Knitting is a strong part of Icelandic culture. It's visible on the street, even on bikes
and on trees!
Cafes sometimes offer a knitting basket with a piece of unfinished knitting in it, in case you feel like knitting a few rows as you enjoy your coffee and peruse the newspaper.
As a knitter, I was happy to join not one, but two knitting groups. The camaraderie, the advice, the trading of patterns, the snacks, what fun! In Rome, a friend and I tried to start such a group, but there, knitting is thought of as an old lady's hobby. Getting my Italian friends to give it a try was near impossible. In the end, I did get one friend to join, and she learned enough to make a hat.
Here in Iceland, handknits are very popular. One sees all sorts of people -- babies and elderly, hipsters and teens, everyone -- wearing handmade Icelandic sweaters. Such a sweater is called a lopapeysa in Icelandic, after Icelandic lopi wool. Peysa means sweater. I decided to knit one of my own.
I chose a pattern called Sjón, published in the pattern book, Lopi 30. It was originally written to fit men, so it had a big, boxy shape. Since I wanted a better-fitting, long cardigan rather than a loose pullover, I made some changes to it.
Icelandic sweaters are usually knit in-the-round, which means using circular knitting needles and making a tube. This one is knit from the bottom up. First I knit the body from the bottom to armpit level. Then I knit both sleeves and joined them to the body. Next was the colorwork, the yoke design from the chest up to the neck.
To make a cardigan, you add a few stitches in each row so that there ends up begin a vertical column the front center, and when you are finished knitting your sweater, you actually cut it open. This process, called steeking, strikes fear in the heart of many a knitter. Here it is as a pullover, and you can see the center column where it will be cut.
I threaded some blue yarn along the column to make it clear where I should cut. Using a sewing machine, I sewed a line of red thread on either side of the blue column to reinforce the sweater and prevent it from falling apart once the cut was made.
Then it was time to put scissors to the carefully knitted garment. Scary.
Next I folded the raw edges under and inserted a zipper. This turned out to be the hardest part of the entire process.
I ended up putting it in, being unhappy with the outcome, seeking advice, taking out one side, and reinserting it. It was frustrating, but now it's finally done.
Front view:
Side view:
Top view:
Back view:
