Icelandic knitter builds a new life in Spain

Sjöfn Kristjánsdóttir moved from Iceland to Crevillente, a town in eastern Spain, in 2024 with her husband, Grétar Karl Arason, and an Icelandic family of friends. In an interview with mbl.is, she said they wanted better weather and less stress. The two families bought two detached houses on the same plot and are happy with their new life.

Kristjánsdóttir earns a living selling knitting patterns through her website, stroff.is. Her customers are mainly knitters in Iceland and Germany, and she says Spain has a good selection of yarn.

She began knitting at 12 and says ideas for patterns often come when she is doing nothing, such as while trying to fall asleep. She also credits knitting with helping her husband cope when she frequently changed their home to fill what she described as the relentless gaps caused by her ADHD.

Kristjánsdóttir works with musician and knitter Salka Sól Eyfeld to hold knitting weekends in Iceland, usually twice a year. Their latest gathering, at Hotel Búðir, was their tenth and brought together 50 women from Friday to Sunday. The weekends are more like a knitting social club than a course, she said, with activities including games, a raffle and, for the first time, a workshop on using leftover yarn.

At the latest weekend, a woman in her 70s came alone and met many other participants. Only four of the 50 women had attended before, Kristjánsdóttir said. The first knitting weekend was held at Northern Light Inn in Grindavík five years ago. She estimates that 98 per cent of participants are women, but says the age range is wide and younger people are increasingly taking up knitting.

Crevillente has a history of textile work. The article notes that people in the town once worked hemp and other fibres in rooms built into caves, contributing to its textile industry.