August 11, 2014

A Strokkur Of Another Sort

 

Strokkur is a fountain geyser in Iceland. It is located in a geothermal area in the southwest part of the country, east of Reykjavík. The popular tourist attraction erupts every five to ten minutes. The word strokkur means churn in Icelandic.
 

When Ysolda Teague, the extremely talented young Scottish knitter, designed a pullover pattern knit in Icelandic yarn (Létt-Lopi by Ístex), she called it Strokkur.

 

 
Pattern: Strokkur
Designer: Isolda Teague
Yarn: Létt-Lopi by Ístex
Colours: Blue (1403); Grey (0054); Rose (9428)
Needles: Circular - 5.0 mm

This was such an enjoyable pattern to knit. It was so well written that the garment simply flowed from the needles without a hitch. Strokkur is knit in the round, from the bottom up. The sleeves are knit separately, also in the round, and are joined to the pullover before starting the stranded colour work section of the yoke. The underarms are closed with a three needle bind off.
With this pattern, I used lifted increases for the first time, as well as unwrapped short rows, and Ysolda's version of Jenny's Incredibly Stretchy Bind Off. I will use all three techniques for sweaters I knit in the future.
The only modification I made was to shorten the sleeve length by about an inch. The pullover fits beautifully.
Thank you to my darling daughters for giving me a gift of the yarn and an afternoon at Romni Wool in Toronto to mull over the colours and make my final selection.