I Love Lopi

It is now March and about time for an update I think. I have kept myself busy with knitting projects since I finished all my xmas gifts. Before the new year I started a new lopapeysa for myself called Aftur, from Istex Lopi knitting book 29. I love how the colour work turned out on this, not too mad about the fit though, will  know better for the next time. 

After this jumper I started my first ever knit for the boyfriend. Of course it ended up much too small, couldn't even fit it over his noggin, so it now belongs to me. He chose black as the main colour and white and grey, I would have rathered different colours, but my mistake so therefore I can't complain! It was the pattern Fugl, from Lopi 25. This pattern is for a zipped cardigan, but he just wanted a jumper. It was knit in Alafoss Lopi.

So, I still owed Stephen a jumper. He chose the pattern Riddari from Lopi 28, the pattern calls for Létt-Lopi, but I adjusted for using Alafoss lopi. Again, dark colours, but I really like the shades of grey in it. He likes it so that makes me happy :D

Right now I am knitting a lopapeysa for my co-worker Malgorzata. She is leaving us and going back to Poland, so I am making her this as her leaving gift. Gosia chose the pattern Var from Lopi 29, without the zipper and hood and a little longer. 

After reading some threads on the lopi group on Ravelry, I decided to attempt to knit this peysa top down. It would make it easier for me to take it into work and have her try it on, as I went along. So, I began with a provisional cast on at the base of the yoke and knit the yoke to the neck, then began the first sleeve, now I am onto the second sleeve, then the body will follow. We had a fitting the other day and it's looking good size wise. She is tiny, but with very long limbs and torso, so my shape is no use as a reference! 

 This was it after the yoke was done.

I have also knit, this lopi ipad sleeve for Stephen.

This lopi hat for Stephen.

This phone sock for Malgorzata, in the same wool as her cowl :)

I may be knitting a lopapeysa for Malgorzata's husband next, I don't know. I think I need a break from the lopapeysa! For a while anyhow. Stephen bought me a beautiful book as an xmas gift, it arrived late due to an incorrect address. It's from the Shetland Trader, I think I would like to try something from this next for me. All of the patterns are beautiful and most include things I have never done before, so I think it's a good next move for me to progress in my knitting. 

I baked some delicious brownies last week. My first ever brownies and they were delicious. I got the recipe via this blog, the recipe is from this book originally. I really want this book now! The caramel sauce that you have left over and can pour over the brownies is just amazing! I was so happy with them. 

 Although there is whipped cream in this photo, they are actually better without it, I just wanted to use up the cream. 

Stephen and I celebrate our 13th year together on Monday 21st. We are going to have the other half of our xmas hamborgarahyrggur for dinner. All I need is to find a good enough dessert to bake. Something new I think. 

Knit Gift Overload

It's December 26th, my family have received their gifts, so I am now able to post the photos. As far as I can tell from web cam chats, the gifts were well received. My lovely supportive dad wore his wooly hat throughout our chat :)

So, I will start with my families gifts. My mother I knit a beret, a scarf and matching fingerless mittens, all in létt lopi, in a kind of peachy pink. 

My dad got two knit hats, both is létt lopi, dark grey and cream.

For my little sister, I made two hats, one in cream, lilac and pink, the other in chocolate brown and lilac and a pair of mittens, (she told me the thumbs on them are too tight).

For my two brothers, I bought them some very cool beer mittens. I bought them at a store run by knitters and crafters in ísafjordur, West Fjords, back in September. 

Now to Stephen's family's gifts. For his sister Sharon, she requested a hat she had seen me knit for myself. The hurricane hat. I used Artesano Aran for this and it turned out so nice and soft. For her husband, just a nice plain black lett lopi beanie. Then for their daughter Orlaith, my second favourite knit, a lovely létt lopi Icelandic toddlers dress. The pattern is called Teikn, by Védís Jónsdóttir, from Lopi book 28. It fits her and she loves pink!(3 year old girl)

Stephen's other sisters Leanne received an ístex Alafoss Lopi hat, with a lovely wooden button. Her daughter Emily got a hat and mittens, the same patterns as my sisters stripey hat, Emily's was lilac and cream. 

Now we come to Leanne and her boyfriends son Nathan's gift(1 1/2yr old). The MONKEY PEYSA! My favourite gift. I just love this cardigan so much and Leanne seemed very impressed with it :D Also a matching knit hat.

For my friend Sarah Jane up in the wilds of Northern Iceland, she received a pair of Lopi Sjónvarpssokkar- Icelandic tv socks, made to wear while watching tv. Knit with Alafoss Lopi, in green and wine, from the book SJ bought me for my birthday. 

My co-supervisor Malgorzata chose a beautiful cowl for me to knit her for her gift.(I couldn't choose what to knit her!) I used Istex Alafoss with stripes from cream, through brown and black. It was my first time to knit cables, but I think it turned out really well. 

Here are some wine bottle sweaters I knit for my mam. 

What I've Been Up To

It's been a few months since my last post! Summer is over and it's almost Halloween.


I took my 5 week summer holidays at the end of August and we went camping through the West Fjords of Iceland. We had a brilliant time and some good weather too. We saw the aurora borealis, spent four delightfully relaxing hours drinking white wine in an outdoor natural hot pot by the sea, saw a LOT of sheep and drank a lot of great coffee, amongst other things.

Hot Pot by the sea at Flokalundur

Sunset in ísafjordur

When we returned from our two and half week camping trip, I spent the next few weeks knitting. I can't post most of the photo's of what I knit because they are for xmas gifts for family! I can post the photo's of what I made my mother for her birthday and Stephen's mother both of whom have birthday's in September! 

This is the Icelandic vesti I knit for my mother. I had actually finished this already by early August. It is a free pattern available here at the ístex, a wool company in Iceland.

This is the vesti I knit for Stephen's mother, the pattern is also from ístex. Unfortunately it didn't fit her! That's one problem with making garments for people as a surprise gift, especially when they live in another country! 

I have finished three knit gifts, two of them are part of a 3 piece set, the 3rd piece is currently a wip. I have another piece almost finished and then I have at least another two piece set and possibly one more item after that! Now that I am back in work, I am obviously finding it harder to have the energy to knit when I get in, but I am doing pretty good I think. 

I can't wait to be able to post the photo's after xmas, as I am so proud of my work! Then maybe I can start on the lopipeysa Stephen has been asking for for over a year and then maybe Kate's Owl sweater I have been dying for all year too! 

One of my favourite blogs is Farmgirl Fare, written by Susan about her life on a huge farm in Missouri, USA. Mostly the blog is filled with posts of photo's of her so cute donkeys, but Susan also has great recipes and stories. I recently made a delicious sounding recipe of hers, raspberry almond bars. Now I can't remember what jam I used the first time, it may have been a mixed berry, but they were soooo good! As it's just the two of us here, we had a lot to get through, but that posed no problem for us. Believe me! My second batch a week later, I used 1/3 white flour and 2/3 whole wheat, with blueberry jam. I didn't find this version as nice as the first batch which were all whole wheat. They were still good though and my fellow supervisor at work thought they were delicious. 

This is a photo of the first batch.

pre-slicing

Sliced and ready for my belly!

So, I think that is all I have to post for now. Until December I guess. 

xx

OMG I'm 30

This summer has gone by pretty quickly for me. When you only have two free weekends a month the time does go by fast, as you are counting down the days until the next one. We have tried to make the most of our free time this summer and have been camping a few of our weekends.
 Our first camping trip was to Eyrarbakki in South West Iceland. It is a very small place, with the countries only prison!

 Grindavík was our next destination. The weather for the whole of Saturday was atrocious, sideways rain, 40ms winds! bleh Fortunately the Sunday we got up early and did a quick explore of the town.

The wind against the tent:

 Another reason the summer has gone pretty quickly is that I turned 30! It was something I was dreading, so of course the time to the big day flew in! Of course nothing dreadful happened when the day turned and I was suddenly 30. I felt happier even. We spent three nights in Vík, South Iceland for my birthday. Camping and exploring the town. There is still ash there, but not so visible anymore.

The town of Vík from above.

I was bestowed with lots of lovely gifts from my friends, family and of course Stephen. Stephen bought me a Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer and a beautiful retro apron from etsy store Boojiboo. You would think that would be offensive, but luckily I am not a real 50's US housewife, baking is a pure pleasure, not a chore.

  


At the beginning of July I finished my very own Icelandic cardigan, or lopipeysa. I am happy with how it turned out and I didn't manage to screw it up. The only bad points are I think the pattern is for boys, as the bottom part doesn't close over my hips!
Here it is, while on our trip to Vík:

Oh yes, in April, I chopped all my hair off and went back to my natural shade. :) 

I have just finished a lovely knitting project for someone, but as it's a surprise I can't post it just incase they see it. 

How we spent my 30th, on the black sandy beaches, with red wine and toasting marshmallows.

Buttons and Bentos

Back in December, when it was Stephen's birthday, as usual I forgot to buy a card. Over the years, we have coined the term, "garage card". This refers to the birthday card you receive from someone which has obviously been bought in the local petrol station/corner shop, at the last minute.
 For men, they usually feature, yachts, old style racing cars, golf clubs etc.

So, I thought I would be very cheesy and I made him a homemade "garage card". Well he thought it was great of course.

Here is a photo:

I got lots of wool from one of Stephen's sisters for xmas. I knit up a quick slouchy style hat, following a pattern from ravelry.com. To finish the rather plain hat off, I used a beautiful green leather button, that Stephen bought me for xmas from Fairysteps.
 Stephen calls it my borrowers hat :)

I also received for gifts some very cute bento stuff. I got a 3 nested My Neighbour Totoro bento box, a cute monkey furikake dispenser and an adorable penguin mayo holder :)

Here is an example of them in use, with cod fish balls and spinach, with fish furikake and garlic mayo ;P

 Another Dec 25th has come and gone, it always goes to quick. This year we did not have any snow, but it was very cold, cold enough that the pond downtown was frozen solid. After opening our gifts, Stephen and I took a walk around town, walked on the frozen pond and took photos of the empty streets, the only other people were tourists and some dedicated joggers.

Here in Iceland, the folk celebrate christmas on 24th, going by the old rule of a new day begins at 18:00. So they open their presents and have their big meal on our christmas eve. Since we have lived here a few years, we also join in and have a big meal on the 24th, we have hamborgorahryggur, which is a sweet pork loin, served with caramelized spuds and veg.

Then of course we have our traditional Irish dinner on the 25th. Turkey, roast veg and stuffing. This year we followed Jamie Oliver's instructions from an old show and the show he did this year. One of the best things that we did, was making the gravy ahead of time! Cooking some veg in the oven and using the liquid from this mixed with flower, then storing it until xmas day, adding it to all teh juices from the turkey! Wow it was very good gravy. Everything turned out well, especially the roast spuds. yum

I can now post the photos of the lovely gifts I made for my family.
My sister who is 13, received two pairs of fingerless mitts.
The red pair:

The turquoise pair:

My dad got this hat, made with really nice DB Donegal chunky tweed:

I used the pattern above for one brother J, with DB cashmerino chunky:

This pattern I used for my brother P and for my OH Stephen :D, I got the pattern on ravelry.com. The wool I used for both hats is DB rialto dk. Grey and dark grey for P and black and grey for Stephen.

My mother's present was knit by someone else, as I do not have the skills yet to knit a a lopapeysa! It was a beautiful Icelandic cardigan, in shades of dark brown and creams. Very nice.

I knit this very cute little cardigan for my nephew Nathan. It was first proper item of clothing I knit. I got the pattern on ravelry again. I knit it with DB pure cotton. The buttons are very cute, once has a cat and the other a mouse, they alternate on the cardi.

My next project is a jumper with cables that look like owls, it will be for me and I plan to knit it in Alafoss lopi, maybe a dark green colour.

Wishing everyone a great 2010.

All of the christmas knitting is complete. I had a couple of firsts with these presents too, my first time using dpn's and my first item of clothing. I knit for my family members and for the newest addition to my boyfriends family.
I can't wait to post the pictures after Dec 25th, as I am quite proud of them all.

At the moment I am half way through a hat for Stephen, it's looking great. I have a couple of projects like up for the new year, starting with one for me! A beautiful jumper with cables, which look like owls! The pattern is available free on ravelry.com, which is a knitting and crochet site I joined recently. It's a really great site to find patterns for free and to purchase. They have a wealth of info on yarns and anything you need to know to get a project going.

I baked some piparkokur last week, but they more like ginger cookies, this week I am going to make the real kind of piparkokur, with actual white pepper in! Hopefully I will get around to baking some more rugbraud too.

I will post some photo's of the yarns I used. Out of all the wool I knit, I think the Debbie Bliss Rialto was one of the nicest to knit with, but Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed was probably my favourite overall, for texture and colour and general look.

Strawberries and Scones

When I was younger there was a Strawberry Fair held not too far from my village, every July. The area was called the Strawberry Beds, not quite a town, more a long rural road with a few cottages dotted along one side and the River Liffey flowing along the other. It was and is a very beautiful place and to be able to see "countryside" so close to my home always made me love where I grew up.
At this young age, strawberry was my favourite flavour in yoghurts, jams and sweets. The point of the fair was to dine on the fresh strawberries, so when I finally got to taste one of those delicious looking little fruits, I went for it, and was disgusted! This was not the same as my favourite jam or sweets! Something must have gone wrong, so I tried another... and no, I disliked it also.

Therefore from that day until yesterday, the 4th of July 2009, it has taken me roughly 20 years and only 1496.05km to taste another one. Egged on by watching Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's tv show Summer at River Cottage and also reading about the fresh strawberries delivered to Reykjavik, from the greenhouse in Fludir(where we used to live). I decided to give them another try.

I baked up a batch of cream scones(half white flour, half wholewheat) and whipped up some cream(no devonshire). I can now join the throngs of strawberry lovers. I can see where my 8 year old taste bud's were coming from, a little bitter and that is all 8 year old me would have tasted, but so full of flavour and just lovely on the scones with the cream.

I would love to try my hand at making my own jam, but considering the punnet I got cost 599kr/3.38e/2.89£, it's a wee bit pricey. Well okay, it may not seem much in the other currencies, but consider that would have been half that a year ago!! So, no jam for us :( Unless we grew our own, but I don't see that happening for a while.

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Here is a photo of the finished product.

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Looking through some of Stephens film footage, I found a nice still of my shrug that I knit. You can see it better than the previous photo and the lovely lace cuff.

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