These socks will always remind me of my adventure in Iceland. If you are a knitter or textile artist you know that you are stitching your feelings and memories into the things that you are making.
I left Montreal with a sock tube and was knitting on the first toe which I completed by the time that I landed in Toronto. Circumstances forced me to stay another day in Toronto which allowed me to complete the other toe. The trip from Toronto to Iceland allowed me to knit a cut-in heel. The bus ride from Reykjavík to Blönduos was about knitting the other heel. Now, that I have learnt how to use the ribber on the circular sock knitting machine of the Textile Center, I have grafted the cuffs to the legs of the socks and here they are.
I will be wearing these socks when I say good-bye to Blönduos. My heart will remember every step of this Icelandic journey because of these socks.
Some of our cohort learnt how to knit from Icelandic knitters during the Knit Fest. How wonderful that you have this origin knitting story to share with your friends. The knitting style that the Icelandic knitters demonstrated is called Continental where you ergonomically pick the stitch from your finger and hold the yarn in your left hand. They showed some how to Norwegian purl. I am adding this in case you want to research these knitting techniques on YouTube.
you are stitching your feelings and memories into the things that you are making
We presented our work on June 27, 2026 from 11:00 to 17:00 at Hillebrandtshús in Blönduos. The venue beautifully suited our month-long exploration in textile art installations. The Rhubarb Festival next door was an ideal companion event to invite the community to participate in our exhibition. Coffee and snacks were laid out. Kathleen introduced the artists talks at midday and each artist spoke about their art and process. Here are some reflections from the Iceland Field School 2026 – Tog & Pel.
Kathleen I must say I’m really impressed by this exhibition. I love seeing the variety of work, the abundance of work, how hard everybody has been producing so many different things that reflect their own lives, own experiences and their connections with Iceland. It’s thrilling.
Annabel I had a really great time being inspired by the environment. It was so different and beautiful and being in a place where I can just walk outside to all of these beautiful places was very inspiring. House 35 made getting really close easy and to create a strong community with everyone. The house was really inspiring and amazing to talk to all these artists.
Annabel
Elizabeth It has been incredibly beautiful. Lots of moments with the big sky. Lots of moments with the big ocean, watching the river turn into the ocean, watching people make their projects and think through what they wanna make and what they take from the landscape and the environment and the people that live in Blönduos.
Ariana Blönduos has been magic. I loved sharing this adventure with everyone. Tried many things for the first time, such as spinning on a wheel, tapestry weaving, natural dyeing and bio material art making. I chose to explore my knitting and knitting machine skills. The Blönduos community rich in textile knowhow including the Textile Center, Textile Lab, Textile Museum, Knit Fest, Galleri Ós and our wonderful Concordians contributed to making this a journey that I will cherish.
Ariana
André Exhibiting in the same space with everyone is just a really nice moment of coming together after being here altogether for the whole month.
Émilie My favourite thing about the exhibition is to see everyone’s work altogether in this space that is very much reminiscent of the community. I’m very proud of what I’ve have accomplished in so little time and what everyone else did. It’s very nice to see your experience reflected like that.
ÉmilieÉmilie
Genviève I feel so grateful and privileged to have been able to immerse myself in this incredible landscape with the river and all the plants and the wonderful people of Blönduos
Lucy I was walking here today and I caught sight of three little tufts of wool and I think throughout this whole experience I’ve just been walking around town and seen just a little bits of wool hanging around that I think are from the wool washer. It feels like little stories that are sort of floating on the wind around town. I’m sort of seeing that with everybody’s work here but in like 100 times. Like the stories that they were attracted to while they were here and kind of the rabbit holes that everyone went into in a really beautiful way, so I’m just thankful for a little tuft of wool floating on the wind
Lucy and Ginger
Ginger I think in summary this experience has been very fun and very wool focused, and I have learned more skills in one month than I think ever in my life. I’ve learned how to knit, and I have learned how to weave, and I have definitely improved on my felting. I have learned how to spin wool and I have learned how to natural die and how to use bio materials —> none of which I had ever done before. That has been really exciting and I don’t think I’ve ever learned that much in one month.
Hannah I’m just so happy to see everybody’s work all in the same place. Everyone went in such different directions even though we are experiencing the same place and the same instructions from our wonderful teachers at the Icelandic Textile Center. I think it just goes to show that everyone’s artistic practice takes them in a different direction and everyone is noticing things differently. I am so happy with how my experience went and what I ended up making while I was here and I think it will have changed my practice significantly as I move forward, and hopefully I can continue to introduce textiles into my work.
Jennifer June 1-30 has been a great experience. Immersive experience and collaborative learning with this beautiful group of people and our teachers. I’m really grateful that I made the choice to come and was able to come and want to continue with this line of inquiry in my work. So this was a really nice jumpstart to my thinking.
Keyiana My favorite thing about the exhibition is having it in a space that reflects Blönduos and isn’t in a traditional white wall gallery.
Rowan I think I was able to convey how the land has made me feel with my film, which was my main purpose my main idea and I love how I was able to capture some of my favorite people here and them interacting with the land in a way that I love.
Shan I’m feeling very grateful for this experience and to be here to have made the friendships that I’ve made. I really love our cohort and everyone has their own personalities and the things that they bring to the table and they’re at their own deep wealth of knowledge. We all just come together and share everything and I really love the collaborative environment that we’ve created and I’m so grateful.
Melanie It’s been a month of long days, seemingly endless light, creative bursts, new discoveries and learning, long walks, friendly cats, dogs and horses, discombobulated sleep, lots of wool, cold plunges at the pool, and the generosity of our instructors and Icelanders we’ve encountered.
Shannon, I’m feeling very grateful and inspired by the town of Blönduos and also by all of my amazing peers who I have gotten to know over the past month. I feel emotional that everything is coming to an end but in the best way.
I hope that all of us can come together again at some point. I’m gonna miss the group dynamics that we have and I’m gonna miss the horses and I’m gonna miss laying in grassy Hills.
Zoé I’ve really enjoyed just being in the studio being able to tap in and out and talking to people and seeing what everyone’s been up to. I feel like I really didn’t know what to expect in terms of like people‘s art practices and it’s so lovely to like just to see that to see what different people have been up to what different people have been drawn to. I really loved working on the looms and being able to show other people the looms and giving them the opportunity to weave on floor looms, even if it was very brief. Sharing what I know and then getting learning from other people was really fun.
