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The Ár Trésins lopapeysa by Jóhanna Hjaltadóttir is from the book Knitting with Icelandic Wool by Vedis Jonsdottir.
The Ár Trésins pattern calls for Istex Alafosslopi yarn, which is a bulky wool yarn. Unfortunately I didn’t have that, and I wanted to use some aran weight yarn from my stash, so I experimented a little. In the end, I made the the XXL size using aran weight yarn and smaller needles (3.5 mm and 4.5 mm) than listed in the pattern. This gave a tighter gauge (16 sts and 22 rows per 4″/10cm) to fit me.
The pattern as written, as many classic lopapeysas, does not include back neck shaping. To give my pullover a better fit, I added short row shaping, as follows:
After adding the sleeves, mark centre back with a stitch marker.
From centre back, knit 50 stitches, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 49 sts, w+t.
Knit to CB, slip stitch marker, knit 42, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 41 sts, w+t.
Knit to CB, slip stitch marker, knit 34, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 33 sts, w+t.
Knit to CB, slip stitch marker, knit 26, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 25 sts, w+t.
Knit to CB, slip stitch marker, knit 18, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 17 sts, w+t.
Knit to CB, slip stitch marker, knit 10, w+t. Purl to CB, slip stitch marker, purl 9 sts, w+t.
Knit one round, picking up wraps and removing stitch marker at centre back. Add stitch marker to join between back and left sleeve.
Another change I made was to knit just a simple k1, p1 ribbing at the neckline. The pattern instructs you to knit a folded collar, but I just knit a plain one for my Ár Trésins.
I love how the finished pullover fits! Even though I followed instructions for the XXL size, I used a finer yarn and smaller needle to get the fit I wanted. I wear my Ár Trésins with a bit of positive ease, and it’s really warm and comfortable!
Overall, I used 3 skeins of Briggs and Little Heritage in Light Maroon for the main body, 1 skein of Sheep’s Grey and .5 skein of Black for the contrast.
I like how the pattern includes stranded colourwork at the hem and sleeves. As a result, the pullover is a lot more visually interesting. According to the book, this pattern was inspired by the United Nations’ Year of the Tree. I’m not sure when that is, since the International Year of Forests was 2011. Was the Year of the Tree another year? The black contrast shows tree leaves, which explains why I was so drawn to the pattern. Parts of the colourwork were tricky, as I had to wrestle three colours of yarn for a few rows. However, the result pays off!
I actually knit this for myself so I will have a warm lopapeysa to wear when Tomiko and I visit Iceland this summer! Even though we are going in June, I’ve read we might face snow. I’d rather be warm and snug than wet and cold!
The pattern is available from the book Knitting with Icelandic Wool.
I just adore the colors you used for this!! I don’t see an Instagram button? Are you on IG too?? I’ve been sharing my knitting on my feed on Saturdays lately. And I love seeing others….
(i’m at @jtouchofstyle on IG)
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Beautiful! What a wonderful talent to have! 🙂
This is a real beauty and how clever to make the big size but with the thinner yarn and smaller needles – genius.
My daughter visited Iceland a couple of years ago and loved it, so many amazing things to see and do. She did say it was super expensive though but they had an air b&b self catering and said that saved a fortune so they had money for excursions.
We`re planning to do that too! Plus one of my favourite things to do is go to grocery stores when I travel 🙂
Lovely jumper – it looks so cosy and I really like it’s vintage style xx
I have no idea how you manage to make these so quickly! It’s an amazing pattern and it looks just perfect in red!
Thank you for sharing at The Really Link Party. Pinned!
That’s a gorgeous pullover!!!!
Wow, gorgeous, and great that you’ll have the chance to wear it this summer, sounds amazing! thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Beautiful sweater! I love both the colors and the pattern. Very nice!
Hi do you have the Ar Tresins pulover recipe in Danish, I am not Very god to English or I cant Read an English recipe, mvh Erna Jensen
Unfortunately I don’t think it’s available in Danish. The Ravelry link is here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ar-tresins-design-41 . The link shows where the pattern is published, but I think it’s just in Icelandic and English. Sorry!
[…] knit other sweaters from the Knitting with Icelandic Wool book. The Ár Trésins Pullover by Jóhanna Hjaltadóttir was for myself. However, the Kross Pullover and the Bláklukka Pullover, […]
When l went to Europe in 1975 l was given a free stopover in Rejkavik(the plane was overbooked to NY). I made 3 Lopi sweater sets. My boyfriend,sister, and I wore them as WINTER COATS in upstate NY. This was when we still had winters and still used only the traditional colors, natural browns,etc. Now they would be too hot sometimes! I adapted a pullover similar to this one as zippered jackets with zippered pockets, hat, and scarf.
Yes, they are so warm! I wear mine outside on the coldest days and I’m always so snug and dry 🙂
That sounds like an amazing stopover; I’m sure it’s changed so much since 1975!