Hyrna Herborgar: One more time / Hyrna Herborgar: Una vez más

When I started to knit almost four years ago I never thought I was going to knit the same pattern more than once or twice thinking that it could get boring.

Cuando empecé a tejer hace ya casi cuatro años nunca pensé que repetiría el mismo patrón más de una o dos veces porque se me hacía la idea de que sería aburrido.

Well, it has not been the case at all! A few weeks ago I finished my fifth Hyrna Herborgar! Yes! 5th!

Bueno, la cosa es que no ha sido así, ¡PARA NADA! Hace unas pocas semanas terminé el quinto Hyrna Herborgar. ¡Sí! ¡5to!

There is something about this pattern that makes it very special... I don't know if it is because it is an Icelandic design or because it is simply beautiful or both of them. The thing is that I NEVER get tired of it!

Algo tiene este chal que lo hace ser muy especial... No si es porque es un diseño islandés o simplemente porque es muy bonito o ambas cosas. La cosa es que NUNCA me cansa.

This shawl has already made it all the way to Orcas Island in the U.S. where a good friend lives.

El chal ya ha hecho su viaje hasta la Isla de Orcas en EE.UU. donde vive mi amiga. 

Blocking.

Details:
Detalles:

* Pattern: Hyrna Herborgar (from the book Þríhyrnur og langsjöl)

* Patrón: Hyrna Herborgar (del libro Þríhyrnur og langsjöl)

* Yarn: Jaipur 100% silk. Almost 2 skeins.

* Hilo: Jaipu 100% seda. Casi dos madejas.

* Needles: 4.5mm
*Agujas: 4.5mm

* Cast on: Garter stitch tab.
* Montado de puntos: Garter stitch tab (¿cómo sería en castellano?)

Notes:
Notas:

* I think I have said this several times before, but here it goes again: I have been asked several times if this shawl is too complicated to knit. The answer has always been "no, not at all". I think that is exactly one of the greatest things about this shawl: It looks a lot, A LOT, more complicated than it really is.

* Creo que he dicho esto alguna vez antes, pero aquí va nuevamente: Me han preguntado muchas veces si es muy difícil tejer este chal. La respuesta es siempre la misma: No, para nada. Esa es precisamente una de las mejores cosas que tiene este chal: Se ve mucho, MUCHO, más complicado de lo que realmente es.

* The pattern is very well written but the chart can be a bit complicated to read at first. It seems to be made by hand but you get used to it after a while.

* El patrón está muy bien escrito pero el esquema es un poco complicado de leer al principio. Parece que está escrito a mano pero después de un rato de acostumbras. 

* In the book they suggest to start simply by casting on 7 stitches and begin the pattern. That leaves a little gap at the garter stitch border, nothing terrible but it looks much better without it. To avoid that gap I used the garter stitch tab which makes the garter stitch border look just perfect (the video is a bit long but it is very clear).

* En el libro se sugiere comenzar montando 7 puntos de manera convencional. Eso deja una pequeña hendidura en el borde de punto bobo, nada terrible pero se ve mucho mejor sin esa hendidura. Para evitarla yo utilizo el garter stitch tab para empezar, así el borde queda perfecto (el vídeo está en ingles, es un poco largo pero está muy bueno).



 * This shawl was born as an emergency project. I had already made a shawl for my friend but I had a little accident with it while I was blocking it (I guess that most of you already know the story of the Baltic Blossoms, hehe). So, I needed to make another one as quickly as possible. The first task was to find the right yarn. I was not going to take the chance and use the Cascade lace alpaca again (and risk breaking the yarn again!). So I went on the search and I found this AMAZING silk in a shop downtown Reykjavík called Storkurinn.  Jaipur silk comes in WONDERFUL SHINY colors!! It is not on the cheapest side but it is worth every króna that I spent on it!

* Este chal nació como un proyecto de emergencia. Ya tenía un chal listo para mi amiga pero tuve un pequeño accidente mientras lo estaba bloqueando (historia conocida por much@s de ustedes, el Baltic Blossoms). Así que tuve que hacer otro chal lo más rápido posible. La primera tarea fue encontrar el hilo. No iba a volver a usar la alpaca de Cascade por temor a que se rompiese nuevamente. Entonces en la búsqueda terminé en una tienda en el centro de Reykjavík llamada Storkurinn donde encontré las sedas de Jaipur que vienen en unos colores MARAVILLOSOS. No es precisamente barata pero vale cada corona que gasté en ella.

* This is the first Hyrna that I make with silk, and I won't be the last one! Silk is so WONDERFUL! It blocks like heaven, the drape is perfect and the stitch definition is truly beautiful.

* Este es el primer Hyrna que hago con seda y seguro que no será el último. La seda es una MARAVILLA. Bloquea perfecto, la caída es preciosa y la definición de los puntos es realmente hermosa.

* The book Þríhyrnur and langsjöl is really good. There are a few great patterns but the queen of the book is without a doubt Hyrna Herborgar. If you ever have the chance to get this book... don't hesitate and just get it :)

*El libro Þríhyrnur and langsjöl es excelente. Trae unos cuantos patrones muy bonitos, pero, sin duda, la reina del libro es Hyrna Herborgar. Si alguna vez tienes la oportunidad de comprar este libro... hazlo :)

Five Hyrnur in four years.
Cinco Hyrnur en cuatro años.

And to finish, I want to mention Martha Donají, a mexican knitter friend I met through Ravelry... a friend of hers, Juan Pablo, is now visiting Iceland and we arranged a meeting so we would go together to Álafoss to get some lopi por Martha... which ended up in a little tour around Reykjavík:

Para terminar, quiero mencionar a Martha Donají, una amiga tejedora mexicana que conocí a través de Ravelry. Un amigo de Martha, Juan Pablo, se encuentra visitando Islandia así que organizamos un encuentro para ir juntos a Álafoss para comprar lopi para Martha... al final no sólo visitamos Álafoss sino que también nos dimos unas vueltas por Reykjavík...

JP in Álafoss
JP en Álafoss

The view from the tower of Hallgrímskirkja
La vista desde la torre de Hallgrímskirkja

JP in Grótta
JP en Grótta

And Martha sent me a little package... THANK YOU MARTHA!

Y Martha me envió un paquetito... ¡¡GRACIAS MARTHA!!

Mexican candies!!!
¡¡Dulces mexicanos!!

A beautiful skein of hand dyed (by Martha) wool: angora+merino
Un ovillo preciosos, teñido a mano por Martha: angora+merino

To finish, not for real... my friend Kristín Hrund came to visit us last weekend and we were knitting and eating together... she is making the most beautiful croecheted shawl I have ever seen!!

Ahora sí, para terminar, de verdad, mi amiga Kristín Hrund nos vino a visitar el fin de semana pasado. Estuvimos tejiendo y comiendo... pasando un buen rato, como siempre. Ella está haciendo a ganchillo el chal más bonito que he visto!!

She made all the colors by herself using only flowers, roots, moss... only things from nature.
Ella tiñó todas las lanas, usando flores, raíces, musgo... sólo cosas extraídas de la naturaleza.

And the dessert that Gummi made for us! Chocolate, blueberries, cream and strawberries (straight from our strawberry plants!)
Y el postre que Gummi preparó para nosotros. Chocolate, arándanos, crema y frutillas (directamente salidas de nuestras plantas de frutillas!)


Have a great weekend!
¡Qué pasen un buen fin de semana!

Hyrna Herborgar III: Done!

I think I mentioned in my previous post that Hyrna Herborgar is one of my favourite shawls ever. The pattern is pretty, the transitions are perfect, the border is absolutely wonderful and it has so much air in it which makes it be delicate and elegant.

So, no more talking. Here are the pictures:

Unfortunetely when I took the picture I didn't have the best light so the color doesn't look as it really is. It is a brighter shade of pink.

Details:

* Pattern: Hyrna Herborgar.

* Yarn: Evilla 50%wool 50%linen.

* Weight: 90g.

* Neddles: 4.0m and crochet 3.0mm to cast off.

The edge fans are so pretty and in addition to it the cast-off techniche is so smart that it only adds more beauty to the shawl.

Notes:

* Began with a garter stitch tab (I love this method. The result is always very neat).

* This is the fisrt Hyrna that I knit using a yarn that was no Evilla Artyarn 8/2. While I was knitting it I was a little bit worried about the final size of it. I kept thinking that it was going to be too small ad that i should have used bigger needles. As usual, blocking made the miracle. The final size was surprinsingly bigger that what I expected. I blocked it fiercely to get the most out of the shawl.

* Blocking this shawl is rather simple. I just used two blocking wires and lots of pins. The secret is to bend the corners just enough to allow the edge pattern blossom.

* The cast of is pretty simple and there is no need to worry about the tension of it. It is made with a crochet hook by crochting 3 or 5 stitches together following the pattern to shape the tips and making a chain in between, which I think looks terrific!

* One thing that all of us (the ones taking part of the KAL) agreed on was that the charts can be improved. It is sometimes a little tricky to follow it (especually regarding to the center stitch). Other than that the pattern is very smooth.

* It is possible make a bigger version of it by adding enough repeats of the spiderweb pattern and having in the end two extra edge fans (one on each side of the middle one). To do so we calculated that it is necessary to knit 24 extra rows (or 6 repeats) of the spiderweb. Gummi made it like that (pictures will come soon).

This shawls just confirms the fact that I really like this shawl a lot. This will be FOR SURE not the last one!

To finish, a few pictures of my last trip to Snæfellsnes when Eva was still here visiting. I took these pictures with an oldhalf frame camera (canon demi s):

Svörtuloftaviti.

Skarðvík.

Djúpalón. Girls chatting (By looking at Eva's facial expression I wonder what they were talking about!) and Gummi picking up blueberries.

Lava by Djúpalónið.

Making a matching greeting card and the next shawl

I was thinking about how to make a nice greeting card that would go together with the Harebell Fichu.

The first thing I knew was that the card HAD to have some knitting. Until now I had made cards using cross stitch and bobbin lace but never with a knitted piece.

I made the cross stitch motif based on a traditional Mapuche (native culture from the south of Chile) pattern called Pichikemenküe and külpe ñimin.

I have talked about this one before but I never mentioned it was meat to be a wedding greeting card :)

The color choice was really easy, I used the leftovers of the einband I had from the Fichu. So, the only thing left to think about was the pattern.

I went for a very simple Lilly of the Valley pattern. I really like the simplicity and beauty of the Lilly of the Valley. The amount of yarn and time I used to make this was minimum. In a blink of an eye I had a cute greeting card that matched perfectly the Fichu.

So, first is first: knit the piece. Then cut the paper and use some glue.

The card is very simple. 

The final result is far from being perfect but I guess that is part of the charm of handmade things. 

Now that the Aeolian is done it is time make a new shawl.  I must admit that after knitting the Aeolian (which turned out to be much more beautiful than what I was expecting) and making Eva's lopapeysa I was a little bit uninspired... It took me a while to find what to do next. I started to look at my books and Ravelry and nothing seemed to catch my attention!

Until I found the problem. I needed to have someone to knit for! Things are so much easy when you have someone to knit for... then it is possible to think about patterns and colors that the person you're knitting for might like.

So, I began thinking about what could be the best for her.

First I thought that blue would have been a good color option for her so I got some Einband in a very nice light blue. The color looked great on the ball but once I knitted a swatch my opinion changed completely!! I really didn't like it for a shawl. I thought it would look great for ababy blanket or so.

The pattern didn't convinced me either. I even made some mistakes on the swatch... shame on me!

I needed to find a better color. I went to the wool store again and this time I found the perfect color! It is a very, very nice light green. It looks very organic and natural.

The pattern I am making is taken from The Haapsalu Shawl book. It is leaves and nupps. What I like abput this pattern is the asymmetric position of the leaves and the movement it has bewteen each pattern repeat.  I also think that the color looks great in this pattern.

Leaves and nupps

I am planning to make an edge at the end that will be sewn to the body.

Now I am also starting to think about the next lopapeysa. On Ravelry there is a group called the Spanish Swap and we've been talking about making a Lopi KAL in September. I have already chosen the colors and today I was working on designing a pattern for the yoke using some ideas from the book Íslensk sjónabók.

More details about the lopapeysa soon!

I already have developed the films from my trip to the east. I will be sharing with you some of my favorite shots :)

This was one of my favourite spot. This is Mjóifjörður (The narrow fjord). The road was terrible but the place is a paradise.

One of MANY waterfalls everywhere.

In Mjóifjörður there used to be a whale station. At the beginning of the 20th century there were up to 200 people living there. Today there is not whale station and only 30 people live there.

Mjóifjörður. It was so quite. No wind and fog. 

A very decorated front yard in a cute little house in Eskifjörður.

On the way to Vopnafjörður there is a gravel road that is the highest road in Iceland. This is the view from that road of Héraðssandur. 

The cutest house in Borgarfjörður eystri. 

Well, that is all for now!

Aeolian: Pictures and details.

This weekend I have finished the Aeolian shawl!!

It was a really fun knitting, especially because it was a KAL between Kristín Hrund, Gummi and me. I don't know how far Kristín has gone already, the last time we met (three days ago she was already knitting the chart edge set up and Gummi is now began the same chart last night.

So, now some pics and details:

Just coming out of the needles... not so cute

Details:

* Pattern: Aeolian shoulderette size.

* Yarn: Evilla Artyarn 8/2. In the same color I used to knit this shawl.

* Weight: 140g

* Needles: 4.5mm (5.5 for casting off).

* 6 repeats of the Yucca chart (leaves pattern of the body). I made it a little bigger than what the pattern calls for a shoulderette by adding 2 more reapeats to this section (knitting 6 instead of 4)

* 1 final Agave chart.

* Wide edge.

Blocking on the bed. You can have an idea of how big it is.

Pretty, pretty.

Notes:

* Began knitting with a three stitches garter stitch tab on a provisional crochet cast on.

* Seven loops nupps (Yes, I like nupps to be big and noticeable).

* K2tog through the back loop cast off (with needles one size bigger).

* Bocking: CHALLENGING. This shawl is not a triangle. It has actually an almost rounded base that allows the edge to blossom. For blocking I used two wires that I put on the base of the shawl drawing almost a circle and fixed them with pins. Then I pinned the edge shaping the scallops.

* The shawl has a pretty strange shape (at least that is what I think...). It is very long and rather narrow. I still have to find a girl to try it on and see how it looks like.

* Even though I made the shoulderette the resulting shawl was HUGE. I am just wondering how big Gummi's and Kristín's shawls will be! The decided to go for the shawl size which calls for:

- 12 repeats of the Yucca chart (I made 6).
- 2 repeats of the Agave chart (I made none).
- 1 repeat of the final Agave chart (I made 1).
- 1 repeat of the edge chart (I made 1).

* The pattern is very well written. The only section I would "rewrite" is the description given to begin working the all the edge charts. I wrote a little explanation of it in a previous post.

Against the light.

Agave chart.

Edge: Leaves, nupps and scallops.

Transitions.

Folded.

Over all: 

This is a beautiful shawl. The transitions between section look amazingly pretty and in harmony and the edge is breathtaking!!

Now, I can't wait to see the shawls of Gummi and Kristín to put them all together and check how different they all look! Pics of the three shawls together will come hopefully soon!


I also wanted to thank Kristín Hrund for a wonderful gift that she gave me on our last knitting meeting. When we met in my place  we prepared some cakes and scones and I let them try one of my favourite things in the world: Manjar (o dulce de leche) which is very, very popular in Chile but impossible to find here in Iceland.  I still had some that my sister brought me when she came to visit me last winter.

So, going back to our last meeting... Kristín came with a jar of HOMEMADE manjar made by her!!! How wonderful is that!! Especially because it takes a lot of time to make it! Thank you so much Kristín!!

Homemade manjar.

Scones me manjar. The testure and flavor are perfect!

The other present that I want to show is what Ana (Hiro) gave me when I visited Asturias in May. I already showed the beautiful presents she gave me but until last week I hadn't put in use the needle cases. They are just AMAZING!! It is so easy now to find anything!! She makes them herself and it is possible to find them in her online shop! : )

The case holds everything: double pointed needles, the tips, cables, stitch holders.

New book, Aolian progress and my lace super-pupil!

Tomorrow is Gummi's birthday and I was thiking about giving him an amazing icelandic book called Íslensk sjónabók (Ornaments and Patterns found in Iceland). I actually already bought it and gave it to him... I know! I couldn't wait until the actual birthday day! I am terrible!

Even the hard cover of the book is BEAUTIFUL!

This book is a compilation of patterns found in 17th to 19th century icelandic manuscripts. There are actually ten sjónabók manuscripts that have been preserved. The book contains all the patterns found in those manuscripts which have been redrawn digitally. It is a source of ideas with strong ties to Icelandic national heritage.

The book has 783 pages FULL of wonderful patterns that can be used for knitting, embroidery, cross stitch or whatever comes to your mind : ) It also comes with a CD! 

The book is a little bit pricey but it is worth every crown (króna). It is just WONDERFUL and the best of all... Gummi LOVED it!!

These are a few pages so you can see what I am talking about:

All the pages are arranged like this: to the left there are diagrams and to the right the drawings with color of the diagrams.

Some patterns could make beautiful wallpapers!

The Aeolian shawl is growing and growing. I have already started with the edge which is the main part of the whole shawl. At first I had decided to make the narrow edge version but finally I changed my mind and I am going for the full size version. I think it is going to look very, very good. I am very curious to see how it turns out!

This colors look so nice together! Don't you think?

The whole process of knitting this shawl has been pretty smooth. Except for a couple of SILLY mistakes I have made that have made me frog a couple of long eternal rows. The instructions are quite clear except for the set-up edge section which is made out of four charts:

- Right edge chart.
- Edge set-up chart.
- Center edge chart.
-Left edge chart.

The construction is as simple as:

* Knit the 2 or 3 stitched of the garter stitch tab.
* Begin with the right edge chart.
* Continue with the edge set-up chart repeating it as many times as necessary to get to the center stitch.
* Make the center edge chart once (between the stitch markers that are before and after the central stitch).
* Knit the edge set-up chart again as many times as necessary to get to the end of the row.
* Knit the right edge chart.
* Knit the 2 or 3 stitched of the garter stitch tab.

There IS something strange in the way this section is written in the pattern (at least I found it weird)... so I had to make up my own little instruction to get it right.

Today we were just at home, chilling out and Jóhann Birnir asked me, out of the blue, to teach him how to make bobbin lace. He is twelve years old and loves, loves, loooves handcrafts (and sports!). He is a great knitter himself!  Now, how could I possibly say no?!  IMPOSSIBLE!

Very concentrated.

Looking so PRO!

So, we started by loading the bobbins with some yellow, rather thick thread of linen. The first lesson: how to make a half stitch torchon ground. It was amazing how quicky he picked it up!! And how even the ground ended up! He made just a little piece because even though the thread looks really good it was kind of difficult to keep in the bobbins... somehow the knot that keeps the thread from running off the bobbins kept on running making it a little difficult to keep the bobbins in order. Anyways... Jóhann made a beautiful little first work!

Even and perfectly done!

I am so proud!!