Lopi knitting problem

[ElenaWu]

Hi,
I'm planning to knit my first Lopi sweater. My knitting teacher says that I have to switch to larger needles for the color portion of the sweater, and go back to the smaller ones for the rest, otherwise, she says, there will be an obvious difference between the stranded and the stockinette part. I live in Taiwan, where they hardly do any color knitting at all, primarily because they only know how to carry the thread in one hand, even the teachers. None of the Western knitting books that I have mention the need to switch. If any body out there is familiar with Lopi, please help me resolve this problem.

[Ingrid]

There can be a difference in gauge between plain knitting and stranded knitting, regardless of the yarn used. Your best bet is to do a swatch plain and stranded and see what the difference is for you.