Icelandic-From The Land Of Fire And Ice

Sheep Originally uploaded by lydurs

During the 80’s I had a coat made of Icelandic wool. I’ll never forget it. Warm, but the loose knitting allowed the wind to go right through. Not practical for an Indiana winter.

During that same time frame the first flock of Icelandics were imported into Canada. They eventually made their way into the United States and today you find many farms offering fleeces for eager spinners.

The sheep is related to shetland and the other Northern short-tailed breeds. The raw fleece smells very much like like the shetland fleeces I have handled. Unlike the shetland, it always has a double coat.

The coats consists of the coarser tog and the finer thel. Lopi (also called lyppa) is a roving that contains both the tog and thel. In the US what is called lopi may or may not actually be lopi. I know one supplier who’s yarn called “Lopi” is actually a bulky 12 ply yarn. I know Schoolhouse Press carries lopi. They call it Unspun Icelandic.

Traditionally everyday working clothes were made of a spun combination of the two fibers then felted to size (something my coat really needed!). The tog which ranges from 50-53 count was used for sails, rope, sewing thread, belts, rugs and other things that would have heavy wear or abrasion. The thel (65-70 count) was spun into yarns for undergarments, baby items, and socks. Just as a point of comparison Merino has a count anywhere from 60 to over 90.

Tog and Thel can be separated by the use of single row “Viking” combs. Blending would be best by using carders. The fleece can be quite long so it may be difficult to drum card.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Abbott who’s book The Icelandic Fleece: A Fibre for All Reasons provided the bulk of the information in this post.

Iceland is one of the many places I would like to visit. The combination of geology and traditional crafts pull me northward. However I think I’ll pass on some of the island’s more exotic cuisine, like the putrid shark.

Warp Lupe

Over the past months I’ve had a task listed on my palm to warp Lupe, my Baby Wolf. These scarves have been in the plans for a couple years, but other projects got in the way.

Lupe was a birthday present from my husband. We walked into The Fold expecting to order the loom. With a smile Toni’s response was “Walnut or cherry?” Turns out she had several in stock and the only thing we had to order was a raddle.

And so it has sat, unwarped, until Labor Day.

A few months back I wound the warp for 2 scarves using black alpaca and Rio, a novelty yarn from BlueMoon Fiberarts. I wrote out the draft of a basic broken twill and was all set…ahem…except the warp was still not on the loom.

Labor day arrives with me finally moving the loom out and starting to warp.

First I struggled with remembering how to open it out and learning which parts were needed to attach the raddle to the backbeam. After a few fits and starts that included losing my first cross I slowly remembered how to warp back to front.

Beaming went smoothly with the assistance of the husband.

By this point Roo had already decided to take up his duty as loom dog.

After my last warp (40″ wide waffle weave at 20 epi) threading this one was a piece of cake. I double checked my pattern as I went along and knotted bundles of warp every 2 inches.

By the time I finished threading the heddles, my back and eyes were telling me ENOUGH! So I had to break for the night.

I finished warping on Tuesday.

Of course only then did I go looking for my temples. Okay my two smallest temples were too small, but the next largest was too big. If any project requires a temple it is this one! Faced with the possibility of getting it all ready and then having to wait a couple weeks to order a temple. I remembered a gift that Sara Von Tresckow gave me. In my storage area I found the two cloth bag temples saved from the time before I had Olga my Oxaback countermarche loom and was still weaving on the old Herald loom.

It was like magic, the selvages started behaving and looking like straight lines rather than a zigzag. I advanced the warp and started the first scarf. I probably should have sett it closer so I may cut off what I have woven so far and sley it closer as the fabric is too weft faced.

So I have many evenings to look forward to with my trusty loom dog waiting for me to drop my shuttle

Or at least sleeping at my feet.