Busting the yarn stash - funky socks

It is about time to use up the Novita 7 Veljestä stash that I have. Colourful & happy-patterned socks are perfect for this :) I am still far away from really busting the stash but this is a good start.

As I was knitting these socks, I used a couple of new techniques I have recently learned, namely Tunisian crochet and the French round heel. I used Tunisian crocheting in the heel flap and all the way through the heel reductions. The heel becomes quite rigid, but it should last even heavy use.
Yarn Novita 7 Veljestä Size 40 Knitting needles 4, Tunisian crochet needle 4

Another week, another Icelandic cardigan

I really love this pattern called Keđja ('chain'), designed by Védís Jónsdóttir. The original design in Ístex pattern book 28 (page 2) is for a tunic, but I decided to make a cardigan instead. I made the calculations myself as I was using a thinner yarn.

Am so happy with the ready cardigan! In my own opinion, this is one of the prettiest things I have ever knitted. It was a fast knit, took me from Friday to Wednesday :D

Yarn Novita 7 Veljestä red 570g and white 140g
Size 44-46
Needles 4

Good old felted slippers

My extended family has started to request these felted slippers pretty much every year for Christmas/birthday present. Happy to oblige!


Size 39
Yarn: Novita Huopanen (100% felted wool) 200 g, crochet needle 10
Instructions in Finnish at Novita
Colour wash in washing machine (shrinks 20%), stretch to fit foot

Icelandic cardigan: days 6-7

Done! Now only finishing and that's it :)

This was a very agile knitting project, meaning that the plans got modified with reality and accumulated knowledge. The pattern found its form as I knitted along, and in the end I decided against the hood. I decided to call the cadigan "gimsteinn", which means gemstone in Icelandic. I will write the pattern up and post it later, together with a picture of the fully finalised cardigan.

Icelandic cardigan: day 5

So I got to the yoke! Now this feels like real knitting - no more bling speed-knitting but paying attention to the yarn and the pattern. I calculated that I made 20% of the yoke pattern yesterday, 80% more to go. I hope the white yarn is enough for a hood, though. We'll see!

Icelandic cardigan: days 3-4

The bottom part of the body is now done: afterwards it always feels like finishing a marathon. The true Icelanders knit cardigans also in a round so as to avoid purling, especially in the pattern. I am, however, not really comfortable with sewing and cutting the knitted pullover in the front (in case I want to make changes later on) so I opted for purling.

The sleeves are coming a bit slower than usually since I am making them simultaneously with circular needles. I have to do it this way as it seems that this city does not have double-pointed sock needles of size 5.5! On Saturday I went to four handicraft shops with no luck, so I decided to do with circulars. Some ten more centimetres for the sleeves and I hope to get to the yoke pattern by tonight.



In general, knitting with Álafosslopi is fun because it feels so real. There are little pieces of hay, thorns and whatnot in the yarn: it is almost possible to imagine where the sheep had rambled.

Icelandic cardigan: days 1-2

I finally got the time and inspiration to start the Icelandic lopi cardigan for which I bought yarn in August at the Ístex factory outlet. The yarn is bulky Álafosslopi, and I have seven skeins of white (0051), one of burgundy (9210),  one of orchid (0159) and one of dark soft purple (0163).



The pattern will be something like Var by Védís Jónsdóttir from Istex Lopi book number 29. I will make some modifications, though. For instance, I already decided not to make a pattern on the body, only on the yoke, sleeves and hood.

This is where I got to after two days of work. Mind you, I spent the entire first morning on deciding on which pattern to make (i.e browsing Ravelry and Lopi pattern books) and on and doing the measurements and calculations. I used the free Icelandic knittingpatters.is programme to calculate the required number of stitches.