Halfway through March already

And I have not been as good about blogging as I had hoped. I will do more of it, my goal is to do it 1-2 times a week as I want to keep a good track of my projects. Keeping this blog and photographing and updating the process of my projects has been one of my biggest motivations since I started it, so I want to keep that going.

My stitching group is finally meeting again. We are trying our best to have get togethers once a month, and every Tuesday is a WIP/UFO day where we all work on a project that we already have going and try to put a few strands in.
I decided to work on my stocking as I really want to get it done. Every year when I get out the stockings I did for my daughters, I almost feel ashamed at not having mine done already, there is so little left to do on it, just some backstitching and details. So hopefully, I will have my very own stocking to hang come Christmas this year.

Here is my progress after last Tuesdays session.

Pattern: Parisian Twist Headband Ear Warmer by Elisa McLaughlin
Yarn: Quince and Co. Osprey in Bird S Egg
Needles: 4mm

For Karítas. I made my headband quite some time ago, and Karítas has always loved it. When we were on winter break we went to our LYS and she picked out this beautiful ice blue Osprey by Quince & Co for her very own headband. She absolutely loves it.

We went to a cabin over a weekend in February. It was just what we all needed as a family.

We went out and had fun in the snow and went sledding down a hill.

We relaxed.

We played Scrabble.

We have had about 40 storms this year here in Iceland. I have just about had enough and am craving warmer weather, less wind, more sun. But I know better, it is only March and there are still a few more weeks to go. Next storm is supposed to hit us tonight.

But, when the wind is going mad outside, what is better than meeting up with your friends at your LYS and knitting the day away, having coffee and chocolate? Nothing, if you ask me!

Going through my stash, I noticed that I had A LOT of Kambgarn. The best way to use up a lot of yarn in the same brand and/or weight, is making blankets. One can never have too many blankets so I started another one. I have always wanted a classic Granny Square blanket with lots of colour and black as the colour that binds it all together. That is just what I had in this Kamgbarn stash of mine. So I started one.
I am doing 10 rounds of colour, picking the colours totally at random by drawing them from a bag and not looking and it is not allowed to exchange colours. Each colour only to be used once in each square. Then 2 rounds of black and using Lucy’s Join as you go method to tie it all together. So far I am absolutely loving it!

Follow Your Arrow 2

The wonderful designer Ysolda Teague organised a mystery KAL last year that I participated in (my first one) and loved and got me hooked on doing MKAL’s. In January I saw that she was doing a Follow Your Arrow 2 MKAL so off course I signed up.

Pattern: Follow Your Arrow 2 by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Loft in Plume (I used 2 skeins)
Needles: 3.5mm
Clues: B-B-A-B-B

I love how it turned out, and participating in the MKAL was loads of fun. Ysolda is a brilliant designer, to say the least. Each clue had an option A and an option B and each went with either so you could mix and match it any way you wanted. I wanted to have my shawl with texture and learn something new each week, and this is how it ended up. The only thing that I did not like was the yarn. What a disappointment. I had read so many great reviews about this yarn and had been excited about trying it, but I just did not connect with it at all and am safe to say that I will not be using it again. Thankfully, there is plenty of great yarn out there!

The baby knitting continues. There are so many babies being born this year around me. I love it, I love knitting baby clothes. My sisters baby girl got her name on February 8th.

Emilý Rósa Snædahl Ragnarsdóttir

Off course she got a knitted gift from us.

Pattern: Camilla Babe by Carrie Bostick Hoge
Yarn: Lark from Quince and Co in Pomegranate
Needles: 4.5mm

I loved making this little sweater. The hat is based on a free pattern from the Purl Soho website, but I did a lot of changes as the decreases were not adding up.

Gathering of the sheep and Denver

Life is full of unexpected things. I got an email a few weeks ago, asking if I would be up to going to Denver from 25th-28th of September to take host a yarn storming activity for Taste Of Iceland with Iceland Naturally. I did not have to think about it very long, and my response was off course YES, I WILL DO IT!

So, I will be in Denver! Any of you readers close by the Denver area and want to take part and join me in this crazy fun activity? I would LOVE to see you there!
Here is all the info on the event, and here is the Facebook event for it.

Getting ready!

A friend gave me these started, but unfinished shawls. I did a simple crochet border to close the live stitches and now they are ready for some #yarnstorming in #Denver @icelandnatural #TasteofIceland bring your own unfinished/unwanted projects and add them to the mix!

Karítas just turned 9 years old last Sunday!

We had a great family dinner at her fathers house with her dad and stepmother.

She got a new winter jacket, boots and a hat for her birthday, so she is ready for winter!

Two weekends ago we went to gather sheep in Mörtunga, close to Vík in the south of Iceland.

It was great fun, and hard work. Me and Helgi went with a group of people waaaay up into the mountains to look for more sheep and bring them down from there. It was about 10-12km walk up and down and all over a very gorgeous area.

It’s been a while

And for good reason. Life has been super busy. Karítas came home from her summer vacation in the beginning of August, I started school on the 15th of August and work has been really busy also. Oh, and I turned 36 on August 27th. So there has not been much time for anything else. I have done some knitting and crocheting whenever I have had the time and have managed to finish, almost finish and start a few projects.

First, I finished Red Rock Canyon again! This one is for my MIL and I loved working on this design again. Romi Hill designs are extremely well done and easy to follow, not to mention beautiful!

Pattern: Red Rock Canyon by Rosemary (Romi) Hill
Yarn: Juno Fibre Arts Milly Singles in Potpourri & Boudoir
Needle: 3.5mm

As I said, I really enjoyed working on this shawl. I am not a big fan of doing the same design twice, but I did not mind at all this time. The pattern is super well written, the yarn I used is a favorite of mine, and the colors are yummie! Who knows, I might even make another one for myself at some point, I have a few color combos picked out in my head already.

School started again for the girls, Karítas was very excited!

I got new hiking shoes for my birthday from my family! So happy with them!

Sumarrós drew this photo of me and her. It says “You are my favorite mom”

Saturday after spending the entire day in school, I was completely exhausted and spent most of the day snuggling with Karítas on the couch under a blanket. So nice.

Yarngraffiti for Vitatorg and Gay Pride

After a long break from doing some yarnstorming, I have done two pieces in the last week.

First, I was asked to do some for Vitatorg as a part of a project by the city of adding more life and fun to the squares around the city and using the open spaces more, having some events there.

The theme colours were turquoise, blue, white and a bit of orange so I went through my stash of already made items and pulled out what I could use. Turned out to be more than I thought at first, not having looked through the stash for almost a year.

And here are some photos from what it ended up looking like.

Yesterday was the Reykjavík Pride walk. As a big supporter of LGBT rights, I have done a yarngraffiti piece for the past two years, and decided to do it again this year.

The piece ready!

Me putting the piece up in Lækjargata, close to Arnarhóll.

Me and Sumarrós at home before heading down town to take part in the walk yesterday.

Two new sweaters

Recently I have fallen in love with a new yarn. This should not be news to anyone really, as I have a soft spot for all things wooly.

Lamawool from Strikkebogen, 50% wool and 50% lama, Aran weight.

It is just so soft and wonderful to work with. I have recently finished two sweaters with this wonderful yarn, and I am pretty sure that I will be making loads more. I want one for myself out of this yarn and already have some ideas as to what kind of sweater to make.

Pattern: Loki by Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir (with some changes that are mine)
Yarn: Strikkebogen.dk Lamauld
Needles: 3.5 and 4.5mm

This little cardigan is a gift to my daughter Karítas’s baby sister who is now almost 9 months old. I made the sweater to fit about a 12 month old baby and I did some changes to the yoke pattern, adding a bit more color in there. I am very happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to see her wear it.

Pattern: Var by Védís Jónsdóttir (from Lopi 29)
Yarn: Strikkebogen.dk Lamauld
Needle: 4.5mm

This later one, here modeled by my daughter Sumarrós, is for Markéta, my daughters baby sisters mother. I was honored and happy when she asked me to make her a traditional Icelandic wool sweater and she came with me to pick out the yarn that she wanted. I was very happy when she picked the Lamauld and I was intrigued by the color choices. It turned out absolutely beautiful and I am very excited to see how it will look on her.

They all (my daughter Karítas, her baby sister, their dad and my daughters step mom) come back to Iceland in August, so the sweaters are just waiting here patiently. Maybe I will get to have another photo session with them both wearing the sweaters, that would be great!

And I am back at work

I started working again last Friday. Off course things are super busy, but I have gotten a lot done since I have been back. It also helped that I left a very clean desk and practically a clean slate with everything balanced, booked and orderly.

On our last weekend of vacation, we went to a family gathering in the south of Iceland to visit Helgi’s mothers family. We had a blast! Here are some photos.

See those mountain looking things on the horizon? Yeah, those are islands called Vestmannaeyjar. You can see them pretty clearly when driving the south part of the main road around the country.

We went on a hike and the weather and the view were breathtaking.

Helgi’s little cousins had loads of fun, and so did I!

In the evening and long into the bright summer night, there was a barbeque, some drinks and live music. And the place looked like a lopapeysa festival!

I got myself some rubber shoes so my feet would not get wet. Best thing I have bought in a long time!

Prestsbakkakirkja. Old country churches are absolutely stunning and this one was just breathtaking.

I am working on some fun projects, both knitting and crochet. I will post again soon with some photo updates of what I have been working on lately, but here is a sneak peek.

Summer vacation stuff

It has been a good vacation so far. Much of relaxing and some home improvements have taken place, as well as Sumarrós’s birthday celebration.

We tore the horrid carpet of the floor in the living room and put down new flooring. We also painted the living room and I almost feel like I moved without the packing and unpacking. It is so cozy and nice to hang out in it now that it is pretty much all we have been doing since we finished.

This is the blanket that got thrown out. It was old and absolutely disgusting.

Here is the new floor! We also rearranged the furniture and it looks much bigger now.

My daughters doing what they do best, being adorable.

Emma gets her hugs from Karítas.

Biking sisters.

Karítas finger knitting at Litla Prjónabúðin.

Sumarrós turned 15 (OMG!) on June 14th. She got a haircut and some highlights in her hair.

Off course we invited the family over for some homemade cakes and stuff.

After the birthday celebration, I got a manicure.

And so did the man.

I also finished my second seminar at school and got 8,8 out of 10 and was second highest of the 30+ people who were also studying at the same time. I am off school until the middle of August but I go back to work in about a week so I just know I will be super busy until school starts again. And then even busier after it starts. Oh well, it is only for a few months and brings great benefits for us and our future, so it is all worth it.

Karítas is leaving for The Czech Republic with her father and his family on Sunday and will not be back until August. Gah, it is going to be hard being without her for such a long time. She was there also last summer and had a BLAST and we spoke on Skype almost every single day, so I am just going to focus on how much fun she is having and enjoy it through her and her very lively stories and updates that I will be getting from her while she is away.

Vacation

I started my vacation on May 28th. I got called into work for two days last week, to train a new person since we are hiring and there are some changes going on. I knew before I left that this might happen, so it was ok. The bad part is that I have been sick for a week. I have a terrible cold, had some fever and the headaches are no fun. It feels like it is going away, but it is not happening fast enough for me. Hopefully it will just take a few more days. Last evening of school is tonight and then I am carefree from both work and school for the next few weeks. I start work again on July 4th and school starts early August.

We left the city for a long weekend in the south-east side of Iceland. We stayed close to Geysir in a beautiful cabin and did a bit of driving around and sight seeing.

We stopped by the Geysir area to see the hot spring Strokkur erupt a few times and walked around the area.

And we visited Gullfoss also since it is so close to Geysir.

Then we decided to drive to Vík to visit the black sand beach there, Reynisfjara. It is one of the most beautiful places and I love visiting there. We ran in the sand and away from the ocean, threw some rocks, saw some birds and just enjoyed ourselves.

At the cabin, we spent most of our time reading, knitting, going to the hot tub or the sauna, jumping on the trampoline or running around the surrounding area. We also got good guests for dinner and had a wonderful and relaxing time.

The nights are bright. I took this photo not long before midnight one evening.

Birta

I finished my lopapeysa last week. I have been wanting to make myself a lopapeysa for about 5 years, but I had difficult time picking out the pattern I wanted, the colors I wanted, the fit I wanted and what kind of wool mix I wanted to use. After some thought I was almost decided on using a mix of single ply plötulopi (unspun Icelandic wool) and einband (Icelandic lace wool) as I love that mix and it makes the most light and airy fabric that is still warm and nice. I even thought about substituting the lace wool with some alpaca or something luxurious and soft to go with the unspun wool.

For the last few months, I have been a regular at Litla Prjónabúðin as it is one of my favorite knitting stores and quite a few of my knitting friends are regulars there and there is a great area for sitting down with your WIP and have coffee and chat. It is close both to my office and my home so it is very handy to stop by after work or on my days off and meet with kindred spirits and pet some yarn and do some knitting. Litla Prjónabúðin (The Little Knitting Store) carries great yarn called Snældan. Faroese wool with Falkland wool mixed in it. It is softer than the Icelandic wool and after seeing some items knitted with it, I was sold. I had found the yarn I wanted to use for my lopapeysa. Knit with 5mm needles, I got the same gauge as for léttlopi so substituting Snældan was easy! Perfect!

Pattern: Birta by Bára Þórarinsdóttir
Yarn: Snaeldan Nappað tógv 3tr – grey, brown and yellow
Needles: 4.5mm and 5mm

The pattern is very classic, just what I had imagined. I am very happy with it and now I want more and have plenty of ideas. I am on a sweater  roll and have some lined up in my queue already, both for me, my daughters and some friends and family. If you can get this wool, I do recommend it. It knits up beautifully!

I only have 2 days left at work and then I am on summer holidays until July 4th! Oh the joy! The list of things to do while I am on vacation is long and fun and I am finally going to go through my stash and organize it properly and hopefully get it all photographed and into Ravelry.

I started a new MKAL, this time I am doing socks by Kamilla. The first clue came yesterday and I am almost done with it. I am also participating in Stephen West’s Summer Shawl KAL and am going to start by knitting Vertices Unite in the bigger version. I did some stash diving and picked out some yarns that that could work for the project. Me and the man arranged some color settings and I took some photos of them for me to look at and hopefully make the decision making a little easier. If you want to take a look, the photos are here and I would love to hear what is your favorite color setting!

Bits & Pieces – May 19th

The weeks fly by. I just noticed that I am working this week and two days next week and then I will be on summer vacation until July 4th. My school is not over until June 14th though, but it is only about 15 hours a week and I can spend the days with my girls and have some fun. I then start school again in early August and don’t finish until December. That is going to be one busy season, both at work and at school so I should put my organizing skills to good use.

Karítas Árný made this bunny at school. I think it is just about the cutest thing ever!

New FM Belfast album on vinyl. So good!

I started working on the yoke of my lopapeysa on Saturday after school

And I finished it that evening and did the finishing on the sweater on Sunday.

I still have to go and find the right buttons for it (I am thinking about some old fashioned metal ones), steek it and crochet up and down the front of it. I can’t wait for it to be finished and I will share better photos of it when it is all done. The colors are not right in these shots.

Cardigan, with a twist!

I finished my green cardigan last weekend and it has been attached to me ever since. It is so light and comfortable, yet warm enough for these cool spring days. I found the pattern (free in one size) on the Pickles site, it has a great range of patterns and most of them are offered free in one size and then you can buy the other sizes. The patterns are simple and easy to follow. I have done a couple of projects from them, and they are always great so I can recommend them.

Pattern: Jakke med tvist by Pickles
Yarn: One thread of Plötulopi (un-spun Icelandic wool) and one thread of Isager Strik Spinni Tweed (Wool 1)
Needles: 7.0 mm

The pattern says that you are supposed to knit it back and forth. I started out like that, but I really, REALLY do not like knitting sweaters like that since it is so easy to knit them in the round and then just steek them in the sewing machine. So I quickly changed to knitting in the round and it just flew of the needles. I then steeked it and crocheted one row of single crochet around the bottom, up the front and around the neckline and to the front of the sleeves.
When I first saw the project on the Pickles website, I got the image in my head what color combination I wanted to use. At first I thought I would use plötulopi and einband, but the einband (Icelandic lace weight wool) was not available in the color I wanted. I thought about just dyeing the right color, but then I found the Spinni in the exact color I wanted. Even though it is a bit over priced in my opinion, I got it anyway. I do not regret it one bit, it is just perfect with the other yarn and I love the outcome. And how rare is it to get a vision of what you want in your head and then get the exact outcome when you are finished? So I am one happy knitter!

Pattern: Súld by Rósa Tom
Yarn: Araucania Aysen
Hook: 4mm

A very fast project, only took me about 3 hours from start to finish. It was a birthday present for our little friend, Þórkatla. This is my third time doing this hat, I just love it.

Happy Mothers Day yesterday! These two daughters of mine are the best! And then there is my own mother, who has always been my safe spot to fall when I tumble, my strength when I am drained and the push I need when I am unsure of myself and my own strengths. I love you, mom!

A new shawl and more

I participated in Romi’s new MKAL. After Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow MKAL, that I had so much fun with, I was on the hunt for a new one and this one popped up in my friend activity on Ravelry, so I decided to join in the fun.

It was challenging, but not difficult at all. What I love the most with MKAL’s is the fact that you only get a small-ish portion of the pattern at a time and with that I do not get overwhelmed with a HUGE pattern that covers many, many pages. And you have a week to do each portion so keeping up is usually not a huge deal. The portions are reasonable and I have learned so much from both of these.

Pattern: It’s a Mystery by Rosemary (Romi) Hill
Yarn: Grey is Design.club.dk Duo Merino – Orange is Isager Strik Tvinni (Wool 2)
Needles: 3.5mm

I have been wearing it pretty much every day since I finished it. It is very light, yet warm and I adore the colours and how well they work together. I got the grey yarn some years ago while traveling in Denmark and the orange I got on sale as it was being discontinued.

I finally picked out a pattern for a Lopapeysa for myself!

I have been wanting to make myself one for a long time (we are talking about years, people!) but I have always been struggling with what design to pick and then what colours would go well with it. After being introduced to Snældan (wool from the Faroe Islands) by my friend Dagga, I absolutely fell in love with it and yesterday after school I went to her store and bought the colours I wanted. I casted on last night and this yarn knits up like a dream! Very excited about this project.

When I got home from school yesterday, my girls were wrapped in in their blankets I made them and watching cartoons. Warmed my heart!

A pile of projects. That green cardigan is now finished, but I haven’t managed to take photos of it yet as it was raining heavily all day yesterday. I’ll share photos as soon as I take them.

School started again yesterday and I am looking forward to finishing this part. It is harder than the previous one, but I am up for the challenge. Then we have an exam in June and the summer off and then it starts back up sometime in August and is ongoing until December. Bring it!

Sunday catch up

I have been on a long Easter vacation that started Thursday last week and tomorrow I return back to work. It has been wonderful and I have gotten many things done but mostly I have been relaxing. I finished the first seminar (out of three) in my studies and the next one is starting on May 3rd, so having some time off both from work and school was very welcome.

I started my vacation by finishing up these two wool jumpers for my girls.

Pattern: Loki by Ragga Eiríksdóttir
Yarn: Léttlopi
Needle: 3.5mm and 4mm
This one is knitted top down! A great change from the traditional way of making these sweaters.

Pattern: Ranga by Védís Jónsdóttir
Yarn: Léttlopi
Needle: 3.5mm and 4mm
The pattern is this one is supposed to be purled, but I decided to do it in stockinette like the rest of the sweater.

New project bag that I adore!

I made this jar and gifted it to a friend at school

Karítas is the cuddliest kid I have ever known

Mother & Daughter

Our little friend, Þórkatla turned 3 today. Happy Birthday!

Bits & Pieces – April 6th

With going to school 3 times a week, for 3 and a half hours each time (on top of working full time and everything else I have going on), it seems like my time for hand crafts should be limited but somehow, the busier I am the more I get accomplished. Well, at least sometimes and lately that has been the deal. I am not complaining.

We spent 5 days with this sweet dog. We miss him terribly but fortunately, we do get to see him quite regularly.

I visited our store in Haukadalur again to do some work. Always enjoy going there.

New window display at Storkurinn. I wouldn’t mind sitting there for a day, knitting and listening to that beautiful old radio.

I got some Madelinetosh goodness!

I finished clue 2 in the Romi Mystery KAL. I am absolutely loving my yarn choice!

My girls on the bus today. Cool cats!

And Karítas got a new summer dress today. She is growing up so fast!