icelandic wool

one thing i absolutely had on my list to bring back was icelandic wool. hee hee no surprise there! the mecca? the Álafoss factory outlet shop/orginal mill (pictured above). willa and i drove there on monday before we started our country drive. and wow! so glad we went. the staff were sooo nice, the selection amazing, and more than just wool lots of knit sweaters/ lace stoles/ kid items etc. oh and great prices - i left with spending just under $40 CA with enough wool to knit a cardigan and 2 or 3 lace stoles/scarves!

i will warn you my knitting/yarn geekness is going to come out here - so feel free to glaze over and just admire the pics.

Like Shetland (northern scottish islands) Iceland has its own breed of sheep. the resulting wool is warm, hardy and water-repellent. its long fibres mean it wears well (merino and cashmere for example have short fibres meaning they are soft .. but are delicate/prone to pilling - this is over simplified but you get the picture) because the long guard hairs are included - this adds to the wind/water resistant quality but also makes the wool 'hairy' looking and many find it itchy - ps a wash/soak in hair conditioner does wonders!

Ever heard of Lopi? yep that is icelandic wool - available in north america in 3 weights lite, regular and bulky. It is one ply with a loose spin/twist. Pretty affordable a lot of people i know use it for felted items (slippers etc) ......... i've used it a few times often carrying anther fibre like mohair with it to soften it up a bit

but i've been curious about the other icelandic wool out there..... in particular the traditional unspun that comes in "cakes" much like white buffalo used to, and the lace weight.

Plötulopi: the unspun wool, it "is fragile to knit; however, due to the length of its fibres, it knits into a sweater that is both sturdy and soft." see the lovely sweater above? I bought one from "Farmers Market" - young design company [profiled here] that is re-imagining the traditional lopapeysa - or icelandic yoke sweater. I love the sweater - i must get a shot of of me wearing it. anyway back to wool it is knit with a single strand of unspun while more traditional sweaters you'd knit with 2 to 4 strands at a time which would make them ready for the elements. but since i'm wearing this inside i love how lightweight and airy the cardigan is - yet still warm.



i love it so much i'm going to knit myself almost the same sweater - this time in a natural heathered grey with cream and purple. swoon! i have soooo many projects lined up but this pretty pretty wool is calling. oh and it smells great - i guess because it is rather unprocessed


and then there is the laceweight: Loðband - if you've been following the blog you'll know i've been really into knitting lace. and based on a beautiful triangle shaped shawl we saw in the shop [here is one that is similar - might be the pattern i'll use] i bought 6 natural shades from the lightest cream to a deep charcoal. i bought extra white/cream and charcoal so i have enough for 2 or 3 projects!

ps. if you are interested in more about icelandic wool and knitting - check out the The Handknitting Association of Iceland

streets of Reykjavík

just wanted to give you a few glimpses of Reykjavík - here is willa (basically across from our place on the main shopping street: Laugavegur ) as you can see it wasn't warm - but no snow in town at least (early april)


street names - this was a shorter one!

many murals in town - this was a favourite! notice the palettes/massive sequins - the shimmering as the wind blew them - this was a feature on a few buildings. you know my undying love for shiny things ... so yes loved these giant metallic discs



overview from high up on the perlan


residential street - downtown Reykjavík - like Dawson City a good deal of tin siding. i love all the colours

Kolaportið

Kolaportið ......... ah the flea market in Reykjavík. seriously such a great time. imagine a large warehouse divided into to isles and many table/stalls and then add huge amounts of people swarming and trying on sweaters/hats/etc. it's a crazy mix from folks with established tables full of vinyl and band tees, handknit sweaters (lopapeysa), beautiful dishes, to artists selling their work, and many just clearing out their closet. oh and the fish market of course! where we bought the rotten shark and dried fish


what we came away with:
jewelery - directly from the artist - stunning lava and silver pieces
salt licorice (just a couple pieces as i bought a MASSIVE bag at the airport - i still have loads)
a sparkly topshop tank - barely worn
a cowl top (again a group of friends selling items from their closets)
willa almost bought a sweater dress - but ended up with a great sweater at another shop

orange blobs on wet icelandic horses

umm yep that us .. this picture was taking after about 1/2 an hour of driving sleet. my hair and wet touque is plastered to my face. willa looks a bit better, but then she has always liked horses. when we were kids she was "horse crazy" went to horse camp, drew horses, had posters of horses etc .... me? no. they kinda freaked me out ... ok i should be honest they totally freaked me out esp when they went fast. so willa was pretty excited/surprized when i agreed to a three hour riding trip on icelandic horses. the reassuring thing for me? do you see the size? more like a pony.
We went out with Eldhester they are about 45 min out of town and picked us up right at our hotel/apartment. The horses are really well trained. which served me well. going fast still freaks me out so that was the worst part for me yes even above the stinging sleet and walking thru the river. the mountain trail was beautiful (it had started to clear up then). the staff and whole set up was great. they provided a snowsuit plus the bright orange rain gear along with boots (we had our own), gloves/mitts, and helmets.
today? a little sore .... feels like my bum is bruised. even after the soak at the thermal pool last night.

first stop? .... pancakes

we flew at 9pm and arrived in Iceland at 6am ... it was a four hour flight and neither willa or i slept much. the drive in from the airport took us thru volcanic cliffs and lichen flatlands almost looked like tundra at times but with giant lava boulders. once in town we headed straight to the Grái kötturinn (Grey Cat) for a full plate of pancakes and bacon. it was about 3am our time so bodies demanded food or sleep. sleep wasn't an option so we window shopped and trekked around town. we hit most of the major landmarks. Reykjavík is such a walkable city! everything on the map ended up being closer than we thought. however by 3 we were about to collapse and had to nap! ah well we walked around more after dinner. our place is great! we have a studio apartment right on the trendy shopping street. very amazing. it has an awesome little kitchen and big square windows.


the classic Reykjavík shot ..... right on the harbour. what might not show up here is how windy it was. unreal. super chilly. but as you can see a nice looking day none the less.