#Make Icelandic Crochet Blanket

Hi folks!

We have had a very happy weekend over here in Sam and Phil land. Spring looks like it might be just starting to show it’s head in Edinburgh (our bulbs are all tentatively poking out little green shoots) and the sun has been shining for two whole days, which around these parts amounts to a bit of heat wave. Although it is not quite warm enough yet to enjoy doing outside things, it has definitely been warm enough to throw the windows open and air the house out a little.

Meanwhile, inside we have been busily doing lots of fun little bits and pieces of the many projects we have on the go at the moment (bookbinding, sewing, woodwork, you name it, it seems to have all happened this weekend!) We even managed to start doing a little bit of spring cleaning, so by Sunday night we are both tired but happy and just settling down under blankets with a cup of tea and a toasted muffin. Phew!

In the peacefulness of our evening, I thought I would take a moment stop by and share with you the latest crafting project I have been glued too (not literally, no superglue required for this one thank goodness, although if you ask Phil I have hardly put it down for the last couple of weeks so I might as well be.)

As most of you know, Phil and I recently took a little trip to Iceland to do some driving through stunning countryside, eat tasty pastries and spend some time just us, in the middle of nowhere. Well, it turns out, I think I might have left a little bit of my heart back in Iceland. Honestly, I fell in love with it! Phil had to practically drag me back onto the plane, and not just because I was carrying quite the sizable bag of rocks from a beach with me, which caused the airport security man a fair bit of consternation. Sorry to anyone who might have been behind us in that airport queue. I realise rocks take a while to go back and forwards through the security scanner. Hopefully no one was too late for their flight! He he he he.

I’m not sure I have enough space in a single post to list all the things I liked about Iceland, but I will say this; Icelandic people LOVE WOOL! Which has got to be in my top ten reasons for loving the place, because so do I! Also, when I say they love wool, I’m not even kidding. Every single supermarket had an entire wall of beautiful 100% wool for knitting in just a staggering range of colours and varieties, which puts the wool selection at Jo Ann fabrics and John Lewis to shame.

And here’s the other thing folks – this wool is seriously cheap. Not cheap as in cheap-and- nasty acrylic stuff, cheap as in around £1.25 (about $2) per ball of beautiful, tough 100% Icelandic wool.

I really should have got a picture of the wool walls in the supermarkets while we were there but as I stood there in front of it, I was so astonished / happy / itching to buy it alllllll, that the thought of taking a picture totally escaped me.

So, all this is my way of saying. I might have bought some wool while we were in Iceland.

And by some I mean about an entire suitcase full!

The Icelandic scenery was so beautiful and striking that I was inspired, so I decided to buy rich colours which reminded me of the countryside around us. Turquoise for the Northern lights, sky blue for the Blue Lagoon, blue gray for the icy Atlantic ocean. white for the snow topped volcanoes  deep blues for the sky and the glaciers and brown for the endless tundra landscapes.

And, when you have acquired this much wool, there is only one truly satisfactory thing to do with it. Crochet a big old snuggly blanket.

So, 40 squares later, my Iceland blanket is underway. I am still in love with the tough wool and the beautiful colours, and every time I pick it up I am reminded of our lovely lovely escape, which is maybe why I can’t stop crocheting it at the moment.

I will of course, give you a project update in due course.

Happy weekend to you all.