Prjónagleði – the Icelandic Knit Fest is an annual event in Blönduós, Iceland, initiated and hosted by the Icelandic Textile Center. The festival was first held in 2016. Its main aim is to bring together knitters, craftspeople, and handcraft experts, creating a space for learning, exchange, and community. Activities include various workshops on a wide range of handcraft topics, lectures, sightseeing trips to local knitting and textile sites of interest, a marketplace, and a themed knitting competition.
In 2024, the Knit Fest was held from June 7-9 in collaboration with the Húnabyggð municipality. The municipality organized the crafts market, while the Icelandic Textile Center focused on developing the workshops, conducting a survey for workshop participants to gather information on their background in crafts and their perception of traditional handcrafts, and organizing a knitting competition with an electronic twist. The competition was announced during the festival and will take place in the fall.
In 2024, 21 workshops were offered, covering topics such as tufting, spinning, and various knitting techniques, as well as creative handcrafts. Most workshops were conducted in Icelandic, with some in English. The festival saw over 100 participants in the workshops (with some people participating in more than one workshop) and over 400 guests in total, yielding a huge success.