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Choosing Colors for an Icelandic Lopi Sweater
Get a designer’s thoughts on how to choose different colorways for your next sweater.
Traditional Icelandic pullovers, known as lopapeysur, are made with Lopi yarn from Icelandic sheep’s wool. These sweaters reflect the importance of Icelandic sheep and wool in the island nation. There is a veritable constellation of beautiful patterns, many of them designed by Védís Jónsdóttir, the head designer for Ístex.
A farmer-owned cooperative that processes the majority of Icelandic wool, Ístex offers its own array of natural and dyed colors to choose from. Knitters face an almost dizzying abundance of choice when selecting yarns for a sweater.
In the premier issue of Farm & Fiber Knits magazine, we asked Védís to reimagine one of her classic designs. She stunned us with her color selections for Tíglar Tveir, and was kind enough to share some of her color inspirations to help us become more comfortable choosing our own colorways.
While the original colorway is fashionable and joyful, her new colors are calm and peaceful. How she arrived at these new color combinations is almost as wonderful the colors themselves!
Védís Jónsdóttir designed the Tíglar Tveir pattern and is the head designer for Ístex. Photo courtesy Védís Jónsdóttir
Pre-Swatch with Yarn Wrapping
It can be time-consuming to knit swatch after swatch, only to discover that you don’t love your color combinations. Sketches with colored pencils are great for brainstorming, but the way light reflects off yarn is different from how it reflects off paper. What’s a time-strapped knitter to do?
For these quick samples, Védís made yarn wrappings of her new colorways. Yarn wrapping is a quick and handy technique employed by many weavers to predict striping patterns, but it can help knitters, too.
To make a yarn wrapping, simply wrap yarn around a piece of matboard or sturdy cardstock. You can either tape the ends to the back of the card or cut a small notch in the card to hold the yarn. The result is a quick color study that shows you how your yarn colors coordinate with each other and uses very little yarn.
You’ll still need to swatch to check gauge and finalize your color selections, but a yarn wrapping can help speed up the process!
Click on an image below to open it in full-screen mode.
Calm Between the Storms
Embrace the quiet calm of winter grays with this first colorway, knit in three natural tweedy tones. Védís writes,
Traditional Icelandic pullovers, known as lopapeysur, are made with Lopi yarn from Icelandic sheep’s wool. These sweaters reflect the importance of Icelandic sheep and wool in the island nation. There is a veritable constellation of beautiful patterns, many of them designed by Védís Jónsdóttir, the head designer for Ístex.
A farmer-owned cooperative that processes the majority of Icelandic wool, Ístex offers its own array of natural and dyed colors to choose from. Knitters face an almost dizzying abundance of choice when selecting yarns for a sweater.
In the premier issue of Farm & Fiber Knits magazine, we asked Védís to reimagine one of her classic designs. She stunned us with her color selections for Tíglar Tveir, and was kind enough to share some of her color inspirations to help us become more comfortable choosing our own colorways.
While the original colorway is fashionable and joyful, her new colors are calm and peaceful. How she arrived at these new color combinations is almost as wonderful the colors themselves!
Védís Jónsdóttir designed the Tíglar Tveir pattern and is the head designer for Ístex. Photo courtesy Védís Jónsdóttir
Pre-Swatch with Yarn Wrapping
It can be time-consuming to knit swatch after swatch, only to discover that you don’t love your color combinations. Sketches with colored pencils are great for brainstorming, but the way light reflects off yarn is different from how it reflects off paper. What’s a time-strapped knitter to do?
For these quick samples, Védís made yarn wrappings of her new colorways. Yarn wrapping is a quick and handy technique employed by many weavers to predict striping patterns, but it can help knitters, too.
To make a yarn wrapping, simply wrap yarn around a piece of matboard or sturdy cardstock. You can either tape the ends to the back of the card or cut a small notch in the card to hold the yarn. The result is a quick color study that shows you how your yarn colors coordinate with each other and uses very little yarn.
You’ll still need to swatch to check gauge and finalize your color selections, but a yarn wrapping can help speed up the process!
Click on an image below to open it in full-screen mode.
Calm Between the Storms
Embrace the quiet calm of winter grays with this first colorway, knit in three natural tweedy tones. Védís writes,[PAYWALL]
“The light gray tweed is the calm one between the storms. Like now when I look out of my window and see the ocean—not being blue, but more gray-brownish—and speckles of stones and dormant grass along the shore that peek out from the veil of snow.”
Natural wool colors evoke the calm of winter. Photo by Védís Jónsdóttir
Keep Cozy on a Fresh Icy Morning
Even though these colors are reminiscent of an icy morning,you'll be cozy in a classic blue-and-white sweater. These colors will pair with just about anything, and this sweater will become a treasured heirloom. Védís writes:
“The blue is the fresh icy morning. The weather has been calm and I can see the mountains in the distance but I have no urge to climb them just to enjoy a brisk walk.”
Knit in two shades of blue and a creamy white, this is a classic colorway that will pair with anything. Photo by Védís Jónsdóttir
Celebrating the Seasons
As summer gives way to autumn, there’s a crackling sense of celebration. In this last colorway, four tones vibrate joyfully together while celebrating the changing seasons. You might not think to pair a spring green or indigo blue with the reds and orange-golds of autumn, but these colors find their own happy harmony. Védís writes:
“Autumn leaves are giving a spectacle color show. Maybe I was also thinking about Thanksgiving that I have enjoyed Upstate New York and in Wisconsin, and how perfect Álafosslopi is for the season.”
A riot of color celebrates the seasons. Photo by Védís Jónsdóttir
So Quick to Knit, You’ll Want to Start Another
One of the joys of knitting with Icelandic yarn is how lightweight and lofty it is, while still being warm and durable enough for a sweater. Whichever colorway you choose, the Ístex Álafosslopi knits up quickly on size 10 needles, and you’ll have plenty of time to try another colorway!
Find Védís Jónsdóttir on Instagram as vedisj.
Subscribers can read about Icelandic wool and knitting in the premier issue of Farm & Fiber Knits, as well as find the Tíglar Tveir pattern in the Farm & Fiber Knits Library.
