Glaciers and lava, fire and ice. Northern lights dancing in the sky. Pools of steaming water. Iceland, both dream and reality. Awe inspiring!

The Sunwheel Hat design is knit from Plötulopi—unspun Icelandic wool that is sold in flat plates. I used part of a Nordic motif known as the sunwheel. I couldn’t decide between two different top treatments, however, so I’ve included two different charts for the decrease area. The photos above show Chart A; Chart B removes the partial motifs along the decrease lines. Your choice!

This hat can be knit with 2 plates of yarn, one much darker than the other. You can also use several colors, shading the background as shown in the photo.

When working with unspun Icelandic wool you have to be mindful, paying attention to each movement:

• Don’t jerk the yarn when pulling from the plate; be gentle, careful, and slow in your movements.
• You can pull from the center or the
  outside of the plate—I pull from the outside.
• Because it is unspun it can pull apart if treated roughly. If the yarn separates just splice it together and keep knitting. Unspun Icelandic
  is too soft to use for darning.
  Finger-spin it before stitching.
  Work near the tips of your needles.