we are going to ask you now — what have you been most inspired by lately?
Erika: “This whole process has been very exciting and inspiring. To somehow hum the same tune as Lotta, but adding my harmony and choosing different choruses. Otherwise, as always: earth, water, fire and air. The impulse and inspiration come from the tiniest of pebbles, the colour shift in the moss on a sloe branch, or the brown, dried ferns from last year. From a line by a favourite author or a song. From life, as long as I am open to receive and treasure it.”
Lotta: “Lately I’ve been very inspired by this feedback loop that I imagine in my design work: I go outside (I must remember to always have a dog, all my best ideas come when I’m out walking with them) and get an idea for a Thing, and then it grows and evolves and turns into a pattern, and then I knit the Thing and wear it when I go out with the dogs, and the cycle starts over. But I’ve also been inspired by less abstract things: I spend a lot of time looking at and thinking about traditional workwear, for example. And my latest obsession is John Alexander Skelton’s SS26 collection! I’m forever in love with crumpled linen, clothes that move with the wearer, and the fact that it’s a privilege to be among makers: creative, constructive, curious people that this world desperately needs.”
TEXT: MAIJA KANGASLUOMA
PHOTOS: LOTTA H. LÖTHGREN AND ERIKA ÅBERG
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