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

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 Lopi sweaters

I haven't done much blogging for the past few months. I guess I've just been to busy. 

But I'm back now and have lots of new sweaters to show:

 

These two have a yoke pattern from a sweater called Var which can be found in the knitting book Lopi 29 by Ístex. I've done some changes to it though like changing the cut.

 

These two have a yoke pattern from another Ístex Lopi book. It's called Él and I use it alot, I guess it's my favorite. But since it is a pattern for a children's sweater, I've designed the cut myself.

 

This one is kind of my own mix. The yoke pattern is (if I remember correctly) an adaption of an old Lopi pattern. The cut is my own.

All of the sweaters are made with double strand plötulopi and are (or were) for sale on Etsy. My youngest sister, Magga, was nice enough to model for me :)

Then I had some custom orders and made these two, which I've never knitted before:

The blue one is called Ranga and can be found in Lopi 29. The green one is called Jón and can be found in Lopi 31. I had to adapt both patterns a little so I would be able to use double strand plötulopi. But I think they turned out really nice :)

Lopi sweaters for children

I love knitting lopi sweaters for my children. I think traditional lopi sweaters always look cute and are so practical. The lopi keeps the kids warm and dry but not too warm. Perfect for all seasons.

I've knitted a few through the years and I usually try to make them match, both in color and style.

 These are all made with Létt-lopi (Lopi lite) exept the white one which is made with double strand Plötulopi.

I also made an overall for my daughter with double strand Plötulopi. I loved it but I can't say she did :P

Lopi sweater

I spent the weekend with my mother, aunt and niece. We went to a cabin out in the countryside and spent the whole time knitting, watching TV and sipping white wine. It was very productive for me and I made this sweater:

This is a custom order that I received through Etsy. I really like the colors and kind of want to keep it for myself ;). It's knitted with Létt-lopi and Evilla preyarn.

Þingborg's Lopi Sweater

In this post I mentioned that I was knitting my first sweater with lopi from Þingborg. I finished it a while ago and am soooo happy with it. I used a single strand which is always a little stressful since it seems to be so weak while knitting. In this case it was extremely so. The black Þingborg's lopi is very, very delicate and I was afraid the whole time that this sweater would never make it more than a month. But fortunately I was wrong. I'm still using it and absolutely love the warmth and softness.

Two Lopi vests

I just finished these vests made with Létt Lopi and Evilla preyarn. I just love ... no LOVE yarn that changes colors gradually.

Over the rainbow

Autumn foliage

Both vests are for sale in my Etsy store if you are interested ;)

No more cold feet

I just finished these socks. The pattern is called Varmi which translates to heat in English and can be found in the book Prjónað úr íslenskri ull or Knitting with Icelandic wool. I used double thread plötulopi on needles nr. 5,5 so they're very warm and cozy. I also added one star to make them almost knee high.

Snow

It has been snowing a lot in Reykjavík the last few days. I went for a walk yesterday with my camera and tried to capture what my neighborhood looks like all covered with snow.

When the weather is like this it's really nice to stay inside and knit some lopi garments to keep warm.

Einband

I have a love/hate relationship with the yarn called Einband. It's all Icelandic lace weight wool that comes in a variety of beautiful colors but stings like crazy ... or at least it stings me like crazy.

I have loads of it in my stash and buy even more from time to time. Why? ... Well the colors. They're just so beautiful. They range from muted natural sheepish colors to vibrant, bold colors in almost every shade. I'm such a sucker for colors.

Click here to see all the colors available.

Einband is a great yarn for shawls and delicate lace designs. But like I said, it stings me like no other yarn. I'm able to wear regular lopi next to my skin without problems but Einband I almost can't wear. For example I made this dress in 2009 but never wear it, mostly because of the stinging.

The only use I have for Einband is when I combine it with single strand plötulopi. By doing that it doesn't sting as much. I often use this method with shawls to strengthen the plötulopi which tends to tear easily.

It would be so great to be able to wear it and make beautiful shawls or light but warm garments out of it. It helps a little to wash it with a hair conditioner but sadly not enough for me. But I do know a lot of people who can wear it without problems so do not be to discouraged by my bad luck and sensitive skin.

Although it's lace weight, Einband can be knit with bigger needles with good results. My dress was knit on 4 mm needles (US size 6) and I'm currently making a sweater on 6 mm needles (US size 10). Both look great but very different. I think it's the fuzziness of the yarn that makes this possible, kind of like mohair but less fussy.

Istex has published a pattern book with a few pattern made with Einband. Click here for the online preview.
There are also a few designs in Lopi 30 and Lopi 31 (not available online yet).

New traditional Icelandic

I love traditional Icelandic sweaters especially in muted, natural sheep colors. But from time to time, being the lover of colors that I am, I love to mix the designs up a bit and use beautiful colors that complement the natural earth tones. Actually it's not uncommon here in Iceland to use colored lopi but I really like to think about what colors I put together.

Another thing I like to do is to change the cut of the garments and modernize them. In my opinion many of the sweaters, vests and dresses are far to wide, shapeless and have short bodies and sleeves. I usually custom make every item to fit the body of the owner if I can. It takes a few tricks and some math to do that successfully but I think it's part of the fun.