Nov 24 2007
Feeling Icelandic
Pattern: Aftur, from Lopi #25
Yarn: Botanical Shades, Lite Lopi, and recycled wool
Source: MDSW 2006, Weaver’s Webb (NC), thrift shop
Needles: Size US 7 and 8 circular and DPN
This was a true surprise - in my mind, I did not expect it to turn out so well! The colors came together haphazardly - I bought the main color, the beautiful indigo-dyed alpaca/wool/mohair blend called Botanical Shades, at Maryland Sheep and Wool 2006. Jenna bought a similar silk alpaca blend and is using it now for a Norah Gaughan pullover. The yoke is a mixture of yarns. The ivory is from a repurposed thrift shop sweater, and the other colors are from the Lopi Lite that I picked up in North Carolina last spring.
I completed the body and both sleeves in the first fifteen days of the month. I joined them together the night before I left for Alabama to visit my family (for my cousin’s wedding and the Thanksgiving holiday). The thirteen-hour car ride was the perfect time to complete the yoke. Kris even let me turn on the little car light on the passenger’s side so that I could complete it after dark. When we pulled in to my aunt and uncle’s house, I was finishing the collar. The next morning, the 17th, I seamed the underarms and wove in the ends.
Then I wore it during my entire stay. These particular photos were taken on Thanksgiving morning at my uncle’s cabin in Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama. It was a very chilly morning, cooled by thunderstorms through the night. The orange-red of my uncle’s barn provided a nice backdrop for the pullover’s color palette.
This sweater started in Williamsburg, Virginia on November 1st and was completed in Alabama on November 17th. Truly a sweater knit on the road! I knit this for the National Knit a Sweater Month knitalong, hosted by Shannon. Two years and counting - it’s a fun knitalong!
I love the yoked construction and the traditional Icelandic motif. This will not be my last Icelandic pullover - I have plans for many more! This pullover is also my first garment colorwork, having only completed the Kristen hat last February. I managed to keep an even tension over the yoke, and there is very little puckering. It was so much easier than I imagined - and the results are so much better than I imagined!
…More about my trip down South soon…





















