Lollapalooza Top in Berroco Pima Soft - Downloadable PDF

Lollapalooza Top in Berroco Pima Soft — Pattern Summary

The Lollapalooza Top is an original knitting design by Mel Kennelly, published by Berroco and available as a downloadable PDF. Rated Intermediate in difficulty, this pattern produces a stylish, colorblock knitted top worked in two contrasting shades of Berroco Pima Soft DK-weight yarn. The design is notable for its clean two-tone aesthetic, flattering fit, and relatively compact construction, making it an appealing project for knitters who are comfortable with shaping and color changes but are not yet tackling advanced techniques.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a knitted top featuring a structured silhouette with shaped armholes and shoulder straps. The pattern is sized across a wide range of bust measurements, spanning from 35½ inches (90 cm) up to 70½ inches (179 cm) across ten sizes, offering excellent inclusivity. The sample shown in the pattern is knitted in size 35½" / 90 cm. The recommended ease is approximately 0–1 inch (0–2.5 cm) of negative ease, meaning the top is designed to fit close to the body for a snug, fitted look.

Finished lengths range from approximately 13 to 16 inches (33–40.5 cm) depending on the size chosen, making this a cropped or mid-torso top rather than a full-length garment. The construction involves working the Back and Front as separate flat pieces, then joining the straps at the shoulders — a straightforward approach that keeps seaming minimal and the construction process clear.

Construction Techniques

The Lollapalooza Top is worked flat (back and forth in rows) rather than in the round, which suits knitters who prefer working on straight or circular needles in a traditional manner. The Back and Front panels are each worked separately and then the shoulder straps are joined, keeping finishing work manageable. Key construction techniques include:

• Long-tail cast-on — specified for starting the Front, this is a popular and stretchy cast-on method well-suited to garment edges.
• Armhole shaping — both the Back and Front include shaped armholes, requiring knitters to work decreases and bind-offs to create a tailored fit through the upper body.
• Two-color work with yarn management — the pattern uses two colors, C1 and C2, worked in a colorblock or stripe arrangement. When changing colors, knitters are instructed to hold the yarn to the left and pick up the new color from underneath, which twists the yarns together to prevent holes or gaps at color-change points. This is a classic intarsia or colorblock joining technique.
• Strap joining at shoulders — rather than a traditional seamed shoulder, the straps are joined, which may involve a three-needle bind-off or similar technique for a neat finish.
• Blocking — gauge is measured after blocking, which is especially important with cotton-blend yarns like Berroco Pima Soft, as blocking allows the fabric to relax and reach its true dimensions.

Stitches Used

The primary stitch pattern throughout the Lollapalooza Top is Stockinette stitch (St st), which creates the smooth, classic knitted fabric surface. The pattern also incorporates a garter stitch border along certain edges — evident from the construction notes referencing knit stitches worked at the beginning and end of wrong-side rows (rather than purling all the way across). This garter border provides a neat, non-rolling edge along the sides or hem of the panels. The combination of stockinette and garter stitch is a time-tested approach in garment knitting that balances visual simplicity with structural stability.

• Stockinette stitch (St st) — the main body fabric, worked by knitting right-side rows and purling wrong-side rows
• Garter stitch border — knit on both right-side and wrong-side rows at specified stitch counts along the edges, creating a flat, tidy selvedge
• Shaping decreases and bind-offs — used