Happy Spring Everyone! We are so happy that you have enjoyed our designer interview series and that you continue to enter the drawings and subscribe to the blog. It’s a good feeling when the work you do is appreciated. By work, we really mean fun. It’s been such a blast to interview these amazing (and famous!) designers and frankly, we are pretty star struck ourselves. Thank you to the designers and thank you to our readers!
This month’s interview is with someone who has really hit the big stage in knitwear over the past year. Ragga Eriksdottir is now known among knitters as THE person to learn Icelandic Lopopseya or Lopi technique from. She has a very popular class on Craftsy.com and she hosts tours of Iceland with people like Gudrun Johnston, Cirilia Rose, Ysolda, Stephen West, and Mary Jane Mucklestone. We are happy to have her join us on the Whitknits blog for the month of March. Enjoy! And check out the amazing donation she has given for the drawing.
Readers, meet Ragga!
Ragga, I had no idea you were a nurse. I’m taking my pre-requisites now for nursing school. Can you tell us about your career path and its twists and turns?
I decided to become a nurse when I was very young. Influenced by my mom who was a professor of nursing at the University of Iceland. I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in 1995 but only worked for two years after that at a psychiatric ward. Then I decided that the working hours and the pay didn’t suit me (!) and went over to big pharma, where I spent the following ten years in sales and marketing both in Iceland and Sweden. I think the nursing education is excellent and prepared me well for everything I’ve taken on in my working careers. Psychiatric nursing was always my thing – and still is, as I’m currently holding a part time position at the Reykajvík University Hospital – and that has, to say the least, come in very handy in many different projects, even in interacting with knitters!
You do not look old enough to have 2 kids and 2 grandkids! What are your secrets to looking so young and having such nice skin?
Thank you *blush*! I live in Iceland, so that means less sun than people get in many parts of the world, since our winters are very dark and long. I drink a lot of water, I don’t smoke and I use sunscreen… oh and sleep, getting good sleep is essential. I also think staying inspired and creative always contributes to a youthful appearance!
Also, look at Ragga’s awesome tattoo. Gosh, this woman is cool.
One of your past jobs has an interesting title. What is a “sexuality educator”?
Since 1999 I’ve worked alongside my actual “jobs” on various projects related to sexual health and sexual education. For a long time I had a weekly newspaper column, I worked on a TV documentary, had a weekly spot on a TV morning show and gave countless lectures and workshops on sexuality. My main focus has always been to increase comfort and sexual self-confidence among adults, mainly women. Today I have a weekly spot on the Icelandic Channel 2 radio station and I’m working on a book based on my previous writing.
Did you knit while being a nurse or did it take the back burner to kids and career?
Nah, not really. I knitted a bit while pregnant with my kids but I can’t say I really started until 2005 when I needed to take some time from work due to a back condition. It helped me stay sane and getting out of my fast paced, number driven pharma job sparked my creativity.
When did you start teaching full time?
I started teaching knitting in 2008 and in 2010 I went all in. I wouldn’t say that teaching is my full time job though, I also design, write patterns and organize and guide on my knitting tours to Iceland.
How did you become friends with Gudrun, Mary Jane, and Ysolda?
I first met them all through my Knitting Iceland knitting tours. They came on as guest teachers, Ysolda in 2010 and Gudrun and Mary Jane in 2012. We have since then become good friends. The knitting circuit is quite small and you get quite a lot of opportunities to meet people at conferences and events.
Craftsy is a big hit. Your class has over 1000 students in it. How did you get involved with them? Do you love it?
I met Stefanie Japel at Stitches West in 2012. She was super interested right away to get me to teach a class on Icelandic sweaters so we started planning. I went to Denver in October that same year and recorded with the team for 3 days. They are AWESOME. So professional and nice and fun at the same time. I really love working with Craftsy and people seem to enjoy my class 
Here is the sweater students make in the class.
I find it amazing that the lopi sweater is worn in Iceland by all ages and both genders. Would you say a lopi sweater in Iceland is almost as normal as blue jeans are in America? Does every family have a few lopis to share?
Oh, lopi sweaters really are to Icelanders what blue jeans are to Americans. You see them everywhere and on everyone. In the winter we layer with lopi and in summer we use them as outer garments. The variations you see in the streets are endless plus I love to see how people dress then up or down and style them really creatively. Everyone has at least one sweater and of course they get handed down between kids as they grow.
Here are photos that Ragga has taken in Iceland to illustrate the variety of Lopi sweaters! We especially love bull dog Lopi!
How do you design a lopi sweater? Do you start with a motif and move on to color palette or the reverse?
I usually start with the color palette and then I move on to thinking about the motif for the yoke pattern.
Here is Ragga’s pattern Odin 2.0
How did you team up with Knitting Iceland and their tours? Did you actually create Knitting Iceland?
Yes I created Knitting Iceland in 2009, I worked with a business partner for the first year but since then I’ve run the company on my own.
Out of all the places you have visited, what city would you make your second home and why?
Amsterdam. It’s close by (only 3 hours by flight), it’s endlessly inspiring, the weather is lovely in the spring, summer and fall, and my friend and designing partner Stephen West lives there (plus a whole bunch of other awesome friends).
Here are photos from Raggawest, a new collection modeled by Icelandic musicians.
Where do you get yarn in Iceland?
Lopi can be bought everywhere, in yarn shops, in grocery stores and even in gas stations or post offices outside of Reykjavík. We also have regular yarn shops that sell other types of yarn mostly imported from the Americas or other European countries. We don’t have access to the same insane variety that American knitters have, but the selection is decent and interesting.
Can you send us photos of your work space and your yarn stash?
Sure!
What inspires you?
I find inspiration in many places. When you live in Iceland, nature is the obvious inspiration, because it’s everywhere and there is no escaping it. But I also find cities, street fashion, music and houses really inspiring.
If you could knit anything for yourself, what would you knit and what yarn would you use?
If time weren’t an issue I would make myself an oversized Fair Isle cardigan with hundreds of colors. I would use handspun unicorn fiber… or just Tosh Merino Light.
Do you have any recommendations for Icelandic art? Books about Lopi knitting?
The Icelandic creative scene is very vibrant and interesting. I always make an effort on my knitting tours to include visits to designers’ shops or workspaces. Definitely check Knitting Iceland for lots of information and links! (Please note Knitting Iceland site was temporarily down at the time this was published.)
Thank you Ragga for such a fun and inspiring interview. Don’t you just adore her studio? Now, we all want to join you on a tour of Iceland. Seriously, who wants to go?
Ragga has donated TWO FREE PASSES to her amazing Craftsy class, The Top-Down Icelandic Sweater! Of course I couldn’t wait and had to register already. Enter the contest and join me! Or, for those of my fellow impatient knitters, register for the class now:) Here’s Ragga’s intro…
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On April 1, a random number generator will be used to select two winners. The winners will be notified using the subscription email address. Please make sure that you add Nancy@Whitknits.com to your address book. Winners will have one week to reply to the notification email before a new winner is selected. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you and good luck!
