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Meyas

Hi, I'm Fabi. I write knitting patterns among other things

When I imagined the cardigan Prisma with 7 colors, I didn’t really think about the amount of yarn that would be leftover. My sample was a size 6 for which I bought 350g of yarn and I only used about 245g. That’s almost 100g of yarn leftover!

restos

I still think it was worth it because my niece really really wanted it, but if like me you are worried about the amount of yarn you’ll have left, I will write down a couple of notes to help you use fewer colors.

On this cardigan you will always use the same yarn for the ribbing and 6 colors on the rest of the cardigan. The amount of yarn you will use on the ribbing won’t change. What we can play with is the remaining 6 colors. It won’t be possible to optimize the amount of yarn used for all sizes, but these notes might still be useful if you prefer the cardigan with fewer colors.

On the pattern I always use the same reference for each color: C1-C6. Since we are trying to reduce the number of colors down from 6, the easiest way to achieve that without modifying the pattern completely, is to either use 2 or 3 colors.

In order to use 2 colors instead of 6, substitute the color reference the same way throughout the pattern, like so:

2 colors
C1 :arrow_right: C1
C2 :arrow_right: C2
C3 :arrow_right: C1
C4 :arrow_right: C2
C5 :arrow_right: C1
C6 :arrow_right: C2

For example, whenever I tell you to knit with C3, knit with C1, so on and so forth.

And to use 3 colors:

3 colors
C1 :arrow_right: C1
C2 :arrow_right: C2
C3 :arrow_right: C3
C4 :arrow_right: C1
C5 :arrow_right: C2
C6 :arrow_right: C3

You will also have to adjust the quantity of yarn used for each color: multiply the original amount of yarn needed for your size by the number of times that color is repeated on the schematic above. For the first option, with 2 colors, you’ll need (OriginalAmountofYarn x 3)g of C1 and C2. For the second option, with 3 colors, you’ll need (OriginalAmountofYarn x 2)g of C1, C2 and C3. The same is true for yards and the total amount of yarn remains the same. 🤓

Since you’ll be using less colors, it might be interesting to explore the possibility of carrying the yarn instead of breaking it (you can read more about that technique here). If you do decide not to break the yarn, you might also want to consider knitting the body of the cardigan in one piece. I haven’t tried either of this options so I can’t guarantee that it will work. The important thing to be on the lookout for is that the knitted fabric doesn’t get distorted on one side on the front, when/if you carry the yarn.

Don’t be afraid of modifying knitting patterns. Yes it might be a disaster, but it might also be absolutely fantastic.

Happy knitting.

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Here you can read about my designs, as well as tips and modifications to my patterns. If you speak Portuguese you can also find me on Youtube as Meyas Podcast. And of course I am on Ravelry! Click on the Ravelry icon above or search for apionese.

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