This is my first project from Knitting with Icelandic Wool, a knitting book I bought as a souvenir from Iceland on our recent trip away. The jumper is my birthday present to Sam and it's um, only two months late... yikes! but here's the thing... while we were travelling in Iceland and I was admiring all the gorgeous Icelandic jumpers on everyone there, I hit upon the bright idea of knitting one for each of my boys for their birthdays. And so it seemed only fair to let them choose the style and the colours that they wanted. And I thought at first that I would use Australian merino. I'm very loyal to Australian wool, you see :) so I took quite a bit of time searching for something of a suitable gauge here but sadly I actually couldn't find anything. So decided I would go completely authentically Icelandic and use Alafoss Lopi. And so of course I had to order the wool from Iceland, and then wait for it to arrive and then knit the thing... so two months late is not too bad all these things considered! I've been knitting like an absolute maniac since the wool arrived! I started it last Wednesday, and finished it exactly a week later, which is not too bad if I say so myself! and fortunately Sam doesn't mind that it's a bit late. We still have a few months of cold weather ahead so he can wear it for a bit longer this year. And there's next year too. I'm hoping it will be lifelong classic for him :)Sam chose the Alafoss jumper on p38 of the book, incidentally also featured at top left on the cover of the book, above. According to the blurb the colour pattern on the yoke is the first ever pattern published by the Alafoss wool factory in the 1960's.
As a last resort, yes, I could order more wool, but the postage from Iceland was so astronomical I'm really hoping I can successfully work something out with what I've got.
Anyhow, that's the fault of the pattern; I am glad I did use the Alafoss Lopi! Icelandic wool is renowned for being thick and lofty and at the same time very lightweight. This jumper looks as thick as and it is amazingly warm, but surprisingly it is as light as a cloud!