When people ask me what their first colorwork project should be, I always say, “Start with a sweater.” Before I learned to knit, I always dreamed of making a Nordic sweater. Someday. Fortunately, I stumbled upon some Icelandic yarn in the Reykjavík airport when I was 19 and made a sweater as my very first project. I had found the perfect place to begin.Traditional Icelandic sweaters are knit in the round, bottom up, so they start out easy and slowly get more difficult. First, you practice knitting the body and sleeves in one color. The yarn is fat, so it grows fast. Then you put the body and
the sleeves onto one needle and tackle the colorwork at the top as a reward. Magnus is a super comfy unisex sweater with a classic boyfriend fit. People won’t believe it was your first project. Because it absolutely can be!

The Nordic Knitting Primer has step-by-step photo tutorials for all the skills you need to this sweater. For more information about my book, my work including video tutorials, visit my new website Scandiwork.com.

SIZES
XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL)
3–5 inches (7.75–12.75 cm) positive ease
MATERIALS
YARN: Worsted | Brooklyn Tweed Shelter | 100%
American Targhee-Columbia Wool | 140 yards
(128 m) per 1.75-ounce (50-g) skein
MAIN COLOR (MC): Snowbound | 6 (6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11) skeins 740 (810, 896, 960, 1064, 1232, 1372, 1512)
yards / 676 (740, 819, 877, 972, 1126, 1254, 1382) m
CONTRASTING COLOR 1 (CC1): Soot | 1 skein 78 (84,
90, 96, 102, 108, 114, 120) yards / 71 (77, 82, 88, 93, 99,
104, 110) m
CONTRASTING COLOR 2 (CC2): Truffle Hunt | 1 skein
65 (68, 70, 73, 75, 78, 80, 83) yards / 60 (62, 64, 66,
69, 71, 73, 76) m
CONTRASTING COLOR 3 (CC3): Fossil | 1 skein 95
(102, 107, 112, 117, 123, 128, 132) yards / 86 (93, 98, 102,
107, 112, 117, 121) m

NEEDLES: One 32-inch (80-cm) or 40-inch (100-cm)
circular needle for the body and one set of
double-pointed needles (DPNs), FlexiFlips, or a
16-inch (40-cm) circular needle for the sleeves
in size needed to obtain gauge in colorwork and
single color

SUGGESTED NEEDLE SIZE: US 9 (5.5 mm)
One 32-inch (80-cm) or 40-inch (100-cm) circular
needle one size smaller than gauge-size needle
and one set of double-pointed needles (DPNs) or
FlexiFlips to use for the ribbing

SUGGESTED NEEDLE SIZE: US 8 (5 mm)

SKILLS YOU’LL PRACTICE

Long-tail cast on
Duplicate stitch join
Joining in the round seamlessly
Working 2x2 ribbing (k2, p2).
DPN work for the sleeves
Backward loop increase
Splicing yarn
Joining body and sleeves onto one needle
Weaving a new yarn color in (and out)
Knitting with two colors in the round
Reading a chart
K2tog decrease
Ssk decrease
Mattress stitch