This is also part of why steeking is so common in these places sticky wools are unlikely to unravel when the stitches are cut. This method leaves floats, which are lengths of yarn carried across the back of the work that can be easily snagged. For more information, please see our Enjoy! Whether you're brand new to colorwork knitting or have years of experience under your belt, this innovative new way to knit colorwork will transform your knitting! ), Heres the tutorial for you! Weve got some handy tips on making this dream a reality. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Fervent fiber nerd and frequent baker living in Norway. Part Seven: Materials fromThe Principles of Knittingby June Hemmons Hiatt, On working in stranded colorwork: If you have any other tips foreasing up tight colorwork, Id love to hear themin the comments! 2. Wrap a tapemeasure around your heel (or your intended recipients heel) andup and over your instep, which is the widest point of your foot,where the sock will need to stretch the most. This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Below is a video demonstrating my method for knitting colorwork sans floats. The long float pictured at the bottom of the swatch isnt trapped at all, so its floating across all twelve stitches. If you dont, its a good bet that youll pull the non-working yarn a little too tight, causing puckering problems. Now that weve covered when its a good idea to trap floats how do we actually do it? With this weather were all having, doesnt this scarf sound tempting? 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. This is also part of why steeking is so common in these places - sticky wools are unlikely to unravel when the stitches are cut. A yarn like Quince & Co. Chickadee is smooth and springy, because its worsted spun with three plies. Focus on one section of the fabric at a time and knead it. 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. 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. To do this, start by turning your sock insideout on the needles so that you can see the right side of the workinside on the needle farthest from you. If you find that your sock is still too tight, another trick isto add more stitches, especially to the leg portion. If youve tried this out and you still think your colorwork is coming out too tight, roll up your sleeves and get ready to try a few different methods, keeping in mind that some things may work for you and some may not; theres a lot of trial and error in knitting! This was so helpful! You dont want to snarl your toes in floats when youput on your socks. 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. 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. If you stop here and look at your float, youll see that its caught in the space between the stitch you just knit and the previous stitch. How often to catch floats when working colorwork comesdown to personal preference. 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. Many folks swear by the two-handed method while others prefer to carry both yarns in one hand (with or without a stranding guide). Knittersgenerally find that their gauge is tighter, with more stitches perinch, over stranded areas than plain stockinette stitch. Copyright2023Golden Peak Media. Enjoy! Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. 2. This is a very secure way to trap the float. 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. Fair Isle knitting, also known as stranded colorwork knitting, is a technique for working two (or more) colors of yarn in the same row. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. 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). The good news is that picking up dropped stitches in color work is actually not hard! 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. Thoroughly soakyour socks in water, then roll them up in a towel to squeezeout any excess moisture. The culprits are the strands, or floats, which are lengths of yarnnot being knitted and simply carried along the back of the fabric. Cookie Notice Wool will naturally relax into a smooth, even surface after blocking to improve any tight or loose spots in your knitting. Omit them, of course! 1. 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 watched the video but would like more information & can't seem to find it. 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? 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. UFO to WIP: Can This Crochet or Knitting Project Be Saved? There are a few reasons for this, but the big one is thatcolorwork fabric by its very nature is less elastic than normal stockinette. Read morehere. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Archived post. AboutPressCopyrightContact. Slide your right-hand needleunderneaththe floating strand (blue), then wrap the working yarn (charcoal) around your needle to knit the stitch. Knitting In the Round 3 Ways: DPNs, Two Circulars, or Magic Loop? Knitosophy Designs uses cookies on our site to improve your experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. So for knitted fabric thats likely to come into things that may catch on floats, like fingers and toes, we musttraporcatchlong floats to anchor them to the fabric. The colorwork pattern for the Ajio scarf calls for a 7-stitch float. You can read aboutcolor dominance here.). Go ahead and knit the next stitch normally. 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. We'll start at the very beginning - with foundational principles of the strandless method, then take it further with intermediate and advanced techniques. This method is great for Continental and Combined knitters who tension the yarn by holding it with the left hand, and use the needles to "pick" the working yarn and draw it through the stitch. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. 3. How can one get a copy of the pattern? This pulling can also really tighten your gauge and make garments too small. (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.). Posted by 3 years ago. The last step is towet-blockyour socks. I hope it helps you or at least entertains you. Ive found that this method of weaving in works best with worsted-weight and smaller yarns. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The most important thing is to consider what kind of item youre knitting, and whos going to be wearing/using it. Colorwork can be stressful worrying about having the right tension and this new method takes all of that away! Required fields are marked *. making sure no floats are longer than 1 or something similar). This looks like a really fun project, and the authors have included a little tutorial about how to deal with long floats, too, which is one of the challenges lots of Fair Isle knitting projects. Lately I've been on a colourwork-knitting kick, and thought I'd share my favorite methods for catching floats. 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. This will ensure that the unused yarn strandwill later relax against the back of the work. All Rights Reserved. You can see how much easier it is to catch a finger (or a toe, or a hand) on the open, un-trapped float: So, if Im knitting a piece that has long floats, how often should I trap them? Many knitters like to wrap each strand around a different finger and knit all stitches English style (throwing) or Continental style (picking). 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!). The unused yarn ends up floating behind the pattern. Catching Floats in Stranded Knitting Knitting with Suzanne Bryan Knitting Stranded Colorwork or Fair Isle Colorwork Continental! 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! It may take some trial and error to get the hang of it, but Ive seen this method yield results for several people. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The pattern can be found in Vintage Modern Knits, heres a direct link to the book: https://www.interweave.com/store/vintage-modern-knits-ebook. 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. Your email address will not be published. Youve effectively trapped the float already! Heres a trick I use for every round of stranded colorworkthat I knit on my socks: I flip the sock inside out, thenknit these rounds. Knit.fm episode 5: Yarn[podcast] Stretch your damp sock gently in severaldirections to even out stitches and floats. The wrong side of the sockwith the floats will be outside (Photo 3 below). Personally, I dont like this approach. Please confirm you want to block this member. If you can pick up a regular knit stitch, then you can definitely pick up and fix a dropped stitch within a section of color work. In reality, there are a few different methods, but Ill be demonstrating what I think is the most common below. 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. You can see in the photo abovethat Ive worked the first 5 stitches of my 21-stitch span. Sue Blacker on Woollen vs Worsted mill spinningon wovember.com Play around with different needle types if youre not sure which category you fit into. Please note: 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. I find myself hating colorwork and dreading it because of how tangled it's been getting. ), Ondifferent yarn types: Contains spam, fake content or potential malware, https://www.interweave.com/store/vintage-modern-knits-ebook, 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. These cookies do not store any personal information. Then work the first stitch of the new colorthis is the yarn that creates the float. I don't want to have long strands of floats inside the hat, nor do I want it to be too tight. Fortunately, there are tricks to create a moreelastic fabric and a successful sock fit. Tension will be easiest to tackle if you choose a pattern that doesn't require long floats. Intro to Stranded Colorwork // Technique Tuesday Tutorials Catching / Trapping Floats Invisibly. A float should look like a flattened U rather than an arrow-straightline (Photo 2 below). and our Catching Floats in Stranded Knitting Knitting with Suzanne Bryan 130K subscribers Subscribe 1.8K Share 181K views 9 years ago Stranded or Fair Isle Knitting There is an improved version of this. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Privacy Policy. Because strandedcolorwork does not have the same stretch capacity as plain stockinetteknitting, you have a real problem. Here are some things to consider: Smoother yarns are closer to the top of the list, while stickier wools are towards the bottom.
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