The Lopapeysa Sweater: A Journey North in Search of Iceland's Iconic Knitwear

by Toni Carr, Kyle Cassidy (Photographer)

Overview

Embark on a journey through Iceland’s most gorgeous landscapes and intimate traditions—straight from your armchair. The lopapeysa sweater is a treasured piece of Icelandic culture, knitted for generations, always gifted, never bought, with warmth and love in every stitch. From the breathtaking scenery, to the deep-rooted history, to the wisdom of the locals; Joan of Dark and Kyle Cassidywill be your guides as you read and knit your way through Iceland’s culture, creativity, and lopapeysa tradition.

In this knitter's guide to Iceland, join Joan and Kyle as they travel the 800 miles of Iceland’s Ring Road to bring you historic sweaters, exciting adventures, and new knitting patterns. By interviewing local experts and digging through archives, they trace the historic beginnings of the “lopi” sweater and its legacy—and, of course, provide 12 new, original lopi-style patterns ranging from novice to advanced. No matter your knitting experience, you will be able to knit your way through these projects and enhance your look with style that is beautifully modern while still honoring the lopapeysa’s rich history. We hope that this book will inspire you to visit Iceland with someone you love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811739832
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Toni Carr (aka Joan of Dark) is the author of Knockdown Knits, Knits for Nerds, and Geek Knits. She is also a contributing designer for Vampire Knits and Once Upon a Knit, as well as several publications for Knit Picks.

Kyle Cassidy is an award-winning photojournalist whose work has appeared in all the usual places. He’s the author of a number of books, most recently This Is What a Librarian Looks Like. Joan taught him to knit over Zoom, specifically for this book and now he’s always got half a lopi sweater in his camera bag. Find him at kylecassidy.com and @kylecassidy.

Table of Contents

Contents

TRAVEL: IN SEARCH OF THE LOPAPEYSA

It’s Easy to Get to Iceland, You Should Go

Iceland’s History of Wool

About the Lopapeysa

Knitting a Lopi in Iceland

Getting Started

How Is Iceland Even????

The Ring Road

Getting Around in Iceland

Adventure: The Icelandic Handknitting Association

Adventure: Helgufoss

Adventure: The Hot Springs at Skátalaug

Adventure: Heavy Metal Horses

Knitter Profile: Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir

Knitter Profile: Pálína Gunnarsdóttir

Adventure: Reykjavik Is a Twenty-four-hour Party

Adventure: Volcano

Adventure: Hestaland

Adventure: Illugastaðir – the Land of Seals and Ghosts

Dalvik

Adventure: Lopi Thrifting in the Rauði Krossinn

Hot Tub Party

Akureyri

Adventure: Grjótagjá Cave

Adventure: Námafjall Hverir, the Mývatn Geothermal Area

Möðrudalur – the Farm at the Top of the World

Djúpivogur

Adventure: Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Adventure: Skaftafell

Adventure: Black Sand Beaches

Vik

Knitter Profiles: Anna Halla, Hera, and Guðlaug

Knitter Profile: Janina Witzel

Adventure: The Hot River

Adventure: Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach

Knitter Profile: Védís Jónsdóttir

Back Home

Coda

PATTERNS

Knitting the Lopapeysa

Recipes vs Patterns

Sizing

Cardigans and Steeking

Yarn

Needles

Abbreviations

Important Skills

Learn to Chart Headband

Hot Springs Hats

Executioner’s Capelet

Everywhere Sweater

Icelandic Horse Sweater

Puffin Sweater

Lakeside Lopapeysa

Hiking Gloves

Adventure Sweater

Waiting Cape

Vik Dress

Acknowledgments

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a joy of a book. I know nothing of sweaters and little of Iceland, and this book used pictures and words to open Iceland and its people for me, using Icelandic sweaters and knitting to do it." Neil Gaiman, author of Norse Mythology and American Gods

Editorial Reviews

01/02/2023

Designer Carr (Geek Knits) and photojournalist Cassidy (This Is What a Librarian Looks Like) blend travelogue and knitting know-how in this reverent love letter to the lopapeysa, or Icelandic wool sweater. Carr provides knitting patterns while Cassidy chronicles his travels around Iceland, giving a sense of its culture through trivia (nearly all of the country’s electricity comes from geothermal and hydroelectric sources) and profiles of average people, including a heavy metal band that wears lopapeysa sweaters in their music videos and a schoolteacher who knits in her spare time. Cassidy’s striking photographs capture the extremes of the country’s landscape, with idyllic images of glaciers juxtaposed with shots of active volcanoes. Carr shows how to knit lopapeysa sweaters (which are knitted with lopi, a kind of wool native to Iceland) and other Iceland-inspired garb, recommending readers start out with a magenta capelet to get trained on stranded colorwork and the bulky yarn used for lopapeysa. Other projects include a tan and blue lopapeysa “everywhere sweater” and a playful tan and red design that features small puffins marching around the sweater’s circumference. The cultural background enlightens, and though the patterns are largely for experienced knitters, Carr’s thorough instructions make the projects less intimidating than they may first appear. Knitters will find inspiration in these fresh takes on traditional Icelandic designs. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"This is a joy of a book."

Neil Gaiman

"The Lopapeysa Sweater: A Journey North in Search of Iceland's Iconic Knitwear offers a blend of travelogue and cultural inspection in [a] knitting guide. It pairs some 12 patterns for Lopi-inspired sweater designs with Toni Carr's journeys throughout Iceland following the history and importance of the Lopapeysa sweater.

Color photos abound, highlighting first-person experiences of geothermal beaches, profiles of Icelandic knitters, and surveys of outstanding Icelandic knitting designs for all seasons.

Libraries strong in knitting history and guides will find added value in The Lopapeysa Sweater, whether readers choose it for its Iceland journey or its knitting instructions."

Diane Donovan

"The book, The Lopapeysa Sweater, combines a casual travel guide to Iceland with knitting patterns for accessories and sweaters to give knitters more of an immersion into a style of knitting. This book is as much about the authors’ trip as it is about the title. Travel sections are written by Kyle Cassidy and knitting instructions and patterns by Toni Carr. It is a personal book that chronicles the journey of the authors in Iceland as they researched and wrote this book. It has a casual, familiar writing style that reads like a day-by-day travel diary of their camping trip over 800 miles of Iceland’s Ring Road.

The travel sections, complete with information on currency, pronunciations of the language, transportation, hiking, camping sites, nightlife, and natural treasures of the island, serve as a catalyst into the heart of Iceland. The authors take you along on their excursions to farms, caves, natural volcanic hot springs, and glaciers.

This is not a traditional travel guide, however. You will not find hotel or restaurant options or reviews, or travel data, such as operating hours or admission costs. The information is not presented in a reference-type format like a travel guide; instead, it unfolds as their journey continues. I don’t think it’s meant to be comprehensive but rather a collection of their experiences during their trip. Throughout the couple’s adventure you’ll get to know people they’ve met through Knitter Profiles, like the interview with Icelandic photographer and designer, Rebedda Gudleifsdottir.

The title of the book, The Lopapeysa Sweater, will attract knitters who wish to know more about this style of knitting. Lopapeysa, more commonly known as Lopi, could arguably be called Iceland’s Sweater. The book defines this style of pullover as being traditionally made from unspun Icelandic wool in natural colors, knitted in the round, with a band of patterning on the yoke, and a section of the pattern repeated around the lower part of the body and the cuffs. The style emerged mid-twentieth century and has a distinctive, recognizable look.

The final half of the book is where the authors dive into their collection of knitting patterns, but despite the book’s title, they are not all patterns for Lopi Sweaters. There are twelve patterns: half are for Lopi-inspired sweaters, and the other half are accessories that include headbands, hats, gloves, and capelets, with a range of skill levels.

The pattern section includes instructions on techniques, yarn, needles, and how to read charts. The colored charts are large and easy to follow. The loose, relaxed writing style makes its way into the patterns as well. Sometimes abbreviations are used, sometimes not; some patterns say to block the sweater in the finishing section, some do not. Schematics are given for sweaters, but they list only three measurements: chest circumference, length, and sleeve length. If you’ve bonded with the authors so far, you will find the patterns a natural extension of themselves. The beginning of the collection of patterns discusses Knitting Recipes versus Knitting Patterns, with the author preferring the former since it conveys a basic idea of how to knit something with room to make changes. The more-or-less approach to creating button bands is a great example of how the pattern relies on the knitter to put some thought behind the design, rather than following detailed instructions.

Despite the definition of the Lopi sweater in the beginning of the book as being knit in natural colors, patterns are shown for a variety of colors, including some modern bright-colored yarns. The patterns include a bit of inspiration, tying the design into the destination, so you’re not just knitting a pattern, you’re gaining an understanding of the region with every stitch."

Donna Estin

"Through the story of their travels and the people they met along
the way, Joan and Kyle have lovingly captured both the technical
and artistic aspects of Icelandic knitting tradition, and the
culture that created it."

Smári McCarthy

Lopapeysa is a seamless knitting together of the author's travels in contemporary Iceland with one of that splendidly idiosyncratic island's most highly prized and traditional crafts, the art of knitting itself.

Lawrence Millman

"The Lopapeysa Sweater: A Journey North in Search of Iceland's Iconic Knitwear offers a blend of travelogue and cultural inspection in [a] knitting guide. It pairs some 12 patterns for Lopi-inspired sweater designs with Toni Carr's journeys throughout Iceland following the history and importance of the Lopapeysa sweater. Color photos abound, highlighting first-person experiences of geothermal beaches, profiles of Icelandic knitters, and surveys of outstanding Icelandic knitting designs for all seasons. Libraries strong in knitting history and guides will find added value in The Lopapeysa Sweater, whether readers choose it for its Iceland journey or its knitting instructions."—Diane Donovan, Donovan's Literary Services

"The book, The Lopapeysa Sweater, combines a casual travel guide to Iceland with knitting patterns for accessories and sweaters to give knitters more of an immersion into a style of knitting. This book is as much about the authors’ trip as it is about the title. Travel sections are written by Kyle Cassidy and knitting instructions and patterns by Toni Carr. It is a personal book that chronicles the journey of the authors in Iceland as they researched and wrote this book. It has a casual, familiar writing style that reads like a day-by-day travel diary of their camping trip over 800 miles of Iceland’s Ring Road."—Donna Estin, Cast On

From the Publisher