Tafl by Lopamunstur

Tafl

Knitting
May 2025
yarn held together
Worsted (9 wpi) ?
18 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches
US 8 - 5.0 mm
A-E
English Icelandic
This pattern is available from lopamunstur.is for €7.50.

Tafl pattern is a traditional Icelandic Wool sweater style or lopapeysa as we call them in Icelandic. I don’t play chess myself but I’ve never seen a yoke chess sweater before and I wanted to give it a try!

The sweater is knitted from the bottom up in the round.

Most of my patterns are in sizes XXS-5XL but this one has non standard sizes as the color chart is much larger than usual. Therefore there are only 5 sizes. Make sure to read the size chart well before choosing a size.

Sizes (A) B (C) D (E)

Body width – Body length – Sleeve length – Sleeve width

A: 70 cm - 32 cm - 44 cm - 30,5 cm
B: 85,5 cm - 36 cm - 47 cm - 32,5 cm
C: 101 cm - 40 cm - 49 cm - 38,5 cm
D: 116,5 cm - 43 cm - 51 cm - 43,5 cm
E: 132 cm - 46 cm - 52 cm - 47 cm

Yarn: Léttlopi from Istex would also be great. If you don’t have access to either then choose a similar yarn that fits the gauge.

Yarn: Istex Léttlopi - 50g skein - 100 m

Colour A Light Grey 0056 A(5), B(7), C(9), D(11), E(13)
Colour B Black 0059 A(2) B(2), C(3), D(3), E(3)
Colour C White 0051 A(1), B(2), C(2), D(2), E(3)

Gauge
10x10cm = 18 sts and 26 rows on 5mm needles.

Circular needles: 4mm and 5mm, 40 and 60/80 cm (depending on your size)

Double-pointed needles: 4mm and 5mm

NOTE: I knit quite tightly so you may need to use 4,5mm or even 4mm I recommend knitting a swatch to test the tension.