Jennyarn

Saga is an Icelandic word. It means that which is said, a story, tale,
or history. It has a common origin with the word say. Saga is also
the name of the Icelandic cardigan I am knitting!

I can’t really think of much I could possibly say against knitting.
After all, I do like it. Sometimes, though, some parts of knitting
can be downright dreary. Rows and rows of stockinette stitch?
That is flat knitting at its worse in my book. I suppose purling
every round is not much perkier, for circular knitting. That is
usually limited though so it’s not so bad. Then there is the knitting
only fit for people much more methodical or disciplined than I.

Delicate lacy shawls? No doubt, they can be unspeakably beautiful. I would
be tickled pink polkadots to have created one. Yet even the simpler ones are
overly involved and fussy for me. And they inevitably become afraid I will
defenestrate them. I have started such lacy knits with the best intentions
to focus carefully. And maybe no one part is difficult per se. Yet something
invariably prevents me from getting very far before I find some peculiar
mistake or get hopelessly lost. Then more time is spent fretting and counting
dismayed stitches than knitting. Bah.

You know my remedy for such knitting blues? Icelandic yarn & Icelandic patterns.
Bingo! Lopi - Icelandic wool - is not for everyone. It is soft. You know, relative to burlap.
It is not scratchy. Er, relative to Brillo pads. Poison oak would probably make you itch
much more than Lopi too. Okay, so I may not be selling you on it. Try it anyway. Why?
Because it is magical. The patterns from the Lopi books? They’re incredible. Never mind
that it’s not the softest yarn, that the patterns may seem more traditional than modern.
I suspect you will come to love it! I have. The cats love it too.

With Icelandic knitting & Lopi, I feel catapulted from a bewildered, uncoordinated amateur into a knitting sensation. You can have a garment that will last ages if not eons, and it will be timelessly fashionable to boot. It needn’t, after all, be worn against the skin. If a wearable does not appeal, how about a bag, pillow or rug? Lopi also felts nicely. Choose a pattern with more than one color and you will have lots of fun too. Really. Reading color charts for some Fair Isle knits may be arduous. Reading the Lopi color charts is absurdly easy and euphorically cool. When I knit from them I feel like a child playing a favorite game. Many a beginner’s scarf was more difficult for me than this cardigan.

Plus, Lopi has the grace to look decent no matter how it’s knitted. That is a blessing for me because I suppose I am a little more into speed than absolute stitch precision. When one stitch dropped eight levels down I was able to unravel down to it, through various colors, and get it back on board without a trace of its lowly past. Lopi yarn along with the Lopi pattern books equals knit magic!

This sweater will be cut down the middle - steeked - to form the cardigan!