These swatches are a great example of the effect this has: lines made up from single stitches only create a joined up line in the pattern when worked in the dominant colour. We all dosome worse than others. The yarn traveling the shortest distance is the dominant yarn. KnittingHelp: Stranded color knitting - this video shows holding both strands in your left hand, both in your right, and one strand in each hand; . The biggest challenge with two-handed colourwork is getting even tension between the two hands. Then consistently hold the pattern color in your left hand (and use the picking/European method to work stitches in the pattern color) and hold the background color in your right hand (and use the throwing/British method to work stitches in the background color). Give The Gift Of Choice Shop E-Gift Cards, Free Shipping On Domestic Orders $100 And Up. K2 Yarn A. K1 Yarn B - add in the accent color by knitting the next st and . I couldnt visualize this until I watched a couple of shortYouTube videos. Carrying Two Yarns in Your Right Hand for Stranded Colorwork, https://pdxknitterati.com/2019/08/01/yarn-color-dominance-tutorial-and-soldotna-update/, 24/7 Access to Premium Knitting Videos, Projects, and Tips, Step-by-Step Instructional Demos, Patterns, and Tutorials, 50% Off Video Downloads Purchased in The Knitting Cirlce Shop, 2 Full-Length Video Downloads to Watch Offline, 3 Full-Length Video Downloads to Watch Offline, 5 Full-Length Knitting Classes to Keep for Life, Discounts on Purchase-to-Own Content in The Knitting Circle Shop. Pick a knitting method There are three main ways to knit in the stranded style. Try colorwork with this quick project In the bottom section of the swatch, the white checks are more prominent. Stranded Knitting: Post 8 - Adding New Colors and . But how exactly do you manage multiple strands of yarn at the same time while maintaining the pattern gauge? In the images below, we show what this under/over concept looks like. An age-old craft, weaving has recently experienced a comeback in popularity. This method is a bit faster than throwing, as you dont need to pick up and put down the yarn for every stitch, and its easier to keep the balls of yarn from twisting. These types of decreases are typically used for shaping projects and are also commonly used in lace knitting. This can help keep your strands the right length to smoothly fall on the wrong side of the work so that the right side of the fabric doesnt look bunchy. Each row I do gets 1 peg farther away from the anchor peg. If you are working with one yarn in each hand, this can be accomplished easily by always working the dominant color Continental and the background color English: If you are working with both yarns held Continental, the dominant color should be held (counter-intuitively) on top, or closest to your fingertip: If you are working with both yarns held English, make sure to always cross the background color over top of the dominant color: Knitting Introduction to Stranded Knitting (Fair Isle), KnittingHolding the Yarn in Stranded Knitting, KnittingManaging Tension in Stranded Knitting, KnittingCatching Floats in Stranded Knitting, This is caused by the stranding of floats along the back of the work the yarn which is stranded. I suppose it does not matter for everyone, we all knit differently, but for me it does. I just wanted to say I think it's gorgeous and if you're happy with it, that should be all that matters. Inspect your fabric for particularly loose or tight stitches. Good luck!! Since many people like to travel with their knitting, Jen will also discuss the best travel scissors so that youre ready to complete your next knitting project, Lets explore how to work various single decreases using knit stitches. That makes the stitch just a little bit taller, and that stitch will be dominant. What do you mean? Sometimes its obvious like in the Boreal Toqueshown below (the gray is the background and the blue creates the pattern in the hat on the left, and the gold creates the pattern and the brown the background color in the hat on the right), but sometimes its arbitrary. How can I control it? As you gain experience you might find that you can hold both strands in your right hand at the same time. Our patterns feature inclusive sizing, clear directions, and lots of support so you can be confident of a beautiful new addition to your wardrobe. Arne & Carlos are wrong about that there are lots of experts with just as much experience in colorwork who would also disagree with them. The Background Color is held in the right hand and strands above the Dominant Color on the wrong side of the fabric. Next take the color in your right hand and wrap it around the right needle tip as you would if you were to "pretend knit" with it. Below is a swatch with a color work motif. By this I mean which yarn is stranded over the top of the other at the back of the work when it is not the colour being knitted with at the time. Choose single or double rib for the hem, cuffs and neckband according to your liking. AtomicAthena 8 yr. ago If they get wrapped around each other, pause to unwrap them immediately to avoid frustration later. bottom of page . ), How I wrap floats every other stitch. Three (or More) Colors Per Round Almost always, stranded knitting is worked with two colors per round, but sometimes you'll encounter a pattern with three or even four colors in a round. American Targhee wool is worsted spun into a round and springy 3-ply yarn, perfect for crisp stitch definition and wear-everywhere knits. Hi Pat. Stranded colorwork gets its name from these strands of yarn, commonly called floats, that travel through the back of the work. To use a coupon code click checkout and enter your code on the next screen. If youre working with high contrast yarns, you can tone it down by making your darker color your dominant color. When working with two colors of yarn in stranded knitting, there is a subtle difference in how the colors show up in Oct 14, 2021 - Since I have a tendency to use stranded colorwork in my designs, I thought I'd write about an element of stranded colorwork that often gets overlooked: color dominance. I just love this Reddit channel, I learn so much. In the right hand image, the purple yarn moves under the white yarn, making it the dominant color. Two-handed colourwork is a blend of both throwing (with the right hand) and picking (with the left hand). Arbor is a classic DK weight yarn with timeless versatility. Yarn or color dominance is a bit of a mystery that refers back to the way you hold your yarns. It's important to make sure that you're always stranding your colors in the same way throughout a piece, because switching the dominant color will change the way your colorwork looks. When working this type of colorwork, its possible to control the color dominance in the project. This is referred to as color dominance and a quick explanation is that when stranding 2 colors, one of them will physically fall below the other one as you work. If you set down your knitting, then later pick it up again, remember the correct positioning when setting up the strands around your fingers. Quick trick: take a black and white snapshot of your yarns together to see how well they contrast. This is a wonderful pattern to learn stranded colorwork. Thanks!! Your email address will not be published. After working 4 stitches in your main color you work 1 stitch in your second color. Help us clean our store shelves! The online store is open and we are shipping. Kitchener stitch is a knitting technique used for grafting together two sets of live stitches, most often stockinette stitch. There is more than one way to work stranded colorwork with two colors held in one hand (left or right) the important thing to be aware of is that the Dominant Color consistently floats below the Background Color throughout a project regardless of your individual method for carrying the yarns. In today's fast-paced world and especially throughout Covid, it has become more important to find activities that help us slow down and de-stress. I was wondering what happens with colour dominance when you have more than two colours per row. If you are always bringing the colour on one finger under the other colour, whether you are using or dropping it, then that is the dominant colour. The non-dominant floats traveling on the back push the dominant ones closer to the surface, making these stitches look bigger and therefore stand out better. With both yarns in the right hand, British style: 2. All Rights Reserved. I carry both in my right hand. Get exclusive premium content! What I think is more important is being aware that changing which yarn you're holding in left/right will change the color dominance, so keep them consistent throughout the piece, otherwise things might start looking a subtley wonky. (This may be even more evident from the wrong side, shown at right.) Stranded color work is when you hold multiple colors of yarn (most often two at a time) and follow a chart to make designs in your knitting. Reversing the dark and light colors should be equally successful. How to knit stranded colorwork with one color at the time: This can be done both in the round and flat, . If you are working a sweater, for example, and there is a pattern around the yoke, it is likely that you want the contrast color of the pattern to stand out from the main body color of the sweater. 5. Stranded colorwork is a technique where more than one color of yarn is used on a row (or round) of knitting. Ill try again soon. Color dominance in stranded color knitting, 200 Fair Isle Motifs: A Knitter's Directory, Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible and 250 Japanese Knitting Stitches, How to use knitting stitch books to create your own knitting designs, A beginner lace knitting pattern: English Fern. Check back often, we're always restocking! Review of technique demonstration & color dominance; Begin & work on stranded colorwork section of cowl; Clarification, I havent made mistakes in the pattern, I think Ive been making mistakes in color dominance. But whichever color you wish to highlight is the dominant one. Finishing Your Project . Colourwork fabric is generally tighter than single colour knitting in the same yarn, so its important to keep the unused strands loose enough to stretch with the rest of the fabric. Playing around with yarn dominance can make a big visual impact in your stranded color work. The color changes in Fair Isle are close together. Look at the little mini-diamonds (circled in red) - the bottom stitch doesn't join up properly with the others and the diamond shape is lost. I find the way I do colorwork (continental holding both yarns on the same finger with a special ring) that the yarn on the left makes larger stitches than the yarn on the right. I hear about it, but have not seen it EVER! She notes that for most people, the background color should stay to the right and the prominent color should stay to the left. This is usually done by tensioning the yarn around the pinkie and ring fingers and holding the one strand over the index finger and one over the middle, as in this video. Make sure you're also bringing the next colour under (for the foreground) or over (for the background) the other strand. The long tail cast on is a great multi-purpose knitting cast on and the perfect place for beginner knitters to start. Some of that extra yarn naturally transfers into the stitch, making the stitches in the lower yarn bigger. By row 10 or so I am many pegs away from my starting point (anchor peg) at the end of each row. Now I finally understand how to tell which yarn is in dominant position and why. You want to avoid swapping the colours around within the project, because then sometimes the grey will show up strong and clear, and sometimes weak and faded. This leaves a short float, but a float none the less. I check for the dominant thread riding below the other on the wrong side, but thinking closest and furthest from the needle is a much quicker and easier way to remember it. But Ill admit that I really love working with stranded colorwork. In stranded color knitting (often called Fair Isle knitting), two or more colors are used on each row. The reason for arranging the yarns in this way is that the strands on the Wrong Side of the work stay close to the needle for the background color. The 'dominant' colour is the one that pops more or is more prominent because the stitches are slightly larger, from the floats being slightly longer as they run beneath the other colours. When you count the turning chain as the first extended double crochet, you should have 16 extended double crochet stitches in Row 1. If you're using a technique that has a dominant yarn then all you need to do to avoid switching them unintentionally is ensure you are stranding them in the same order - background colour under or background colour over. Youre the boss! With the background colour held on the index finger, it'll always be kept above the foreground colour to maintain colour dominance. 3. The yarn held lower is dipping down a little before stranding across and then back up again to reach the stitch. Kitchener stitch is a knitting technique used for grafting together two sets of live stitches, most often stockinette stitch. Jan 28, 2021 Did you know that when working with stranded knitting, the way you hold the yarns determines which color will "pop" out a bit more. One yarn will be carried below the other, and that makes it travel further to get to the needle. 37519 Ann Arbor Rd, #colorwork #howto #knittingtechniques #knittersofinstagram, A post shared by Andrea Rangel (@andrearknits) on Oct 5, 2015 at 9:22am PDT, Wrapping the dominant color (always held in my left hand). As you move your yarn across the back of the fabric, one color has to be held above the other. Notice that the opposite is true. With one yarn held in each hand: It's worth trying all three methods and seeing which suits you. Your personal data will be used to support your experience throughout this website, to manage access to your account, and for other purposes described in our privacy policy. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Knit outside the lines!AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary takes an unexpected look at stranded colorwork with 200 new motifs. This method is easy to understand and pick up, as you are still only holding one colour at a time. Manually manipulate unruly stitches! With both yarns in the left hand, Continental style: 3. Thanks. When working colourwork in this way, you simply pick up the strand thats the correct colour for the next stitch, knit it, and then drop it to pick up the next colour. One of most commonly-cited examples is fair isle knitting. Think about which one you want to pop more and call that one the pattern color. If you were considering starting a Yell sweater by Marie Wallin (we shared this pattern last week), or if youve ever done colorwork previously, no doubt you want the extra effort to stand out and be as beautiful as possible. This method is popular for a reason - its quick and efficient, plus you look bad-ass doing it! Because knitted stitches are just one continuous strand of yarn, you can redistribute that yarn from stiches that are too loose into stitches that are too tight. We have a video coming soon to The Knitting Circle about color dominance. If you have three colours, do you get a three-step hierarchy? The color that is the drawing is the dominant color and should always be held in the leftmost position. 1. When working with two colors in the left hand, keep the yarn orientation on your finger the same as on a right-side row and the dominance will be correct. So you can imagine that my work isn't very consistent. Spearheads knits up lightning fast in two high-contrast colors of Quarry to fend off the winter chill. Lay it out flat, pat it into shape, then allow to dry, OR . Make a note on your pattern so you remember which color goes on your left. Yarn Color Dominance in Stranded Knitting, Working Single Decreases with Knit Stitches, Continental Knitting Techniques for Mosaic Patterns. Based on how you are holding the yarn, the darker color is probably dominant. The two strands can also be held on the same finger, although they'll want to snug up right next to each other. Tax included. You can try a number of beginner weaving projects to learn more about this fascinating skill whether you're a novice weaver or an expert. 2022 Michigan Fine Yarns. Consider the pictured Border Leicester project, the natural color (Scour) is the background, and the blue (Gentian) is the foreground, the pattern you want to stand out. Tutorial Top Down Sock Construction The color held lower will create slightly larger stitches, in part because it has a shorter distance to travel and the tension is naturally looser.