Highlights
Price from: 209.000 ISK
Knitting workshops
Icelandic knitting heritage lecture: Hélène will tell us about the rich Icelandic tradition and will show us a few genuine samples. She will share with us stories from elderly knitters she has been interviewing in the past years.
Theodora workshop: during the tour, we will knit the adorable Theodora doll and some of her clothes. A poem by Theodora Thoroddsen inspired this charming little doll to Hélène. It is knitted entirely in the round with almost no seams and uses a lot of techniques, some taken from lopi sweaters, some from socks, some from the Old Icelandic jackets all shaped to the body. It will be the occasion to learn or perfect many techniques such as different cast on (disappearing loop cast on, provisional cast on, etc…), short rows (yo, w&t, japanese), symmetrical decreases and increases, intarsia, magic loop, underarm grafting, etc… Given the time, we will knit some clothes (yarn not supplied for those) to keep our little doll warm and we will learn even more techniques. We will have fun sharing our different ways of knitting and holding the yarn.
Icelandic intarsia workshop (3 hours): this unique tradition, unknown outside Iceland, was mostly seen in knitted inserts worn in soft shoes made of fish skin or sheepskin in the past centuries. The knowledge was being lost but thanks to Hélène’s researches, it was not only preserved but also given a new life in her colorful book, translated in many languages. We will knit a tiny square in four colors and cover all the basic intarsia techniques as well as the specifics of the Icelandic intarsia. The square will be the first of a colorful blanket for our little Theodora doll. Hélène will also tell us about yarn management and give us tips for knitting the modern and challenging designs in her book.
Icelandic wool workshop (about 1 hour): Hélène will tell us about the unique characteristics of Icelandic wool. She will tell us about the genesis of the famous unspun lopi and the more recent Love Story, a 100% Icelandic lace weight yarn she developed especially for the book she is writing about Icelandic lace dresses. We will knit a little sample in the round with lopi, using the Magic loop technique that allows to knit on a long circular needle even the smallest diameters.
« Steek with me ! » workshop (about 1 hour) : for most Icelanders, purling back, especially stranded knitting, is probably more intimidating than steeking. But, beside the traditional method , we’ll explore many different steeks.
Knitting equipment: Yarn for the workshops is supplied, but make sure to bring the knitting equipment listed in the equipment list. Please note that for Theodora workshop, only yarn for the doll is supplied, not for her clothes. We will choose our colors at the Handknitting Association of Iceland in the evening of Day 0.
Equipment list