. But how exactly do you manage multiple strands of yarn at the same time while maintaining the pattern gauge? 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. But Ill admit that I really love working with stranded colorwork. Check back often, we're always restocking! 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. Stranded in the details - let me explaiKnit Even with absolutely perfect tension, there is a very slight height difference in the stitches based on which is stranded on top or on bottom. Color Dominance in Stranded Knitting - YouTube 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. 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. Sometimes the first stitch after a color change will be a little funky, but you can use a pointy knitting needle to tug on the legs of those funky stitches, drawing more yarn from neighboring stitches into tight stitches and giving some slack from loose stitches to the stitches nearby. Work 1 extended double crochet stitch in each chain stitch across the foundation chain by repeating Steps 1 through 3. Hi Pat. This will help to prevent vivid colours from bleeding one into the other. We will continue to listen and work hard for your complete satisfaction. . Instead of binding off and sewing two edges together, you can use a tapestry needle and yarn to join the stitches completely seamlessly. 9+ Colorful Patterns to Brighten Winter Knitting Favorite Brown Sheep Patterns of 2022 EVEN MORE Last-Minute Holiday Gifts 9 Felted Holiday Projects! Your knitting style may make this opposite; make a little swatch and see. I find doing it flat a real pita. Thanks Dominant and decisive, Ford Montgomery is used to getting what he wants. Help us clean our store shelves! This method works well with English-style knitting, in which the working yarn is wrapped around the needle with one hand, and then let go for each stitch. Color dominance isn't about how you hold the yarns, it's about which color floats travel closest to the work (dominant color) and which furthest (non-dominant color). So I made a mini swatch in the same colours and pattern to see what happened when I switched the dominance. Michele points out that every knitter should work a little colorwork swatch to determine how the yarn should be arranged for the way that they knit. We will continue to listen and work hard for your complete satisfaction. How does ease affect inclusive size ranges? The online store is open and we are shipping. Finishing Your Project How to Knit: Color Dominance 101 | Brooklyn Tweed - YouTube 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. Color Dominance in 2 Color Knitting - Before you embark on even your first 2 color, stranded knitting project give this article a read! Knitting Colorwork and Color Dominance Theory explained 4. The long tail cast on is a great multi-purpose knitting cast on and the perfect place for beginner knitters to start. While 'which hand you hold the yarn in' can indicate which yarn dominant, it isn't always, because it depends on the order the yarns are crossed when you bring them in at the back. 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. For the prominent color, the strand is lower, meaning that a little more yarn goes into the stitch, making it slightly taller and more prominent. In this case it also allows two very different palettes to be given for the same pattern. A colourwork yarn thimble can help with this by holding the strands apartfrom each other. In this video, Jen Lucas walks you through four single decreases found in knitting patterns. #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). Stranded Knitting: Post 13, Color or Yarn Dominance (Video Episode 14) Yarn Dominance Do you have a yarn dominance gene? I've yet to do any colorwork, so I have no advice to offer. All Rights Reserved. As long as youre happy with the results and always hold the colours in the same hands*, youre doing it right. There isnt yarn dominance unless your tension is different. Paying attention to Color Dominance is important for achieving the best-looking results in your finished fabric. 2. Knitting, Once youve learned the knitting basics, there are a few extra tools that youll need to complete your projects. They will overlap a bit. In stranded knitting, one yarn will appear slightly more dominant than the other. How to keep yarn from tangling with stranded colorwork? The Knitting Circle Video Membership, Hi Pat, 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. To work a stitch in the backgroundcolour (light grey), bring the strand OVER the foregroundcolour before working the stitch. Stranded knitting is when you work with multiple colors throughout the project. If Crochet is an art, colorwork is the masterpiece! In the left hand image, the purple (darker) yarn is held above the white yarn as it travels into the next stitch. Use a needle 1-2 sizes bigger for colorwork than you use for Stockinette stitch. Knitting Color Work: Tips & Tricks - Brown Sheep Company, Inc. Stranded Colorwork Workshop. bottom of page . Thank you for your feedback. The result is uneven stitch/colour dominance. How you carry your colors affects how they appear in your knitting. All blog comments are checked prior to publishing. After working a few stitches in one colour, simply spread out the stitches of that colour on the right needle so that they arent bunched anymore before working the next stitch in the other colour. Im sorry. Join me as we learn how to apply the Portuguese Style of Knitting for a wonderful Stranded Knitting experience. I would like to see a video on how to work with 3 or more strands of yarn for Stranded Colorwork (Fair Isle). How To Knit: Color Dominance 101 | Brooklyn Tweed If you're new to stranded color knitting, I recommend not worrying about yarn dominance for a while. What do you mean? Try colorwork with this quick project You always want your pattern color to be held dominant so that the pattern stands out from the background. Looking for inspiration for your next project? Good luck!! This leaves a short float, but a float none the less. The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart DB109443 3 hours 36 . The only difference is which yarn was held as the dominant yarn. There may be times in a pattern, however, when youll want to switch up which color is dominant to create different looks. Spearheads knits up lightning fast in two high-contrast colors of Quarry to fend off the winter chill. The Thabo Cowl from Noma Ndlovu uses a band of stranded knitting to make a bold statement that also adds a bit of warmth. To use a coupon code click checkout and enter your code on the next screen. 1. If you can look at a piece of colourwork you have done, with the knowledge you have now, and you can't see which colour is dominant or any difference between different sections then you're not making a mistake, you're just most likely always bringing the new colour in the same way which is a perfectly fine thing to do. Yours looks consistent and beautiful! Each stitch is worked in its correct colour, bringing the yarn from the right or left hand. Yardage used: Approximately 115 yds per color AC - accent/dominant color Pattern Notes Skill level: Intermediate for color work Gauge: 18 sts and 21 rows in 4 inches. Process and Product Knitters: Which Are You? 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. 2020-present TheYarnSite. I have to go up at least two needle sizes in order to maintain my gauge when switching from Stockinette to colorwork. In such areas it is advisable to trap the other yarn (the 'floating' yarn) into the main fabric. Beginner Stranded Colorwork Workshop - Wool and Company Fine Yarn Switching which strand is held to the left or right of the other creates starkly different results in colorwork knitting; this concept is known as "color dominance." The "dominant" color in a pattern is not necessarily the same as your MCin fact, it usually should be exactly the opposite. The top half of the swatch - or the top three rows of the motif - was knit with the white yarn held lower. I made a color work hat once doing the opposite of what I should have done for dominance and ended up remaking it as the design was muddled in the first one but was crisp in the re-do. Our patterns feature inclusive sizing, clear directions, and lots of support so you can be confident of a beautiful new addition to your wardrobe. There are basically three ways to manage your yarn strands: both in your left hand, both in your right hand, or one in each hand. 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 had looked into it because mine was looking really wonky - turns out I was switching which way I was holding the colors, which, like others have said, is the one thing to watch. Codi Clarification, I havent made mistakes in the pattern, I think Ive been making mistakes in color dominance. The bottom half of the swatch - or the bottom three rows of the motif - was knit with the purple yarn held lower, making the darker stitches dominant. 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. For my particular style of knitting, the yarn I carry on the left is dominant. There's a lot to be said about color dominance, but for these tips we'll just say - pick either the top or the bottom for one color and stick with it. This method also keeps the two yarns from tangling, and is generally the quickest way to work stranded colourwork (once youre comfortable with it). Shipping calculated at checkout. the lower yarn will be to the left of the upper yarn. 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. Yarn or color dominance is a bit of a mystery that refers back to the way you hold your yarns. Make sure you're also bringing the next colour under (for the foreground) or over (for the background) the other strand. Alterknit Stitch Dictionary includes 200 original colorwork motifs and five new projects. 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. And dont let yarns get tangled at all. The dominant or foreground colour is held with the left hand, and the background colour is held with the right hand. I know some knitters find it intimidating to work with two colors. Tags: Michele Bernstein, randed colorwork, tips & tricks. The finished cowl is 10.5 inches tall and 24 inches . Fair Isle/Stranded Knitting Tutorial - The Spruce Crafts Stranded Colorwork 101: Understanding Color Dominance, Stranded colorwork knitting is traditional, stunning and looks so intricate! 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. How to Hold Yarn when Stranded Knitting: 7 Steps (with Pictures) 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. Reversing the dark and light colors should be equally successful. Trad Fair Isle uses only two colors in any given row. Share your wins and frustrations with your projects. One of most commonly-cited examples is fair isle knitting. 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. I found a tutorial for that on YouTube, which you may find helpful: https://youtu.be/vEzWdMlKj_Q. By row 10 or so I am many pegs away from my starting point (anchor peg) at the end of each row. The lightly looser strand coming from the bottom does not recede; its larger stitches stand out, loud and proud in the foreground. In the bottom section of the swatch, the white checks are more prominent. 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. Carolyn Knits: Two-Handed Stranded Colorwork Tutorial - Blogger We will send you an email to reset your password. When knitting with two colors, the two yarns can't be in exactly the same place. AtomicAthena 8 yr. ago And if your yarns dont have much contrast, you can bump it up by making your lighter color your dominant color. Whether the blue or light gray should be dominant in your work is subjective, so if you like the way it's looking keep going. Stranded Colorwork 101: Understanding Color Dominance Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. 2022 Michigan Fine Yarns. Stranded colorwork knitting is traditional, stunning and looks so intricate! Thanks. Keep in mind that everyone knits differently and you might find that youre comfortable somewhere in between! On the bottom half of the piece, the white stitches look bigger. Get special offers and store updates tailored just for you based on your favorites! . 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. Our patterns feature inclusive sizing, clear directions, and lots of support so you can be confident of a beautiful new addition to your wardrobe. I've switched which color is dominant for one round or even some stitches in a round and then switched back; I find a single stitch in the other color works best as dominant for me. The two colours can be held on the same finger or two different fingers (say, index and middle), and the right needle to used to grab the correct colour for the next stitch. Give The Gift Of Choice Shop E-Gift Cards, Free Shipping On Domestic Orders $100 And Up. Color Theory and Color Dominance Chapter 5. Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin. Then gently squeeze out the water, roll in a towel, then stomp on the towel to get most of the water out. Thanks!! If you still need convincing or a little more help, here are a couple videos showing how I catch floats. One size only Width: approximately 11 inches Length: 56 inches unjoined and laid flat. You wrap one strand around your index finger with a forward loop (it looks a little like a yarn over) and the other strand the exact other around, back to front. Above: When doing two-handed stranded knitting, carry the pattern yarn (the dominant color) in . Here are the most common methods of holding your yarn for stranded colourwork. It is fun to knit and easy once you get the hang of it. All Rights Reserved. Jean We have a video coming soon to The Knitting Circle about color dominance. American Targhee wool is worsted spun into a round and springy 3-ply yarn, perfect for crisp stitch definition and wear-everywhere knits. A post shared by Andrea Rangel (@andrearknits) on Oct 5, 2015 at 9:22am PDT. If you willy-nilly switch which one is where, your stranding will show differences. Trapping Floats - Ann Kingstone So now we know that colour dominance matters heres how it works. Spread out your stitches. 7 Tips to Improve Your Colorwork Andrea Rangel Below is a swatch with a color work motif. The Background Color is held in the right hand and strands above the Dominant Color on the wrong side of the fabric. Sometimes in a stranded knitting project there are stretches of stitches in one colour of yarn that span a length of more than 3cm (1.5). Yarn (or Color) Dominance refers to the tendency of one color to stand out more in two-color stranded knitting. The visual is better for comprehendsion. Here is what our expert had to say: We dont currently have a video for that on our website, but Ive added it to our list for the future. Floats can be tricky when the item is going to be something that you wear. . While focussing on playing with colours and practising knitting with dpns and a belt I got distracted from paying attention to the arrangement of my yarns. Stranded Knitting: Post 13, Color or Yarn Dominance (Video Episode 14) Lenin is stranded in time and place, as are Mao and Ho Chi . Talk about knitting and your creations. In this sample piece, I held the orange yarn dominant on the right side and the green yarn dominant on the left. BKD Ramblings: Stranded Knitting: Post 13 - Yarn Dominance Save this tutorial for later on pinterest! If you love it whats the problem?And Im just a tad concerned as Im 64 and Ive never heard of the color dominance rules. If you were considering starting a Yell sweater by Marie Wallin (, The Art of Crochet: Understanding Colorwork Techniques, Benefits & Tips of Crocheting, A Stress-Relieving Hobby. I was shocked by how different the two swatches were.