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.

Back to the future

Yesterday I showed you some old patterns that I loave from www.istex.is. Now I want to show you some of the more recent patterns in age.

The cardigan on the bottom left could also be my sommer jacket, but I think it is knitted from Plötulopi if I remember correctly and I hate knitting from unspun wool. I also like the idea of knitting a cape in létt-lopi in a single color.

These would all look good on my husband.

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I also love these patterns.

I have already knitted the one on the left, just in Sandnes smart yarn, and of course I had to change it a little bit. My mom and my mother in law both have knitted the purple one in the middle.

The sweater in the Smart yarn.

The sweater my mom made in Navia Duo for my older girl when she was around 1 years old(I get my unwillingness to follow pattern/yarn choices from her).

The sweater my mother in law made and my 2 1/2 year old got for Christmas, in Létt-lopi as the pattern intended. She also made the matching doll sweater and hat, which was a big hit.

There is endless amount of lovely patterns for the icelandic wool, the worst part is that I can´t wear it. I´m however going to try to change it by making one and see if I won´t grow to love it.

Were you inspired to start on some new projects by this post?

Inspiration from old patterns

I love some of the old patterns from Ístex/Álafoss, and specially the fact that they have scanned in many of the old pattern books. When looking through these patterns once again, I found myself drawn to these sweaters.

I would love to knit the gray sweater, but in Álafoss Lopi (Bulky Lopi) it is way to scratchy and thick for my taste. Maybe Drops Eskimo could be a substitute, but it is so much more expensive than the Icelandic wool.  The cardigans I would maybe wear as an jacket/outerwear in the Álafoss Lopi so I might go for one of these for me.

I love the cardigan in the muted colors, topleft (not such a good picture, but this pattern has been republished and in English in the book, knitting with Icelandic wool (can highly recommend that book).  The bottom two cardigans I like a lot, I´m however leaning to the bottom right one in those colors (white and brown).

The one on the bottom left, is almost the same pattern that I´m making for my dad, the newer version of the pattern only has the yoki section and another type of yarn (létt-lopi).

This pattern can be found in english as a free pattern, I have already used it in this purple sweater

Here is a link to all the free patterns that have been translated to english.

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the Icelandic knitting past. I was trying to find the pattern I made when I was 13/14, my first Lopapeysa, but I´m not sure which pattern it is and the sweater is long gone and I never used it.

*pictures are from www.istex.is

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.

Baby gifts part 2

The paternal grandmother knitted this set in the size 1 year old. 

She knitted this same sweater and socks for my older girl, in purple.

My aunt lives in Holland and her coworker made these socks

Bib and hat

I made this bib while I was pregnant, never got around to weaving in the ends and washing it. Finally did that.

Pattern: Garnstudio.com
Yarn: BabyAlpacaSilk

I made this hat sometime in january it was intended for me, ended up giving it to my mom.

Yarn: Tynn Alpakka - Du store alpakka
Pattern: dalegarn.com

Baby gifts

My younger girl has been recieving some really lovely handmade gifts. 

My cousin knitted this vest, and made this crochet rattle and pacifier-thingy.

My mom knitted this sweater

There is also more that I haven´t photographed yet.

Stashbusting Socks and new years resolutions

I´m trying to finish all the leftover yarns that I have (or at least some considerable amount... resolution for 2013) before I buy more yarn.   I had 3 skeins of Trysil sportsgarn left from this project.   I used little over 2 skeins for these socks. They are knitted for me, so another thing that I´m trying to improve on (resolution for 2013). 

The pattern :  Blueberry waffle socks

I was very happy with the socks so i decided to start next with all the fingering yarn (baby yarn) that I have and to make some gifts (another resolution for 2013). I have already made one sock, and used this pattern. The yarn is leftover from these projects,  baby sweater from lanett yarn, and isager alpaca yarn from this sweater

I made three resolutions for 2013
 -  Finish 75% of my current leftover yarn
 - Make gifts to have for some future use (mittens, socks, babystuff ..e.t.c).. with said leftover yarn
  - Make more things for me.