Morganite

I have been studying very hard for my upcoming exam tomorrow since I got home from Denver. This is the first out of three and I must admit that I am a little nervous about it. Sure, I know what I am doing but it has been a while since I have taken a big exam like that. Cross your fingers for me, please!

So I have not been knitting much. I did however finish the knitting on Morganite a few weeks back, but still had to steek it, cut, pick up stitches and knit the lists for the buttons on the front. So, after working for 8 hours, studying for another 5 I decided that I would get 1 hour of knitting time before bed. So the first night I did the first list. Then the second list. Then I attached the buttons and washed it and then I had a new cardigan! Ta-dah!

Pattern: Morganite by Corrina Ferguson – Pom Pom Quarterly, Issue 6: Autumn 2013
Yarn: 3ply Snældan in two shades of grey
Needles: 4.5mm and 5mm
Buttons from Litla Prjónabúðin

I made A LOT of changes on this one. The pattern is written so that you knit the cardigan back and forth. Well, I hate doing that so I changed to knitting in the round. I had no idea if that would work for the lace pattern on the yoke, but I decided that if it didn’t work, I could do that part back and forth. Well, it worked. How, I do not know, but it worked! I made size 3, that had an error in set up row when joining the sleeves to the body, but I got some notes from Sigurlaug and counted and re-counted and it all worked out in the end. Now I am waiting for Sigurlaug to finish her Morganite!

Denver Yarn Storming

I had such a fantastic time in Denver! I had no idea what to expect, as Denver just did not ever cross my mind as a city to visit in the States. Now I can’t wait to go back some day. The people are friendly, the city is beautiful and I had a really great time there!

Flying over Greenland was breathtaking!

My event took place in Civic Center Park, and we decorated some trees there. It was a great day in the sun and I would like to thank everyone who showed up and added to the installation! Now, pictures speak louder than words, so here are a few for you to see!

It really turned out so great, I am a very happy camper!

I also visited Fancy Tiger Crafts while I was there. I wanted to visit more yarn stores while there, but I did not have as much time as I would have wanted.

This really caught my eye! So pretty!

If I was a spinner….

The store is big and absolutely beautiful!

They even have Lopi for sale! Always happy to see Icelandic Wool when I am traveling.

This pretty lot followed me back to my hotel room. Oh so pretty!

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.

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!

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 – March 9th 2014

This past week was an eventful one. I started school again! Yes, I am going to school 3 times a week (Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings) to become a certified accountant. I have been working as one for 14 years, so it is time to take the degree for sure. So far it has been easy, but it sure is fun to be back in school and I know that gradually, it will get harder but hey, that’s why I am there.

On Match 3rd I opened up Ravelry (as I do daily) and to my surprise, the blanket I blogged about in my last post was on the front page! Damn, that makes me proud!

Since then, 80+ people have added it as a favorite and many have commented on it also.

I worked at our store in Haukadalur for a day. It sure was a nice change from staying at the office.

New favorite juice. So incredibly good!

Ash Wednesday in Iceland, the kids dress up in costumes. Here are my girls, Karítas as Clawdeen from Monster High and Sumarrós as a doll, though I think she looks like Wednesday from the Adams Family with that wig.

And I met these awesome kids on Laugavegur. The dog is Ringo, they told me.

Esjan – February 27th. It looked like a spring morning.

Esjan – March 6th. Winter struck again.

The man and Karítas built a snowman in our backyard yesterday. The snow was wet and sticky, perfect for building snowpeople or snowhouses.

March is for mustaches and raising cancer awareness. As you can see, the man is participating and we are cheering him on!

New blanket finish

Me, my mom and my daughters went away to my grandfathers cabin on Wednesday and came home yesterday. It was wonderful to get away and we spent our time watching movies, soaking in the hot tub, playing cards and games, eating good food, watching the birds, drawing, my mother was sewing a dress for Sumarrós and I focused on finishing a blanket for a friend.

Skorradalur, the view over the lake from the driveway to the cabin.

My mother and daughters playing Kalaha. We love playing Kalaha, and Sumarrós is an awesome player. Off course she won almost every game (I won her once!)

The blanket has been a secret project since July last year. My very dear friend Hildur was at my house and wrapped herself in the Wave Blanket I made for Karítas last year. After that she expressed that she really wanted a blanket of her own, so me and our group of friends decided that we wanted to give her one. They bought the yarn and I made the blanket in between other projects. When I left on Wednesday I had about 70 squares left to do and I managed to finish the blanket on Friday night, boarder and all. It was made with a lot of love and warmth wrapped into every stitch and last night I walked over to Hildur’s house and gave it to her. She was very happy and wrapped the blanket around her and tells me she is still wrapped up in it, not about to let it go anytime soon.

Pattern: The classic granny square
Yarn: Stylecraft Special Double Knit (colors: bright pink, sunshine, lipstick, plum, royal, black and yaffa) except the neon green is Svarta Fåret Freja
Hook: 4.5mm

I used a little less than 2 skeins for all the colours except for the black one, I used a little more than 2 skeins of it as it is also used for the boarder. 420 squares, and I used Lucy’s amazing join as you go method to join the squares. The colours were very difficult to photograph, the orange and the green are neon colours but they look a bit washed out in the photos. They are much richer and nicer IRL so you just have to imagine how they really are.

Now I am focusing on some sock knitting, some test knitting for a friend and am about to start knitting wool sweaters for both myself and my daughters.

Two new shawls and more

I have been knitting up a storm. The Mystery KAL by Ysolda Teague has really kept me at it and I have also been working on the Happy Street shawl. Both are now finished, blocked and the man was kind enough to take pictures with me yesterday.
First up, the Follow Your Arrow Mystery KAL. I am so happy how it turned out.

Pattern: Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda Teague
Clues: AABAA
Yarn: Juno Fibre Arts Milly Singles in Boudoir and Touch Wood
Needles: 4mm

I am very happy with the outcome and am already considering another shawl with different mix of clues. Each clue has 2 options and they all work together, no matter how you mix them together. And she gives you the option of having one or two colours, but seriously, you can use as many as you want really. And some variegated yarns work very well with this awesome pattern.
The KAL has been a lot of fun and I have learned a whole lot. I set up with picking clues that I found interesting and would include some technique that I had not done before or had done little of, some new shapes and forms etc.

The second shawl, Happy Street by Vera Välimäki, is the exact opposite from the MKAL. Just garter stitch and short rows, the perfect TV knitting project. And even if the rows become veeeery long, it somehow never got boring. I love Vera’s patterns, this is the third one I have done and they have all been perfectly written, and very easy to execute with beautiful results. If you haven’t done any of her patterns, I would recommend that you try them out for a very joyful knitting experience!

Happy Street by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Shamrock and Madelinetosh tosh sock in Jade, grey is dyed by a friend. Also sock yarn.
Needles: 3.5mm

Work has been very busy, but the busy season and the end of year balancing is getting very close to being done, wooohoo! And next week me and my mother and my daughters are going away to my grandfathers cabin in Skorradalur. I can’t wait to get away from the city for a couple of days and just relax with my girls. They are on winter break from school and so is my mom as she works in a school, I have plenty of vacation days so I am taking a few for this.

Bits & Pieces – January 7th

It’s a new year! And, it’s my mother’s birthday today!

Happy birthday, mom! And thanks for still braiding my hair, even though I am all grown up!

Christmas gifts

Christmas Tree

Christmas kids

Christmas me

I made myself a new headband for the cold.
Pattern: Parisian Twist Headband Ear Warmer by Elisa McLaughlin
Yarn: 1 strand Cascade 220 and 1 strand Malabrigo Twist
Needles: 6mm

I gave my sister the Safety Scarf as that pink looks so good on her!
Pattern: Safety Scarf by Stephen West
Yarn: BC Garn Semilla Fino in grey and Koigu Premium Merino (KPM) in neon pink
Needles: 3.5mm

This scarf is supposed to be knit on much bigger needles with much thicker yarn, but I wanted a more delicate look and I really wanted to use the Koigu yarn that I got while visiting New York in September. I am very happy with how it turned out with my changes. It still wrappes twice around the neck but is not too tight. It was a very fun knit! Stephen’s patterns are just incredible.

2013 – Finishes

It’s been a wonderful year.
Like the years before, I am doing a list of my finished projects.

Stitching
Freebie from TraLaLa – finished as a pin cushion
Total: 1 finished project

Knitting
Cardigan for Pálmi
Curry cardigan for myself
Camomille shawl for myself
Turn a square hat for the man
Grettir for Óli Sindri
Total: 5 finished projects

Crochet
Wave blanket for Karítas
Bugða blanket for Sumarrós
Vintage blanket for my sister, Gyða
Electric Ripple blanket for a friends baby
Granny Stripe blanket for my nephew, Adrían
Viktoría collar for me
Viktoría necklace for Aimee
Viktoría necklace for Karítas
Viktoría necklaces for Þóra and Freyja
Viktoría necklace for Erla, Sumarrós’s sister
Viktoría necklace for Helga Soffía
Viktoría necklace for Steinunn Lóa
Bow Tie for my nephew, Adrían
Bow Tie for Starri, Sumarrós’s brother
Slaufa, for a friends baby
Slaufa, for Karítas’s baby sister
Cardigan for Karítas’s baby sister
Washcloths for me and the man
Washcloth for Karítas
Washcloth for Sumarrós
Mittens for Sumarrós
Mittens for Karítas
Hat for Karítas
Light green jar cover
White jar cover
Purple jar cover
Orange jar cover #1
Orange jar cover #2
Dark green jar cover
Red jar cover
Gray jar cover
White and black jar covers
Crochet stone #1
Crochet stone #2
Lægð, cowl
6 hair elastics for Sóley
Wash cloth
Súld, hat for my cousin Bjarki (here modeled by Karítas)
Lægð, wrapped scarf for Karítas
Bow Tie for my friend Einar. No photo, but one is hopefully coming soon.
Total: 40 finished projects

Yarnstorming
Hlemmur – bus stop in Reykjavík
The sign that marks my grandfathers summer house
Laxá í Kjós
By Hespuhúsið
In a car
Womens Rights
Gay Pride
Total: 7 finished projects

We wish you a very happy 2014 and I hope that you continue to drop by to my little blog.

Bits & Pieces – December 1st

It’s December already! Amazing.
I have been busy with fun things. Doing some Christmas gifts, and test crocheting for my friend Rósa who is finally releasing some of the ideas that have been rolling around in her head for a while. Two of them are already released on Ravelry and I link to them below the photos.

For Sumarrós
Pattern: Vettlingar/Mittens by Rósa Tom
Yarn: Yarn: Dream in Color Classy
Hook: 4.5mm for the cuff – 5 for the mittens
Link to pattern in Icelandic

For Karítas
Pattern: Vettlingar/Mittens by Rósa Tom
Yarn Alpaca Select Kusi held double
Hook: 4.5mm
Link to pattern in English

Pattern: Súld by Rósa Tom
Yarn: Araucania Aysen, color 824
Hook: 4.5mm
Link to pattern in Icelandic and English

These are super fast and easy projects, and easily adaptable for different sizes. My girls are very happy with their new mittens, and Karítas wears the hat all the time and was super proud to be asked to model it for the pattern relase.

I have also been crocheting some jar covers. I made my first jar about a year ago and I keep my crochet hooks and some of my DPN’s in it. But they are also very pretty as candle holders. You just put one tea light in it and it makes the nicest light.

Here are three of the ones I have made so far. I gave the orange one away yesterday, and it was very well appreciated. I love finding patterns to use and try to make each one a little different than the previous one.

I made this one also, but I think I am keeping it for myself. I put some straws in it as my daughters use them a lot in their drinks. So you can basically keep anything in them that you want, pens and pencils, straws, crochet hooks, or use it as a candle holder.

Bits & Pieces – November 3rd

This past week was one of the most difficult and draining weeks I have had in a long time. So this weekend has been especially well appreciated. I have done nothing but relax, cook, some laundry and both crochet and knit as much as I that’s my best outlet for stress and leaves me relaxed and content.

Pattern: Ungbarnapeysa by Tinna Þórudóttir Þorvaldar.
Yarn: Strikkebogen.dk Pimabomuld 8/2
Hook: 3mm

My daughter Karítas just became a big sister 3 days ago! Her father and his wife had a little baby girl that is absolutely perfect and Karítas is so proud and grew up over night, as you do when you get this great role of being the older sibling. When she was told that she was expecting a baby sister sometime this summer, she went straight to work. She went through my knitting and crochet books and found this sweater design that she asked me to make for her baby sister.
We went to our LYS and she picked out the yarn and the colours and the button and I went to work on the execution. We both really like how it turned out, and yesterday her father picked her up and she went to spend some time with her sister and gave her the sweater. It is much to big for now, but hopefully I will share pictures of her wearing it once it fits.

Knit to the Music goodness!

I went to Ragga Eiríks (Knitting Iceland founder) and Stephen West show, Knit to the Music, of knitted goodness, music and photography (by photographer Baldur Kristjáns) at KEX hostel. I met Stephen West (yes, I did get a bit star struck, he is SO nice!) and the show was really interesting and inspiring. There is a book coming and I am definitely putting it on my Christmas Wish List!