Ull und matur

Wool and food

This pink strawberry sofa cushion was my sister's special wish. 

Sometimes you can wonderfully combine two passions, just like I do here with this sofa cushion:

My passion for wool and knitting and my passion for Icelandic food.

I have loved Icelandic food since our first trip to Iceland in 2004. Since 2014, I have been writing about it here on the blog, trying out recipes, etc.

As birthday present for a friend who works here in Iceland in the strawberry greenhouse, I then had one collection of Icelandic strawberry recipes compiled - and from this gift, our book was created Icelandic Strawberry Recipes". 

The German edition appeared in April 2025. (You could currently order the book in bookstores or online, for example on Amazon.)

The English version"Icelandic Strawberry Recipes" then followed in May 2025.

It was a community work together with my husband and my sister - he translated the book into English, afterwards she worked as an editor or proofreader for the English version and sent it back to us with changes and comments.

Therefore, my sister also has a special connection to Icelandic strawberry recipes..!

My other passion is knitting, preferably with Icelandic wool.

Last year I had already knitted several pieces with strawberry motifs, for example this hat and the jacket with strawberries made of Léttlopi wool.

When I am now in the spring in matters hand-knitted lopapeysa sofa cushions in the style of Icelandic wool sweaters (lopapeysa) I got a little carried away, and my sister expressed the wish if she could also get a hand-knitted sofa pillow, pink, with strawberries..?

At first I thought that wouldn't work because the color 'pink' doesn't really exist in Icelandic Léttlopi yarn. There is the color 1412 "lead sampler Combed wool from a mix of various pink-dyed wool, but actually this wool is more bright pink than delicate pink.

In the thick Icelandic wool (Álafosslopi), there is the color 1239 "vetrarmorgun" (= winter morning), which should be light pink, but I didn't get it spontaneously. Besides, I actually didn't want to knit such a thick sofa cushion.

Finally, I then made for myself as Main color with double Plötulopi wool awkward, here is the color 1425 "lead sampler A little less marbled and lighter, at least in the part I got. (Besides, Plötulopi still smells really nice of sheep when you press your nose into it, I think!)

For the pattern, I used Léttlopi in the colors white (0051) and yellow (1703), for the strawberries garnet red (1409), yellow and dark green (1407), and for the green, I also added a thin strand of Fjallalopi wool in light green (3032).

I am definitely very satisfied with the result - I think the pillow has turned out really nicely!

Last week, the pillow traveled by mail to my sister. It has already arrived safely, and I am looking forward to the photos that will follow once she has gotten a pillow filling for the sofa pillow.

Translated from here.

Prjónaða handtaskan mín

My hand-knitted handbag

Bonus is an Icelandic supermarket chain - You can always recognize the shops from afar by the large,pink pig with the very special look.

The first bonus business was 1989 in the industrial area Vogar in Reykjavík opened by Jóhannes Jónsson and his son Jón Jóhannesson. After a bitter price war, the competitor Hagkaup entered Bónus in 1992 and bought half of the shares; in 1993, Bónus and Hagkaup merged and formed the Baugur Group. Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson finally married in a second marriage a daughter of Pálmi Jónsson, the founder of Hagkaup. The parent company went bankrupt in 2009 as part of the Icelandic banking crisis—the owner family had taken out a loan of 30 billion ISK from Kaupþing Bank in 1998 to acquire shares and was directly affected when Kaupþing stopped all payments in October 2008 (dissolution of the bank in November 2009). Meanwhile, Bónus and Hagkaup (with other subsidiaries) belong to Hagar ehf. (To comparison to the other discounters: The first Nettó store opened 1989 in Akureyri, the first Krónan stores in December 2000 simultaneously in Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, and Selfoss.)

Today there is according to the homepage 33 Bónus branches in Island. Outside of Iceland, Bónus also operates 8 branches on the Faroe Islands. 

When we are in Iceland, we always like to shop at Bonus sure, but after all we also have two Bónus stores nearby (20 and 25 km away), and there are also three more supermarkets in the next town. But for some things I just prefer to go to Bónus!

Overall, I associate – like many travelers to Iceland – the cheerfully looking Bónus pig directly with Iceland!

Of course, we also have the usual Bónus promotional clothing that you can occasionally buy in stores (with the white Bónus hoodie actually coming from a second-hand shop) to bring a bit of Iceland into our everyday German life.

And I always have two bonus shopping bags in my handbag, for my shopping in the German supermarket.

Now I suddenly had the idea to get myself another one handbag to knit - with an emulated Bonus pig as motive. As a template, I picked out a picture of a Bónus pig and tried to make a knitting pattern for the pig based on it - and then I knitted.

I still had yellow Léttlopi yarn, also pink Léttlopi yarn, along with some black and a little bit of white. In addition, I bought a complete crafting set for two bags online for just under €16, consisting of a bag base with holes, an adjustable strap, and a handle with eyelets (each in black and brown). For my knitted handbag, I used the black version. Finally, I also got a pink zipper (30 cm) to be able to securely close my bag.

I knitted the bag in one piece with circular knitting needles, basically a long tube, which I then folded over so that the knitted piece is doubled and thus firmer and more stable.

I think I used 3 balls of yellow yarn, just under a ball of pink yarn, and a leftover of black yarn as well as a small leftover of white yarn. If you calculate about €5 per ball, that's around €20 for the yarn, plus roughly €2 for the zipper and €8 for the black bag set. In total, that makes material costs of around €30 for this bag here.

And on top of that, of course, there is the working hours. But for that, I now have a really beautiful unique piece that accompanies me in everyday life in Germany and always happily reminds me of Iceland!

I'm excited - a little more Iceland for our everyday life in Germany again!

Translated from here.

My lopapeysa cushions

Knitting escalation...

Okay, maybe I went a little overboard with my hand-knitted sofa cushions in the Lopapeysa style...

I had set for myself this year as New Year's resolution undertaken, my wool stocks if possible to reduce a bit, and at least knit some of the wool that I still have lying around here into pot holders and sofa cushions for the time being.

At first I have with pot holder as small gifts started for dear people, then I am - for a little more Iceland feeling for our German living room - to cushion in the Lopapeysa style passed over.

For my first sofa cushion I had imagined the cardigan of the former Icelandic president Guðni Jóhannesson chosen as a role model - such a beautiful, typically Icelandic cardigan! He had worn the jacket several times on official, but less formal occasions, e.g., at apen day at the official residence Bessastaðir, where we met him in August 2022, or while hiking with the Norwegian Crown Prince Hákon at the Fagradalsfjall volcano in October 2022.

I tried to knit the pattern of the jacket based on the photos. The first attempt wasn't quite perfect yet; somehow I misjudged the size of the cushion and the pattern ended up a bit too high. In the second attempt, I corrected that – and tried to recreate the cardigan look (with buttons on the placket!). Still not quite perfect – but I already like it a lot!

And after that I have with different patterns continued with the cushions for our blue sofas in the German living room - but am more or less in the same color family "left" so that the cushions do not appear too busy in the final result. So many different shades of blue, in addition white and beige - and a little bit of red, matching the Icelandic flag.

And a pink pillow with red edge and red hearts has also been added, however as gift for one of our children, that's why it also doesn't fit into the color scheme for our sofa cushions. But so nicely bright!

After all, I also have for our Icelandic living room still two sofa cushions in the Lopapeysa style knitted, this time however - matching our brown leather sofa there and the black sofa cushions - with black wool as the base color and as sample colors beige and white.

The pattern of the two cushions is similar, both are beige on the outside and white on the inside, but in detail, both are a little bit different – one has zigzags, the other has diamonds, with a small black dot in the center. I find it very cozy!

Finally, the room of our son in our Iceland house got a little update - including a hand-knitted sofa cushion.

He does like to sit comfortably in his room in his bed, leaning against the wall behind him, reading or playing - and after over five years, you could see it on the wall too, there was such a dark spot on the wood... That's why we decided, for the appearance and for the comfort, to buy a ready-made 'headboard' from Ikea for the bed, with a washable cover.  My husband had to do a bit of tinkering to adapt it to the existing bed in the children's room, but he did a really good job. Now we can simply throw the cover into the washing machine if needed, and the little one can comfortably lean back in bed in the future.

Now I still have two blue sofa cushions for the German living room on my internal to-do list, then I will probably have survived my acute lopapeysa sofa cushion knitting phase... unless some dear person still wishes for a hand-knitted sofa cushion from me..!

Translated from here.

Ný lopapeysa tilbúin

Another new Iceland sweater finished

We had on Easter Monday (once again) a weather warning, this time even one orange weather warning. Snowfall, strong winds, wind speeds here in this corner of up to 36 m/s, i.e., just under 130 km/h (from 120 km/h one speaks of a 'hurricane').

So absolutely no travel weather, the police called on everyone to stay at home if possible and to avoid unnecessary trips at all costs.

We did that too - we watched TV, and I finally finished knitting a pink Lopapeysa (Iceland ic woolen sweater), which I had started here last summer, but then could no longer continue knitting after my terrace fall with the injured shoulder. But now it’s possible again - and now the Lopapeysa is finally finished!

The sweater is made of Icelandic Léttlopi wool, that is, the 'medium-thick' Icelandic wool.

The main color is '1412 - Bleik', which is pink, the pattern color is '1414 - Fjölublá', which is purple.

I am satisfied with the result!

The March was here in Iceland this year cold, wet month:

The average temperature in Reykjavík was with 0,2 °C  around 1.5 °C below average of the last 10 years. In addition, it amounted to the monthly precipitation just over 126 mm, that lies 56% above average of the last 30 years. On the other hand, in the capital 128 hours of sunshine measured - good 17 hours above the average. 

The last few days the weather was then very changeable, typical April weather, constant changes between rain and sunshine, and relatively windy. One moment I stick my head out the door because it’s so wonderfully sunny - then the next rain and hail shower hits me in the face!

But at least the snow has almost completely melted in the past few days. Yesterday in Reykjavík, we even saw crocuses in the garden behind the Parliament! A hint of spring is in the air - before in the air, as it is currently always said on the radio.

And it is getting louder outside again now. When I lie in bed in the morning, I can already hear it again birds. The geese are back again, at Easter the first sandpipers and black-tailed godwits were also spotted. Also the Arctic tern (kría) is here again - 11 days earlier than usual, they reported on TV today.

Neighbors have also already had the first one golden plover (lóa) spotted in their meadow. The golden plover is a migratory bird and overwinters on the British Isles or further south along the coasts of Western Europe. Normally, it returns to Iceland at the end of March or the beginning of April. The arrival of the lóa is considered here in Iceland as the 'arrival of spring'.

Even if spring is still a bit wet and windy at the moment!

P.S. from 10.04.2026:

I probably shouldn't have been so happy about the first hint of 'spring in the air' yesterday. This morning at half past five it looked like this again at our place - and it keeps snowing!

Translated from here.

Fyrsti sófapúðinn minn er tilbúinn!

My first sofa cushion is finished!

This year I decided to try to reduce my wool supplies as much as possible. My husband already thinks I have far too much wool lying around here anyway... So I had the New Year's resolution decided, for now, to knit the wool I have here into potholders and sofa cushions.

I have already knitted three pairs of curd cloths since the beginning of the year, now I have - for a little more Iceland feeling for our German living room - my first self-knitted sofa cushion finished.

For my first sofa cushion, I came up with a very special design:

The former Icelandic president Guðni Th. Jóhannnesson (born 1968), who did not run for election again in 2024, sometimes has a very beautiful [something] at official occasions Lopapeysa worn, or more precisely not an Icelandic sweater, but a cardigan, in the Icelandic national colors.

In the pictures here he is wearing the presidential cardigan e.g., during a speech (source: mbl.is), when hiking with the then Norwegian crown prince Hákon in October 2022 in the area of the volcanic eruption at Fagradalsfjall (photo: mbl.is/ Kristinn Magnússon) or at official photo of the president's office for the Open Day 2024 with his wife Eliza Reid. 

When we met the president in August 2022 on the open house day at his official residence in Bessastaðir, Guðni was also wearing his presidential cardigan.

I think this jacket is simply great! And VERY Icelandic!

So I took the pattern of this jacket as a model for my sofa cushion and at least oriented myself on this pattern while knitting. I think you can recognize it quite well - now, in a way, we have the Icelandic ex-president permanently sitting here on the sofa for more Icelandic feeling.

I am definitely very happy with my first self-knitted sofa cushion! Let's see what pattern the next knitted cushion cover will get...

Translated from here.

Knitting for Christmas 2025

This year, for various reasons, I unfortunately haven't gotten around to knitting Christmas presents as much as I would have liked.

First, I was on the Norröna and the Crime Cruise to Iceland and back in early November (although I had my knitting with me and at least managed to do a bit of knitting!), then I had dental problems, which turned out to be a result of my shoulder problems after my terrace fall in Iceland in the summer, afterwards I caught influenza A from my grandchild and was completely out of action at first... somehow, everything was going wrong!

But at least two Santa Claus sweaters as a gift for the offspring and a Santa Claus pot holder I did manage it for a friend after all – and on the first day of Christmas at noon, mine happened Christmas Slá (poncho) just managed to finish at the last minute...

Christmas sweater for the kids

I do like to knit for all my loved ones, and I also really enjoy knitting for my grandchild - however, the grandchild finds Icelandic sheep wool a bit scratchy and always has to wear something underneath. So this year I made her a Christmas sweater knitted out of Lopi Spuni - this is 100% merino wool, which is also sold by the Icelandic wool factory Álafoss in Mosfellsbær.

The wool has a running length of 95 meters per 50 g, so it is slightly thicker than Léttlopi wool, which has a running length of 100 meters per 50 g, but, just like Spuni, is also mostly knitted with needle sizes 4.5 to 5. So you can knit patterns for Léttlopi wool with Spuni wool as well, even though I somehow find knitted items made with Spuni to be "airier." But in return, they feel much softer and less scratchy – so perfect for the grandchild!

And while I was at it, I also knitted a Santa Claus sweater for my middle son, practically in a 'matching look,' only in dark and light blue instead of pink.

In the pictures, you can see how the pink sweater was created first; I then knitted the blue sweater, among other things, while traveling on the Norröna. The one photo of the child and grandchild wearing it is by the photographer – in the other picture from behind, my husband is wearing the Christmas sweater on behalf of our son. But I also like the picture – and the Christmas sweaters anyway!

A Christmas potholder with Santa Clauses

Besides, I at least still knitted a potholder for a friend for Christmas, in beige and white, with three Santas each on the front and back.

Unfortunately, I don't have a better photo of the potholder than this one with my Laufabrauð iron - but the Christmas present was well received by my girlfriend!

My Christmas-Slá 2025

And this here is my own new Christmas shawl, so my 'shoulder warmer' - knitted from black Icelandic Léttlopi wool and other wool, gold with glitter. I took the golden glitter wool double, then the yardage of the wool at 100 g corresponded approximately to the yardage of Léttlopi wool.

Somehow I was running behind schedule - I finished knitting on the afternoon of the first Christmas holiday, about 5 minutes before the first people arrived for Christmas dinner. Afterwards, my husband wondered why the crochet hook was still lying in the kitchen next to the sink - but I had actually already crocheted off and cut the last threads!

But anyway, it was enough - I was able to wear my golden Christmas Slá on the first day of Christmas!

Translated from here.

Yet another lopapeysa

All the same knitting pattern, but it looks completely different in different colors...!

This pattern comes from a Finnish knitting book for Icelandic patterns. I bought the book in February 2023.

The book states that the pattern is "easy to knit", and I actually find it wonderfully simple and it develops so naturally that all I need to do is look at the pattern in the book once at the beginning of each row and the rest of the row then practically follows itself.

So this is still my current favorite pattern!

I find it incredibly quick to knit - which is why I've knitted it several times and I'm still so thrilled. All the sweaters and jackets are made of Léttlopi wool, which is a medium-thickness Icelandic wool.

I think I have now knitted the pattern in 7 different variations:

First, I knitted the pattern as a cardigan for myself, with a hood for maximum everyday usability, in a really beautiful, fresh gritz green with yellow, red, and purple.

And because my sister liked the jacket so much, I knitted her the same pattern as a jacket – basic color black with brown, yellow, and green.

Later my husband got the same pattern as a classic lopapeysa (= sweater), in Icelandic colors - main color blue with red and white.

A dear friend then got the pattern as a sweater in purple, gray and white - to match the purple lupins here.

And for another dear friend, I knitted the pattern as a turtleneck sweater in turquoise, light green, and pink. It was a surprise gift for her move, and somehow those were just the colors I immediately associate with her. This time, I knitted the Lopapeysa with a matching hat with lovely, plush pompoms.

And because child 4 has somehow grown and outgrown his previous lopapeysa with a Viking pattern, he also received a new sweater at the beginning of the year – with an open collar that can be turned up, at the request of the knitter. He picked out the colors himself in the store, choosing "Hafblár" (= "Sea Blue") as the base color, along with "Vertrarbraut" (= "Star Nebula") and "Bleik samkemba" (= "Pink Symphony"). Oh, yes – in this photo, my husband is wearing our youngest's new lopapeysa.

I knitted this current version for a dear relative at the beginning of summer. I had asked her beforehand what her favorite colors were. The answer was: orange, dark red, purple, black, and a vibrant green. Well, just how vibrant the green is is a matter of opinion, but overall, I think I was able to pull off the colors quite well. And I knitted the Lopapeysa with a hood - because I know how much she loves hoodies. I feel the same way!

I'm still a bit handicapped after my accident on the patio in July. Unfortunately, my left shoulder is still not quite right, and I can't knit the way I'd like to yet—I really miss that! But I hope I'll get better... I still have two unfinished knitting projects here, and I've already bought yarn for the next one!

[Translated from here.]