Lost in the Wool

Iceland is well known for its high quality wool and, well wool sweaters. Upon arriving in Iceland I hadn't given much though to the idea of buying an "Icelandic Wool Sweater", the whole knitting world was a foreign one. Luckily Julia (who is our knitting queen) is really enthusiastic about knitting and truly wants the whole group to try to get into it. Honestly I am not sure if knitting is my thing, I am still working, slowly, but working towards success! After filling my head with knowledge about wool from our  the turf house experience, the I idea of having a wool sweater suddenly appealed to me.  We were told about a unique knitting society where local women go out, collect the best of the best wool, hand clean it, hand separate the different layers, hand spin, and hand knit these sweaters. At their store you can buy these sweaters and also the wool to make your own. Unfortunately I am not as ambitious as Julia and do not have the experience to go and knit my own sweater. I thought maybe this society could be a reasonable option for my sweater desire... until hearing the prices! Little did I realize this was going to be an investment, and being a college student I was not ready to pay $200+ for a sweater. So we were told we could find nice partially hand knit sweaters in Reykjavik . So last week when we went into town we kept an eye out for an potential winners. With not much luck it was unanimous to wade it out and hope to find one elsewhere, maybe at the thrift store the the Red Cross.

It was obvious that the group was interested in visiting the wool society I mentioned earlier just to see what was happening there. Plus Julia wanted to buy her wool there for her sweater that she was making. So today (2/23/13) we went the their store, now let me tell you it is only open on certain days for a couple hours each day. So our time window was limited, in the words of Hank "Wheels rolling at 12:30". Upon arriving at the sweater/wool store I had no intention of buying a sweater (I bet you can foresee what is about to happen). After seeing the stacks of sweaters all unique, so soft and cozy looking; we proceeded to try some one, just to see how they looked. Well one thing led to another and I fell in love with a beautiful grey sweater with black and white designs. I wasn't the only one who had the sweater spell cast on them, Liana and Emily were both also lost in the wool!! After numerous debates about if it was worth the money the three of us purchased our first Icelandic wool sweater! All three unique and all three of us in love with them! Liana even bought one for her mother and now my mom is begging me for one as well!

Enjoying the view and the warmth!

 After our impulsive purchases, the anxiety set in. We had just spent a lot of money on one sweater. What made us feel better is the fact that we were helping out a local business. Liana met the knitter of her sweater and it is top of the line in the wool sweater world! We made a stop at a nearby waterfall where Emily, Liana and myself proceeded to put the sweaters to the test and wear them out in the elements, and they lived up to expectations. I have never had anything so warm and cozy, nine hours later I have yet to take it off! The waterfall was beautiful but we were just excited to take pictures in our new sweaters! Needless the say I am happy with every penny I spent on my sweater, it was worth every hour of hard work to pay for it! As my mom said "Its a great souvenir to remember Iceland by"!!

Liana, myself, and Emily enjoying our new purchases!

-Elizabeth Gerrits