As a beginner knitter I was always searching for free patterns to try. I was afraid I wouldn’t understand a pattern if I bought it because those were for people who knew what they were doing!
Fortunately some clever people do write up patterns and share them for free. Some of these people are designers who also sell patterns. Free patterns can also be poorly written, so be careful there. Read through a pattern before beginning and see if it makes sense. Or go to Ravelry and see what other pattern users have to say. If the free pattern gets bad reviews it may be best to move on and find another.
At the beginning of 2021 I decided I would make this a sweater knitting year. Right now I have three sweaters on the needles, after having a few “fail” moments to narrow down the patterns.
All three sweaters are pullovers and two have colorwork yokes.
Sweater #1: The Hand-spun Yarn Sweater
Because I really wanted to knit a colorwork yoke with wool, I chose the Meadow Moon pullover pattern by Jennifer Steingass. It is knit top-down with stranded colorwork at the yoke and cuffs.
I’m using dark blue Rauma Finull yarn as the main color along with a hand-spun yarn, purchased from Wound Up Fiber Arts, for the colorwork. The hand-spun yarn is variegated in brown, tan, blue and maroon colors.
I have finished the yoke and separated for the sleeves with lots of stockinette to come. *Update: As of November, I have finished the other two sweaters (see photos below) but this one I am still slogging along with the round and round knitting. It’s great for long car rides or tv watching, but will take me a while to finish.
Sweater #2: The Double Yarn Sweater
I’ve had a huge skein of light green yarn sitting around driving me nuts because I didn’t know what to do with it. The Miss Babs yarn was an impulse buy, or maybe it was on sale, who can remember? But it’s a pretty light green and I wanted to combine it with mohair.
After knitting a swatch combining it with dark green mohair, I moved on to try a very light green mohair and loved it. So, although I wanted to knit something to use up the Miss Babs yarn, I now have a bunch of dark green mohair sitting around that needs to be combined with something…! Can’t seem to overcome the yarn stash blues.
I chose the free pattern called Calliope by Espace Tricot. The pattern is simple, with raglan shaping and it’s a top-down sweater.
*UPDATE: Finished after three months and the sweater is quite large. I think it’s the washable yarn. The fabric is very soft and comfy, but the body is very wide and I have to roll up the sleeves!
Sweater #3: Heading Into New Territory
Last but certainly not least, I am knitting an Icelandic sweater using Lettlopi wool. I saw someone on Instagram knitting with this yarn and thought it looked interesting. I found it for sale in Iceland and bought the skeins needed to knit Farfuglar from the Lopi 40 book. The name means “Migrating Birds”. My colors are opposite from the pattern shown, but using the same colors – air blue and white.
I’ve never used Lettlopi yarn, but I have fallen in love. This pattern book is awesome, but not really for the inexperienced sweater knitter. Instructions are basic. I think I will manage, but I’ve already learned a new rib stitch and decrease called KRPR, which is a right-slanting decrease. I had to look that one up.
This is a bottom up sweater, which is not my favorite, but I look forward to getting to the pretty yoke pattern.
UPDATE: Finished Farfuglar (link to my Ravelry page with notes) the end of October – a one month knit. This was my favorite project of the three sweaters so I worked on it the most! All I would change is the body ribbing at the bottom which tends to curl up. Maybe make it longer, or knit a bit differently. It fits me perfectly!
Last Words
These three sweater patterns are easy enough that I can switch off between them as I feel like. The Meadow Moon yoke is done for now so I’ll be knitting straight stockinette for a while until I get to the sleeve cuffs where new colorwork is needed.
Calliope knitting is also simple with a long rib being knit at the bottom of the sleeve. I will have one more sleeve to go.
Farfuglar (which means Migrating Birds) has a lot of stockinette to accomplish before I begin the other sleeve and then get to the fun yoke pattern.
I’ve never knit more than one sweater at a time, and I’m not a super experienced sweater knitter, but this is fun. I will not get bored and I like having the choice when it comes time to knit.
Now, which one will I finish first? Answer – Farfuglar! Can’t wait to knit more projects with Lettlopi wool.
The last thing you may expect a Florida gal to do is order wool from Iceland to knit a sweater! But that is just what I did a couple of weeks ago. I have now fallen in love with this wonderful Lopi wool.
White and Air Blue Lettlopi yarn from Iceland
While living here in the jungle heat, I dream of being in a normal climate where seasons change and people wear sweaters, hats and mittens. My cold weather wardrobe is being knit with the hope that one day I will live in New Hampshire again.
I’ve come to love beautiful wool and appreciate knowing where my yarn comes from. Unlike many knitters, I never get to sit in front of a winter fireplace, happily knitting something I know I will need to stay warm. My knitting is mostly done in air-conditioned rooms with ceiling fans running. Fall doesn’t mean anything really to Floridians. Days do get cooler, but compared to the heat of summer, that means little really. Winter means some cold, damp mornings – we even get ice in the birdbaths occasionally – but snow never falls and temps usually warm up by mid-day.
Live Oaks make a “tunnel” effect over the road where I walk in the morning.
Instagram For Knitters
I became interested in the Lopi yarns after seeing photos posted by knitters on Instagram. If you knit, you should set up an Instagram account (this link goes to my Insta account) and follow other people who knit. I’ve discovered new knitting patterns and sales on yarn (and patterns) from the site as well. I don’t do much on Instagram myself, except share a photo now and then, but I love to see what designers and yarn sellers have to offer.
Buying My Lettlopi Yarn
This has been my year for knitting sweaters. I have three pullovers on my needles at the present time- Calliope (finished!), Meadow Moon and Farfuglar (finished and knit with Lettlopi!).
Someone shared a photo, on Instagram, of a new sweater design using Lettlopi wool, and it was beautiful. I looked into the yarn further and ended up ordering from the Icelandic Store. I’d chosen a sweater pattern by Jennifer Steingass which used this yarn. The pattern, called Treelight, ended up being a pain in the neck to get started because of gauge. I gave up on it and found one in my new book, which I had ordered along with the yarn. The book,Lopi 40, is full of beautiful patterns and I have begun knitting “Farfuglar” meaning “Migrating birds”. (I finished this sweater in November and love it.)
Lopi 40 BookFarfugla – finished!
A lot of Lopi yarn colors are out of stock, but I wanted light blue and white which were both available. I bought ten skeins of Air Blue and five skeins of white. I had to pay shipping, but the yarn itself was so cheap, compared to US stores, that I believe I got a good deal. The shipping process took over a week, but I was in no hurry.
Plotulopi Yarn
Another wool yarn that gets good reviews is Plotulopi. It is described as “unspun plates of Icelandic wool”. It is equal to a worsted weight and comes in lengths of 328 yards. At the Icelandic store each plate is about $5.. .which is a deal compared to ordering from US stores!
So my yarn plates have arrived, along with more Lettlopi, even though color selection in the Lettlopi was slim. The Icelandic Store is on the ball, and this shipment arrived very fast.
I have begun knitting a pair of mittens using the Wine Red Plotulopi. This yarn is unspun and that means it will pull apart very easily. I wondered how it would work while knitting colorwork! I did okay, except when I had to tug on an end that was hanging, and the red yarn came apart! I used a crochet hook to catch the short end piece and wove it in. It means being careful when knitting with this yarn.
So this yarn is a little weird, but it’s cheap, and I love the colors! They make up for all the missing Lettlopi shades that are out of stock.
Plotulopi plates of yarnMitten in Lopi wool
Alafosslopi is The Bulky Yarn
By looking through the book, I discovered the heavier weight Alafosslopi yarn. It is a bulky yarn and is used to knit some wonderful sweaters that would be very warm. I have a pattern chosen to use this new bulky yarn, but many of those colors are also out of stock at this time. Since I had limited colors to choose from, I settled for Ecru Heather and ordered a box full of yarn.
This time the yarn was delivered much quicker, but I had to pay more for shipping. There was no choice and this may have to do with the size of the shipment, but I got the order very fast. AND… they kindly included a chocolate candy bar with my order! I have begun knitting the Carbeth Cardigan using this pretty yarn.
A little candy surprise in with my Alafosslopi yarn delivery!
Buying Lopi Yarn Online
Some places have the yarn to order in the US but the cost is about $5 more each skein! I’ll need about 13 skeins for the sweater I want to make. Webs yarn offers big discounts for bulk orders but at the present time, colors are scarce. For this reason I ordered directly from Iceland. The skeins are cheaper, much cheaper, but there is shipping to pay. Still, for me, it was worth it.
The Icelandic Store has very quick shipping. I also have ordered from the Nordic Store but haven’t had the best luck. They had a big sale going on and I placed an order only to find out a few days later that many of the yarn colors I ordered were out of stock. I was a little ticked off that nothing that showed as available was really available. So my preference is to order from the Icelandic Store.
I hope that more yarn is being created and we’ll have more color selections soon. Until then, I have plenty of nice yarn to play with.
Knitting has begun on my Calliope pullover sweater pattern (link to the pattern below).
Somehow I managed to pull a muscle in my neck which is causing me some extreme discomfort. The pain is keeping me from doing much of anything except sit in front of the television and knit. For that reason, my sweater is coming right along! We must take the good with the bad 😉
The Yarn Story
I’ve had the Miss Babs “Katahdin” green yarn for a long time now. The “Spring Clover” yarn is a Wild Iris – meaning they only made the color once – and the skein has 1750 yards of yarn..!! It’s made up of Bluefaced Leicester Wool and is Superwash. Originally, I thought I would use it to knit a large, rectangular stole for my daughter, then I decided not to.
So, this huge skein of yarn sat around until recently when my new idea was to pair it with mohair and knit a sweater.
Yarn is ready to knit
I ordered some dark green mohair to use, but after knitting up a swatch, decided I didn’t like the colors together. After trying the Katahdin with some leftover white mohair, and liking that combination better. I ended up buying the Filcolana Tilia mohair (link goes to Fairlight Fibers) in very light green called “Green Tea”.
Swatching for the Sweater
Using the size 7 US needles, I knit up a swatch to check for guage. Before the washing and drying of the swatch, the row counts were pretty exact. But after blocking, the knitting expanded to be slightly taller, so I will watch the length of my sweater. It’s not terribly off, so I stayed with the same size 7 needles. (I should have gone down a needle size because this sweater really grew!)
Before washing the swatch is very close to exact.Swatch for Calliope, after washing
The Sweater Pattern is “Calliope” from Espace Tricot
Raglan sweaters are generally quite easy to knit and I’d already knit the Turtle Dove pattern offered by the same designers. That one was my first raglan knit, but it came out huge – more like a big poncho / blanket.
This pullover has texture at the yoke which is created by simple knits and purls. The pattern begins with a cast-on for the neck and is knit top-down. I decided not to include the mohair until I knit a few rounds. Something about fuzz at my neck turns me off.
Photographing knitwear projects, and getting the color right to share, can be difficult. For some reason this mint green color is exceptionally difficult to capture. GRRRRRR….. I promise, my sweater color is not that ugly!
Short rows are done, moving onto the raglan increases
Calliope has short row shaping using German Short Rows. They are explained in the pattern, and are very easy to do, and a link is provided to a video by Very Pink Knits for further explanation. Short rows give the sweater a better and more comfortable shape by raising up the back section (shown in my photo below). You can see that the front of the sweater (photo on the right above) has fewer knit rows after the short rows are completed.
Once that is accomplished, the raglan increases begin. This creates the sleeves and widens the front and back. My sleeve increases are easy to see in the photo above. I have just put the two sleeves onto waste yarn and will now continue to knit the body – round and round in stockinette.
Not Liking This Mohair
Body of sweater is done. It seems a bit big around. On to the sleeves, but the fuzziness of the mohair is quite annoying. Every time I knit, I end up with fuzz in my nose, mouth and eyes – like I am a magnet for it. I don’t know if it’s this type of Mohair, or all mohair which would do this. (I have since discovered Knitting for Olive Mohair, which is much better.)
Photographing this green has been a real pain in the neck! Finally I took the sweater, with one sleeve half knitted and the other on hold, and put it outside in the sun. The photos came out a bit better, but they are not true to the pretty green of this yarn.
The sleeves have a very long section of ribbing that runs down the arm from about the elbow area. I began that with DPN’s and switched to 9-in. circulars because I really don’t like using DPNs for long lengths of time.
Because I was working on this pattern alongside the Meadow Moon color-work pullover pattern, and also my Lettlopi “Migrating Birds” pullover, among other projects, the sweater was finally done three months after I began knitting.
Calliope Sweater End Results
The Calliope Sweater is quite an easy knit. The directions are well written, and mostly you are knitting, or knitting and purling. I chose the yarn from my stash because this past year has been a year of “no buying” (for the most part).
What I like, is the easy going style and the fact that most of this sweater can be knit at night while watching TV.
The sweater is big. Superwash yarn tends to do that, and that is why I usually avoid using it for sweaters. This is a good lesson in watching the gauge and changing needles accordingly – especially if using a Superwash yarn. I may toss it into the dryer one day to maybe shrink it a bit.
Espace Tricot used to offer all free patterns. They no longer do, but the patterns are nice even if you have to spend a few bucks. Recently, they came out with a classic raglan sweater called Gingerbread Sweater and it’s another that is most likely perfect for a beginner knitter.
The peaceful days of camping in the wilderness go perfectly with knitting. What could be better than having coffee outside, with knitting on my lap? We camped twice in the last month and here is a look at the knitting projects I took along.
This sweater knitting project was a fun one. Although there were a few things to figure out, I recommend the pattern to any fairly experienced knitters out there.
I’m knitting a beautiful cardigan pattern by Camilla Vad. The Magnolia Chunky Cardigan is knit top-down with lace and bobbles on the body and sleeves. On this page I cover some issues I had in the beginning.
New England's Narrow Road 