Years ago, when I was a young mother with three small children, I found that just about every hat that could be found in a store was too big, too small or just an awkward/poor fit for my kids’ heads. I remembered the cute stretchy knitted hats with buttoned chin straps that children wore when I was a child — hand knit by our mothers or grandmothers — and I wanted to find some for my kids. Of course I had no luck, so I decided to figure out how to make them myself.
I dug up a children’s knitting book that I had put by some years before and taught myself to knit so that I could make the things I remembered my mother, grandmother and aunts knitting. (Yes, they had all tried to teach me when I was a girl, but I could not seem to get the knack back then. It was not as easy as they had made it look! haha And, it turns out I have a learning disability that made it even harder). But as an adult (with the book, which is how I learn best it turns out) I gradually managed to produce hats, mittens and a few sweaters for my daughters and son (very simple cable patterns working with one color of yarn), along with several layette sets for friends’ and family babies.
Shortly before my twins were born, I had just finished a project which was a big leap forward for me; a sweater jacket for my 3 year old son — also my first attempt at fair isle stranded color work. It was a smart little jacket with an Iceland - inspired pattern, in grey, white and royal blue. I was really proud of that sweater and he wore it a lot! I was eager to knit similar sweaters for the girls. My plan was to knit all of the children Icelandic style sweaters after the babies arrived and life settled into a routine.
My twins arrived very early but thankfully in relatively good health. Between time spent at NICU and back at home getting back into a routine, I put my knitting aside with every intention of taking it up again when life settled back down. Oh, the best laid plans! 🤣 — I didn’t touch a set of needles again for nearly 25 years!
So, here I am 25 years later and at last I am going to attempt to fulfill that dream of knitting Icelandic style sweaters for all of my (now grown!) children in time for next winter. That is 5 sweaters in just over 6 months. Seems like a doable goal! 🤪Sure, I’m a slow, decidedly inexpert knitter, but what I lack in expertise, I more than make up in enthusiasm!
So, here we go! There are two sweaters already nearly complete, but I was relearning skills on both of them and also the sizing is a bit off for my kids (I will have to adjust sleeve length from the pattern every time, which is all new to me, too). I will donate the practice sweaters. The sizing will work for most people, I think. Just not long enough for my tall, long-limbed offspring.
The first sweater: I had to do a lot of learning on the first one after 25 years hiatus. In fact, I knitted a toddler’s sweater in a two color snowflake pattern before starting these adult sized sweaters to re-learn basic stitches, tension, color work and seaming, as well as setting in a zipper. That sweater (pictured below) took me more than a month to complete, due to pulling the pieces out numerous times to correct errors. It was knit flat, back, two front sides, sleeves and collar all separately knitted then sewn together. The pockets were also knitted separately and sewn onto the front pieces. I knit sleeves and pockets side by side on 14-inch needles to ensure that I made them exactly mirror images of each other.
I actually started and pulled apart the first adult lopi sweater at least twice, too — once when I had gotten all the way up to the armpits! But the sizing wasn’t working out properly (way too big!), even though I checked my tension and adjusted needle sizes. My lack of experience meant I had to keep trying and correcting and learning as I went along. I decided to use that sweater as a learning model and played around with needles and sizing a fair bit, while taking notes to follow later.
Eventually I finished it (except for sewing up the seams) and I was mostly pleased with it, but am pretty sure the sleeves are too short for the son I originally chose those colors and pattern for. The reason being, when I got up to the armpits the second time, I thought the sweater was now going to be too small for him. But I had pulled it out so many times by then, I was afraid the yarn was going to be stretched beyond saving if I pulled it out anymore, so I knitted the sleeves a little shorter, intending to keep the sweater for myself and knit him a new one . Surprise! In the end, the body turned out the correct size for a man, but now I had shorter sleeves and not enough yarn left to reknit the sleeves, so I’ve given up on that sweater for my family, although it will fit an average built man quite well, I think (that is one of the sweaters I will donate). I learned a lot and think I can adjust the pattern for my own (long-armed!) family now. So back to the drawing board!
The tubular cast on was a revelation to me, as I had not yet learned it when I was knitting 25+ years ago. However, in this new internet age, I was able to access information resources that I had no idea existed until I started googling questions. I came across the tubular cast on videos while googling how to use DPNs, and was so amazed and impressed that I instantly decided to pull out the started project and begin again with a tubular cast on edge.
The tubular cast on edge is basically 4 rows of double knitting beginning with a crochet cast on of provisional stitches using waste yarn. The 4 rows of double knitting, results in two finished rows that roll over with an smooth, soft, super stretchy finish that makes it look like the knitting doesn’t have a cast on edge. Sort of like the illusion of an infinity pool. It just rolls right over to the inside of the garment and you can’t see where it begins or ends. It’s beautiful!
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any more photos of this sweater in progress, but here is the almost finished product:
After finishing the size M blue/grey sweater using Icelandic Alafosslopi wool, I had no more lopi wool, so I decided to use a US yarn called Lamb’s Pride. This yarn is a mix of wool and mohair and has a similar warmth and bulkiness profile to Alafosslopi, without the itchiness that some people find with lopi (not me, I quite like lopi, but people with sensitive skin might prefer something like Lamb’s Pride or even a softer yarn).
Once again, I had to learn through trial and error. even though this yarn was described as being an ideal substitute for lopi wool, I soon realized that it actually knits up a bit smaller than lopi. Lopi seems to stretch out a bit as you knit, whereas the Lamb’s Pride does not. Also the appearance of the stitches with Lamb’s Pride is just beautiful in uniformity and texture. I really like it.
BUT! Using my notes from what I learned with the blue sweater about sizing (and not yet having learned that the Lamb’s Pride is not an exact substitute for the Alafosslopi), I began the brown sweater in a size M. Once again, I got up to the armpits before I realized YIKES! SIZING ISN’T AS I EXPECTED! It was much smaller than the blue size M in lopi. So, once again, I unraveled half a sweater and started again in Size L, but because I was uneasy about going up an entire size, I split the difference and used slightly smaller needles than I had with the blue one (yes, I had copious notes, and I had gone UP a needle size on the blue one due to my tight knitting tension — but don’t worry I had all the notes 😁). I hoped the larger size using slightly smaller needle size would come out just right. Haha So much trial and error! 😂 I must enjoy it because I do it A LOT!
This project has been so much fun so far! I like learning new things and this project is going to teach me a lot of new things! 😅 I’m going to use a few different patterns so that not all of the sweaters look the same. Looking forward to the next one!
Thank you for reading and here is your bonus photo of Curlygirl modeling the blue Alafosslopi sweater (sleeves still not seamed, haha!):
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