The Land of Fire, Ice, and Sheep

Fire and ice. Sheep and vast landscapes.

That’s an understatement when describing the beauty and wildness you’ll find when you visit Iceland. When people ask why my husband and I chose to visit this incredible country this past summer, my answer is simple. It has always been on our list to visit someday, but when I read “The Land of Fire and Wool” by Leslie Petrovski in Farm & Fiber Knits 2024, Iceland jumped to the top of the list.

Yes, a single article ignited a lot of energy around travel—and, as it turns out, knitting.

Leslie’s article shares that “Icelanders generally accept as fact that there would be no Iceland without sheep.” The importance of Icelandic sheep was visible as we drove around the island in June, with the sheep and this year’s lambs spread throughout nearly the entire country. We even met a few on the trails, including near a waterfall on the Fimmvörðuháls Trail shown in the image at the top of the article.

This is the story of a country born of fire and sheep and a knitting tradition that looks folkloric but was actually the product of twentieth-century tourism. The country, of course, is Iceland, and the tradition, the lopapeysa, is an iconic garment that’s arguably more a symbol of national identity than the country’s flag.” —From “The Land of Fire and Wool”

Icelandic sheep graze near the picturesque Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon, as seen from the nearby hiking trail. Blue icebergs float in the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, a reminder of the constantly changing landscape. Glaciers are vital to Iceland's geography, culture, and economy. Shown here, we're near the end of the Svínafellsjökull glacier. At the geothermal areas, including this steam vent at Hverir, there's a constant reminder of the activity just below the surface. From fire and water, we get the Vikurfjara Black Sand Beach, which gets its distinctive sand color from basalt broken down by the sea into fine sand and rocks, like the heart-shaped one I am holding. We met a few more sheep as we made our way down from the spectacular Hengifoss waterfall.

In these few images, you can just start to see the impact of ice and water on the landscape and how volcanic activity has shaped the country. Plus, a few of the thousands of Icelandic sheep we saw during our journey in June.

The Case for the Lopapeysa

And with sheep comes wool, and the iconic sweater of Iceland—the lopapeysa. Starting in the 1930s, Icelandic sweaters began to model their construction from Norwegian designs (knitted in the round with drop shoulders). This morphed into the quintessentially Icelandic sweaters we see today, with their two-color yokes with evenly spaced decreases, sleeves, and shoulders.

The simple yoke patterning and color, and the easy construction of this sweater, make the Tíglar Tveir pattern a fantastic knit. Photo by Gale Zucker

This simple construction makes this sweater an easy design to cast on now and finish quickly, so you can bask in its warmth this winter. But don’t just take my word for it, Leslie’s article shared these six reasons why you need a lopapeysa in your wardrobe:

1. You can wear it with almost anything, from pajama bottoms for walking the dog to vegan leather pants for a dinner out.

2. It will never go out of style. Though lopapeysur are having a global moment with designer knockoffs, they maintain their wearability in the same way Fair Isle, Faroese, and Norwegian colorwork garments do. They are forever pieces.

3. You can knit one in a weekend—if you really bear down. Lopapeysa construction is a model of efficiency. The sweaters are knitted in the round from the bottom up, with separately knitted sleeves that are joined before working the colorwork yoke—which includes shoulder shaping in the design. They require precious little seaming and whip up quickly in Álafoss Lopi, a bulky yarn with a gauge of about 13 stitches to 4 inches.

4. Sustainability. Not only is wool 100% biodegradable, but a heavy lopapeysa also insulates from the cold. So you can turn down the thermostat.

5. Pattern choices are almost endless. Search Ravelry by typing “Lopi” or “Ístex” and hundreds of patterns will surface, from classics in natural colors to dashy sweaters in a rainbow of palettes. The Tíglar Tveir pattern (included in your subscription) is worked in a beautiful blue with a diamond motif in the yoke.

6. It will wear like iron. A 50-year-old Lopi sweater that Leslie’s mother knitted in the 1970s has barely a pill on it to this day. Sturdy, insulating Icelandic wool stands the test of time. “I see the young generation take the sweaters my grandmother knit for my father,” explains Védís Jónsdóttir, head designer at Ístex and the developer of the Tíglar Tveir pattern, “and they still look amazing. They last forever.”

One of the alternate colorways developed by Tíglar Tveir designer Védís Jónsdóttir. Photo by Védís Jónsdóttir

I’ve been eyeing some of these alternative colorways for the Tíglar Tveir design, and hope you’ll join me in casting on one of these beautiful sweaters soon.

— Tiffany