Go Bold with the Goran Sweater Knitting Pattern

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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You probably know by now if you’re a regular reader (and if you’re not, welcome!) that I love a knitting pattern that’s a little silly or a little different from the usual. Classic patterns are great, too, but sometimes you just want to make something with a bit of whimsy. And when it’s super functional, too, that’s even better.

That’s the case with the Bananen-Socken pattern from Susanne Shahin. These banana socks are one of those patterns no one seems to be totally sure where it came from, and this free pattern on Ravelry explains how she makes them based on how she learned it.

It’s a sock that’s curved and when not on a foot it looks rather like a banana. There’s no heel, and you can use whatever number of stitches you need to make it fit your foot. If you’ve knit enough socks to know how many stitches you like you can just use that number, or the pattern notes include sizing charts to help. (It needs to be multiples of 2 for the ribbing.)

After working a traditional cuff, the body is made with ribbing on the back and welts (or what the pattern calls horizontal ribbing) on the front, which is what gives it the curved shape. There’s no heel, but there is toe shaping, but for the leg and the foot you just keep working the same pattern as long as you like.

I’m a little skeptical about how these socks will feel with ribbing on the bottom of the foot, but I’m definitely intrigued and will probably give them a try.

The pattern notes are available on Ravelry in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. If you head to the pattern page you can see a photo of what it looks like on a foot, and it just looks like a normal sock.

Have you ever knit banana socks or do you want to now? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Susanne Shahin]

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