Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Go Bold with the Goran Sweater Knitting Pattern

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One of my goals for 2024 (yet to be started on, I should mention, but there’s still time!) is to knit a sweater with a lot of detailed colorwork. I haven’t yet decided if a colorwork yoke is “enough” to fulfill this goal or if it really needs to be colorwork all over. (Probably the second one, because that’s something I’ve never done before and I really want to try it.)

If you’re new to colorwork on garments, designs like that can be pretty intimidating. I mean, I’m still a little intimidated and I’ve been knitting for decades.

But the good news is there are a lot of sweaters and other garments — and projects in general — that allow you to play with color without having to pay attention to so many details.

The Goran sweater from Justyna Lorkowska is a great example of this.

The bold zigzag colorwork on the yoke and body of this sweater is relatively easy to accomplish, because most of it is just stripes, with a little bit of stranded colorwork needed to make the zigzags when the colors change. This pattern does use a chart for the colorwork, but it’s also a repeating pattern around the body so once you get the hang of it, it should be pretty easy.

The sweater is worked from the top down in four colors of worsted weight yarn. You could also work both of the wide stripes in the same color and just use three colors if you prefer.

Short rows are used to shape the back neck, and the sweater has a circular yoke design. It’s meant to be roomy, with 8-16 inches, or 20 to 40 cm, of positive ease.

Sizes range from bust measurements of 40.5 to 73.25 inches or 101 to 183 centimeters.

You can learn more and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Harmonia Zdj??]

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Add a Little Lace to Your Knitting Patterns

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.