Welcome to my latest adventure! In this video, I’m taking you with me to the stunning landscapes of Iceland, but with a special twist: a travel knitting challenge. Join me as I attempt to cast on and bind off an entire project while on the go.
The challenge
The rules are simple:
- cast on during the flight from Oslo to Reykjavik,
- knit whenever I'm not hiking or looking at waterfalls,
- bind off on the flight back to Norway.
That gave me two flights of around 2.5 hours each and 10 days in a camper van in between.
What I'm knitting
Never Too Late Sweater by Minimi Knit Design.
- Yarn weight: DK. I'm holding my yarn double.
- Needles: 4 mm (US 6), this is where I got the gauge.
- Size: 3.
A small advantage on my side (okay, maybe a little bit of cheating): the sweater has 3/4 sleeves, and it is not fingering weight yarn, so it should go a little bit faster.
Chapters
- The Iceland knitting challenge (0:00)
- Flight knitting (3:02)
- Exploring Iceland (4:57)
- Project update: day 4 (5:51)
- More of Iceland (8:21)
- Project update: day 6 (11:16)
- Project update: day 8 (13:10)
- Did I finish in time? (16:14)
My progress, day by day
The flight: cast-on party
The pattern recommends the knitted cast-on, and oh boy, it is definitely not my preferred method. Honestly, nothing compares to the good old long-tail cast-on. Lucky me, there weren't too many stitches to cast on.
Day 2: the yoke
We stayed overnight at a very wild camping spot next to the ocean. The weather was amazing, and I added quite a few rows to the yoke.
The construction of this sweater isn't the most straightforward. You cast on only the back of the neck, between the two back raglan lines. Then you work back and forth and gradually cast on more and more stitches for the two fronts. This is what creates the V-neck and the relaxed fit. The pattern gives you new instructions every 2-4 rows, so you have to pay attention to where exactly you are.
Day 4: around 20% done
Four rows left until I can join the fronts. I'm still knitting flat, so half of it is purling. My little row counter helps me to know where I am. My guess is that I have around 18-20% of the sweater. But it's moving!
Day 6: knitting in the round
I finally joined the two fronts, so now the sweater is worked in the round. I separated the body and the sleeves, knit around 5 cm of the body, and started the first sleeve.
A life hack that I learned the hard way: I keep stitch holders in between the sleeves and the body. They keep the stitches tight, so there are no holes in the underarm area. After a couple of projects with huge holes that I had to close afterwards, I never skip this step.
Day 8: one and a half sleeves
One sleeve is done, and I'm more than halfway through the second one.
The ribbing in this sweater has a very nice detail. You knit 2, purl 2 as usual, but on every round you shift the ribbing by one stitch. This creates nice diagonal lines of texture.
The last evening and the flight home
Both sleeves are done, and it finally starts looking like a sweater. Still on the list: a lot of body, and the collar. For the collar you pick up stitches and work the same shifting ribbing as on the sleeves.
Did I finish in time?
Spoiler alert! If you want to make a guess first, watch the reveal and then come back.
I didn't make it. I was knitting throughout the whole flight and doing my best, but well, life happens.
What is done: both sleeves, the collar, and a part of the body.
What is left: the rest of the body and the two ties at the front.
Why did I knit the collar before finishing the body? In the pattern the collar comes last. But I had just the right yardage for my size, and I'm quite a tall person, so I usually add length to the body and the sleeves. I decided to secure the yarn for the collar first, and then knit the body for as long as the yarn lasts. It looks like I have enough for at least 10 more cm. If anything is left after that, I will add around 2 cm to the sleeves. They are below my elbows now, but still not as long as I wish them to be.
What I learned about travel knitting
- Pick a simpler pattern than you think you need. I like this pattern a lot, and the instructions are good. But with new instructions every few rounds, I had to check my phone all the time. It is not ideal when you knit for a couple of free minutes here and there, or in the evening after a long hike.
- A camper van normally has no big mirror. I could put the sweater on, but without a proper mirror it is hard to tell whether the length is right or I'm just imagining stuff. This is how I ended up with sleeves that are a bit too short.
- Knitting needles on a plane. Icelanders knit a lot, so I had no issues at the airport, and I never had to abandon my needles so far. A life hack I read from other knitters: detach your interchangeable needle tips from the cable and keep them together with pens and pencils.
- Airports are made for knitting. If I find a spot to sit, I can spend hours there. Just keep an eye on your gate!
Iceland highlights
Of course, we are here for the knitting, but here are some of the places and creatures from the video:
- Arctic terns. They are very protective of their chicks and attack the highest point of whoever comes too close. Usually it is your head. This is why I'm knitting with a trekking pole in my chair: hold it above your head, move it in circles, and no one gets attacked.
- Dettifoss, the second most powerful waterfall in Europe. Because of the constant water drops in the air, there is a patch of bright green grass in the middle of a stony desert.
- Geothermal hot springs. Some are well-known and luxurious. Others are in the middle of nowhere, and you have to hike to reach them, but they are free.
- A walk around a volcano crater that is about 1,000 m in diameter. It took us around an hour to get up and walk the full circle. There are little flowers and moss growing on it.
- A hike in the east of Iceland with huge boulders, streams of ice-cold water, and a bright blue lake. No filters, the water really is that bright. On the way, three sheep (a mom and her two lambs) ran up to say hello. Maybe they sensed my big appreciation of wool.
- The Whale Museum in Húsavík with a skeleton of a blue whale, and then whale watching, where we met humpback whales.
- Icelandic horses. They allowed me to pet them for a small payment in juicy Icelandic grass.
- Also seen: seals and a lot of puffins.
If you like travel knitting episodes, check out my road trip to Lofoten and the North of Norway.
Let me know in the comments: what is your absolute favorite knitting project to bring on a trip?
Do you need an inspiration for your next travel knitting project? Let me know in the comments, and I will make a video with my top 10 travel knitting projects (they are much simpler compared to this one, I promise).
