Reykjavik

After breakfast, we’ll gather for a ramble around Reykjavik. Our local Fiber Ambassador, Anna, will tell you about the city’s rich history and contemporary culture plus add her own observations as a longtime resident. You’ll get to know the shopping, business, waterfront and neighborhood districts before arriving for our visit at the National Museum of Iceland. Because it’s Saturday, there will be lots of extra vendors along the shopping streets plus the famous Reykjavik Flea Market will be open for business. What treasures will we find???? At the end of the day, we’ll regroup and share our day’s adventures over dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Reykjavik. And for those with any energy left after that, perhaps a drink and some knitting at the top of our hotel????

Reykjavik

Zip out for an early morning walk along the waterfront if you like, or sleep in as an alternative option. Mid-morning, we’ll gather for our workshop learning about lopapeysa, the traditional patterned-yoke sweater that’s come to represent Iceland across the world. Our instructor, Auður, has written a step-by-step guide for constructing these garments. We’ll learn all the tips and tricks as we knit up a miniaturized version. You’ll have time for a bit of shopping or exploration in the city at the end of the day as well. Then pick out one from among Reykjavik’s numerous, fantastic restaurants and enjoy an evening in the city. 

Iceland’s North Coast

In the wee hours of the morning, our group will sneak over to Reykjavik’s tiny municipal airport for a flight to the north coast. When we arrive in Akureyri, we’ll have time to stretch, grab some coffee and then drive up to the city’s Botanical Gardens for a very special activity involving Iceland’s “hidden people”. (Sorry, can’t tell you anything more than that right now…) Later, we’re meeting the owners of Garn i gangi, an Akureyri yarn shop, to hear about their experiences owning an LYS in the far north. We’ll also meet up with the owner of Morunir, Guðriður, an Icelandic sheep keeper and dye artisan, to see what she has been stirring up in her color pots. In between activities, you’ll enjoy exploring this lovely seaside town - considered the capital of Iceland’s north coast. 

Iceland’s North Coast
Today our local Fiber Ambassador, Anna, takes us to visit some of her favorite people and places along Eyjafjordur, the long and narrow fjord on which Akureyri is situated. The fjord is edged by dramatic mountain ranges and hosts a vast array of marine life. We’ll have plenty of opportunities for photos, hear about Icelandic history and sagas, will keep an eye out for snow eagles, seals and seabirds and will visit… a giant cow?!?!?! In the afternoon, we’ll arrive at the tiny village of Hofsos and will be hosted there by the community that has created the Icelandic Emigration Center. Get ready for true homestyle cooking and a lot of camaraderie!

Iceland’s North Coast

We say goodbye to our lovely hosts in Hofsos and head west this morning – but more learning is ahead. Our first stop is Glaumbaer, a historic turf house that has been reconstructed to provide a glimpse into typical Icelandic households and farmsteads of the 17th to 20th centuries. And just down the road, something a bit unexpected… We’re all aware of Icelandic sheep and the beautiful, hard-wearing wool gathered from the country’s flocks each year. But did you know there is also an Icelandic breed of goat? This breed lives only in Iceland and was almost extinct as recently as a decade ago. The Icelandic goat’s undercoat is super soft and fine enough to qualify as cashmere! We’ll visit the home and studio of a north Iceland goat keeper and get to know more about these fantastic animals, plus taste some of the farm’s culinary produce and fondle some cashmere yarn. (Yes, we can also purchase.) Next we’re off for a specially hosted tour of the Icelandic Textile Museum in the town of Blonduos. Our day ends with our arrival at a west Iceland farm-hosted accommodation!

Langjökull Glacier

When in Iceland, it’s important to encounter, well… some ice! We’ll do that with a visit up onto the Langjökull glacier. Our visit to the ice cave up there is a fantastic, highly educational experience – a full day event and true highlight of the tour. Once we get down off the mountain, we’ll enjoy a good hot soak at the Lindin pools before digging into our second farm-to-table dinner.

Iceland’s West 

Today we travel from the west coast of Iceland to the south. It’s the perfect time of year to enjoy the landscape as all the birch trees are wearing their fall colors. We’ll stop at some of Rowan Tree’s favorite sites including Thingvellir National Park, the location of Iceland’s historic Althingi (the world’s earliest parliament). Thingvellir is also the rare site where we can see geology happening in real time: the North American and Eurasion tectonic plates are pulling apart here at the rate of an inch per year, creating the Thingvellir Rift Valley. We’ll land for our final three-night stay at the most luxurious of our Icelandic accommodations. Enjoy!

Iceland’s South Coast

Fall weekends in Iceland are very much a “wait and see” kind of thing. Why? Because fall in Iceland means that on any given weekend, there could be a rettir (roundup)! At this time of year, sheep keepers are banding together to saddle up their horses, ride into the highlands and spend a week or so gathering the vast number of sheep set free to graze there during the warmer months. Once gathered, the sheep have to be herded down to community corrals for sorting and walking to their individual farms. It’s work, play and celebration all in one – a time the whole community pitches in to work together plus invites friends, family and guests to help. We love to be there! Rettir is also a lopapeysa fashion show, with locals proudly showing off their handmade sweaters in a variety of colors, patterns and motifs. However, weather and municipal schedules have an impact on when rettir actually takes place. We can never know when and where communities will gather for rettir until shortly before the event. With that in mind, we have a host of activities in Iceland’s south (visits to area fiber folks, the mini-mill Upspunni, our favorite spots along the south coast and time at the Geothermal Exhibition Center) ready and on standby. Then we mix and match our itinerary on the last couple of days before the tour, making sure to visit all of them and get in a rettir when possible. It’s a fantastic way to finish our time in Iceland.

Homeward Bound

After a hearty breakfast, we’ll load up the bus with all our luggage and acquired goodies and head over to Keflavik International Airport (about an hour and a half away) for flights home.

Suzie Briddsang is an avid knitter, spinner, and all-around fiber enthusiast plus writer, gardener, adventurer and appreciator of both cityscape and landscape.  When she realized she could combine her love of making things with her love for travel and new experiences, she found her happy place! Suzie lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She’s the author and illustrator of The Nervous New Owner’s Guide to Angora Rabbits. No longer a fiber animal owner, she loves nothing more than visiting fiber animals someone else owns -- preferably in another country. She writes about her travel experiences at www.studiobriddsang.com

We’re so lucky to have found Anna Toher! She’s a native Icelander and lives in Kópavogur, just south of Reykjavik. In her work at the National Museum of Iceland, she greets and guides visitors through the exhibitions while explaining the history, changes to and current culture of Iceland. She holds a BA in Art History and Tourism.  Anna rediscovered knitting in 2020 after a 30 year hiatus. Now she’s unstoppable – and has compiled “a lot of stash” along with numerous projects. Leading trips with Rowan Tree Travel & Fibercraft gives her the opportunity to share her passion for knitting, wool, travel and history with visitors from all over the world. Anna is a certified guide with a focus on practical knowledge in the field of guiding tourists around Iceland in accordance with the European standard ÍST EN 15565:2008e.