Discussion. But even knitters whohave successfully used this technique for othergarments may find that their finished colorwork socks simplydont stretch enough to fit over their heels. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The swatch on top was knit onbamboo DPNs, while the swatch on the bottom was worked ontwo metal circular needles. Please confirm you want to block this member. Lisas List: 10 Reasons Knitting Is Better Than Dating, Spurned Gifts: When Knit & Crochet Gifts Went Wrong. Even if you get gauge for the stockinette portions of a sock pattern,you may have trouble maintaining it in colorwork areas. In the swatch pictured above, there are two long floats where the blue yarn is stranding across twelve stitches on the wrong side of the fabric. Cutting the corner pulls the floatshorter than the span of the stitches it should relax against on thebackside. Now that weve covered when its a good idea to trap floats how do we actually do it? You want there to be just as much space between stitches of twodifferentcolors as there is between stitches of thesamecolor. You can see in the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. How often to catch floats when working colorwork comes down to personal preference. The basics of colourwork knitting How to read a colourwork chart How to hold two yarns at the same time Floats and tension Joining a new colour Increases and decreases Yarn dominance Blocking Tangled yarns Weaving in ends Yarn choices in colourwork Choosing a colourwork palette The basics of colourwork knitting 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Fervent fiber nerd and frequent baker living in Norway. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Play around with different needle types if youre not sure which category you fit into. Because Im a continental knitter and I carry both yarns in my left hand, that series of photos is first, but if you scroll down youll also find a series of photos demonstrating the same technique in the two-handed method, with one yarn carried in each hand. Below is a video demonstrating my method for knitting colorwork sans floats. The relevant part starts at 23:15 so you can skip to that to see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sex1qLRd_I&t=7s, [] started knitting the colourwork chart using the dark orange and the black. Stitches just knit spaced out along the right needle. So, dont let the fear of making mistakes stop you from trying a new technique. I share two methods: 1.) Longer stretches with more than one float tends to make the floats tight, but it's easy enough to pull a little. If youre ready to take the plunge, click here to sign up for our newsletter & well send you a free PDF download of the Jeanette Hat & Scarf Pattern, a lovely colorwork ensemble in which both pieces are knit in the round! The duplicate-stitch weaving closely mimics the pathof the yarn and will stretch almost the same amount as the originalstitches. Like Alex I am interested in tidy float catching, working on a sock flat heel (stranded patterning a feature on it) ..so purling involved. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Thank you!! 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. How often to catch floats when working colorwork comesdown to personal preference. (Side note: its always better to have floats that are a little long than a little short you can always draw in the slack when youre weaving in ends, but you cant make a short float longer.). Any other tricks? Sue Blacker on Woollen vs Worsted mill spinningon wovember.com Found the internet! The charcoal grey isthe working yarnfor that length, while the light blue yarn is being carried across the back (the floating yarn). It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Catching Floats in Stranded Knitting - YouTube An inelastic fabric will not stretch to allow your heel to passthrough or pull in to gently hug your leg. . Contains spam, fake content or potential malware, just two different-colored yarns per round, trouble maintaining it in colorwork areas, How to Sew Crochet Motifs to Your Clothes, 5 Things That Made Our Yarn-y Hearts Happy at Yarn Fest Loveland 2023, Floral Beaded Jewelry Patterns for Mothers Day, Unique Ways to Have Quality Yarn-Time with Mom. 9 Tips for Knitting Stranded Colorwork Socks | Interweave Then you finish with 4 rows of garter stitch. Over the manyyears of operation, the group produced hundreds of knit andcrochet patterns for the 3,000+ members. My blue floating yarn is trapped on either side of the 6th stitch. Typical stranded colorwork motifs are worked with two different colors per round, with the colors changes happening often (this keeps the floats short). combatting tight colorwork - Paper Tiger Fair Isle/Stranded Knitting Tutorial - The Spruce Crafts The reason for this is that the outer circumference of a tube is larger than the inner circumference perhaps not by much, but with the thickness of colorwork fabric, youd be surprised and turning your work inside out positions the floats on the outside of the tube (i.e. If you struggle with gauge, keeping your floats consistent, or find it frustrating trying to keep multiple strands from getting tangled - you will LOVE this innovative new approach that will transform your knitting. User account menu. Most socks are knitted a tad smaller in circumferencethan the actual measurements of your calf and foot; theelasticity of the knitted fabric generally allows them to stretch. Thegreatest benefit of working this way is you cant inadvertently cutthe corner between needles. wood, metal, plastic) andneedle type(e.g. Go ahead and knit the next stitch normally. Once you have gone over all the puckered fabric in this manner, repeat from the start - until the floats have stretched sufficiently. Traditional Fair Isle (or stranded knitting) color knitting specifies no more than two colors per row and sequences of no more than six stitches of one color. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. Three ways to hold yarn for stranded colourwork - Ysolda Ltd Go ahead and knit the next stitch normally. When working a stranded pattern, you never want to carry the non-working yarn across the back of the work for more than about 5 stitches, or whatever constitutes about a inch at your gauge. Get your copy of Vintage Modern Knits today and queue up your version of the Ajiro scarfor one of the other 25 designs in this fab booktoday! Floats are the yarn thats carried behind the stitches across a row. Thank you. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. In this example, the dominant yarn is the floating yarn, while the background yarn is the working yarn. This is due to the strands being carried across the back of the work (the floats) unlike knit stitches, these strands dont really stretch that much, so the stretch of the overall fabric youre creating is much less. If youre working on DPNs, you can do this at the end of each needle; if youre working with circs (or over a large circumference, like a sweater yoke) you may want to check it at even intervals: every 8 stitches or so (or 6 stitches, or 10 stitches; whatever works for you!). A baby sweater or a pair of mittens, however, will provide ample opportunity for fingers to catch on floats, so trapping those floats is a good idea. Ive found that this method of weaving in works best with worsted-weight and smaller yarns. You can read aboutcolor dominance here.). That being said, theres a great deal of variation in how stretchy colorwork fabric is from knitter to knitter. Please note: There are more than 2 ways to catch a float. Knitting In the Round 3 Ways: DPNs, Two Circulars, or Magic Loop? I hope it helps you or at least entertains you. "Float" is a common term for the strand of yarn that runs across the back of colorwork fabric - the strand that makes colorwork stranded. The color that isn't being worked is carried at the back, making a float, before being worked again. We'll start at the very beginning - with foundational principles of the strandless method, then take it further with intermediate and advanced techniques. The pattern can have a million different colors included, but only two are used within a single row. Close. Read morehere. It may sound crazy, but many folks solve the tight colorwork issue by working their colorwork tubes inside out! Knitting Color Work: Tips & Tricks - Brown Sheep Company, Inc. If youmustuse a general rule, going by length in inches or cm is a better way to go (e.g. Let's talk about STRANDED COLORWORK | Knitting Q&A | PAPER TIGER Magic Loop Colorwork Knitting Help - Carrying Fair Isle Floats Skeindeer Knits Ep. 32K views 4 years ago Color Work Knitting Series This video is part of my Colorwork Series. So Im sorry Im not the most helpful person for that! Marie Greene is the author of Seamless Knit Sweaters in 2 Weeks, Knit Shawls & Wraps in 1 Week, and Knit a Little. Holding the main colour in my right hand (English) and the contrasting colour in my left hand (Continental). (Wondering what the dominant yarn is? This is more likely to keep them long, and it also keeps them visible, so you can constantly check your tension as youre working. This post took a little bit longer to put together than I wanted, but its finally ready to go! too short? A Free Bracelet Beading Pattern for Valentines Day. Youll be better able to adjust your tension as you go along, and youll catch things that need fixing without having to work backwards too far. With this weather were all having, doesnt this scarf sound tempting? I am doing two mittens at a time on magic loop and each of the four balls of yarn is placed in it's own ziplock bag to keep them all apart but after every line, I find myself having to untangle them, which makes for very tedious, cumbersome knitting. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Some wools that areknownfor colorwork are very sticky wools, like Shetland wool or Lopi. I have done very little colorwork but am working on a hat with some simple(ish) colorwork. 256-266 (2012 edition) The last step is towet-blockyour socks. According to designer Courtney Kelley, This scarf was inspired by a picture in Handschuhe, a vintage knitting book from Germany by Eva Maria Leszner. stranded knitting without floats? : r/knitting - Reddit This was so helpful! Let the socks dry onsock blockers to help them keep their shape (Photo 7 below). If you dont feel like measuring, you can also tryslipping on your sock at this point, taking care not to break yourknitting needles. For me, lifes too short to purl in colorwork! First of all: choose the right pattern for learning to knit with two colors at a time. These cookies do not store any personal information. Thoroughly soakyour socks in water, then roll them up in a towel to squeezeout any excess moisture. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Catching Floats in Stranded Knitting Knitting with Suzanne Bryan Knitting Stranded Colorwork or Fair Isle Colorwork Continental! Strandless colorwork eliminates so many of the headaches that some knitters experience with traditional methods. Knitosophy Designs uses cookies on our site to improve your experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. I LOVE stranded colorwork, but sometimes it can be PAINFUL with all the pinching and pulling strands across the back! These are just my preferred methods. Catching Floats As You Go - YouTube 2. If youve listened toepisode one of the knit.fm podcast, you know that needle type can affect gauge. Learn to keep perfect colorwork tension - every time, Learn how to adapt any pattern to use the strandless method, Learn how to read charts with strandless knitting in mind, Start with the basics and practice as you learn, Take your skills to the next level with progressive lessons that make it easy to apply what you learn, Practice right along with me as we knit a strandless project together - step by step, Learn from the comfort of home - on your favorite device, Your lessons never expire - you'll have ongoing access to the workshop if you need a refresher. 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. The two colours can be held on the same finger or two different fingers (say, index . Please feel free to share your methods below! Kelley Hobart from Alpaca Direct shares tips for knitting colorwork inside out to see if it improves the tension of your floats + new Free Giveaways! That said, it is important to remember to catch those floats overlong stretches of more than six stitches where a color isnt used(Photo 4 above). We use cookies to optimize our website and our service. Really enjoyed your Q & A youtube video, very useful as a newbie to stranded knitting making the most of lockdowns in UK to experiment! *Membership cannot be purchased with Gift Cards. You dont want to snarl your toes in floats when youput on your socks. 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!). That being said, if a rule doesnt jive with your personal preferences, thats perfectly fine! A long float would be considered more than 5 stitches in a row of one color before changing. 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. If you finish knitting something and onlythenrealize that you should have trapped the long floats dont worry! 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. Have you knit with Nature Spun before? Needle material(e.g. (Ask me how I know! We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. See our post on selecting color palettes for color inspiration. There are several different ways to manage carrying multiple yarns for colorwork knitting carryingboth yarns in the left hand, carryingboth in the right hand, holdingone yarn in each hand, carryingone yarn at a time, usingastranding guide, and the list goes on! And keep in mind thatmistakes are an important part of the process:we can learn from them. Fortunately, there are tricks to create a moreelastic fabric and a successful sock fit. Intro to Stranded Colorwork // Technique Tuesday Tutorials Catching / Trapping Floats Invisibly. It may take some trial and error to get the hang of it, but Ive seen this method yield results for several people. Wool will naturally relax into a smooth, even surface after blocking to improve any tight or loose spots in your knitting. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Its a lot to read through, but I hope you find it helpful and please let me know if you still have questions about this topic by the end. 2.) How to keep yarn from tangling with stranded colorwork? I don't want to have long strands of floats inside the hat, nor do I want it to be too tight. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. In this example, the dominant color, carried in my left hand, is the contrasting color (blue), while the background color, carried in my right hand, is the main color (charcoal). Ive completed a few stranded colorwork projects in which I had to switch position of the yarn balls every time I trapped a float: trapping a float without taking my hands off the needles was a revelation and a relief! 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. Colorwork Sans Floats I've made it pretty clear to the knitting world that when it comes to colorwork, floats and I are incompatible. 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. Unknown Next, measure the circumference of your knitting while stretchingit out as much as possible. It is an in-depth tutorial perfect for anyone who has no experience knitting colorwork and would like to learn how. Stranded color knitting is the knitters versionof painting by numberand just assimple. Colorwork and fairisle knitting offer a range of beautiful, unique patterns. circular needles, double pointed needles) can make a great difference in colorwork wood, metal, and plastic all have different levels of resistance, and gauge often differs between circular needles and double pointed needles (in general, knitters tend to end up with a tighter gauge on DPNs). But, as crafters, we have, Knitting Instructions & AbbreviationsGuide to Subbing Brown Sheep Yarns in Knit & Crochet PatternsGuide to Weaving With Brown Sheep Yarns. Remember that there are no rules here and experimentation is key trying a new method often feels awkward at first, and your gauge may shift as you settle into it, but until youve given it a shot, how can you say it wont work? I am starting my second color work project. Omit them, of course! 2. Colorwork Sans Floats - Knitosophy Designs A float carried across five stitches in fingering weight is a much shorter float than one carried across five stitches in bulky yarn. Stranded colorwork without floats in 3 minutes - YouTube Part Seven: Materials fromThe Principles of Knittingby June Hemmons Hiatt, On working in stranded colorwork: 1. Your email address will not be published. Now settled backin the mountains of Northern California, Terry enjoys thesocialization of knitting with friends once again. 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. Cookie Notice Some patterns, such as the Ajiro Scarf, require that the non-working yarn is carried farther7 stitches in this case (see chart at right). The outside of the circle has a larger circumference than theinside, which forces you to make your floats a bit longer. After youve worked a few inches of the stranded colorworkareas on your sock (either on the leg, if working cuff-down,or on the foot for toe-up socks), its time to measure. This means you have to anchor the unused yarn by trapping it in between the needle and the working yarn on the backside so you don't end up with super long loops on the backside that my mess up your knitting. Locking the unused (floating) yarn in stranded knitting every other stitch creates a gorgeous back that almost appears woven. [] used Dianna Wallas tutorials for dominant strands and trapping floats. 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. The culprits are the strands, or floats, which are lengths of yarnnot being knitted and simply carried along the back of the fabric. would you do one on catching floats in purl side?Im knitting a Marie Wallin pattern in pieces and Im trying to find the best way to trap the floats in purl. The hat used almost one full skein of the main colour yarn. Tryfollowing the pattern for the next size up, decreasing stitch countsfor the cuff and heel to fit. 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 have done it again, Marie! If you've been wishing for a better way, this is it. The guidance suggested catching the floats (the stitches youre carrying of one colour behind the colour youre working with) every [], [] After that I got to start on the yoke and the colourwork. free download when you sign up for our newsletter! This tutorial shows you how to knit colorwork. I knit continental style, with two strand on left hand. Try out some of these techniques in the evening with a glass of wine or whatever else relaxes you. Managing long floats in Fair Isle knitting | Interweave Conversely, depending on the knitter, a very smooth yarncan also cause less elastic knitting because it will be easy to pull your stitches tight without meaning to as the smooth yarn fibers slide right past each other. Don. 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. Personally, I dont like this approach. A yarn like Quince & Co. Chickadee is smooth and springy, because its worsted spun with three plies. 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. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. The only issue might be tension of the floats. Required fields are marked *. I hope it helps you or at least entertains you. Please confirm you want to block this member. In reality, there are a few different methods, but Ill be demonstrating what I think is the most common below. This distinguishes it from other colorwork methods like mosaic knitting or intarsia. Stretch your damp sock gently in severaldirections to even out stitches and floats. Tension is the most difficult aspect to master in color work knitting. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The Knitting Man's Tiny Shorts, How to knit stranded colorwork NO FLOATS METHOD - in just 3 minutes - colourwork fairisle techniques tutorial Teaching and g. There are a multitude of techniques used to carry two strands of yarn across a row of knitting. Im trapping my float every 6th stitch as I work across the span of charcoal grey, but you could trap every 5th or 4th stitch as well. The wrong side of the sockwith the floats will be outside (Photo 3 below). 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. Lisas List: 10 Reasons Knitting Is Better Than Dating, Spurned Gifts: When Knit & Crochet Gifts Went Wrong. and our Knitting on an Airplane and Other Travel Tips for Makers, Why You Shouldn't Buy a Knitter Yarn as a Gift. 5: My stranded knitting history Easy Trick. Someday I may get to this, but as of now Ive never really purled colorwork (beyond a small swatch with short floats). Colorwork Without Interlocking Floats - Technique Tuesday It just takes about 1/2 hr to let it sink in and then TaaaDaaa!". 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. Because of the physical nature of wool, wool fibers like to grab other wool fibers (this is what causes felting when wool is exposed to heat/agitation). 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. With two hands, color work is both addictive and soothing. Now I'm making adult totoro mittens with a more complicated pattern. Slide your right-hand needleunderneaththe floating strand (blue), then wrap the working yarn (charcoal) around your needle to knit the stitch. Copyright2023Golden Peak Media. Knitting on an Airplane and Other Travel Tips for Makers, Why You Shouldn't Buy a Knitter Yarn as a Gift. If you find that your sock is still too tight, another trick isto add more stitches, especially to the leg portion. 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. This tutorial will be all about the standard double knitting technique to created reversible colorwork. Heres a birds eye view to help you visualize the difference between normal (right side out) circular knitting and inside out circular knitting. Ifyouretense, your knitting often shows it. Knitting Colorwork Inside Out | Technique Tuesday - YouTube 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.