Friday, July 22, 2016

Off the needles but someone else's











Knitting is a cottage industry in Iceland.  There were sweaters everywhere, on the locals, on guys working in the streets, on guys on fishing boats, on ladies working in shops, and tourists.  We were with a tour group and someone said the hand knitters should get organized so they could sell their sweaters for a lower price.  I couldn't keep my mouth shut and said that I knit and it is typical to spend upwards of $80 for yarn for an adult sized sweater  if you don't buy good quality yarn it will look likes something the cat drug in after a short time  and then there are at least 60 hours of work in it.  Then the shop needs to mark it up to cover operating expenses.  They hadn't thought of it that way!  There were tourist shops all over and many of the small towns had a local hand made shop with all locally made items.  Some shops looked like church bazars and others were very artsy.  The hand knitters are organized and their sweaters have to meet certain standards.  The shops also sold felted items, buttons and such made from reindeer antlers, rams horns and cut lava stones, then there were leashes, keychains, bracelets and such made from horsetail hair,  wallets and pouches made from tanned fish skins, I should have taken more pictures, pottery, paintings and sketches and lots of artsy things.  I'll show you my sweater and purchases next week.  --Ann--
Linking to Judy's OTN

4 comments:

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

Good for you for speaking up. Lots of eye candy. Where I lived in Canada the ladies sold boot socks for $20 a pair. I always thought that was cheap. But with the left over yarn they made mittens for $2-5 a pair. I would buy them and give them to homeless people. But I always told them they could get more. They wouldn't hear of it. Cheers!

Ramona said...

I'm glad you said something, too. People who don't make things with their hands have no idea what is involved. These knitted items are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing what you purchased!

Dar said...

Can't wait to see what you came home with. I would have had a tough time choosing from the selection shown.

Vic in NH said...

This is the most beautiful armchair tour, thank you! The scope of the lupines took my breath away. The portrait of you is wonderful, too.