This is Snorri, my new favourite sweater. It is named for an Icelandic scholar who wrote down Norse mythology and skaldic verse in the 11th century
I used the Spring Morning (Vormorgun) top by Védís Jónsdóttir as a starting point but added a fair share of modifications in order to get exactly what I wanted: a warm winter sweater. Having just done a photo shoot outside in September in Scotland, I can honestly say that this is the warmest sweater I have ever worn. Phew.
Modifications, then. You can get the full low-down at its Ravelry project page, but here are some things I did differently. The largest size rings in at a whopping 36 inches, so I decided to add an extra pattern repeat and go up a needle size to accommodate my bust. The result is admittedly snug - but in a way which suits my taste and body shape (I hope). I did a lot of shaping through using various needle sizes in an ingenious fashion.
The biggest change is that Snorri has sleeves whereas Védís' pattern does not. I added sleeves in a slightly unorthodox manner: I used a provisional crochet cast-on for the sleeve caps/yoke, unzipped the cast-on after finishing the yoke, picked up stitches from under the arms and knitted the sleeves top-down. It was easier than my explanation makes it sound. My modus operandi was completely improvised, featured some sharp decreases but it looks nice and, hey, Snorri has functional sleeves!
After the sweater was done, I decided that the bottom rib was too loose for my liking, so I put a pair of scissors to my sweater, picked up stitches and re-knit the bottom rib on smaller needles. Ms Yarn Harlot has written an easy explanation as how to do this in case you don’t know how. It’s easy, trust me, and it is one of the most useful knitting tricks I know.
I love this sweater and I loved making it. Lett Lopi is fabulous to work with and I'd knit another Lopi sweater in a heartbeat if I had to. The wool is itchy but it is not meant to be worn right next to the skin, so I've stocked up on long-sleeved tees. Seriously, I love every little aspect of this knit - including the heritage aspect of it which is becoming increasingly important to me as a knitter.