New pattern - Inside out sweater

I finally finished the pattern for my inside out sweater. It's knitted top down and literally turned inside out in the end so the purled side faces out.

I used this gorgeous purple silky merino yarn from Malabrigo. It has slight variations in color which goes well with the purled fabric.

I think this is the perfect sweater for spring and summer since it's light weight and not too warm.

If you're interested in the pattern you can find it HERE.

   

Work in progress - a new sweater pattern

I'm working on a new sweater pattern. It's not an Icelandic lopi sweater like I usually do but rather a light sweater much like the ones I've been seeing in stores lately. The inspiration actually comes from a sweater I got from H&M. I often think "I could just knit this" when I'm looking at clothes in stores. Most of the time I'm also sure I can knit a nicer sweater with no seams and from better materials like merino wool, silk blends and so on. I don't care much for acrylics though I sometimes use them.

I started test knitting my idea with a very nice yarn from King Cole, a mix of cotton and bamboo. It's very soft and drapes wonderfully.

I wanted the sweater to be an inside out sweater, i.e. I wanted the purl side to face outwards. That meant that when knitting I had to make sure to hide all ends on the knit side facing me and to made sure that all increases and decreases looked good on the purl side. That's something one usually doesn't have to worry about.

When I finally finished the sweater after some frogging and adjusting I decided it would be better to work it top down. Mostly because I didn't like the raglan decreases as much as I wanted to. So I started again. I didn't want to frog the first sweater since it's quite nice and I also wanted to try a different yarn. 

I've had 6 skeins of Malabrigo silky merino in a gorgeous plum color for ages, 5 years to be exact. But I haven't been able to decide what to make from it. So now I finally decided to make a sweater from it.

When I started the new sweater I decided to use a provisional cast on with a crochet hook. That makes the cast on look the same on both sides. I also decided to try to make this a reversible sweater. It's possible since I can twist the ends together when starting a new skein so it's invisible. I still thin I will rather use it with the purl side facing out.

At this moment I'm almost finished with the body so the sleeves remain. When I finish I will publish the pattern. I'm so excited, this yarn looks absolutely gorgeous on the purl side :)

New pattern - Snowflake baby hat

I first made this hat in 2010 when my older daughter was a baby. I never wrote it down but always meant to. Recently my younger daughter started using the hat and I was reminded of how happy I am with it. So I decided to write down the pattern and publish it on Ravelry. It's made with Icelandic Kambgarn but any sports weight wool can be used.

If you like the pattern you can buy it HERE or find me on Ravelry. It's available in both English and Icelandic.

Neon baby hat

I just finished this crocheted neon hat for my daughter. Don't you just love the color???

My video tutorials

From time to time I make some knitting tutorials. So far I've shown how to graft stitches together using kitchener stitch, how to knit two things on one needle, how I sew in ends while crocheting and how I do a purled stitch. My videos were intended for Icelandic speaking people and all have Icelandic text (no speaking) but maybe they can be useful to others as well.

Kitchener stitch

Two items on one needle

More can be found on Youtube.

So sad ...

I can't help feeling sorry for this guy:

New sweater and pattern

I just finished this green lopi sweater and a pattern for it too :)

It's my first adult size sweater pattern and I decided to call it Moss since the light green colors remind me of the moss that covers lava here in Iceland.

The pattern is available here or if you have a Ravelry account then you can find my

pattern store Knitwear by unneva. The sweater is also for sale in my Etsy shop.

Autumn leaves vest

I was looking at the statistics for my Etsy shop and found out that this vest is the most favorited item in the shop so far. It's also one of my favorites.

I just like the color combination so much and think it's perfect for a cozy lopi garment. The main color is actually very dark brown although it looks a bit grey in the photo.

I still have the Evilla yarn in this color and must admit that it's tempting to make another. Maybe even a full sweater. There just isn't enough time for all the projects I want to do :P

Black and blue lopi sweater

I recently finished this black and blue men's sweater. The buyer wanted blue colors in the yoke and I found this beautiful yarn from Evilla. I held it double to match the unspun lopi and it turned out really nice.

For some reason I don't make many men's sweaters. This one is XL and doesn't quite fit the "model" who is a size M.

Now I don't have any orders to finish so I'm using the time to work on my new lopi sweater pattern. More on that later ;)

Hand washing lopi sweaters

Lopi sweaters can be quite sensitive to washing and should only be washed by hand. A few washing machines have very good wool programs (mine actually does) but I still wouldn't risk it.

My best method for washing goes like this:

1. Fill a tub with lukewarm water and a nice smelling shampoo (yes just your regular hair shampoo) and soak your sweater in it.
2. Gently squeeze and swirl the sweater around.
3. Remove the water and fill the tub again with clean water and conditioner (yes, again just your regular conditioner).
4. Gently squeeze and swirl the sweater around for a few minutes.
5. Repeat step 4 and 5 if the water is dirty until it becomes clean.
6. Squeeze most of the water from the sweater and put it in the washing machine for a slow spin for a few minutes. You can skip this step but drying time will be longer.
7. Lay the sweater on a towel to dry.

Most lopi sweaters don't need washing that often and sometimes it's enough to just "freshen" them outside.

Tricks to knit a bit faster

Even though I'm a fast knitter I sometimes I wish I could knit a lot faster. My knitting speed depends on what size needles I am using, if I'm using steel or acrylic needles, what type of yarn etc.

I do have a few tricks up my sleeve that I believe make my knitting go just a bit faster:

• Try not to knit too tight. If you do and aren't able to change it, try using a smaller needle in your left hand (if you have interchangeable needles that is). That way the stitches will easily come of the needle despite your tight knitting.
• Use a shorter circular needle when knitting in the round. For example I use a 60 cm needle when knitting the body of a sweater, even in XL. It just makes moving the stitches easier and quicker.
• Relax your body, shoulders, arms and fingers as much as you can and, again, try to relax your knitting so it's looser without being too loose.
• Watch or listen to something really exiting. I tend to knit very fast when I do cause I get so exited. It works best though when knitting with one color in the round.

Then if this doesn't help, one could always master speed knitting:

Cats and knitting humor

I often wish that I wasn't allergic to cats. They are such independent and funny creatures and I looooove cat humor.

I can't imagine our bunny doing something funny or sweet to my yarn. She would probably just eat it ...

Pretty yarn.

I found this pretty yarn when browsing on Etsy. I always fall for pretty colored yarn, especially when it changes colors slowly. I will order it one day ... I will!

Check out Apple Tree Knits for more yarn.

Decrease evenly across a row

I'm a horrible mathematician ... horrible. So when I see these words in a pattern I have two options. I can either wing it and then resent my project for being "wrong" or I can go to this website and have the calculator do it for me. There's also a calculator for increasing evenly on the same site. When I found the site I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread ... and well I still think it is :)

Do you know of any useful tools like this that you would like to share with me?

  

Humor

Knitted dresses

Recently I finished a knitted dress. It's a design by Helga Isager and can be found here. I've actually made three of these dresses and each one is unique. First I followed the pattern but used unusual yarn, single strand unspun Icelandic Lopi and some glitter thread. I really love this blue color.

Then for the second one I only followed the pattern for the yoke but changed the skirt and hemline. I used different yarn, one strand Icelandic one ply Einband and one strand Cascade baby alpaca lace held together. I also put beads in the yoke by threading them on specific stitches while knitting using a very small crochet hook. This method can be seen here in this fine video:

What I like most about this dress is the color. I used Einband in Teal and Cascade alpaca lace in Aporto. They mix beautifully together and make this kind of blue-green variegated color.

This dress now belongs to a woman in Switzerland :)

Both dresses were nice but I guess they could be quite warm to wear since both are made with 100% wool. So I decided to make a third one using a cotton/wool blend yarn from Geilsk. It's very soft and drapes nicely. I changed the hemline again and used the lace pattern from the yoke.

This one is longer than the others and quite stretchy.

I used steel gray beads for the yoke.

All dresses are/were for sale in my Etsy shop

Crocheted baby hat

Since I was born many of the children in my family have received a very special crocheted hat. A woman who was working at my grandfather's firm made one for each baby born, or most of them at least. I remember my sisters wearing these extremely cute hats with giant pompom's. Their hats still exist after more than 20 years.

My son wearing his hat in 2005

When I had my own children this woman had stopped working for the firm but still sent some hats, much to my enjoyment. Then when I had my daughter in 2009 I decided that I wanted to learn how to make them and asked my mother arrange it, which she did. At first it wasn't the easiest pattern to master mostly because there was no real pattern. But I managed to figure it out and since then I've made a few both for my own children and my sister's. I love making them, they're so wearable and cute.

My daughter wearing the first hat I made for her.

Many have asked me for the recipe but I don't share it since I think it's not mine to share. I have however decided to make a few hats to sell on Etsy. I make them to fit 3-6 month old babies and the material is 100% wool.

This is the first hat I made to sell, worn by my 4 month old daughter. The hat is a bit big on her but one of the great things about these hats is that they kind of grow with the child for a few months.

I hope you like the hats as much as I do :)
  

New cardigan

I just listed this cardigan in my Etsy shop:

It's a design by me, an adult version of the children's sweater Frost. It's made with double thread plötulopi which is my favorite for lopi sweaters.

New sizes for the Frost pattern

I just added sizes 6/8/10 and 12 years old to my design Frost. It's a sweater made with Létt-lopi (or any worsted or aran weight yarn). It features a traditional Icelandic yoke and a high neck to keep kids warm.

  

I recently made it for my son who is 8 years old. He chose the colors himself and insisted on using neon colors for the pattern. The picture doesn't display how vibrant they really are but I do like the result.

The pattern can be found here.

New things

I guess I didn't mention what I've been busy doing. 

Well, last winter I was busy finishing my first master's degree in human resource management. The thesis kept me quite busy until graduation in February. I'm quite proud of it :)

Then in August I had a baby girl. She's my fourth child and most likely also my last. She was born on the 26th and is a little bundle of joy. She even lets me knit from time to time ;)

Of course I've already made her a few things like this crocheted blanket and the sweater below:

Funny enough my sister also had baby girl in August. She doesn't knit or crochet so I enjoy making her some cute little things too:

My sister also has a birthday in August so she and her baby girl got a matching shawl and hat: