There are a number of ways to manage the tension of your floats. Simply follow the colourwork chart, and the pattern appears! We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Without What are your thoughts on this? According to designer Courtney Kelley, This scarf was inspired by a picture in Handschuhe, a vintage knitting book from Germany by Eva Maria Leszner. Basically, this is multi-colored knitting thats done by carrying two colors at a time across a row. When knitting colourwork patterns, you use two colours (sometimes more) in a single row or round. Once you have gone over all the puckered fabric in this manner, repeat from the start - until the floats have stretched sufficiently. Some knitters go up a needle size (or two or three) just for (We found that for this reason, colorwork charts are quite helpful for, For example, in Round 1 of the colorwork chart below (adapted from the. [] used Dianna Wallas tutorials for dominant strands and trapping floats. They are best known for their craft books and their original, colourful and visually striking designs. I definitely feel more confident. Im assuming you are right handed. September 29, 2021 @ Even if you dont struggle with tension or gauge when knitting with one color, knitting colorwork with Or, you can be a lazy ass like me I just tie them to the next colour, trim them fairly short, and then hope that, with plenty of time and wear, theyll eventually felt themselves together into a nice, solid, woolly mess. Some motifs, however, involve longer floats and long floats are exceptionally good at catching on fingers, jewelry, or other things that can work their way between the knitted fabric and the float. Im all about creativity. We recommend a tool called a Yarn Guide that slips So, dont let the fear of making mistakes stop you from trying a new technique. With two hands, color work is both addictive and soothing. yarns at a time. Pick up the other strand and knit with itand so forth. colourwork, techniques colourwork, tutorial. Heres an extra special tip for you: I use the tacking technique to weave in ends as I knit all kinds of projects, color knitting or solid knitting! Otherwise, the fabric will be tight and compressed horizontally, which is NOT fun as you knit it and it doesnt look good when its done, either. If you finish knitting something and onlythenrealize that you should have trapped the long floats dont worry! Completethestitch withyour working yarn. The most important thing is to consider what kind of item youre knitting, and whos going to be wearing/using it. Just starting a colour work sweater. One tip is to spread out the sts on the right hand needle before carrying your yarn across in a long float. Read morehere. But if you're not working one color for a longer bit, that float can get so long that it is at risk ofsnagging on things (like fingers or earrings) or pulling and stretching your work. There are other ways to trap floats, but in my experience, this is the most common (and its a pretty simple way to trap floats as youre working, so theres less finishing after the fact). click here to sign up for our newsletter & well send you a free PDF download of the Jeanette Hat & Scarf Pattern, Guide to Subbing Brown Sheep Yarns in Knit & Crochet Patterns. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Unlike other types of colorwork knitting techniques (such as striping or intarsia), stranded colorwork requires you to carry along the strand of yarn not in use across the back of the work. Alexa Ludeman I so appreciate it and YOU! First of all: choose the right pattern for learning to knit with two colors at a time. Ive always been intimidated to try anything with more than one color. wrapping. Your email address will not be published. There are two commonly used techniques for wrapping the unused color behind your work while you are Read More. Use your best judgment and go with what youre comfortable with! The pattern can have a million different colors included, but only two are used within a single row. Step 1. You want the design to appear as if its laid over the top of the background color, rather than trying I dont enjoy trapping floats very much, as it slows down my knitting and can affect the look of my knitted fabric, and Ill avoid it if I can get away with it. I love your blog and all your instructions along with perfectly placed videos! Check out our tutorial on swatching for colourwork here. Our Jeanette Scarf is a nice choice because its knit in a small tube in the round (its also available as a free download when you sign up for our newsletter!). October 4, 2021 @ When you have a pattern that calls for long floats (the strand of yarn that you carry behind the color youre knitting with at any one time), its a good idea to tack them, or trap them. The rest is just details! If you dont, its a good bet that youll pull the non-working yarn a little too tight, causing puckering problems. Thank you I hate to avoid stranded knitting or fair isle because I love, love the look, but I dont want to ruin a lovely pattern with novice work. 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). A pattern likePine Bough Cowlis worked in a tube and then grafted together, so the floats on the inside of the tube will never be exposed one its finished theres really nothing they can get caught on. Once youve knit a project or two, youll be ready to tackle any colourful knit. September 25, 2021 @ knittingissofun September 28, 2021 @ Equipped with the basics of stranded colorwork knitting, you can now proceed with confidence! Keep in mind that if the pattern youre working on has significantly more stitches with one color vs. Its important to draw this yarn LOOSELY across the back of the work. 9:47 am, Anna Buchholtz Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Next, wrap the right-hand strand of yarn around the working needle to knit itbut before you pull it Some teachers use hard-and-fast rules, like never carry a float more than five stitches without trapping it. Some teachers tell you not to go more thanthreestitches. Thank you so much! left-hand Hi Lisa Yep, lots of folks find going up a needle size very helpful! Omit them, of course! 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. Excellent timing as I start a pair of colorwork advent socks. 1) Holding the yarn. What exactly is color work? Julie Paige One thing that is important to keep in mind in stranded colorwork knitting ismaintaining even float tension. Maureen Murley I know its a slow work in progress. Step 1: Put the knitting thimble on like you would a ring so it rests firmly on the first knuckle of your index finger. ): While all this can seem like a lot of info, you wont figure any of it out unless you get going. Im working on it and I realize no matter which method I use for trapping the longer floats, Ill sometimes have to loosen the yarn. I watched the video but would like more information & can't seem to find it. Youll weave in the ends later. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. How To Make Intarsia Knitting Patterns Use some graph paper for your chart. 6:29 am, Thank you, been nervous about trying this but after watching and reading feel confident to give it a go, growbakeknit Thank you!! The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Foreground color nearest the fingertip, background further down. When you join a new ball of yarn, just weave it in for 1 1/2 to 2 inches using the tacking technique. A long float would be considered more than 5 stitches in a row of one color before changing. Thanks! If the floats are too loose, they can get caught when you wear the garment or the stitches may recede in the background. Enjoy! You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Plus, use your imagination to modify, deconstruct, and combine the unique motifs to create your own designs. This looks tricky to the uninitiated; however, the pattern is formed using only knit stitches, so its not nearly as complicated as it looks! I am sort of figuring it out as I go but it is a little wonky. Learn how stranded colorwork can be used in design with five accompanying projects including mitts, cowls, and sweaters. The hat used almost one full skein of the main colour yarn. Add a key, so you remember the boxes with dots are purls, and the boxes without dots are knit. December 2, 2021 @ Also note that if you Yarn floats, the strands of yarn you carry behind your knitting for some colorwork, are perhaps the trickiest part of knitting colorwork for beginners. This was only in two colours, and I caught the floats every other stitch because I like having a neat back to my work and less things to catch on when [], Your email address will not be published. knitting words, by repeating the same word in a row, but then stacking the words in a quote, phrase or sentence. But, as crafters, we have, The new year is a fantastic time to reflect on last year's accomplishments. If you only feel comfortable as either a picker (Continental knitter) or a thrower (English You can see in the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. 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. (We found that for this reason, colorwork charts are quite helpful forlearning how to read knitting charts.). The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Tension will be easiest to tackle if you choose a pattern that doesn't require long floats. Cookie Notice You want to have the right side facing you at all times rather than messing with purling on the wrong side. The Knitter's Pride Royale 16 needle set I use in the video can be found here. How can one get a copy of the pattern? Thank you. Bringyour working yarn betweenthe needles as though you are going to knit but don't complete the stitch. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Color in the boxes with two or more colors. I really love this scarf. In this example, the dominant yarn is the floating yarn, while the background yarn is the working yarn. I hope it helps you or at least entertains you. September 28, 2021 @ Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. Moveyour float yarn over the working yarn and back around behind the right needle. While you Im going to queue it up today and start looking through my stash for appropriate yarn (or I may just have to spring for the luscious Fibre Company Road to China Light thats used in the book!). Many knitters like to wrap each strand around a different finger and knit all stitches English style (throwing) or Continental style (picking). It is my goal for this winter to knit my first colorwork sweater. To accomplish this, you need to invisibly tack down or "catch" the float on the wrong side of your work as you knit with the working yarn. Sometimes the toughest bit is casting on :), askcarolynwarren Start small! You have inspired me to cast on a colourwork hat this week! Enjoy! This means picking up the float in the back of a stitch to hold it in place and keep some tension in the floating yarn so it doesnt pull too tight or loosen up. You can seein the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. October 5, 2021 @ No good! 1:35 pm. Youve effectively trapped the float already! Hold your float yarn away from your working yarn as you knit your next stitch. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Great tutorial. Colorwork garments are extremely warm because of And you can see these steps in action here: trapping long floats carrying both yarns in your left handfromDiannaonVimeo. There is enough of the contrast grey []. the other, you may need to readjust your tension frequently as you pull from one strand more than the Regardless of how you hold your yarns when working stranded colorwork, To swatch for a stranded colorwork motif, we recommend the Speed Swatching method for circular knitting; because most stranded colorwork patterns are worked in the round, it is best to swatch in the round as well. To accompany the colorwork charts in our patterns, we provide a key showing which colors should be held as the Dominant Color and the Background Color. Stranded colorwork knitting, recognizable by allover patterning or bands of color motifs, is prominent in many knitting traditions around the world and continues to inspire countless more iterations of creative colorplay today. 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. Thank you so much! through, push the left-hand yarn strand back off the working needle. Some patterns, such as the Ajiro Scarf, require that the non-working yarn is carried farther7 stitches in this case (see chart at right). If youd like to stick to carrying the yarn with only one hand but youre having trouble keeping the yarn Ive taught countless colourwork classes and literally NEVER had a student who couldnt learn to do colourwork using this method but they did find it difficult it at first (theres always a bit of cursing). Great videos. Twist your float yarn around your working yarn. 8:17 pm, Hi Ladies September 26, 2021 @ needle and then also under the yarn strand on the left hand. Also, if you need to catch floats in a bunch of rows dont catch in the same place every row. This email came at the perfect time. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. ARNE \u0026 CARLOSHow to catch floats when knitting stranded colour work by ARNE \u0026 CARLOS__Hi and welcome to our channel! When knitting the MC with my right hand, I throw (English style), and when knitting the CC with my left hand, I pick (Continental style). Whale woman, Lindy Van Fleet Then you knit a stitch (or several) in another colour - let's call it the contrast colour (CC). Most color work patterns use a light to medium weight wool yarn our Nature Spun Fingering, Nature Spun Sport, Lanaloft Sport, and Prairie Spun DK are ideal for color work projects. Lisa Narayanan moon sprites & icelandic wool month at tolt, Float is a common term for the strand of yarn that runs across the back of colorwork fabric the strand that makes colorwork, So, if Im knitting a piece that has long floats, how often should I trap them? I was introduced to your helpful tutorials when knitting the Grumpy Grandpa Cardigan. If you are (or can get) comfortable with either left-hand or right-hand knitting, you may find that Required fields are marked *. colorwork with 200 new motifs. November 1, 2021 @ Slide your right-hand needleunderneaththe floating strand (blue), then wrap the working yarn (charcoal) around your needle to knit the stitch. Going up a needles size can help compensate for this tighter tension. The only color you knit to create a new stitch is the one from your left hand. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The timing of this is hilarious. Then you finish with 4 rows of garter stitch. Who are we: Scandinavians Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrison are highly regarded designers, textile artists and authors. You may still need to readjust your tension regularly if one yarn is used more than Because knitted fabric is elastic, the floats traveling behind worked stitches must be long enough to span the width of those stitches, both when stretched and relaxed. If you do come to a spot where its necessary to carry your yarn across more than 5 stitches, remember to catch your floats every so often. 1. pattern), the first stitch is worked in C1, the next in C2, and the following two stitches are worked in C1. If you happen to know both styles of knitting (I do know both because I learned to knit English-style and then converted to Continental-style), work one strand in your right hand to throw and one strand in your left hand to pick. If youve been too intimidated to give colourwork a try, this tutorial will demystify the process and take you through it step by step. September 26, 2021 @ Hold your float yarn away from your working yarn as you knit yournext stitch. Not following a pattern, just my rough one I made. Floats can get in the way in the finished project because they can snag - and, they can mess with the tension of the knit stitches around them. So what do I do? And vice versa hold the Background Color in your right hand and strand it above the Dominant Color on the WS of the fabric. Holding them Youll definitely want to block your colourwork piece after you complete it, and regular wet blocking works just fine. Colorwork motifs are often presented in charts, as this is an intuitive and shorthand way of showing how the motif builds round by round. When carrying both yarns in the left hand, you may need to use your thumb to hold the floating yarn (blue) out of the way. Weve got an opinion (or three) on this topic! My blue floating yarn is trapped on either side of the 6th stitch. Enjoy! This will work for any way you knit colorwork (one-handed or two, English or Continental). Method 2 - Working Yarn in Left Hand Use this method when your WORKING yarn is in your LEFT hand and your FLOAT yarn is in your RIGHT hand. Remember, loose stitches or 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. again, this is a very slow method and one thats more likely to result in frustration. Like Alex I am interested in tidy float catching, working on a sock flat heel (stranded patterning a feature on it) ..so purling involved. When you go from knitting one stitch in the MC to one in the CC, they dont sit as perfectly as they might if they were done in the same colour. Your explanations and videos are so helpful (as always). Heres a closer look at what that looks like from the wrong side of the fabric: You can see how the float is trapped at the sixth charcoal grey stitch. conscious of carrying the unused colors at the back of the work loosely. 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. to you and that allows you to get the most even tension in your knitting. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Please confirm you want to block this member. Tension will be easiest to tackle if you choose a pattern that doesnt require long floats. each yarn strand in its own pathway. We believeswatchingis an important part of the process of beginning any project. (Photo 1) Keep the stitches on your right needle stretched out as you bring the unused color behind them. What a great tutorial! (Don't know what the proper terminology is). left-hand The most important thing is to consider what kind of item youre knitting, and whos going to be wearing/using it. Its better to stagger the tension so you dont end up with one column of stitches pulling towards the inside of the project. into stranded colorwork with confidence with a section on reading charts, working floats, and choosing colors. Ive knit for over 50 years and have just stuck my toe into colorwork. My first stranded colorwork project was the Herringbone Hat by Anne Mizoguchi, who has several other similar free colorwork . Now that weve covered when its a good idea to trap floats how do we actually do it? I've been knitting for 2 years and I want to tackle some colorwork to keep expanding my skill set! The unused yarn ends up floating behind the pattern. For keeping those floats nice and loose I recommend trying a longer cord to your circular needle (this spreads out the stitches and forces those floats to be nice and long) and spreading out your stitches on the right hand needle after a long stretch of one colour. If your stitches are twisted, then you are bringing the yarn through the wrong way. The unused yarn ends up "floating" behind the pattern. Guides, Stitches & Technique Colorwork Sans Floats I've made it pretty clear to the knitting world that when it comes to colorwork, floats and I are incompatible. And before embarking on a sweater-sized project, its wise to do a swatch first.