I am following the Craftsy Top Down Icelandic Sweater class. My sons bought me the Islandic Lopi yarn as a Christmas present. (Thanks, guys…I love you.) I highly recommend this class. Ragga also educates us on the Islandic traditions of knitting. Very interesting. All the Islandic sweater designs are marvelous.

After seeing many comments from other knitters who went up a size, I decided to go up 3 sizes. I’m a 36 but want a “huge, comfy sweater”. Since this is a sweater of many firsts…….my first sweater, first color work, first yoke, first short row shaping, first steek, first sleeves, first time using lopi, I am a bit nervous. So far, the course has been very helpful. I used the German twisted cast on with a size 4 needle, then switched to the size 6. The pattern calls for size 7 but I couldn’t get gauge. I have finished the color-work by knitting with both hands, another first. (Tip..pay attention to your tension on the yoke floating strands on the backside as not to knit too tight where your stranded work is puckering. And, not too loose as it will look sloppy.). Finished the short row shaping and am now knitting the length of the sweater. I knit English style or the “throwing method” and knit rather tight. However, due to knitting in the round and a bizillion knit stitches, I switched to continental style or picking method after the short rows. (Another first.) I am finding that my tension is not as consistent in this method, but I think I’ll be okay as the instructor states that the stitches will even out if you use the spin cycle of a washer when blocking. (Don’t use the wash cycle, only the spin cycle to remove excess water from your hand-soaked sweater. Otherwise, you’ll felt your sweater!!!) Next time, I will make sure my yoke is knitted a bit looser and to stay consistent with either English or Continental throughout the sweater. I have 5 skeins left and have decided to hold my body stitches and start on the sleeves. I don’t want to run out of yarn. Finished the first sleeve. Followed row 26 to 17. Then knit 2 rows of main color. Switched to size 4 needles for Ragga’s ribbing as size 6 was too loose and it made the cuff wonky. Ripped back and used size 4. Did 2 rows of the rib pattern. Then knit 1 row before the bind off. It looks great. Now for the other sleeve. (It took approx 1 1/2 balls for the sleeve.) Went back to add length to the body of the sweater. I have 2 balls left of the main color. Had a lot of yarn left, so I decided to make the sweater a bit longer in length. Also, since it is a few sizes bigger, I thought it would look better in a longer length. It’s a jacket now. Also, the two blues I used did not have enough contrast for the little flower-like design in the yoke. Therefore, I went back and embroidered French knots in the middle of the designs with the main color. I only looped the yarn once around the needle, so they would be subtle. I really like the contrast now. Decided to knit 3 repeats of the border. I did not change the size of the needle as I did on the sleeve border. Used normal bind off and have woven all my ends. Washed, used spin cycle to get as much water out as possible and blocked flat on a towel. Lopi yarn really softened up with the use of conditioner to the rinse water. Sweater dried in about 1 day. I also washed my ribbon to see if it would soften up a bit. It has some silver threads throughout the pattern, making it a bit stiff. It softened a little. Ready to do the crochet edge. Note: you MUST crochet tight enough so there is no flaring of the edge. I used a size D hook and crochet VERY tight. It took me a few times to crochet it before I was satisfied. Take your time on this part as it will be important to get a nice even edge. Also when adding the ribbon, I didn’t stretch the edge at all but found that my front was longer. This has been reported by other classmates. I ripped out the whip stitches and restitched the ribbon but shortened the ribbon by about an inch or so. It’s helped tremendously. Added my button loops and am sewing on the buttons. I am very pleased with the outcome of this sweater/jacket.