Undercover in wool

The first thing I notice when seeing the news is usually knitwear...

Loved the sweater, to bad that the knitter gave/sold his knitwear to a man who is accused of paying for sex. 

Wool Sightseeing

We went to the centrum of Reykjavik today to feed the ducks (well there were a lot of goose, swan and other birds that took most of it though). Feeding the ducks with bread is a rich tradition here in Iceland, not sure it is in the best interest of the birds though, should maybe feed them with something better then bread.

There was of course a typical Icelandic family, in matching wool sweaters (the neon is though a new trend here, came this summer when Istex introduced 3 neon colors in the bulky lopi). So what do you think to neon or not to neon?  (*I have no idea who this family is, I just snapped a picture, I hope they don´t mind being on the internet now)

Then after a bookshow in the city hall, we went to Kolaportið (a market place where you can get everything from the goods you get at markets in asia , icelandic food, icelandic candy and handknitted icelandic sweaters). 

It seemed like almost every stall was selling "lopapeysa" and, some were beautiful, others were very well made... some were just plain horrible.

So if you are looking for a "Lopapeysa" this is one of the places to go,  but if you are reader of this blog, you will probably want to make your own version then I would just head to the nearest supermarket and buy some yarn.

But the places to go to shop for Icelandic sweaters is Handprjónasambandið and Álafoss. I would avoid the way to many tourist shops, as you might then be bying something knitted on a machine in Asia , I don´t  know anyone who would knit endless supply of the same pattern in black and white, nor would they all be alike if it was knitted by different knitters....

my 3 year old photobombed my attempt to take a picture of a tourist shop window display, but this store seemed to have a mixture of handknitted and machine knitted sweaters, all probably sold as handknitted in Iceland

Winter jumpsuit

I made a buttoned jumpsuit for my 3 year old, I'm not sure how wise that is, with bathroom trips that require a bit of urgency. But I had planned to make one for her when she was younger and never got around to do it yet.

Pattern:  did not use any pattern, but based the yoke on Kambur which can be found in the book "knitting with icelandic wool", which I have recommended countless times here on the blog.
Yarn: Istex Léttlopi
needles: 3.5 and 4.5mm

Knitspiration - lopi

If you wan´t to make one of these for yourself you can find the pattern in the book "Knitting with icelandic wool". The pattern is called Vetur. 

Dad´s sweater

Pictures of the finished birthay present for my Dad

lopapeysa - update

I´ve only 1 cm left of the body, and finished with 2/3 of one sleeve. So I might be able to finish my objective of both sleeves and body this week.

The color is so pretty and it almost makes me want to finish it in one color, but the yoke of the Icelandic sweaters is my favourite part of knitting so I would be so bored with knitting the sweater in one color.

Lopapeysa

My dad will be 60 in April, so I have started working on a "Lopapeysa" for him (Icelandic wool sweater).  Navy blue will be the main colour.

I consulted with him before I started because he doesn´t wear everything , he wears wool frequently so I knew he would love a new sweater. He wanted a blue sweater with a zip. I was baffled  with that choice as I wasn´t sure that Léttlopi carried any nice blue colours and was uncertain what colors to choose with it. Fortunately they recently changed the color pallet so I found the perfect blue color. But I was itching for some more colors so I opted for a pattern that has a yoke in 5 colors, without consulting my dad I chose 2 brown colours, gray and white to go with the blue main color.   Here is the pattern I will be using.

When I started to knit again in 2007 (hadn´t knitted since I was a teenager), the first thing I was going to make was a "Lopapeysa" for my husband as a Christmas present, but I didn't swatch and it ended up to small for my husband. Kind of Ironic since my gauge now is always way  to loose, even when I go down a needle size. This is the sweater that I made in 2007.  So I ended up giving it to my dad for Christmas (size medium), he wears it frequently.

The knitting is going slowly, I started last Sunday, and I only have knitted 30 cm... I usually get to knit 1/3 of a row before somebody needs me, apart from my 6 week old my 2 1/2 year old was at home sick most part of the week. My goal is to finish the sleeves next week, maybe I´m to optimistic as I´m getting down with a cold myself.

Lopi - mittens

I made these mittens for my brother, for his birthday.

Next time I will change the decreases at the top...

Pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lychee-mittens

Yarn: Létt Lopi 

Needles: 3.5 mm

Modifications: 40 stitches cast on, 17 stitches for thumb