Birthday present / Þröstur and me / Álafoss

Two Fridays ago I was invited to a birthday party. My superdear friend Sif was going to celebrate her birthday. Last year I gave her a shoulderette that she really liked (luckily because I didn't know which were her favorite colors so I just chose one that I thought she could like... and that I really liked myself when I saw it hanging in my LYS).

Echo Flower. Yarn: Malabrigo lace.

This year, I didn't have enough time to prepare a present like a shawl or anything bigger so I had to think fast and come up with something quick because I think that hand made presents are always the best thing that one can receive. I had only two days to make something. So I went for a hand made pin (or brooch).

This time I didn't knit it. I used cross stitch and my favorite pattern: Houndstooth. It is a very quick, easy and good looking thing to make.

Then I attached it to a card and put it in an envelope.

Along with the brooch I gave her a book. I went to the University Bookstore where they have a little collection of books in spanish (yes, Sif speaks spanish BEAUTIFULLY!) and among those there were a few books from Chilean authors. I gave her one my favorite books: La amortajada, written by María Luisa Bombal.(I also found another of my favorites: Rimas y leyendas by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, I HAVE to get it for myself!).

During the weekend I finally got some pictures taken of me wearing Þröstur. The days are getting shorter and shorter around here and one thing I like about that is that everytime that is not cloudy the short hours of light we have are beautiful. There is a certain softness in it that lightens everything up in the most beautiful way. Saturday was like that.

So we took a walk to the pond that is right behind our neighborhood (for those who don't know the place where I live is completely built on lava, there are not many trees but it is really pretty to walk around). It was so quite, almost no wind at all.

I also want to share a few pictures I took with the film camera that Judi generously sent me (along with other treasures). These pictures are from Álafoss, the place where Lopi is produced and sold.

It is a really nice place. Even though it is possible to buy lopi everywhere, even in the supermarket, I always choose to drive to Álafoss. And it is not only that the place is cool but the people working there is just adorable!

So, for all of you who have bought lopi... this is where it comes from :)

This is the building where the shop is.

There are several old buildings: the wool shop, some workshops, a café and the recording studio of Sigur Rós. 

Detail of the bridge over the little river. Everything is "stitch-related". Cute, isn't it?

Álafoss or Eel's waterfall

I have been going to buy lopi to Álafoss for almost three years and I had NEVER seen the waterfall until now!! How silly is that!

Have a great week!

My mittens history. Ready for winter now? + Hyrna Herborgar KAL: Pictures.

As I advanced in my last post I have been working on a pair of mittens to have a full set of new "winter accessories".

I haven't knitted to many mittens since I began knitting at the end of 2008. I have made only three pairs plus a pair of wristwarmers (that I made to learn how to make a gusset for the thumb).

So going back a little bit on time, my mittens history would look like this:

My first finished project almost three years ago was actually a pair of mittens!

I made them with Álafoss lopi on 6mm needles. I made the design... well, if this can be called a design. It is just a few stripes :)

They came out quite ok. It wasn't so bad to be my first real project. I struggled a little bit making the decreases on top of the mittens. I think that by then I didn't even understand well how decreases slant. 

I have worn them A LOT. And they are still in very good conditions. In this picture it is possible to see better the decreases mess I made on top of the mittens :)

Then I made the wrist warmers as an exercise to learn how to make a gusset. I used pretty much the same stripe idea that I used on my first mittens.

I made these ones with létt lopi on 4mm needles.

When my sister saw them she waned them... so they flew all the way to Chile :)

The gusset was no problem, it was much easier that I thought and the result was quite OK :)

The third pair I made was a Christmas present for my dear friend Kristina who really likes to take pictures. To make this ones I followed the pattern that Bea Aarebrot shares for free in her blog and added the colorwork to it. 

Made with Aslan Trends Del Cerro, 100% Merino on needles 3.5mm for the ribbing and 4.5 for the rest.

And the third pair: I used stripes, many colors and made them with a thumb gusset. The idea was to make the mittens different from each other by using different colors and different stripes pattern.

Made with Hjertegarn vital using needles 3.5 and 4.5mm. These were a present for my niece when she came to visit me.

As you can probably see, I have only knitted one pair of mittens for myself. So it was already time to get a new pair.

Searching on Ravelry I found a very nice pattern. I liked it so much that I casted my stitches on immediately!

The result:

Details:

* Pattern: Houndstooth Check Mittens by Sarah H. Arnold.

* Yarn: Létt lopi. One skein of each color.

* Needles: 3.5mm for the ribbing and 4.5mm for the rest.

Notes:

* The pattern is very well written and the charts are easy to follow.

* I made some changes to the pattern because I used a yarn that is bulkier than the one than the pattern calls for.

* Casted on 36 stitches (instead of 40) for the ribbing and then increased 8 stitches evenly to knit the body of the mitten.So, I worked with 42 stitches (instead of 50 as the pattern calls for).

* I didn't knit the thumb gusset all the way to row 26, instead I made it shorter. I knitted it to row 21 and then put the 18 stitches in a scrap or yarn. 

* I began the decreases earlier that the pattern calls for because of the yarn I used. 

* I LOVED knitting these mittens. It was absolutely FUN. I am actually thinking about making another pair but this time using white as a contrasting color, instead of very light brown (oatmeal?).

* I have always liked this kind of patterned fabric but I had NO IDEA it was called Houndstooth! It looks so classy and elegant!

* Lopi works amazingly well for mittens. It is sturdy, somehow "all-terrain", durable and warm. 

* I strongly recommend this pattern. The result is very nice and SUPER warn since it is knitted using two strands of yarn all the way!

Remember the KAL with Kristín Hrund, Gummi, Jóhanna and me?

We met Kristín a couple of weeks ago to take the pictures. Unfortunately the light was not very good. It was very cloudy and pretty late as well.

Here they are: