Lopi Sweater Knitting Pattern

There are a lot of knitting styles that you could consider classics, especially when it comes to sweaters. From ganseys and Fair Isle jumpers to Cowhican sweaters and lopi sweaters, there are so many great ways for a knitter to keep themselves and their family warm.

Lopi sweaters are a traditional style from Iceland, knit with a circular yoke with a colorwork design and using Icelandic wool. Knitters around the world can make these lovely and warm sweaters because this particular wool is pretty widely available.

The Petite Knitter’s lopi pattern has a design of crosses, snowflakes and diamonds, and color choices inspired by the sunset in the Arctic (she lives in archipelago islands).

The sweater’s design is boxy, and is worked seamlessly from the top down with a circular yoke. It is available in 11 sizes, with a chest measurement ranging from 32.25 to 73 inches. The intended positive ease is from 4.5 to 9.5 inches (positive ease means how much bigger the sweater is than your actual chest measurement).

As designed the project uses six colors of worsted weight yarn, but you could also use a self-striping yarn or multicolored yarn in the colorwork section if you didn’t want to make all those color changes by hand. There are a couple of projects on the pattern’s project page on Ravelry that show it worked with fewer colors if you want to check that out before you try it.

I have one Lopi sweater that I designed for my colorwork knitting book (in a heavier weight Icelandic wool that is very warm, even by my standards). It’s so fun to use this traditional material and feel a connection to all those knitters of the past who needed this hearty wool for warmth — and those who still do!

You can get the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: The Petite Knitter.]

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Adding eyelets to a project is a great way to make it more wearable in the summer, and these mesh and eyelet sweater patterns are perfect for summer (and beyond!) for layering.

The Inez Summer Sweater from Happy Love Co combines eyelets and dropped stitches (along with some garter and stockinette) to make a casual and fun summer sweater. The pattern is one size (56 inches or 142.24 cm) around, and is meant to be worn oversized. But it’s an easy enough pattern you could alter it to suit you without too much difficulty. It calls for worsted weight cotton yarn.

Another fun project using dropped stitches in the Stella Blouse from Thelma Steimann. It calls for a fingering weight silk yarn and is worked on larger than expected needles and also uses dropped stitches. The pattern includes eight sizes, with a bust circumference ranging from 33.5 to 51.5 inches, or 85-131 cm. You can grab a copy on Ravelry.

The Design Studio Knits has a nice summer cotton tee that uses worsted weight yarn worked on larger needles so it has a mesh effect while still being worked in stockinette stitch. It’s worked in one piece and is another one size pattern, meant to fit an actual chest measurement ranging from 34 to 46 inches (that’s 86 to 117 cm).

A similar look with a cropped shape and four available sizes comes from A Box of Twine. This one is a DK weight yarn knit on large needles and still has an oversized look (for instance the size small is 42 inches/106.68 cm at the bust). It’s worked flat so this is a great one for beginners.

If you want something a little more structured, try the Pip Cardigan from Yoko Johnston. This sport weight cardigan has an allover eyelet pattern and options to close with a zipper or buttons. It’s worked from the top down and has six size options. This one is also oversized, with finished measurements ranging from 51.5 to 64.5 inches, or 131 to 164 cm). You can find this one on Ravelry.

Or check out Endlessly by Amy Gunderson, a free pattern from Knitty. This pullover uses a cable and lace pattern that is easy to knit and to wear. It uses DK weight yarn and has nine size options. The chest measurement ranges from 34.75 to 66.75 inches, or 88.5 to 169.5 cm, and is meant to be worn with a little positive ease.

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