Marie has taught knitting courses at festivals, shops, and events around the world; her mix of best practices and renegade hacks, along with her charming personality, make her a highly sought-after instructor. Personally, I dont like this approach. Simply pick up loose bars of yarn in the order they belong (according to your chart), and youll be back in business. Knitting on an Airplane and Other Travel Tips for Makers, Why You Shouldn't Buy a Knitter Yarn as a Gift. You cant seemuch of a difference between the gauges, but it makes a differencein the elasticity of the fabric. Its better to stagger the tension so you dont end up with one column of stitches pulling towards the inside of the project. This always affects the knitted fabric youre creating, but it affects colorwork even more. The knitted loops create the elasticity of knitted fabrics, while thesestraight sections of yarn do not have much stretch capacity. my first fair isle project , last project and I'm making another rainbow one with variegated ribbing. Many knitters like to wrap each strand around a different finger and knit all stitches English style (throwing) or Continental style (picking). That being said, if a rule doesnt jive with your personal preferences, thats perfectly fine! Im all about creativity. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Copyright2023Golden Peak Media. Problem is, my yarn gets tangled every time I twist my stitches to weave in the floats in the back so I don't have long lines of floating yarn for fingers to snag on. Privacy Policy. Below is a video demonstrating my method for knitting colorwork sans floats. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. My first tip to help knitters keep their colorwork tension easy and even is always to stretch out the stitches that were just workedalong the right needle as youre working on your project. There are a few reasons for this, but the big one is thatcolorwork fabric by its very nature is less elastic than normal stockinette. A tightergauge means a tighter sockone that wont fit. Tension will be easiest to tackle if you choose a pattern that doesnt require long floats. But knitting colorwork can be a challenge. Wanting to try stranded color work or Fair Isle knitting, but feeling a little intimidated? Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Go ahead and knit the next stitch normally. Some wools that areknownfor colorwork are very sticky wools, like Shetland wool or Lopi. Ive made it pretty clear to the knitting world that when it comes to colorwork, floats and I are incompatible. Don. Heres a birds eye view to help you visualize the difference between normal (right side out) circular knitting and inside out circular knitting. Weve got some handy tips on making this dream a reality. Knit.fm episode 6: More Yarn[podcast] (Wondering what the dominant yarn is? In fact, for a single knitter, theres variation in how stretchy their colorwork fabriccan be, depending on: Its important to consider theelasticityof your colorwork fabric, and to remember that it wont necessarily correspond with yourgauge since gauge is measured with the fabric resting (i.e. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. After steaming, the scarf is so cozy and warm! Below is a video demonstrating my method for knitting colorwork sans floats. You initially catch the floating yarn by changing its position as you knit, then you go back and make the floats ladder up themselves, in a technique that is somewhat similar in look to the ladderback jacquard technique used in commercial knitting. But knitting colorwork can be a challenge. The only Marie Wallin garment Ive knit, I adapted to be knit in the round and I steeked the armholes and front neck. This post took a little bit longer to put together than I wanted, but its finally ready to go! 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. And remember to alternate where you catchyour floatscatching them in the same place every round willmake a noticeable blip of color going up your sock (Photos 5 and 6 above). Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. You can see where the working yarns meet the needles: The biggestthing to remember is to be patient with yourself! These cookies do not store any personal information. The duplicate-stitch weaving closely mimics the pathof the yarn and will stretch almost the same amount as the originalstitches. But, as crafters, we have, Knitting Instructions & AbbreviationsGuide to Subbing Brown Sheep Yarns in Knit & Crochet PatternsGuide to Weaving With Brown Sheep Yarns. I have done very little colorwork but am working on a hat with some simple(ish) colorwork. How to Crochet with Two (or More) Colors - Jo to the World Creations Sue Blacker on Woollen vs Worsted mill spinningon wovember.com While cruising full-time on her sailboat throughout CentralAmerica and the Caribbean islands, TERRY MORRIS foundedthe Holiday Mystery Gifts Yahoo Group. 256-266 (2012 edition) This scarf will keep you warm even on the coldest windswept shore.. 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. Make it a point to check the gaugeespecially on thecolorwork portionsthroughout yourproject, andmakeadjustmentsif you find yourself getting tighter. Privacy Policy. Making mistakes in any technique is inevitable, because were all human! Please confirm you want to block this member. Now Introducing: Brown Sheep Fiber Arts Schoolhouse, Choose the Perfect Yarn and Needles for Any Pattern, Contains spam, fake content or potential malware, 9+ Colorful Patterns to Brighten Winter Knitting. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. making sure no floats are longer than 1 or something similar). For more information, please see our After knitting this stitch, I have 7 stitches of my 21-stitch span knit. This tutorial shows you how to knit colorwork. This is also part of why steeking is so common in these places sticky wools are unlikely to unravel when the stitches are cut. Knitting on an Airplane and Other Travel Tips for Makers, Why You Shouldn't Buy a Knitter Yarn as a Gift. 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. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Once you have gone over all the puckered fabric in this manner, repeat from the start - until the floats have stretched sufficiently. No need to trap floats there. Tension will be easiest to tackle if you choose a pattern that doesn't require long floats. If you are able to take a class on this technique, or self-learn the opposite knitting style from your current preference, I highly recommend giving it a try. In reality, there are a few different methods, but Ill be demonstrating what I think is the most common below. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. This will ensure that the unused yarn strandwill later relax against the back of the work. It can be tricky tovisualize, but with the work turned inside out, youre working on the far side of the tube, rather than the near side. How to knit colorwork - YouTube The amount of elasticity you can achieve will also depend on how the yarn was spun and how many plies it has. You can see in the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. True Fair Isle knitting is more specific originating from the island of its namesake in Shetland, northern Scotland but generally can be used interchangeably with the term colorwork. combatting tight colorwork - Paper Tiger Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. This helps increase the elasticity. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. Whats the process for trapping non-dominant float? Posted by 3 years ago. Knitting In the Round 3 Ways: DPNs, Two Circulars, or Magic Loop? The Knitters Book of YarnandThe Knitters Book of Woolby Clara Parkes Crafty Confessions: Do You Make a Gauge Swatch? With the sock inside out, you can easily see both thecolor patterning from the previous rounds and the behavior ofyour floats at the same time. My UPS gal surprised me again the other day with several new Interweave books full of wonderful, inventive projects. 9 Tips for Knitting Stranded Colorwork Socks | Interweave Some wools that are known for colorwork are very sticky wools, like Shetland wool or Lopi. AKA Both strands on the left. [] used Dianna Wallas tutorials for dominant strands and trapping floats. Now my tension is perfect every time! You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. How to Knitting: Colorwork Rescue - Yarn Vibes I've tried twisting the yarn less often too. The standard double knitting technique with two colors also creates no floats on the backside. Longer stretches with more than one float tends to make the floats tight, but it's easy enough to pull a little. How to catch floats when knitting stranded colour work by ARNE & CARLOS ARNE & CARLOS 161K subscribers Subscribe 163K views 4 years ago This week we take a close look at the back of our knit wear. Cotton or acrylic blend yarns are not ideal because they are too smooth to cling together properly and dont have the memory that wool does to hold its shape. and our 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!). The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. Enjoy! Ive found that this method of weaving in works best with worsted-weight and smaller yarns. In this example, the dominant yarn is the floating yarn, while the background yarn is the working yarn. And you can see these steps in action here: trapping long floats carrying both yarns in your left handfromDiannaonVimeo. Ill be using myHearth Slippersto demonstrate in the photos, as this pattern involves a very long float the first time you work Chart C. Im working the Large size, and the float is carried across 21 stitches. They should be about as wide as the stitches in the previous rounds. The Japanese word ajiro describes a herringbone pattern in basketry, which seems fitting for a country known for its long fishing traditions and bold graphic representations of natural elements. trapping long floats in stranded colorwork - Paper Tiger The pattern can have a million different colors included, but only two are used within a single row. Play around with different needle types if youre not sure which category you fit into. I may seem biased in encouraging you to knit with wool, but seriously the natural barbs in wool fiber will cling together, helping the stitches to stay in place. AboutPressCopyrightContact. Your email address will not be published.