I came to Iceland expecting a knitting oasis, but instead, I met you. At first, I thought you were a little intimidating (you are built from industrial steel and aircraft-grade aluminum after all) but after testing you out, it was love at first fibre. “Just one more pass!” I cried to Sarah and Alyssa. I was mesmerized by your speed and efficiency.
I’d spent months felting by hand, stabbing wool with a single needle. Then I found you and your 750+ needles. Icelandic wool? No problem. A delicate yarn font? Easy. Somehow, everything I fed you emerged as one beautiful piece. We made the best team.
I know you were technically engineered for mills and institutions, but I know chemistry when I feel it. That’s why I’m asking you to run away to Canada with me. I simply can’t live without you! Please!
Leaving Iceland will be difficult. I’ll miss the air, the mountains, the ocean, but mostly, I’ll miss you.
Somehow, under the midnight sun and flowing through the heavy wind, all the days have woven into one. We blinked and are now just past the halfway mark of our time in Blönduós. If I tried to capture my experience at the Textile Center so far, and in one word, it would be “grateful.”
Elsa and Lubbi have made the center feel like home by welcoming us with open arms (and paws).
Bearing precious wool from her sheep, Jóhanna made us learn “the hard way” to better hone our spinning skills. She shared her life’s work, detailing her tips and tricks to help us learn.
Ragga simplified the country’s extensive weaving history to inspire us, and made weaving seem like child’s play. When we struggled, she reassured us that she had “seen much worse”.
After foraging with us, Þorgerður shared her invaluable natural dye recipes. She allowed us to learn in a hands-on manner, truly believing in us every step of the way.
Sarah and Alyssa have let us run around the lab, playing like we did as children. They are the center’s fairy godmothers, helping our wildest art dreams come true.
In the past 17 days, we have also had the chance to some-what integrate the community. During the knitting festival, two women from Reykjavik taught us to knit on a picnic table outside the community pool. One proclaimed that a good knitting session always started by someone telling their life story, and with that, shared stories of her upbringing, her children, and worldly travels. The other woman, Vika, took turns around the table, carefully placing yarn around our fingers.
Jóna, a local farmer, invited us to visit her horses. She detailed their history and training as our fingers got dry with dirt, scratching their necks. Squished in the staple, we all had big smiles on our faces as we made genuine friends with the animals and their keeper.
We met, Elin, the Textile Museum director, who generously gave us a tour of the space. She let us explore to our hearts’ desires, allowed us to flip through sample books, and told us to come back any time.
How could I not feel “grateful”, or privileged, or inspired? I will leave Blönduós with countless new skills and riveting stories, and thanks to these women, so much more. Thank you to everyone who has had a hand in making our experience at the Textile Center an unforgettable one, including Kathleen, whom of course, was the master weaver in this case.
