hooded lopi cardigan

here it is, my very first lopi sweater! the first of many, i'm sure. i had been scared to try out two-color patterned knitting, but elizabeth zimmermann finally talked me into it. i got her knitting workshop dvds from doug for christmas and it really helped to not only hear someone talk about how to two-color knit, but also see it demonstrated. elizabeth talks about what mistakes to watch out for too (like holding your yarn too tightly which causes puckering), and i think the tips saved me a lot of time and frustration.

as soon as i figured out how to handle the yarn, needles and tension i absolutely loved knitting with two yarns. following a chart really breaks up the monotony of knitting the body and sleeves of a sweater, and the outcome makes all your hard work much more interesting and special. i had been waiting to try a pattern from the best of lopi which my mother in law gave me last winter, and i finally decided on hanna. i modified it just a little, since the pattern called for thicker wool and three colors of yarn. i really wanted to use up some washable wool i had in my collection, and could only seem to find two colors that went well together, so i changed the chart enough to make it work.

i love how two color knitting makes your items thicker, which is great for this jacket-like cardigan. and it's adorable!