My name is Rakel and I’m the person behind Lopamunstur. I publish Icelandic wool sweater (Lopapeysa) knitting patterns, and possibly more varied patterns in the future. I work at a financial company during the day and run Lopamunstur in the evenings and on weekends.

Because of that, I’m only able to reply to emails 1–2 times a week, so I appreciate your patience and am truly grateful to everyone who purchases a pattern from me 🖤

 

I’ve been knitting since 2006, mainly focusing on traditional Icelandic wool sweaters.

At the beginning of 2023, I experienced burnout. During that time, knitting became something I really leaned on, but eventually I found myself struggling to choose what to make next. That’s when I started designing my own patterns.

I was genuinely surprised by how well my first two sweaters were received, and that gave me the confidence to keep going.

One of the most unexpected challenges was simply choosing names for my patterns. I kept coming back to the same question: what can I design that is simply called what it is? That’s when the idea for the Zodiac series came to me. It felt like the perfect place to start, and it has exceeded all my expectations.

I grew up on a farm in South Iceland and have worked in tourism since 2016. Iceland is very close to my heart, and I love helping people experience and explore its best parts. For me, one essential part of enjoying Icelandic nature is wearing a traditional wool sweater, it’s practical, comfortable, and something you can truly wear all year round.

My Instagram account, knitterfromiceland, originally started as a place to share my knitting and maybe sell a few finished pieces. But it quickly grew into something more, and naturally led me into designing patterns. I chose to create my content in English to connect with knitters beyond Iceland, and that decision has brought me into contact with so many wonderful people around the world. That has honestly been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey. Today, my patterns are available in both English and Icelandic, and I’m currently working on adding German, Spanish and Dutch as well.

Looking back, burnout was one of the hardest things I’ve gone through, but it also led me here. I truly believe that something good can come out of difficult times. I might never have started designing patterns otherwise, and now I have so many ideas I’m excited to share.

I never imagined I would become a knitting pattern designer, but here I am. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be able to design my knitting pattern, and I’m very excited to see where this journey takes me next.