Jaime's Icelandic Strokkur Sweater

In 2010 when Amber and I first went to magical Iceland and met Ysolda Teague for the first time, she had just finished and was wearing an Icelandic sweater of her own design. I fell in love with her sweater on that trip, so I was thrilled when the pattern was released this summer.

Ysolda's newest sweater pattern, Strokkur, is named after an active geyser in Iceland. Strukkor sits next to Great Geysir, the earliest documented geyser after which all geyser's are named. Ysolda's Strokkur is an Icelandic lopapeysa which features a 3 color yoke design and is knit from the bottom up. In Ysolda fashion, the sweater is fitted for a more modern look.

Of course, I knit my sweater out of the Léttlopi yarn - the worsted weight Icelandic yarn that I love so much. This yarn holds up amazingly to wear due to the durability of the Icelandic wool. The Icelandic wool also means it is virtually weatherproof - keeping me warm and dry in the worst of weather conditions. This sweater will come with me on camping trips, mountain hikes and anywhere I want a lightweight yet warm outer layer.

The main color for my new lopi is Hazel Heather, with Rust Heather and Ash Heather as my colorwork accents. I knit this sweater in a surprisingly fast 3 weeks (in the midst of Spinzilla as well!). The goal was to finish this sweater to wear at Rhinebeck and I did it! I finished the sweater on the plane to New York and blocked it in our house in the Hudson Valley. Upstate New York was a beautiful backdrop to photograph my new sweater.

If you've been wanting to knit a Lopapeysa I would highly recommend this pattern. Strokkur is smart, well-written and beautiful! Thanks, Ysolda for sharing this design with us!

I entered this sweater in the Fringe Association Rhinebeck sweater contest and won! There was some sabotage attempts, though from fellow competitor Kate Gagnon-Osborn of Kelbourne Woolens...nice try, Kate!

Sabotage!