Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Shawl progress, new lopapeysa, a lot of snow and some more.

Lilac shawl: Progress
Lilac Leaf: Progress
Since the last time I posted here I have been working on Irene's wedding shawl that is growing pretty fast and I am liking it more and more. I have come to realize that sometimes the most simple patterns can be as beautiful as the most complicated ones. And for me this is the case: Just leaves, no strange stitches, crossings or nupps but only knit and purl, yarn overs and decreases. I am planning to make a border that will contain some nupps (because I LOVE nupps!) to give a final touch to it.



For a couple of days this was the only project I had working on my needles (well, along with some other things that I haven't touched for a long while and that are patiently waiting to be finished) but this situation didn't last too long. A friend from Argentina, JC, and me decided to make an EXCHANGE: I would knit a lopapeysa for him and he would do a painting for me. It sounds really interesting.  He went through my Flickr gallery and chose this picture to make the painting:

Pic taken at Þingvallavatn by Kristina

I am very excited about it! He paints really well and I have never had a portrait of myself painted before! Yesterday he showed me the drawing and is looking goood!

So, in order to get his lopapeysa started we had to make a couple of decisions first:

1. Yarn: Of course it had to be lopi. I personally find that icelandic pullovers made with other fibers look somehow strange. They have to be made with lopi. I chose plötulopi because is my favourite kind of lopi, is it softer and absolutely brilliant to knit with! It will be double thread of plötulopi.


Next lopapeysa
Plötulopi
2. Colors: he gave me a lot of liberty to choose the colors. All he didn't want was any kind of too bright colors. Just something simple and sober. I came up with the idea of using some brown (of course, one of my favourites) but he wasn't very excited about it. So, in the end I went for the gray family. I chose gray for the main color and a very light gray and somekind of black (or extremely dark gray) as secondary colors.



3. Yoke pattern: I was very tempted to use Vetur again. But then I thought that maybe it would be a liitle bit too much. I have already made three of them. So, I sent him pictures of three patterns (some of my favourites):


He chose Órói but without the opening on the side and a short neck.

The same day we made all the decisions I put the stitches on my needles and began. It had been a long time since the last time I knitted with double plötulopi.I had almost forgotten how QUICK it knits! It is like magic! I began two days ago and I have done a little more than half of the lenght of the body section!

Comenzando
Órói

May 1st: 17cm of snow
April 30th. It snowed all day.
Talking about other things, after a crazy April and an even craziest begining of May everything seems to have come to what it should be in terms of weather around here. As I posted before, the weather during Eastern was crazy but it didn't stop there. On saturday morning I woke up and when I took a look outside I couldn't believe that I was seeing: It was ALL white outside! And it didn't stop there... it snowed all saturday, non stop, so on sunday 1st we had a total of 17cm of snow. I can't deny that I was very happy with all this snow. Summer is nice but winter will always be the best!

Everything was just wonderful outside. A little bit too wet because the snow was really soft but beautiful. Since this is probably the last snow of the winter (or spring, I should say) we decided to go out for a walk and take some pictures. We went to a lake called Hvaleyrarvatn that is very close to my place. It was cool to see all covered with snow but with spring birds (heiðlóa, spói, þröstur and others) everywhere. It was so quite and still that the only sound around was the singing of the birds.

Hvaleyrarvatn

Þröstur við Hvaleyrarvatnið
Þröstur


Heiðlóa við Hvaleyrarvatnið
Heiðlóa (Believe me, the bird is there... go to my flickr and see the pic bigger :)


One of the things I like the most about where I live is that we have a really nice view of the harbour and it is very common that we see amazing sunsets. On sunday was not the exception. A beautiful day ended with a beautiful sunset (by the way, the sun is setting later and later everyday! It was a little after 22.00 on sunday!)

Sólarlag






Cable release
Last week I bought a cable release for my Zenit camara so I can make long exposures and it works pretty well!

Here there are a couple of night shots I made using the new little toy :) I still have to learn to calculate the right amount of time that I should keep the lens open... I guess it will be a matter of practice.


May 1st: night shot with cable release.


Trying long exposure with the cable release

PS. I might be a little away for the next day... I am preparing everything for my vacations, yes! I will go on a trip starting on friday... I try to keep you posted! : )

23 comments:

  1. hola hola Rodri !!
    como andamos, bueno yo aqui tejiendo y terminando unas cositas para un inter tambien que hicimos en Raverly ( en mi grupo ) asique he estado bien concentrada jejeje,
    bueno el chal , yo estoysegura que va a quedar de lo mas lindo , chulo pirulo como diria yo jaja,lindo lindo !!
    el inter suyo que mas decir, que lindo y as encima que le hagan la lana y demas , ohh precioso , precioso !!
    aqui el clima raro rarisimo un dia llueve, un dia sol, un dia nublado enfin , el clima esta loco, y creo que por Chilito tambien esta la cosa igual
    oiga se va de vacas , ohh que buena, nosotros aun nada, a ver si nos arrancamos un finde por ahi, la cosa es que nos acepten la perrita diva esta , ( mi chancho ) y asi podemos escaparnos de la vida parisina, que es tremenda uffff !!!!!
    bueno pasala regio poh, ya nos diras como te fue , y te dejo con muchos besos y abrazos, ( las fotos estan lindas ) ohhh que lindos paisajes y colores , me gustan mucho
    PS yo vivo al lado de montmartre .... y por alli me encanta sacar fotos , jaja,
    besitos Rodri , cuidese harto y mande fruta :)

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  2. Smá áskorun !

    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rock-island

    úr

    http://handprjon.is/is/vorur/flokkur/tveggja-thrada-astrolsk-merinoull

    Hafðu það gott í fríinu :)

    D

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  3. Alex: Tienes un grupo en ravelry? Nunca he participado en un intercambio en ravlery... he visto muchos foros con intercambios y las cosas que se envían son siempre tan bonitas!

    Yo igual ando súper ocupado en temas tejeriles... de pronto me salió este nuevo proyecto para mi amigo argentino... espero terminarlo pronto pronto.

    Cuándo te animas a tejer jacquard? : )

    Besotes grandes para ti!

    Drífa: Vá! Sjalið er ekkert smá flott! Ertu að hugsa um að prjóna það? Það fer beint í röðina!
    Sjáumst fljótlega!

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  4. Nei ég ætla ekki að prjóna það - Ekki strax í það minnsta !

    Hlakka til að sjá þitt

    Sjáumst :)

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  5. Advanced beautiful shawl of irene
    you go for a nice sweater that exchange
    more snow but hey c iceland
    good day

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  6. How do you do that - think and write in different languages?! "It's all Greek to me" :-)
    You are coming along beautifully on your shawl. I agree with you that your finishing touches will only increase its beauty. Such a lucky bride. I'm progressing slowly on my scarf, as I've had some interruptions, but am back at it(did you see my note on your previous blog comments?) I love the colors for your friend's lopapeysa. I'm glad he talked you out of the browns. You look great in brown, but generally I think most people don't. I looked at all the pattern choices and chose the last one before reading on to discover that was your choice, too. I don't like the opening cutting through the design, either, so am glad you decided against it. Am anxious to see the finished product. Hmmm...he really wants to paint you, huh?...hmmm. You really like snow and winter that much?! Hmmm...must be something wrong with you...hmmm. Then there's "the challenge of the day." First one was "Find the Differences" and now it's "Find the Bird." Hmmm... (by the way, I did find it without flickr's help:-) I LOVED your sunset photo!! Took my breath away and had to spend several minutes just soaking it in. You really should take more of those and less of snow! Hmmm... A vacation - now that makes me jealous. I love to travel, but circumstances prevent much of it anymore. I am anxious to hear where you are going, as I know it's somewhere I've never been nor will ever go. So, I'll be expecting lots of pictures so I can go there vicariously.:-) Just realized, I'll be missing you while you're gone. Hmmm... Have a great time! :-)

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  7. Judi! Hi! Wow how I enjoy your comments! Always!
    I guess I am used to be writing in more than one language... it is just a matter of time and practice but when it comes to speaking the thing is a little bit different. My sister was visiting me for a month in February and she came with both of her kids (that are 9 and 12) and my sister, as many people in Chile, cannot say a word in english (but her kids do and amazingly well) so I was going mad trying to translata everything for her... I got to a point in which I didn't even realize what language I was speaking and more than once I started to speak english or icelandic to my sister... it was funny but definetely exhausting!

    I saw the scarf you are knitting on Ravelry! It is a simple but very cute scarf, especially the borders! Is Ivory some kind of dark white? I really like off white colors... they are so warm and calm, don't you think? I am really looking forward to seeing some progress! (I added you as a friend on Rav by the way :)

    Is everything back to normal after the tornado? Tornados are very scary! I wouldn't like to be close to one! Is it the area where you live commonly "attacked" by tornados? I really hope everything is fine :)

    I assume that brown is not one of your favourite colors, hehe. I have this thing about browns... I don't know. It is so natural... I don't know how to explain it really. I just like it a lot.

    Yay! You found the bird! You are good at this kind of challnges! They are really pretty! Too bad that it doesn't show so well in the picture! It seems that I need to get a zoom for my old camera!

    Sunsets, sunsets, sunsets. They are usually amazing here. There is something amazing about the light in Iceland. During winter, even though there is not much light, the light we have is like looooong sunset, if you know what I mean. And during summer it never gets dark... it just becomes dim for a couple of hours. Take a look at my flickr gallery... I have a lot of sunset pictures there :)

    Look at this:

    http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=27200549@N07&q=sunset

    Here there are some (if not all of them... I am not sure I have tagged all the sunset pictures I have).

    About vacations... all I will tell you by now is that I am going to a beautiful place! hehe

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!
    Hugs and hear from you soon!!

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  8. Hola Rodrigo! encantadísima de conocerte!...vengo desde el blog de Alex (mademoisellealex), y realmente tiene toda la razón! tejes de maravilla!! me quito el sombrero, me pongo de pié y te aplaudo! im-pre-sio-nan-te!
    un beso!

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  9. hola! al igual que romi vengo desde el blog de alex...para ver las cosas tan guays que haces (yo intento que mi novio aprenda...pero oye que de la cadeneta no pasa jeje)...despues hasta me he emocionado leyendo tu perfil...porque mi historia es muy parecida...soy española y me enamoré y ahora estoy en Argentina...y empecé a tejer como una terapia...y aqui sigo dale que dale a las agujas...intentando encontrar trabajo...y haciendome un huequito aqui...

    En fin...te sigo visitando y te mando un besote


    Lau

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  10. Hola Radrigo!!!!!
    Esta muy bueno tu blog,no sabia q lo tenias.
    Te escribi una vez en Ravelry y me ayudaste con unas medias.
    No se ingles y me gustaria leer tu blog,podrias poner un traductor sino solo veo las fotos jjaja.
    Un fuerte abrazo Susana

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  11. Oh my goodness! I just looked at all of your sunset photos (thank you for setting it up for me like that)and they are unbelievably magnificent!! The colors are gorgeous! I think I want prints of them all. :-) No choosing a favorite! You do have a photographer's eye.
    Are you telling me you live in a land that has no night in the summer? Hope you have room darkening shades on your bedroom windows so you can sleep!

    I agree that the scarf is quite simple. I realized that more as I got into it. No challenge so far, but we'll see how the edges go. Saw this and thought of you, though I'm sure you don't qualify, at least as far as knitting lace goes. :-) www.ravenousknits.com and 3 postings for April 19 and 1 on April 25.

    "Ivory" can vary by yarn maker, but usually is different from a white, white in that it is richer and creamier looking. Elegant, perhaps.

    It will be a looooong time before things are "back to normal" in the areas that were hit by the tornadoes. There is NOTHING there - no houses, no stores, no trees, no electric power - nothing!! EVERYTHING the people owned is gone - everything except what they were wearing at the time. It is so hard to imagine how that feels. Temporary shelters have been set up all over the place, but they can't live in gymnasiums on cots forever. Some people are still missing and they are finding more bodies every day. The generosity of those untouched has been phenomenal. I volunteered today for a couple of hours helping to sort through clothes that can be used to give to people. Yes, this is an area that is considered in "Tornado Alley" but this is the worst that has happened. The paper yesterday stated that 23 tornadoes touched down during that one week. Unbelievable!

    I wouldn't say I don't like brown, but just don't think it looks good on me, so rarely choose it.

    Vacationing in "a beautiful place" huh? That tells me you'll be somewhere that is sunny, warm, and has no snow! Enjoy!! :-)

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  12. Hola: te acabo de conocer des del blog de Alex. Me ha encantado!!!!!!! supongo que una enamorada más des de Catalunya.
    Un beso

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  13. Cristina: Hola! Muchas gracias por pasar por mi blog y por tus bonitas y generosas palabras :þ
    Un abrazo desde Reykjavík!

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  14. Hola Rodrigo, Alex nos regaló un bocadito de tus creaciones y de puro curiosa me dejé caer por acá jeje, y realmente tejes maravillosamente, felicitaciones. Ya te sigo, y me uno a quienes el ingles no es nuestro fuerte, para poder leerte tambien disfrutando de tus fotos preciosas.
    Un abrazo
    Patty

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  15. Hola Rodrigo!!! como va?? mi nombre es Andrea soy Argentina, y vengo del blog de mi querida amiga Alex, y veo que no se equivoca, que maravillas!!, te felicito!!! un placer conocerte!!!
    Besos y buen fin de semana
    Cariños
    Andrea

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  16. :DDD holaaa!! jaja.. ya veo a varias caras conocidas pr acá... vengo del blog de Aex... yo soy Ale,, ¡¡ mucho gusto!!! no sabes.. esos suéteres soy beeeellos.... espero...algun día.. ¡¿ tener paciencia!! jaja.. las fotos hemosas,, felicidades por tu espacio :D.. saluditos desde México.......Ale



    ... ohh.. tengo un pequeño blogroll con links de chicos, qulteros,, crocheteros, y tejedores,,, te apunto yá... ;P

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  17. Hola!!!
    Aca te paso el link del traductor del google

    http://www.google.com/ig/adde?synd=open&source=ggyp&moduleurl=www.google.com/ig/modules/translatemypage.xml
    Gracias .
    Un abrazo Susana

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  18. Big surprise! Another lilac-knitter!! I just finished a triangle shawl.....great blog, nice fotos! Greetings from the canary islands!

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  19. Ale: Gracias por pasar por mi blog :) Los de los jerseys... en realidad no son nada complicado. Supongo que es como todo: un tema de práctica :)
    Saludos!

    Susi: ya puse un traductor... parece que funciona bastante bien (con errores pero se entiende la idea muy bien)... me podrías decir si anda bien? Un abrazo.

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  20. The shawl looks beautiful! I can't wait to see it when you are all done with it. And you are so right, simple things can be so beautiful!

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  21. Yoo-hoo! Hello there! Hola! Whatever it takes. Where are you?! I do hope you didn't find your vacation site so wonderful that you decided to stay there, never to be seen or heard from again.:-( Hope all is well and that we'll be seeing a new blog post soon, with several FO's and more wonderful photos. :-)

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  22. Hey hey Judi!
    I am back in Iceland (and made it just on time before the volcano erupted... otherwise I would have been stuck somewhere for a couple of days!)

    I am still going through the pictures... sorting and selecting the ones I will post... I saw A LOT of amazing things! You will see :)

    Knitting-wise... nothing much going on really... I think I barely took the needles while I was on vacation. So the next post will be basically pics and probably some other thing...

    Knús (a hug)

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  23. I love the photos. Your blog is really really cool. I envy you the beautiful sceneries outside. BTW it is quite refreshing to see a SNOW in May. Here in CZ we have summer already. Which is nice in some respect but it starts getting too hot for my taste. :)

    The shawl looks beautiful. I myself have a weakness for leafy patterns. There is nothing that copares. I´m looking forward to see the border with nupps! I must agree that nupps are awesome. :)

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