. Regardless of how you hold your yarns when working stranded colorwork, the float of the Dominant Color should always be stranded below the Background Color. Your email address will not be published. #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). I have had online classes with Arne and Carlos and Martina Behm, who all dismiss the idea of color dominance. In fact, I wrote a whole book about it. Yours looks consistent and beautiful! Thank you for this explanation. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Kitchener stitch is a knitting technique used for grafting together two sets of live stitches, most often stockinette stitch. 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. Welcome! Stranded colorwork knitting is traditional, stunning and looks so intricate! - Both yarns on the same hand: This is the case no matter what method of stranded knitting you prefer, but typically the two working yarns are carried as follows: Two-handed stranded knitting: The dominant color is held in the left hand, while the background color is held in the right hand. And yes, you can also throw both yarns using your left hand! SLIP, SLIP, KNIT (SSK) The ssk decrease is a left-leaning decrease., Cable knitting can look complicated and fussy, but its actually fairly simple once youve mastered the mechanics. Color dominance is kind of devisive--some people believe that color dominance is a requirement for stranded colorwork, some people think going for color dominance is wrong, so you can kind of do whatever you want. The only thing thats changed between the two swatches is which colour was dominant on each row otherwise theyre the same pattern in the same colour combination (except for one row on the first swatch where I was trying out the the other background colour). 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. That makes it a little taller, so the stitch is a little bigger. Browse our exclusive collection of notions from AcademicHobbyist to keep your next project organized and easy! If you have three colours, do you get a three-step hierarchy? Enter in your email and password to create a FREE account. The color that is the drawing is the dominant color and should always be held in the leftmost position. The one on the right is a bit distorted at the edges because the swatch was so tiny. (This may be even more evident from the wrong side, shown at right.) 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. Imagining that over a larger project like a sweater and the impact is that much greater. I will be using a stranded colorwork cowl pattern with only two colors, to explore the effect of color dominance, also known as yarn domince, in the knitted fabric. Stranded Knitting: Post 8 - Adding New Colors and Finishing Old Colors (Video Episode 9) Brandon Knitting Designs. In the bottom section of the swatch, the white checks are more prominent. It is on You Tube. Jean In stranded knitting, one yarn will appear slightly more dominant than the other. Yarn dominance occurs because one yarn's strand travels slightly farther than the other, making it slightly tighter, causing it to recede, and be less dominant. 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. You can use the concept of color dominance to achieve the desired effect. These non-traditional colorwork charts are perfect for the creative knitter looking to break away from the ordinary. After working 4 stitches in your main color you work 1 stitch in your second color. Here are a few colorwork techniques that you can use to take your crocheting to the next level: Stripes: Stripes Crochet is more than just a hobby; it is a form of relaxation and stress relief. Make a note on your pattern so you remember which color goes on your left. This may seem like a very small detail, but it can have a pretty large impact on the final result of a pattern. Which you should use is simply personal preference. This is especially helpful when using two similarly shaded colors in your colorwork. I carry both in my right hand. Wet blocking makes a huge difference in the evenness of color work fabric. Work 1 extended double crochet stitch in each chain stitch across the foundation chain by repeating Steps 1 through 3. The pattern colour should always be dominant but its easier to tell which is the pattern and which is the background on some charts than others. 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. If you are always bringing the yarn you are using under the colour you are holding, you may not end up with a dominant colour because the floats end up much more even - under at one end and over at the other, all the time. Use a needle 1-2 sizes bigger for colorwork than you use for Stockinette stitch. That article in the photo even suggests swatching both and deciding which look you like best. 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. KnittingHelp: Stranded color knitting - this video shows holding both strands in your left hand, both in your right, and one strand in each hand; . Tutorial Top Down Sock Construction Not all designs have a clear pattern vs background. I just love this Reddit channel, I learn so much. All Rights Reserved. But how exactly do you manage multiple strands of yarn at the same time while maintaining the pattern gauge? If you look closely, you can see that the orange crosses stand out more on the right side of the work. Because Ive been going back-and-forth I really have no idea. In this case it also allows two very different palettes to be given for the same pattern. Below is a swatch with a color work motif. How can I control it? You can even carry both in the same hand, as long as you orient one to be left and one to be right. Mon/Thurs: 12PM - 8PM If you prefer to hold both strands in the same hand, just be sure the pattern color is consistently held below the background color. 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. Yarn (or Color) Dominance refers to the tendency of one color to stand out more in two-color stranded knitting. I know this has happened several times when I loom knit. A provisional cast-on can be used anytime you want to pick up live stitches from your cast-on edge, either to knit in the opposite direction from or to create a seamless kitchener stitch join. I found a tutorial for that on YouTube, which you may find helpful: https://youtu.be/vEzWdMlKj_Q. Share your wins and frustrations with your projects. Yarn bowls and project bags can be handy for this - just use two instead of one! Hi Pat. In stranded color knitting (often called Fair Isle knitting), two or more colors are used on each row. This leaves a short float, but a float none the less. Here's how I wrap my background color when I'm working with the dominant color. The yarn traveling above and moving a hair farther will produce tighter stitches making them appear slightly smaller on the right side. As you move your yarn across the back of the fabric, one color has to be held above the other. (Gauge can vary since the scarf is not size-specific.) I have forwarded your comment to the proper department. 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. Knitting, Once youve learned the knitting basics, there are a few extra tools that youll need to complete your projects. Keep in mind that everyone knits differently and you might find that youre comfortable somewhere in between! Maybe youve tried it and it didnt turn out, or it just seems like too much to take on. 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. If you're new to stranded color knitting, I recommend not worrying about yarn dominance for a while. Stranded Knitting: Post 8 - Adding New Colors and . Color could have a major impact on the look and feel of your finished piece, whether you choose one color or many. Eg on OPs pic, the usual choice would be for the white to be dominant in order to pop the detail of those sections. ), How I wrap floats every other stitch. If you willy-nilly switch which one is where, your stranding will show differences. Session 1: Sunday October, 2: 11am-12pm . I have to try out a couple of methods of handling the third colour - knitting all three at once, or doing two colours and slipping stitches then making a . One you understand, its a very simple method. A. When knitting with two colors, the two yarns cant be in exactly the same place. 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. This is due to how the yarn is arranged while the swatch was being worked. If youre working with high contrast yarns, you can tone it down by making your darker color your dominant color. Usually keeping the yarns in the same order at the back (dominant to the left/dominant underneath) will take care of it - advice to always hold them in the same hand assumes you are using one hand to hold each yarn, which not everyone does; some people use a thimble or tensioner (in which case you keep the yarns in the same slot), some people drop the yarns in between and some people hold all the yarns on the one hand, whatever works for them. Two-handed colourwork is a blend of both throwing (with the right hand) and picking (with the left hand). Beautiful work and color choices. 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. 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). 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. I say "can be" because this prominence can be very . Im carrying the lighter green on the left, and the darker green on the right. I suppose it does not matter for everyone, we all knit differently, but for me it does. The Knitting Circle Video Membership, Hi Carol, To do this, youd hold the contrast color under lower or under the main color. Knitting colourwork (also known as stranded colourwork or Fair Isle knitting) may seem difficult, but it's actually quite simple. Here's the deal depending on how you hold your yarns, one color will be more prominent then the other. They are experts about color work with years of experience. Learn brioche with the free Daniel's Hat pattern, Working the brioche neck detail on the Polwarth sweater, 3 Easy Stretchy Bind-offs(p2tog bind-off; k2togtbl, k1 bind-off; Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off), How to Knit in the round using Magic Loop, Tighter purl stitches for neater cables and ribbing, Joining the body and sleeves on a seamless bottom up sweater, How to pick a garment without a model for you(specifically addresses finding garment patternswhen your gender identity isn't represented and the styles you want to knit might not be sized to fit your body). Fair Isle knitting, also known as stranded colorwork knitting, is a technique for working two (or more) colors of yarn in the same row. The yarn held lower is dipping down a little before stranding across and then back up again to reach the stitch. 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. We will always recommend swatching to ensure you are satisfied with the final outcome, but have fun playing with this technique! The finished cowl is 10.5 inches tall and 24 inches . The design had architectural elements that looked terrible when they were subdued and great when they stood out against the background color. Definitely! Figure out which color is your background color and which one makes the pattern. This method is popular for a reason - its quick and efficient, plus you look bad-ass doing it! A Fair Isle vest would probably be included in even the tiniest of my personal capsule wardrobe so it seems absurd that I dont actually have one I made myself. The yarn traveling the shortest distance is the dominant yarn. Tues/Wed: 10AM - 5PM 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. Writing to a colleague about "The Focus," that loose-knit group of politicians and journalists and socialites that informally coordinated anti-appeasement information and activity in the late 1930s, Churchill once described it as a coalition seeking support especially from 14 . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thank you for the explanation. Strikkegarn. Review of technique demonstration & color dominance; Begin & work on stranded colorwork section of cowl; Because of yarn dominance. The Thabo Cowl from Noma Ndlovu uses a band of stranded knitting to make a bold statement that also adds a bit of warmth. Colour dominance happens because one yarn has slightly longer floats that end up absorbed into the stitches, making them slightly larger (more dominant). 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. How you carry your colors affects how they appear in your knitting. We will send you an email to reset your password. * e.g. With both yarns in the right hand, British style: 2. The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart DB109443 3 hours 36 . Here are seven quick tips that will immediately improve the look of your color work. One color is usually very slightly dominant over the other color, making those stitches every so slightly larger, and thus more prominent in a . The color below ends up with more yarn than the one thats stranded above, making the stitches in that color larger and causing them to visually pop more than the stitches made with the color thats stranded above. Join me as we learn how to apply the Portuguese Style of Knitting for a wonderful Stranded Knitting experience. Hence dominant colour it makes the pattern pop more against the background. The Knitting Circle Video Membership, Hi Pat, The Background Color is held in the right hand and strands above the Dominant Color on the wrong side of the fabric. Livonia MI 48150 One of most commonly-cited examples is fair isle knitting. The color below ends up with more yarn than the one that's stranded above, making the stitches in that color larger and causing them to visually pop more than the stitches made with the color that's stranded above. Automatically applied discounts will also be shown there. Thank you for your feedback. Certainly for items with all-over stranded patterning, you will wish to swatch in stranded knitting and not rely on your single-color gauge. Lenin is stranded in time and place, as are Mao and Ho Chi . This is how I hold my yarn for stranded knitting with two colors. All blog comments are checked prior to publishing. Floats can be tricky when the item is going to be something that you wear. Choose colors with high contrast. There may be times in a pattern, however, when youll want to switch up which color is dominant to create different looks. The yarn held lower is dipping down a little before stranding across and then back up again to reach the stitch. When you count the turning chain as the first extended double crochet, you should have 16 extended double crochet stitches in Row 1. Some of that extra yarn naturally transfers into the stitch, making the stitches in the lower yarn bigger. Youve probably heard about keeping your tension even so the stitches dont pucker, but did you realize that the way you position the yarn along the wrong side of your fabric can affect the look of your stitches? 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. The color changes in Fair Isle are close together. The dominant color will be closer to the knitting and will end up underneath the second color when I pick my yarn. On the top half of the piece, the navy stitches look a little bigger than the white stitches. In stranded knitting, as the yarns travel along behind the work, one strand will be below the other, and that strand will be slightly more prominent, its stitches just a fraction larger, than the stitches of the other strand; as you can see if you draw the strands of yarn along the back of the work, it's the strand . Shipping calculated at checkout. In the right hand image, the purple yarn moves under the white yarn, making it the dominant color. The long tail cast on is a great multi-purpose knitting cast on and the perfect place for beginner knitters to start. 31K views 1 year ago How To Knit Take your colorwork knitting to the next level with our Color Dominance tutorial! Hence dominant colour it makes the pattern pop more against the background. I agree with the general sentiment that you shouldn't be stressed over it, but I also wanted to be helpful, since it can help your color work pop more to think about dominance. The result is uneven stitch/colour dominance. The top half of the swatch - or the top three rows of the motif - was knit with the white yarn held lower. One size only Width: approximately 11 inches Length: 56 inches unjoined and laid flat. The water allows the yarn to relax and distribute itself evenly across the fabric, which locks the stitches in and makes your project look great! As you gain experience you might find that you can hold both strands in your right hand at the same time. With both yarns in the left hand, Continental style: 3. 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. Then you're doing it right. Stranded colorwork is a technique where more than one color of yarn is used on a row (or round) of knitting. Yarn color dominance. Yarn Color Dominance in Stranded Colorwork By Michele Lee Bernstein Yarn color dominance. Talk about knitting and your creations. One yarn will be carried below the other, and that makes it travel further to get to the needle. How does ease affect inclusive size ranges? The lightly looser strand coming from the bottom does not recede; its larger stitches stand out, loud and proud in the foreground. I dont agree with this comment/ idea. There are a few reasons why stranded knitting can make a lumpy fabric, but this focuses on how color dominance can influence it. I would like to see a video on how to work with 3 or more strands of yarn for Stranded Colorwork (Fair Isle). I'm going to swatch and see, but was curious whether anyone already knows! It IS possible to knit colourwork too loosely, but its much more common for it to be tight - so make sure you swatch, and go up a needle size or two if needed! Save BIG on yarns while supplies last! If you're new to stranded color knitting, I recommend not worrying about yarn dominance for a while. Jean You can also tug on both legs of a tight stitch to get it to show better. Even if you cant remember which is dominant, always have the colors in the same position so your colorwork looks crisp. To begin, Michele shows a swatch of a two-color checkerboard pattern. If Crochet is an art, colorwork is the masterpiece! That said, for a repetitive or all-over motif such as those found in the Yell sweater, youll want to be consistent with how youre positioning the yarns or the difference will draw the eye and look out of place. The Knitting Circle Video Membership. What is it? Regardless of how you hold or tension your yarn (one hand, two hands, English, Continental, etc.) The Dominant Color is held in the left hand and strands below the Background Color on the wrong side of the fabric. In this example my dominant color is red, and the second . Im not sure how to translate it to an English knitter, however. I just knit a sweater English style using color dominance method - having learned about it for the first time after 40 years of knitting! Hold the pattern color in your left hand and the background color in your right. 5. And dont let yarns get tangled at all. What do you mean? I just wanted to say I think it's gorgeous and if you're happy with it, that should be all that matters. Im sorry. A post shared by Andrea Rangel (@andrearknits) on Oct 5, 2015 at 9:22am PDT. 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. When working this type of colorwork, it's possible to control the color dominance in the project. 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. 4. Usually, the yarn on your left will be dominant over the one on your right. Reversing the dark and light colors should be equally successful. Look at Arne and Carlos video about this topic. Alterknit Stitch Dictionary includes 200 original colorwork motifs and five new projects. In any stranded colourwork you hold one colour so that its always coming from under the other colour when you switch yarns. How does ease affect inclusive size ranges? As we knit, the completed stitches tend to bunch up on the right needle, making the width of the fabric seem narrower than it really is. When knitting with two colors, the two yarns can't be in exactly the same place. So I made a mini swatch in the same colours and pattern to see what happened when I switched the dominance. Powered by Mai Theme. 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. Ill try again soon. To work a stitch in the foreground colour, maneuver the right needle tip so that it goes beneath the background strand, then bring up a stitch from the foreground yarn. It is the clearest one Ive come across. White yarn changes from dominant to non-dominant resulting in an irregular appearance. 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. To use a coupon code click checkout and enter your code on the next screen. The workshop will include visuals, a demonstration & opportunities for questions. Pattern dominant Background dominant In this sample piece, I held the orange yarn dominant on the right side and the green yarn dominant on the left.