Knit 2 or 3 stitches with MC (2 stitches shown in illustration), insert the right-hand needle tip into the next stitch on the left-hand needle, place the non-working yarn (in this case, CC) over the right-hand needle . Whether you hold the yarn This scarf will keep you warm even on the coldest windswept shore.. 9:28 am. CraftGossipAbout CraftGossipContact Us | Privacy and affiliate policy, This Colorwork Cowl is a Great Way to Play with Color, Grab a Deal on Knitting Designs through 11/29, How to use a reusable adhesive to make reverse stamps, Spring Minis and What to Do with Mini Cross Stitch Patterns, Fun Games for St. Patricks Day Class Parties, Free Knitting Pattern Twisted Stitch Blanket, 20+ Airplane Themed Quilt And Block Patterns. Enjoy! Once you have gone over all the puckered fabric in this manner, repeat from the start - until the floats have stretched sufficiently. Enjoy! Hold your float yarn away from your working yarn as you knit yournext stitch. Nothing wrong with that, but it would slow you down a bit. dominant color in a pattern is not necessarily the same as your MCin fact, it usually should be Before you pull the left-hand yarn through, push the right-hand yarn strand back off the working Go ahead and knit the next stitch normally. trapping long floats in stranded colorwork. conscious of carrying the unused colors at the back of the work loosely. Knitting colourwork (also known as stranded colourwork or Fair Isle knitting) may seem difficult, but its actually quite simple. I've been knitting for 2 years and I want to tackle some colorwork to keep expanding my skill set! Of course, which color you want to be the dominant one is entirely up to youand since its Colorwork Sans Floats I've made it pretty clear to the knitting world that when it comes to colorwork, floats and I are incompatible. Focus on one section of the fabric at a time and knead it. I recently completed a color work sweater and the yoke is snugger than the body. Theres no wrong way to knit, and theres no wrong way to knit colourwork. My blue floating yarn is trapped on either side of the 6th stitch. 6:17 pm. Weve got an opinion (or three) on this topic! ), Heres the tutorial for you! get more info on choosing a colourwork sweater size here, Check out our tutorial on swatching for colourwork here, Week of Colour: Strategies for Designing a Palette, Applying Colour to Stranded Knitting Motifs, design your own Strange Brew colourwork yokes, like these ones, The Three Needle Bind-off: A Bind-off and Seaming Method, Blocking: how to finish your hand-knit hat, First, you knit a stitch (or several) in one colour lets call it the, Then you knit a stitch (or several) in another colour lets call it the. For example, if there are 3 stitches in a row of one color, the other color will need to be carried behind it for 3 stitches. First of all: choose the right pattern for learning to knit with two colors at a time. Then you knit a stitch (or several) in another colour - let's call it the contrast colour (CC). Then move on to the section beside it. I definitely feel more confident. Firstly:what is a float, and why would I need to trap it? Hold your float yarn away from your working yarn as you knit your next stitch. Privacy Policy. The basketweave pattern is reminiscent of fishing nets, so I chose blue and natural colors to accentuate the ideas of sea and shore. Moveyour float yarn over the working yarn and back around behind the right needle. 1999-2023 Crafts Americana Group, Inc. All rights reserved. If youmustuse a general rule, going by length in inches or cm is a better way to go (e.g. Now that weve covered when its a good idea to trap floats how do we actually do it? This past week I was thinking, Maybe if I had someone really break it down for me . Bring your float yarn behind your working yarn. For me, lifes too short to purl in colorwork! This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. to you and that allows you to get the most even tension in your knitting. One way is to go up a needle size when working colorwork (but do, When working stranded fabric with two or more colors, one color (the Dominant Color) will always be more prominent on the right side (RS) while the other (the Background Color) recedes to the background. You can seein the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. Unlike charts for lace or cabled patterns, which will require you to be familiar with a number of chart symbols, all youll need to keep in mind when following a colorwork chart are the colors of the boxes. Wool will naturally relax into a smooth, even surface after blocking to improve any tight or loose spots in your knitting. The hat used almost one full skein of the main colour yarn. Whats the process for trapping non-dominant float? 10:50 pm. I really love this scarf. And you can see these steps in action here: trapping long floats carrying both yarns in your left handfromDiannaonVimeo. Enjoy! Some knitters like to wrap floats frequently and regularly, while others do so when the floats feel too But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. the colorwork portions of a garmentusing US 9 needles on a colorwork yoke of a sweater thats otherwise Weve got a long list of posts that are all about picking palettes and combining colours. Ive heard of some people switching to a larger needle for the color work. September 27, 2021 @ You will always draw the CC yarn (the one on your left) up from underneath the other colour, so it will create slightly longer dominant stitches. colorwhether on one finger, in a Yarn Guide, or in your left hand while the other strand is in your Next, start to knit from the yarn in your left hand. You can work any increase or decrease stitch in the colour shown. This is all very helpful information. Ive found that this method of weaving in works best with worsted-weight and smaller yarns. Use this method when your WORKING yarn is in your LEFT hand and your FLOAT yarn is in your RIGHT hand. Without Regardless of how you hold your yarns when working stranded colorwork,the float of the Dominant Color should always be stranded below the Background Color. CARRYING YARNS WITH THE TWO-HANDED METHOD. 5:52 am. These non-traditional colorwork charts are perfect for the creative knitter . UFO to WIP: Can This Crochet or Knitting Project Be Saved? Eva exactly the opposite. All Rights Reserved. it both ways before getting too far into a project. . Thank you for the idea of tying ends and letting them felt themselves over time. Youll want to keep this in mind when choosing the right size if youre knitting a sweater with a colourwork body (get more info on choosing a colourwork sweater size here). holding one strand in each hand is the easiest way to knit colorwork. You want it to be loose, so the floats dont cause puckering, but not so loose that you get distorted stitches. thistheyre twice as thick! According to designer Courtney Kelley, This scarf was inspired by a picture in Handschuhe, a vintage knitting book from Germany by Eva Maria Leszner. In other words, when you alternate between colors of yarn, the previously unused strand travels behind the stitches just worked until it is ready to be used again, resulting in a horizontal strand on the wrong side (WS). The basic idea is simple: knit each stitch in the correct colour according to the pattern, carrying the unused colour behind and across the back of the work. You can read aboutcolor dominance here.). I often stick with what I know instead of trying new things. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. 1:35 pm. yarns at a time. December 2, 2021 @ As a, It's the holiday season and you know what that meanstime for last-minute handmade gift ideas!, Knitting Instructions & AbbreviationsGuide to Subbing Brown Sheep Yarns in Knit & Crochet PatternsGuide to Weaving With Brown Sheep Yarns. There are a number of ways to manage the tension of your floats. Personally, I dont like this approach. How can one get a copy of the pattern? Ive never knitted a scarf in the round; it forms a tube and when youre done knitting the main part of the scarf, you knit the front and back together with a version of the three-needle bind-off without actually doing the bind-off part. The basics of colourwork knitting First, you knit a stitch (or several) in one colour - let's call it the main colour (MC). 1. And before embarking on a sweater-sized project, its wise to do a swatch first. Bringyour float yarn (right hand) behind and aroundthe right needle as though you are going to knit but don'tcomplete the stitch. We believeswatchingis an important part of the process of beginning any project. :). Typically, stranded colourwork is knit in the round, rather than back and forth in rows. A huge thank you for sharing your wisdom! Someday I may get to this, but as of now Ive never really purled colorwork (beyond a small swatch with short floats). 12:24 pm. Im assuming you are right handed. tutorials Andrea Rangel July 26, . When you knit colourwork, the stitches sit a little differently than in regular stockinette. If the floats are too loose, they can get caught when you wear the garment or the stitches may recede in the background. and sheep. I havent written it up in a blog post, but I covered trapping the non-dominant float in my video on Youtube about stranded colorwork. Great videos. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. youre ready to go. I usually do colorwork with the two hand method any tips for how to add in that third color? Its not as slow as you might think (though its also not fast ). A colourwork chart is typically read right to left, starting from round 1 at the bottom of the chart and working your way up to the top, one round at a time. In the words ofJune Hemmons Hiatt, the most successful method is as much a matter of anatomy as it is of dexterity, so keep swatching, experimenting, and practicing to find what works best for you. If the floats are too tight, they will draw your fabric in, causing puckering which will change the look and fit of your finished item. What are your thoughts on this? Keep in mind that wrapped floats may sometimes be visible from the front of the work, so test If you do want to trap your floats, its as simple as twisting your two yarns together. October 28, 2021 @ Required fields are marked *. You may have heard of trapping floats, but Ill let you in on a little secret: Emily and I almost never trap our floats! sometimes called Scandinavian knitting, is the one endorsed by Elizabeth Zimmerman in Knitting This scarf is knitted in the round, which simplifies the Fair Isle patterning (no wrong-side rows) and creates an insulating double layer of fabric. Not following a pattern, just my rough one I made. can make the fabric look strange. Hats or even can koozies can be excellent My UPS gal surprised me again the other day with several new Interweave books full of wonderful, inventive projects. Knit Picks and KnitPicks.com are registered trademarks of Crafts Americana Group, Inc. To counteract that natural tightness, we need to add more slack to the float so they act more like regular knit stitches. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Lisas List: 10 Reasons Knitting Is Better Than Dating, Spurned Gifts: When Knit & Crochet Gifts Went Wrong. The project that that strikes my fancy for todays post is from Vintage Modern Knits by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn. 11:25 pm. Oneof the questions I get most often from students or knitters working from my patterns is how to trap floats in stranded colorwork. Check out our posts about: You sure you really wanna open that can of worms? 5:56 am. If you dont, its a good bet that youll pull the non-working yarn a little too tight, causing puckering problems. When knittingstranded colorwork, the unworked yarn color "floats" behind the worked stitches in the back of the work. Ive always been intimidated to try anything with more than one color. September 24, 2021 @ layers to the fabric as there are strands of yarn. One of the many reasons we love this technique is that it creates a visually intricate fabric, but is deceivingly simple to work. You may still need to readjust your tension regularly if one yarn is used more than