The Wool Factory Shop (Iceland Day 8)
Along the northern part of the island we stopped by a little town and noticed a sign of a wool factory shop. We were rather curious, not because such a shop might ring of discounts (it didn't) but just to see if there was anything we might like as an Icelandic souvenir.
I'm glad we got to stop by. When we arrived it was quite empty. The owner of the shop was very kind, and offered us a miniature tour of the factory. Everything here is produced 100% in Iceland, from the wool to the labor, and they pride themselves on this. Many other Icelandic wool products have outsourced part of their production to China, for example.
Not a working day today. Easier to see everything this way so that's nice. This appears to be where the final steps happen, stitching and cutting fabric. We walked through this area on the way to the start of the process.
This is a Stoll knitting machine, which one can program for different patterns and it will quickly knit many squares of fabric. The owner says the wool threads are sourced from Rejkavik.
Those spiky things are from Spain, the thistle plant. They are for running the wool fabric over to make it more fluffy.
This is where the fabric is washed.
It's been a while but if my memory serves correctly the fabric is laid flat, steamed and dried here. Or just dried. At this time the owner mentioned that the workers are happy because the view outside of the sea is great. Happy workers make happy sweaters.
I forgot what this fancy looking thing does but Google and the photo came to the rescue. It's a computerised stentering machine, Tentertronic, from Novakust, and used for stretching the material to uniform width and length, and for heat setting.
This is the cutting table. We watched as the owner used the red device to cut out small patches of penguins for us to keep as souvenirs.
What a fun promotion!
The owner said she came from Germany and has been in Iceland for many years now, and that she hopes to grow her social media presence. In my head I'm wondering if Steemit makes sense for that. Maybe there's a lot of interest in Icelandic travel...
In case you are wondering, no I'm not getting anything from them for posting this, I just thought it was a pretty cool experience, and am thankful that the owner took the time to show us around.
I almost got an icelandic wool knitting kit (or was it crochet... Mind foggy) but at the time I wasn't sure I would have time to actually use it. There were also some very beautiful hand knitted sweaters with the pattern of the Aurora. The wool was nice and soft also. Some of us did buy wool stuffs, like a pair of soft gloves and a hat.
Here are social media links from the photo, where you can check out some cool Icelandic wool products:
- TripAdvisor
- Steemit? Hmmmmm!
Iceland Travel Series
Here's a link to the beginning....
And the journey continues here...
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First, I need those laundry baskets on wheels! Brilliant!
Everything looks like it was built in the 60's or 70's - I wonder how they keep all that running and working? The machines must have been discontinued by now.
And those big washing machines! How are those still functioning? Of course, that WAS back in the day when they built things to last and not be obsolete in 5 years.
Great Pictures! Thanks for sharing!
~T
I have no idea to be honest. It can't have been that old.... I also have a sneaking suspicion that I left a picture out but I can't find it :(
This would be my ideal tour! What a fabulous place, so traditional. I love those spiky plants used for fluffing the wool.
PS You are such a heathen, not knowing whether it was crochet or knitting. Ow, my eyes! XD
Hahahahahaha I know it should be obvious
darn, i had issues with your pics too much on my puter. :(
Poor puter :(
@eonwarped LOL! totally poor puter! wahhhh :(
wow. really cool to see this wool workshop and get an idea of how they make it. I really like craft like this. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah the machinery was definitely fun to look at. I just hope I got the details right haha
Wow! I'm not going to make so much use of it here. But I think it'll make me warm from the aircon at the office which is blasting around my head. ^^ Boom!
Oh yeah, gotta stay warm inside :)
Nice post @eonwarped! It's pretty cool you got to take a tour instead of just visiting the gift shop.
Yeah that was pretty cool. I think I should probably forward this post as well :)
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