Letters
A Blanket of Landscape Dreams
Dear Kay,
Textiles are my weakness. I think a lot of knitters feel the same.
Consider, for example, this blanket.
I first laid eyes on this blanket last June, at the yarn trade show. I immediately wrapped myself up in it, a comfort amid the chill of the Cleveland Convention Center.
I loved it immediately, especially because the woman who designed it was standing right there next to me.
Védís Jónsdóttir has lived in Iceland all her life, and is famous for the dozens and dozens of lopapeysa sweaters she has designed for Iceland’s legendary Lopi yarn.
This blanket is part of her Landscape series, woven blankets that evoke the vistas of Iceland.
It’s such a souvenir.
A few weeks after my visit with Védis and this blanket in Cleveland, I encountered this blanket again as my family and I wandered around Iceland for a week.
Everywhere we went, I saw blankets—I mean, landscapes that would make excellent blankets. Up top, you can see a few of the blankety landscapes we visited.
This throw is woven with Lopi wool, which comes from the sheep who wander the island. It is lofty, sturdy wool—the kind of stuff that will knock the chill off an Icelandic winter.
The colors are heathered and soft—really beautiful when woven together, and blurred a bit because the surface is brushed.
I have determined that the landscape this blanket captures is a July night around 11 pm—sunset, basically. The sun shines for 21 hours a day during the summer, so sunset is a languorous, slow event. That’s what I’m seeing in this blanket.
We have a limited number of these beautiful blankets in the MDK Holiday Shop. They are surprisingly big—51 x 80 inches—and they make for a wonderful snuggle as the winter days arrive.
It’s Iceland in blanket form, basically.
Love,
Ann
Oh it’s beautiful.
Oh wow, I can almost feel it under my fingertips…soft, warm and a little fuzzy.
I love how you see blankets in landscapes and Kay saw dishcloths in linoleum once upon a time. You girls are always delighting our senses with your observations.
Women.
And they are all gone, lol. Beautiful
I loved this blanket the minute I saw it and ordered it immediately (thank goodness)! It is my Christmas gift to myself. It is soft, light weight and snuggly warm!
So I’m late to the blanket party as I’m awaiting to board a flight to visit our daughter for Thanksgiving. Will you get more beautiful Icelandic blankets in and what did each cost? Price no longer listed since out of stock.
I just looked and there were 3 left in stock! $199
I have that blanket, purchased in Geysir, Iceland. My favorite souvenir from my month there.
A month in Iceland! Enviable.
Will you get more? I made the mistake of waiting until morning to order instead of the middle of
the night.! Now out of stock!
Lori
FOODLADY — THX FOR WARM BLANKET! DO YOU HAVE ANY FERMENTED SHARK LEFT?
All sold out! 🙁
Just spent a magical 10 days in Iceland, and it was one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen! It was breathtaking, and the food and people were wonderful! Cannot wait to go back! Perfect peace!
Ann, it appears that textiles are your weakness AND (among) your strengths!
What is it that makes these colors meld together so beautifully when otherwise they may not? Is it the unifyiing striping between the color changes? Is it same underlying base color? Or simply the designer’s genius in interpreting the landscape around her. Whatever, I could look at this blanket for hours. (Luckily it wouldn’t work for me at this point in time because you are out of stock!)
The photos are surely Iceland. (Sigh.)
We spent a wonderful two days in Iceland on a transatlantic cruise in 2018. My family all agreed that it was our favorite country out of the five we visited on that trip. A return visit definitely is in the cards. I was sad to read a news story recently that Icelanders have increasingly been falling for Internet scams because translation software is increasingly able to mimic their idiosyncratic language.
how gorgeous !!
Will you ever restock beautiful Lopi throw?