Iceland- Knitter's Travel Journal Part I

Iceland, with 120 volcanos and a cool climate, is essentially one vast lava floe.  Between volcanic eruptions, rock has little time to break down into soil...and as soon as things begin to grow, the temperature drops or another volcano erupts thus squelching the accumulation of an organic layer on top of the volcanic rock.  There are very few trees on Iceland, and only occasional grasses and mosses. 
The sheep brought to Iceland by the earliest Norwegian settlers 1100 years ago, therefore, had to be hardy...able to survive the harsh climate and dearth of grassland.  Luckily, the Icelanders, also hardy-types, were able to stand even the scratchiest of wool to keep them warm.

As with a glass (Half full versus half-empty), there are two ways of looking at Icelandic wool...versatile and useful for many project types or, scratchier than hell.  The optimists' high regard for this unique wool type goes as follows: 

The Icelandic fleece is perhaps the world's most versatile fiber. Handspinners wishing to spin a wide range of yarns for an even wider range of uses from a single fleece, will be delighted to discover this fiber...The Icelandic fleece is dual coated, meaning that it has a long outer coat called tog and a fine inner coat called thel.

  The tog is classed as a medium wool with a 50-53 spinning count, or 27 microns. It is wavy with little or no crimp and is therefore perfect for worsted spinning. Pure tog yarns make excellent warp that stands up to the weaving process without breakage.

  The thel or undercoat is three to four inches long with an irregular crimp. It is fine, soft as cashmere and lustrous...Lofty when spun, it makes a luxurious warm woolen yarn when used for next to the skin garments.

  Icelandic sheep have the widest color range of any breed, including many shades of white, gray and black, and a variety of browns. 

   Historically Icelandic fiber was separated for most uses. The tog was made into twine, rope and embroidery thread. It was woven into canvas sails, saddle blankets, and tapestries. Fine tog was used like mohair and knitted into lacy shawls, used for embroidery work and made into durable items like aprons. Today it is regarded as a perfect fiber for woven rugs. Thel was used for fine, soft, next-to-the-skin garments, including baby clothes, fine worked mittens, and underwear. The two coats when spun together were used for fisherman's sweaters, socks, and caps. 

Regardless of how one chooses to think of Icelandic yarn, a knitters trip to Iceland would be made more complete by a visit to one of the Reykjavik shops run by the Handknitting Association of Iceland. 

Inside you will find walls of colorful Icelandic yarns as well as completed projects ready for purchase.  If you wish to get a feel for the wool prior to making the investment, you can take a seat on the bench outside and give it a whirl. 














Should the prices be too steep, try the second-hand sweater shop on Reykjavik's main drag where you can purchase bags of yarn with abandoned projects for a fraction of the cost of new.  Finally, meandering in and out of the fashionable knit ware boutiques will open your eyes to the NEW fashions emerging from Iceland utilizing the local scratchy/versatile wool, including my my personal favorite: 

Love it or hate it, Icelandic wool has kept a population of people on a rugged island warm and dry for centuries.  It also keeps Icelandic knitters happily occupied and tourists just as busily purchasing...helping the Icelanders to overcome their economic woes:  a modern challenge rivaling the climatic and volcanic challenges of this country's past.

Norwegian Lace

I have recently returned from a trip to Iceland and Scandinavia.  Ostensibly to attend a family reunion in Tonstad, Norway (the birthplace of my father), I had an enviable two weeks to spend in the world's knitting hotbeds.  As I was traveling with my husband and 3 growing boys through countries in which every sandwich (however humble) costs $10.00,  a large slice of our trip for the budget went to food.  With every meal, I saw my yarn budget diminish...and so I rapidly became resourceful about finding cheap eats across Norway.  In Bergen (home of the $9.00 cup of coffee), I discovered a church mission serving up a most delicious and nutritious portion of homemade soup and waffles with strawberry jam for a pittance.  To further my delight, across the street was the mission store (locals donating family heirlooms ...most of which are traditional manufactures...for sale by the church mission to the public.)  in which I discovered this little delight.  While not knitting, I felt I wanted to add it to my blog for the purpose of sharing it with fiberholics as I have found no comparable designs on the web.

Photo Source:  http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/ID/FiletID.html

This 7" square was made using a technique called Lacis...also variably called Filet Brode, Filet Lace,  Darned Net, or "nun's work" ( because it was often made in convents).  What is curious about this example is the typically Scandinavian motif of the dragon heads, commonly seen adorning Viking ships to scare off mythical sea creatures.  Lacis has been referenced as early as 1295, and there are multiple examples in the 14th century from Great Britain.  In a book published in London in 1908 entitled, "Lacis (Filet Brode)", by Carita, it was said that even at that time it was difficult to find anyone in London who could give lessons in this ancient technique.

For 28NOK ($4.00 US), I snapped it up and am happy to share it with you here.  It was, without question, the only bargain of the trip!

Incidentally, as a money-saving trip for knitters traveling in Scandinavia...church stores and second-hand sweater stores often sell bags of half-finished knitting projects (owners deceased?).  You'll be able to purchase yarn at a fraction of the cost of buying it new, and if you're lucky, you'll have a head-start on a project!

Talisman Ear: Anatomic Knitting

"That yarn is really nice, Mama."

"Yes, that's sort of the problem...I like the yarn so much that nothing I make from it will be good enough."

This is likely not an uncommon conversation in knitting households with children. What made this conversation differ from others was that my son (with whom I was having the conversation) was lying on our couch, recovering from minor surgery. While out playing football on the playground at school, he was running-keeping his eye on the ball- when he collided with a sign post. The post bisected his ear, slicing through the cartilage and into the ear canal. As my medical specialization is emergency medicine, I have cared for all manner of lacerations sustained by my three boys over the past nine years and thus far have never had anything exceeding my capacity to manage at home with local anaesthetic and dermabond or steri-strips, but this was different. It was immediately evident that, without the aid of a general anaesthetic and a talented surgeon, my son would henceforth spend every Halloween dressed as Vincent Van Gogh.

In the Emergency Department, I remained objectively interested in the repair plan and emotionally cool, but left the procedure room to allow the surgeon his privacy...and to shield him from the possibility that I might seize the instruments from his hand and attempt a coup should anything begin to go wrong. Clairvoyant, I brought along a simple stockinette knitting project in cashmere...perfect for soothing my eager hands while waiting for what turned out (when the extent and depth of the injury were revealed) to be a surprisingly long wait. The longer we waited, the more evident it became that there were complications - the faster I knit. I was the picture of relaxation.

Owing to the expertise of the ER physician, the plastics surgeon, and the very talented nursing staff at Children's Hospital, my son emerged intact - albeit groggy. I carried him to my car and drove him home and then sat with him, as much to satisfy my need to hold him as his need to hold me. At home I again took out a yarn I had been struggling with for a year...it seemed the appropriate yarn for my challenging psychic moment. The yarn ("Wupatki") is a hand spun wool, grounded in the softest of tan-brown, with bright natural color accents throughout. It is lovingly spun by Kerry at RepoRebo Yarns on Etsy/Ravelry. I was thinking that I would make it into an Easter basket, but the project struck me as so pedestrian for a yarn I had elevated in my mind as representative of the great rock formations of the desert southwest. I was further stymied by the short supply- only one short hank.

So when my son expressed his appreciation for the yarn, and I replied as I always do, I was suddenly struck by the realization that the only thing that I really held in as high esteem as I did this yarn was my baby's ear. My entire being was, at that moment, focused on internally repairing his ear. As I had just spent hours repressing my desire to step back into doctor mode and sew by baby back together myself, my hands almost reflexively began frogging the basket progress and casting on for what was soon to be ... his ear.

Many cultures across the world have traditions of utilizing talismans to aid the faithful in connecting the divine with the material world. Terracotta foot and nose talismans can be found in digs throughout the ancient world. There is a tradition of linking prayer (in its many forms) and healing, embodied in such arts. To this most basic need spanning cultures and eras, I add my knit talisman ear - sculpture in fiber.

As my career background is in medicine, I have been collecting photos of knit anatomical body parts just as a curiosity. Sadly, I was not careful about documenting the knitters/photographers, but would love to share their names if anyone wants to claim them. So, today I share with you this odd, but oddly understandable, collection of anatomical knits: I love the precision of the heart...but am humbled by the size of the intestine project...do you know how long your intestine is when stretched all the way out?!?

Anyhow, at first (standard 9-year-old-boy response to ANYTHING his mother does) my son said, "that's a little weird, Mom" to my compulsion to recreate his ear (I did after all create the first one). I am happy to announce, however, that later that night, when I checked on him in his bed, he was cuddling the soft felted ear for comfort...He's still my little boy.