Thank you / Merci MademoiselleAlex!!

A few weeks ago I was visiting Alex's blog (mademoisellealex). She is a chilean girl that lives in Paris and has this wonderful blog about handcrafts, especially knitting and crochet, and her devotion to her supercute dog, Ruckiette, who models most of her creations (and she is a great model!).

Please take yourself a little time to check it out... you won't be disappointed!!

ICELAND - IRELAND (and well, it also happens sometimes
with Finland!)

In one of her posts she was showing some of wook she had in her stash and I commented about this beautiful, BEAUTIFUL green yarn made of merino and silk. After I wrote the comment I got a message from her telling me that she was not going to use it because it was not going to be enough for what she wanted to knit so if I wanted it she offered me to send it to me... OF COURSE I coulnd't say no! (You will see a picture of the yarn if you keep reading and will totally understand me!, hehe).

Well, she sent me a package and she warned me that there were a few other things in the package aling with the wool... some things that would remind me of my childhood... uhhh... mystery!

The package had a small detour from its way from France... yes. Something really silly happened. Silly but not uncommon, at all. 

We were starting to get ready a little worried because it had been almost three weeks since Alex sent the package and I was not getting anything! She checked online to trace the package and according to it the package had arrived. I called to the post office here and nothing! She finally called to the post office in Paris and guess what!?

The package was sent to IRELAND instead of ICELAND!  Even though Alex wrote CLEARLY in the package that the destination was Iceland!

This is the evidence that the package was sent to Ireland! Poor package... it was all wrinkled and broken but fortunetely all the contents were in perfect conditions!

Fortunetely the package was sent straight to Iceland from Ireland... so after two or three days the postman was ringing the bell to bring mee this!

Milo... it has been YEARS since the last time I drank milk with Milo! I think that all kids in Chile had breakfast either with Milo or Colacao! Jelly... nam nam and hand cream.

This is the wonderful yarn that I commented on. Posh Yarn 50%merino 50%silk. A total luxury!!

The color is just from out of this world!! In the picture it looks a little bit flat but it has some different shades of green and tiny bit of blue. I will have to find a super special thing to knit with it!! It is beautiful, isn´t it?!

The green yarn didn't come alone... it had very good company. One skein of Holstgarn in a beautiful brown (honey) color.

I also feel like eating it!!

And even more yarn! Opal sock yarn.

Also eatable and "petable" hehe.

I had seen these yarns only in Ravelry. I haven't seen any of them in Iceland until now... that makes them even MORE special! I think I will look at them everyday and pet them until I find something that will make these yarns look amazing!

Now, it wasn't only yarn what I found in the package... there was more! Some beautiful threads to make lace!!

Wonderful linen! 

Silk! 

Purple and gray silk. So shiny and soft!

Egyptian cotton. 

And this beautiful mysterious box (from top)

And bottom.

And... this is what I found inside of the box!!!!!!! These are the most beautiful threads I have ever seen!! Look at those colors!! What a treasure! Super-extremely cute!!

Well... after all this I think that all I have left to say is THANK YOU SO MUCH ALEX!

ERES UN SOL: CÁLIDA Y GENEROSA!

Back from the East with a new lopapeysa in my bag.

I am back home after nine amazing days lost in the island. Why time goes so fast when having fun?!

We started our trip heading north making a few of stops (Blönduós, Akureyri, Húsavík. Mývatn) til our final destination in the east fjords: Eiðar, where we arrived after eleven hours on the road.

We started at A. Drove north all the way to B then around the East Fjords and went back home through the beautiful south coast. Total: 2.200 Km.

Eiðar is a small community with about 40 inhabitants. It is located 10km north of Egilstaðir (which is the biggest town of the east of Iceland with 2.200 inhabitants) next to Eiðarvatn lake. 

Aerial veiw of Eiðar (taken from http://www.ismennt.is/not/jonasg/eidar/). It is possible to see Eiðarvatn lake (blue) and Lagarfljót river (gray-greenish).

We stayed in a very, very cozy house next to the lake.

Cozy, cute little house.

With a nice view.

I have been taking a look at all the pictures that I took (and I still have to develop six rolls of film!) trying to organize them and choosing the better one to share here. It is going to be a hard task! We visited so many wonderful places!!

This map shows in more detail the East Fjords. We managed to see most of the fjords... all of them WONDERFUL! You will see soon :)

We saw almost every fjord from Vopnafjörður to Berufjörður (where Djúpivogur is).

I promise to share lots of pictures of this trip as soon as I get the films developed so I can get to choose the best shots from both the digital and analog pictures :þ

During the time we spent in the summerhouse I managed to finish a lopapeysa that will be a gift for my friend Eva. This is actually some kind of debt that I had with her since last year when I wanted to make a lopapeysa for her as a birthday present but for some strange reason I never got to make it. Now, she is visiting Iceland after having left a little over a year ago to go back home in Austria. So this was the perfect chance to finish this unfinished business. So:

- I took her measurements.

- We went together to the wool store to choose the colors: main color is light gray and the pattern colors are two different kinds of green (a light green and a kind of blueish green) and black.

- Asked a little bit about what she wanted and we came put with:

         * Big lopapeysa that could be worn over a regular sweater.
         * Open with a zipper.
         * With a hood.

- She gave me the freedom to choose the yoke pattern myself.

Having gotten all the information and materials required I was ready to go on vacation with a new project to work on!

Ready to be sewn and cut (steek).

Seen from the back.

I tend to forget how quickly a lopapeysa can be knitted! After having been knitting lace and lace and more lace a good lopapeysa comes perfectly as a holiday project: easy, quick and pretty.

I really like the way the colors blend together. It is a very unusual combination of colors. While I was knitting the yoke I was a little bit worried about the colors because I thought it was turning to be TOO dark. The solution was simple: add some light gray to the pattern. It is amazing what a huge difference a few rows of a light color can make in the whole pattern.

Pattern detail.

I still need to cut it where the purled column is. Then I am planning to crochet the border and put the zipper (that I haven't even bought yet!).

Next time I will post about the steeking process and hopefully pictures of the final, final, final lopapeysa along with all the details about it : )