My Embroidery

My Grey Heart

This hat has finally got a name. It’s called Gjálfur, which means the gentle lapping of the waves.

This bag is called Memories of Summer, and the pattern was published in Yarn Forward Magazine (now Knit magazine) no. 34

Margrét. I finished this one just in time for the exhibition in the town hall in Reykjavík, 2010.

This, and the blue heart below, are the biggest hearts i have made.
I like this one a lot. I really didn’t at first, but it grew on me.
This blue hear, is the first I made with colored wool.

I used a golden thread for the first time, in this heart.

The free pattern for this heart is here – but only in Icelandic.

 

 

My Heart

Þoka /Fog

 

Emma

 

Elísabet/Elizabeth

 

Sjöfn is named after the norse goddess of love.

 

It is obvious where Vík comes from. It represents the black beach and the pebbles on it, from which it got it’s name.

Tásur

 

Sóley is named after one of my very good friends.

 

Karólína

Kristrún

 

 

 

Some small hearts I made, mostly for gift. They are stuffed with wool and the lace is hand crocheted.

I have made sever pairs of baby shoes. Most of them are herb dyed, but not the white ones, obviously.

Unnur – is the second bowl I made, and one of my favorite items.

 

Waistlines or Ása as it is called in Icelandic is named after a good friend, as so many of my things are. It was originally made for Yarn Forward Magazine.

Hope is the first bowl I made. It took several attempts to get the triangular shape just right – and the right size so that it could stand upright and not just be a floppy mess.

 

I

made these as Christmas gifts.

 

I made real sketches for the first time, before I stitched Særún. I had to – the fish had to be carefully though out beforehand, I could not just improvise them.

 

I named the first wrist warmers I made Hulda, because they remind me of the beautiful elf queens of the Icelandic folk tales.

I’m not into false modesty as you have probably realized by now…

 

Björg bears my lovely stepdaughters middle name and it’s inspired by her coloring.

 

Faðmlag (embrace) is the only embroidered shawl I have ever made. It was made for a dear friends wedding, and I finished just a couple of hours before the ceremony.

 

Glómosi is perhaps the most universally flattering hat I have ever made. This shape suits almost everyone and I really must use it again soon. I really like the soft green and light shades too.

 

Rósir or Roses is the only hat (apart from the one in 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats) I have made a pattern for. It’s a free pattern, published by the Japan based  Fiber Republic and it’s available here.

 

Sandur (sand) is the only hat I done by special order. Although I do like the hat, I found out that I do not like take embroidery commissions, I need to be free to use the colors I like and to express what I see and feel.

Frostrósir (Frostroses) is my hat. I use it a lot and is suits me. I am planning to make me a new one though – someday.

 

Flækja (Tangle) is the only red hat I have made. I regret not having a better picture of it – it’s slightly rounded shape is really flattering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little has is called Mosi (moss). It’s felted in my mother washing washing machine, and it came out much smaller that I expected.

It turned out that different makes of washing machines felt very differently and and mine is actually not very good felting wise, as it is gentle on clothes (which is generally good) but not when you want to intentionally shrink things.

I changed this hat for a exhibition I gave in Ísafjörður last summer. There was a detail I wasn’t quite happy with that is changed to the better in the bottom picture. Can you see what it is?

Skógarbotn (Forest Floor) is perhaps the wildest hat I have ever made. The ridge is thick and wavy and although the hat is cool, it’s not for everybody I guess.

I was never overly found of this one. It’s called Sumar (summer). It is however a bit prettier that the photo shows but I forgot to take a better picture before I passed it on to it’s owner.

Næturhiminn (Night Sky) is another one of my early favorites. The photo is not half bad either.

Here is an old photo of me with it on:

 

Fiðrildi (Butterflies) is blue on one side and red on the other. It’s among my favorite of my early hats.

Here is a picture of Fiðrildi with is’s lovely owner. She is one of Iceland’s most brilliant meteorologists and a master knitter too.

 

I had some trouble photographing Mjúk lauf (soft leaves). If tended to be either over exposed or too grey and dull. The top picture is closer to the real thing but the pattern is clearer on the bottom one.

 

The Fall hat (directly below) was finished under quite a lot of pressure, as I wanted to include it in my very first exhibition. It was in the Rainbow cultural festival here in Vík. I only got this little corner, but I exhibited some hats, two poems and two photographs.

 

With Haust (fall), you can see that I’m getting closer to my current style. I really like this hat, all the tiny leaves in the blazing fall colors.

I have not done anything like this again, but I’m thinking about revisiting this theme someday.

 

My fifth hat never really got a name. It’s perhaps the simplest hat I ever made, but it suited the lady who got it very well.

I don’t think she every uses it though.

 

This was my fourth hat and the first one I made with a specific type of vegetation in mind. Can you see what it is?

The name sort of gives it away, this hat is called lyng, which means heather or heath.

 

This is the third hat I made and the first one I named. I called it Blóm (Flowers) not very inspired, I know.

I made it for my daughter and I became part of her daily wear for two years. This hat went on to win the 1000 fabulous knit hat competition and therefor a pattern for it exists in this book. I don’t think I will make any more hat patterns, so this will probably be the one and only one.

 

Although the hats below were my first – this ugly teacosy was the beginning of my embroidery adventure.

I was, and still am, in an online knitting club and I took part in a secret knit-along. For some reason I choose this strange orange color for the mystery project and the result was a very special looking tea cosy I did not like. At all.

So I decided to try to embroider on it to try to rescue it.

That did not work, but then the hat idea was born. The rest is. as they say, history.

 

These are the first two embroidered hats I ever made. I made them in August/September 2007 and I knew right away that I was onto something. They are much simpler than the things I make today, but I still like them. They are my first, and although they may be a little rough, they still have their own kind of beauty.