new project ...old project

so yes ... i hate to admit it but i do have a closet of wool. here is a very old project .... from the last winter olympics in fact! this was my olympic knitting project when i lived in dawson .... but i never finished ... as it was coming together, it umm was a bit blah. but when i saw new free pattern downloads yesterday from interweave i found inspiration to dig up that project, pull it apart and start on a cozy fall cardigan.

so i have it all balled now and you know it is really quite a lovely colour deep greens with some teal and clay hints. the pattern: Side-Way Ribs Cardigan by Norah Gaughan is quite simple and normally too boring to knit but it is going to be quick and has an interesting construction!

i made wool

ok maybe i didn't make it but i did spin it!

while in Inuvik i was able to take a spinning class ... well almost the class was full but they let me watch and listen. I learnt alot! and it gave me confidence to try drop spindling. that is the photo above: my drop spindle. it is a lovely little thing cherry wood and very light so i can spin lace weights. can should be in quotes ... so i could spin lace, once i get better - right now it is mainly fingering (sock) weight .. but there are fair chunks of thick and thin

here is my fibre .... Spunky Eclectic Spunky Club Roving: Romney wool, Pansy colourway

our instructor gave lots of tips - ie good begining fibres - romney, corridale are two goods ones as they have long grabby hairs/fibres. also variegated colours help too so you can see the twist.

and here is my first 4oz or 100 grams of hand spun wool!!!

April 6 - The Golden Circle

the Golden Circle - the road to Thingvellir, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Today was our big "tourist day"; we rented a car and started out on a tour of the major geographic sites of the Reykjavik area. Before we hit those we made a very important stop at the Alafoss Outlet Store and bought unspun wool, something you can't buy in Canada. Then we were off. The countryside is a lot like northern Canada.. low tundra and snow capped mountains; except these mountains are volcanic.

the Golden Circle - Pingvellir, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We stopped at Thingvalier for lunch and a walk around. It's the sight of the first Icelandic Parliament (the oldest in the world) and also marks the boundary of the North American and European plates. The split between the plates has created a rather dramatic looking rift beside a swiftly moving river. The plates are slowly moving apart and cause Iceland to grow by about 2 cm per year!

Oh, I mentioned lunch. It was here we decided to try some Icelandic "delicacies"

the Golden Circle - mmmmn.. haroifiskur, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Haroifiskur: dried fish with butter
Our verdict: a bit chewy, but good

Pingvellir - mary tries hakari, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Hakari: fermented (rotten) shark..
our verdict: I thought it was chewy and tolerable..like a very strong cheese. I could grow to like it.
Mary couldn't even swallow it.

the Golden Circle - on the way back to Reykjavik, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We continued up the road to Geyser... yes the one that named all other geysers.. well actually we were more interested in Strokkur which is active - Geyser stopped being active many years ago. Further up the road the sleet started .. but being good Canadian girls, we still managed to run out and look at Gullfoss the waterfall nearby. The sleet and snow was pretty miserable so we didn't stay long. We drove home via Sulfoss in the south which is near where we went horse riding before. It seems Sulfoss has the worst weather (but does have pizza with bananas!).

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

thrums good to -27C

look what willa made me! the one on the left is inside out so you can see that it is fuzzy on the inside. they are crazy puffy and warm - i used them today (and it was a chilly -27 this morning!)
ooh in case you feel like making thrummed mittens here is a pattern. the thrums are folded bits of fibre knit right into the mitten - and make these suckers amazing hand furnaces

(ps this lovely shot is stolen from willa)