2.3.11

hooded lopi cardigan

flickr96
flickr97
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!

19 comments:

  1. SO adorable. I love the colors, and doesn't EZ just make everything seem so logical and easy? I haven't seen her DVDs, but would love to hear her posthumus advice!

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  2. holy amazing! what size is it? I've never thought about using dvds for knitting. i'm a bit scared of two color knitting too. Maybe that will do the trick!

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  3. BEAUTIFUL! You did such a great job. I love the colors you chose.

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  4. well done you! It looks great. I warn you, fair isle knitting is addictive; no matter what I seem to do, I always end up doing colour work when I start by deciding on something simple. Who is going to be the lucky owner...Tova?

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  5. yay! its lovely! its nice to hear you were scared but did it anyway, and with such beautiful results. isn't it so fun to see the patterns come as the fabric grows? :)

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  6. really pretty...and heirloom too....who knew you could learn to knit by dvd?!

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  7. So pretty! Love your colour choice and the knitting is impeccable!

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  8. That is a fine looking cardi, I think that the natural colour of the white really goes well with the blue, and the simplicity of the pattern really shows of the colours! Well done!

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  9. that is so beautiful! thanks for sharing your inspiring work.

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  10. holy moly! you made that?!? it's so...perfect. amazing job.

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  11. It turned out beautifully. I love the colours you chose, especially the heathery, creamy colour with the flecks of beige. Really lovely.

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  12. Wow, I am so impressed by this! I'm a beginner knitter so have quite some way to go before attempting something like that - but you have done it perfectly!

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  13. oh my gosh that is gorgeous!! i love it!! you are so talented!!

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  14. Beautiful work on the cardigan!

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