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Love & Lopapeysas

March 5, 2018 9 Comments

Love & Lopapeysas: All about knitting an Icelandic sweater
Today is the tenth anniversary of my husband’s and my first date, and the seventh anniversary of our wedding. When I went on my first lunch date at age 20 with him, I didn’t think in a million years I’d end up spending the rest of my life with him, but here we are. :) In honor of today’s big anniversary, I’d planned to share with you some pictures of my husband modeling my gift for him, a lovingly knitted Icelandic sweater, but, uh, about that…

For our fifth wedding anniversary, we went to Iceland for a belated honeymoon (read more about our adventure here). Iceland is truly a yarn-lover’s paradise, with lopi yarn everywhere you turn. Not only that, most of it runs just $3-4 a skein. (Seriously guys, my return suitcase was loaded with gobs and gobs of yarn. There was so much, I even left a pair of old boots to make room for more.)

Love & Lopapeysas: All about knitting an Icelandic sweater

The yarn for my husband’s sweater – he picked the colors!

In addition to some smaller additions to my stash, I bought two sweater quantities of yarn to use for both me and my husband on that trip. We both fell in love with lopapeysas (Icelandic sweaters) during our travels, and obviously, there was no way we were going to buy lopapeysas. I mean, of course I wanted to try Icelandic sweater knitting for myself! For mine, I knit the Icelandic Zip Cardigan by Védís Jónsdóttir with Alafosslopi (knit on US 10/6mm needles). My husband picked the Goði sweater, also by Védís Jónsdóttir, for his lopapeysa. It calls for using a somewhat thinner Lettlopi yarn and US 6/4mm needles.

Álafosslopi is a versatile, single ply Icelandic yarn, perfect for knocking out a handknit sweater real quick!

The uncharacteristically monochrome color palette for my lopapeysa. 

I knit most of my sweater in Iceland as we circumnavigated the country in our rental car. By the time I got home, just the yoke, steeking, and adding the zipper remained. Since our trip, I finished all of the knitting and blocking, but have been a big old chicken since then, sitting on my yet-to-be-steeked lopapeysa! What a doofus I am! I will say that I’ve made a pact with a fellow Icelandic travel alum, and she and I have a beer date in a couple weeks to give our creations the chop… in time for spring. Oh the irony!

Knit Designer Heidi Gustad working on her Icelandic lopapeysa sweater in Seyðisfjörður.

Working on my lopapeysa in a cafe in Seyðisfjörður.

My lopapeysa may basically be done, but my husband’s sweater has been on a longer journey. Along with all of those big important anniversaries today holds for me, it marks two years since I bought 14 balls of yarn for his lopapeysa. Not only that, his lopapeysa was intended to be a belated Christmas present in the first place, so I’m rather behind. WHOOOPS!

Over Memorial Day weekend this year I made a point of at least casting on & getting past the hem and cuff ribbing. I’d hoped that by at least making a good start I’d be able to finish it by, well, today. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I made a valiant effort! At the end of the day, this sweater requires 14 skeins of yarn – my husband is a big guy (which is fantastic for everything except sweater knitting)! And you know what? If I’m making something for my husband, I’d like it to be something I’ll be happy to watch him wear for the rest of our lives, and not something that makes me think of all of its flaws.

Love & Lopapeysas: All about knitting an Icelandic sweater

My blocked gauge swatch, ribbing for two cuffs and the sweater body. 

Sometimes done is better than perfect, I know, but I really want this one to be extra special. As of myself-imposed deadline today, I’ve got the whole sweater body done, half of one sleeve, and the cuff of another. The colorwork yoke is going to be a big challenge, much more than my lopapeysa was, but I can’t wait until the day I get to tackle it. His birthday is coming up in June, maybe my husband will finally get his incredibly warm wool sweater… in time for the summer.

For now, since I know you read every word of every one of my posts, Hon, all I have to say is I love you, and I tried. ;)  

Love & Lopapeysas: All about knitting an Icelandic sweater

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: iceland, icelandic knitting, icelandic sweater, lopapeysa, lopi, Védís Jónsdóttir

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Lettie

    March 5, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    Congratulations Heidi! Don’t feel too bad! My husband and I have been married for 23 years and I have been promising him a sweater for 22! After two false starts and another allowing for, ahem, broadening girth, I finally have his sweater almost done. All that’s left is weaving in the ends and a blocking. Good things come to those who wait…but maybe not for 22 years 😋.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 5, 2018 at 9:14 pm

      Aww, I love that! I had a hunch I wasn’t the first knitter in this boat! 😆

      Reply
  2. Alka Gudadhe

    March 7, 2018 at 12:58 am

    Beautiful sweater pattern and write up too.

    Reply
  3. Thelma Rut Hafliðadóttir

    March 9, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    How lovely to see you speak so highly about Iceland and our lopi :) keep up the good work and you’ll finish when you finish, just remember to have fun ..otherwise it won’t be fun ;)

    Best regards from Iceland 🐏

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 9, 2018 at 11:22 pm

      Thank you, Thelma! :)

      Reply
  4. annemarie bjerke

    March 10, 2018 at 9:07 am

    my husband and i have been together for 30 years. We met at a bus stop one morning when we were both late for work…we ran away to Europe for 7 months and when we came back i used some of the norwegian patterns to knit him a sweater…it ended up with sleeves too long and body too narrow. we were married last year and i think now would be the time to take that old sweater apart and reknit it properly but i worry about ruining it…i will have to be brave about it.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 10, 2018 at 5:35 pm

      What a sweet love story! ❤️ You can be brave, I believe in you!

      Reply
  5. Margaret-Rose Stringer

    March 10, 2018 at 1:01 pm

    A wonderful tale that lets me know even the est knitters can be as procrastinatory as I am. :) A honeyoon in Iceland ? – dásamlegt !

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 10, 2018 at 5:34 pm

      Thank you! 😊❤️ The trip was so lovely!

      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 (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! T It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! This go around, get to know two new sister yarns from @manosyarnsusa, Marla and Sami, and enter to win a skein of each to try for yourself. 
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What makes these yarns sisters is that, while dyed differently, they’re the same weight and come in intentionally coordinating color palettes. For my review, I opted for a sky-inspired combo of Sami in Natural and Marla in Nube. 🌧️ 
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Check out the full review & enter the giveaway at the link in my bio. 
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#handsoccupied #yarnreview #manosdeluruguay #knitting_inspire #crochet #yarngiveaway #knitters #yarn #crochetersofinstagram
If only knitting a whole project took 39 seconds… 😮‍💨 
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In this video, you can see how the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern knits up - two flat panels, one with intarsia, both are blocked, and then they’re seamed. Find the pattern on @hi.ravelry & my website, just search Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 
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P.S. I’m really smiling in this video while seaming the pillow, so I guess I’m proving last week’s claim that I truly enjoy that sometimes-dreaded task. 😆🫣
In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you add a stitch in between two columns of stitches that leans to the left. Similar to an M1L, LLIs allow you to increase nearly invisibly.
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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Have you ever used lifted increases? I used M1’s almost exclusively for a long time when I needed to inc between stitches, but when I designed the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern, I needed something that would allow me to increase a lot near my cast on, and M1’s resulted in edge curling. The more you know! 🌈 
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Yarn: @lionbrandyarn Wool Ease from my Stash / Neddles: @boyeyarncrafts - Just remembered these are the needles I learned to knit on at age 8. 😂
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Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Trying to knit around 2 toddlers, 2 cats & 2 large dogs is pretty hard. 2️⃣ I learned during water color time that pink and black make “colorful black.” 🩷🖤 3️⃣ Toddlers do NOT care about your rainbow sorting of their toys. 4️⃣ Toddlers are very good at finding mischief in a very short amount of time, what a surprise. 😂
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Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are both so useful for garment knitting! But for me, weaving in ends can feel like a chore while the latter feels like I’ve successfully done magic. 🧙🏻‍♀️ Does anybody else run into this phenomenon? Are you the opposite? Any theories as to why they feel different? 
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In this video, I’m finishing my brand new Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 I’m working with @universal_yarn Uni Merino & the pattern is available at the 🔗 in my b1o. 
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