Modern Daily Knitting | Field Guide No. 26: Moss

Please join us in giving a big MDK welcome to Hélène Magnússon, the designer starring in our new Field Guide No. 26: Moss.

Hélène Magnússon is a designer who has Iceland in her heart. As you’ll soon discover, her love for this place and this culture is highly contagious.

Your knitters will love the fast way these five projects knit up.

Please note that the first four designs will work well with Istex Lettlopi—worked with a single strand, not held double—as well as the yarns mentioned below.

• Crowberry Sweater:  The loveliest of yokes. Crowberries are small and dark, and with Hélène’s artful eye, they become dimensional bobbles. Worked in the Icelandic wool yarns Plotulopi and Love Story Einband (Hélène’s own rare laceweight yarn), this design knits up quickly on US size 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles.

• Moss Field Throw: Breathtaking. This masterful design is as close to a field in Iceland as you can get without leaving home. Hélène created this design even as she was taking a group of knitters on a trip through the mountains of Iceland.

• Reindeer Moss Mittens and Tam: Abundant in the lava fields of Iceland, reindeer moss is a white texture in the landscape. Hélène brings it to us in a pair of stranded colorwork designs that are deliciously warm—Plotulopi yarn held with Love Story Einband.

• Love Story Shawl: Hélène is fascinated by the long tradition of Icelandic lace knitting, so with this shawl she brings us the exquisite openwork that is a counterpoint to the woolly Icelandic sweaters we love.