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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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A knitter in Iceland

April 4, 2016 4 Comments

Iceland trip collage

Last month, my husband and I visited Iceland for ten days to celebrate our anniversary. During that time I kept up with Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, and it was so nice to hear from those of you who enjoyed the updates! Since it turns out that there’s yarn just about everywhere you look in Iceland, I thought I’d share a roundup of all the wooly highlights (and a bit of scenery) from our trip. Lucky for all of us, my husband gets a kick out of watching me go all geek on yarn! That, and he’s getting handmade Icelandic sweater out of the deal. ;)

Let’s start with how amazing Iceland is. This might be common knowledge, but Iceland is a gorgeous country! I’ll just leave a couple of these right here…

A view of some of Iceland's many beautiful mountains from the Ring Road.

Heidi in Stuðalheiði, Iceland

Heidi in Stuðalheiði! 

A foggy day in Iceland.

A glacial lake in Iceland

Icelanders really know how to breakfast. Mmm, so much cheese, bread, tea and veggies! Kinda makes a girl want to get up early and start the day with a full meal on the regular…

A full spread at Icelandic breakfast.

Breakfast in Iceland consists of lots of fruit, cheese, bread and veggies!

We stayed on a sheep & horse farm for a couple of days, and I shot a bunch of video. Life has been really busy since we’ve been back, so as I work on the video, here’s a sneak peak of the beautiful horses we met on the farm to tide you over!

A video posted by Heidi Gustad (@handsoccupied) on Mar 11, 2016 at 2:49pm PST

An Icelandic sheep farm

Saved the best for last! Yarn! The crazy thing about Iceland is just how amazingly prevalent yarn is. You can find handspun yarn in boutiques, office supply stores, and even the grocery store! Tune in later this week for a closer look at my Icelandic yarn haul. :D

The Handknitting Association of Iceland store in Reykjavik

The Handknitting Association of Iceland store in Reykjavik
Gallerí Alþyðulist, a yarn shop in Skagafjörður, Iceland.
Gallerí Alþyðulist
The yarn section at A4 in Egilsstaðir, Iceland.
Yarn at the A4 in Egilsstaðir
The yarn section at a grocery store (Netto) near Höfn.
The yarn section at a grocery store (Netto) near Höfn.
PS: Don’t those look just like Knit Picks’ needles?
PPS: My favorite yarn label design of the trip is below, & it’s a Norwegian yarn called Smart.

Sandnes Garn's Smart yarn

Say it with me: lopapeysa. Lopapeysa is the name for the traditional Icelandic sweater. I’ll post more about what lopapeysas are when I finish the sweaters I’m making from some of the Icelandic yarn I bought there. For now, you can feast your eyes on some of the roughly one kergillion lopapeysas (pretty much all handmade, mind you) that were for sale everywhere around Iceland, from Reykjavik to Seydisfjordur.

An Icelandic Lopapeysa in a shop window in Skagafjörður - the road sign is a countrywide road sign symbol used to indicate where to find handmade items.

A rack of handmade Icelandic lopapeysa sweaters

The time I got a knitting tattoo. Yarn is such a big deal in Iceland that there’s a road sign symbol (pictured above) dedicated to where you can find handmade Icelandic crafts, most commonly knitwear. As soon as I realized that the sign we kept seeing on road signs did, in fact, indicate this (my initial thought was that it had to be too good to be true), I fell in love. I found an amazing tattoo artist in Reykjavik who used a special tattoo technique that involves hand poking the tattoo, which made it extra special and unique. I’m obsessed with how it turned out!

A video posted by Heidi Gustad (@handsoccupied) on Mar 16, 2016 at 7:26am PDT

Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Tagged With: iceland, iceland vacation, icelandic tourism, island, Knitting, lopapeysa, sheep, wool, yarn

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Comments

  1. Julie

    April 4, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    yarn in the supermarket?! My kind of country!! Looks like it was utterly amazing, and your tattoo choice is excellent!

    Reply
  2. LaurenS

    April 4, 2016 at 10:11 pm

    KnitPro is the brand name of Knitter’s Pride in Europe – FYI. Love the tattoo!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      April 5, 2016 at 7:20 am

      That makes total sense! Thanks for that! :D

      Reply
  3. Helene

    July 18, 2016 at 12:13 am

    Great hammer of Thor, that is pofulwelry helpful!

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
Had to share this perfect capture of one of my fav Had to share this perfect capture of one of my favorite weird homemade Christmas ornaments: a simple macramé Santa face with beads for the eyes and nose! My Great-Grandma made it too. 🎄
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Might have to try making a quickie Reel tutorial for this guy - I think it’s the perfect project for it, don’t you? 🎅🏼 #handsoccupied #macrame
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