Stuff I Already Had Made

I saw many beautiful knitted items in Iceland last week. I felt like I was doing a research mission as I encountered different designs and took lots of photos of them. I packed relatively lightly for this trip. I didn't need any formal wear, and only took 3 pairs of shoes. I could have survived with only a pair of waterproof walking shoes. I toyed with the idea of taking my Baa-ble hat. But thought it might be a bit too 'hoaky' (for the lack of a better term) to wear among the 'muggles' I'd be travelling with.

Sure enough, Skip found a couple of them at one of our comfort stops.

I also toyed with taking these Nordic-style gloves I knit a few years back but took my Chrysanthemum mitts instead.

Sure enough, I found several examples of similar gloves on our tour.

I knit this Icelandic-style sweater a few years ago. It is Icelandic Star from the Winter 2009 edition of Interweave Knits. It can also be ordered as an individual pattern here. I didn't pack it, though, as I only took one thinly knit sweater and a fleece jacket for under my waterproof windbreaker.

Admittedly, this pattern is not knit in the round so the knitter has to cope with stranding whilst purling, but it was a pretty easy knit. I used Cascade 220 rather than the scratchy Icelandic yarn. But I think it would have looked quite 'sportif' had I taken it to Iceland and I would most certainly have fit right in.

One recommendation... when inserting a stranded (two-colour) section among stocking stitch (like the yolk and the detail above the cuffs) go up a needle size. That will totally take care of any pulling in caused by the stranding.

I do have a hankering to start another sweater so will be making a visit to my LYS that sells Lopi yarn in the near future.