When I reverse the darks and lights on a colorwork pattern, I take a photo of the original chart and put it in reverse or negative effect on the photo editor and print it out that way!
I must say, this is the first time I've seen somebody explain how color dominance works. I did figure it out myself, precisely what you've said: the strand that runs lower creates a slightly larger stitch at the point of switching colors. I've explained it to a couple of people online and also once when this question came up in my local knitting group and people were always like, oh, I understand now! What I don't understand is why this is not in the books that aim to teach stranded knitting, or at least in the two books on the topic I have this is never mentioned, there's just the instruction: keep the dominant color left, but why - nobody says. So thank you very much for spreading this knowledge in public!
@@cloknits Same here, if I try to memorize instructions I am very likely to mess up but when I understand how things work I can always get the result I want.
@@wendysopel-tetreault2058 Arne and Carlos are amazing. I've seen their videos talking about this and I agree that you can achieve this results but I personally don't like that it twists your yarns and disrupts the flow of my knitting. I prefer dealing with a little bit of color dominance twisting my yarns to make them come up from the same place. That's just my 2 cents, and I think that the aim should be to enjoy what you do and the result it gives you.
@@wendysopel-tetreault2058 I have watched them and I disagree with them on this. I disagree both on the thesis that colorwork dominance doesn't exist and the thesis that it is a tension problem. I have learned some things from them that I haven't seen elsewhere for which I am very grateful but on this particular topic I think they are most likely not interpreting what they're doing correctly. Because I've watched them explain that they hold the color mostly used in the current round in the left hand and the less used color in the right hand, so they change color positions. OK, this is a completely valid approach. But my assessment is that they don't get the color dominance that is usually achieved by being persistent and they decide to call this a tension problem in other videos. Which I not only don't agree with but I think is actually counter productive for people who are trying to learn what to do and most important, what result to expect from what they're doing. So yeah... A fan of sorts but on this topic, very much not a fan.
Yes please for video on catching floats. It's been a long time since I did any stranded knitting, so all your tips were bringing back some of the how-to's. Your video was very thorough and well explained. I also want to say that I really like your haircut (I know, nothing to do with knitting, but you have the features to pull such a haircut off).
The biggest tip for me was how to cover the chart to stay on track. Thank you for including that, as I cast on my first fair isle project today (a hat), and know that will save me headaches. And thankful you showed the different methods of holding the yarn strands…I will try using both hands. Thanks again for putting out a great podcast.
Excellent video. I haven’t knit color work before but I find myself drawn to it more and more. So what a gift this video is for me, as I am one to gather information first before starting a new technique.
I wish I’d have been able to see this when I first decided to delve into stranded knitting, as it covered everything I had questions about in the beginning. I’ve not done a lot yet (socks & baby hats), but I was familiar with all that you shared except for one BIGGIE! I feel like I’ve been set free, having been given permission to not catch my floats! My mind is reeling from that revelation. This was an excellent video instruction. Thank you so much for sharing it!
This video was very helpful to me. I have not yet mastered keeping yarns over separate fingers. I still stop and pick up what I need. I’m glad to find your channel!
Your last tip was a revelation for me. Thank you! You also helped me with value. I thought the difference in color would stand out more when in fact the values were too close. Next time I’ll use my camera to check. I went to so much trouble to make Fair Isle socks only to see the pattern disappear in the end. Tip: make a swatch and block it! Stranded knitting can pull together after an inch or so. Also you can play with color placement.
My oil painting teacher really emphasized value over color so your value really clicked for me. Taking a photo and editing it into b/w might help me avoid purchasing mistakes.
Lots of good reminders and the information about the floats to prevent puckering was appreciated. My next knit will be a Marie Wallin faire isle sweater. Thank you very much.
You just reminded me that I have a Marie Wallin design in my queue but that one is a long term commitment cause I'm spinning the yarn for it as well! 🥴
Thank you for this video. I loved seeing your work. It is very inspiring. The two tips that stand out most for me are the chart covering, I am guilty of covering the bottom of my charts when doing color work, and the tip for how to prevent puckering is gold. Thank you again, I look forward to more of your videos.
I'm right into starting to think about knitting colourwork. In the past I was frightened top mich. It is auch a wonderful reassurance to see and hear your explanations in this video. Now, my fears are calmed down. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable experience with us knitters......you are a wonderful teacher!
I was very scared about colourwork and I am very happy how many things you explained! You started with teh definition of stranded colourwork and fair isle and this was pretty good for me. The tipps are great. I will start now with colourwork!
Just yesterday I picked up four skeins of yarn that I thought went well together to try out my first colorwork patterns. I had been planning to use them interchangeably with each other, but after watching your video I ran and took a picture in grayscale to check the values of them. Two of the skeins had almost the exact same value! That actually really helped me narrow down my color choice for my first pattern, since now I know I don't want to combine those two yarns with each other, but they'll both work with any of the others.
I’m so glad your video came up in my feed. I’ve been afraid to try color work mainly because of the way to hold my yarn and tension! I have saved this video in case I forget but I don’t believe I will. I appreciate your clear explanation, thank you ❤
Me as well. I subbed in the first ten mins, this is so helpful. I did my first cowl in two stranded colorwork and it was fun! There are great patterns out there for that! ❤
Thank you so much for this video! It has been the most clear and educational video on colorwork that I’ve ever seen. I would appreciate a video on catching strands too. That’s one of my biggest stumbling blocks. Thanks again - you are awesome!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your tips. I have been a knitter for 50 years and colourway knitting has been on my wish list for all of those years. Your explanations are brilliant. I'm going to give it a go feeling well armed with this video 🌻
I'm glad the algorithm showed me this video! I had a lot of trouble with stranded colorwork when i tried it a few years ago, but I've been wanting to give it another go. This is so helpful!
I'm from the UK (so an English knit style I guess). It had never occurred to me to keep one colour in the left hand and the other in the right. The sheer amount of time I have wasted untangling balls of wool is incalculable. So thank you!
Exactly. Well said. Something I find helpful and to enlarge on your second tip is to take a photo of your colour choices, edit them into grayscale and watch what happens! Also, I remember being asked to teach a fair-isle class and discovering the wool I was asked to use was a multi-coloured gradient wool against a solid. No, no, no, that is not fair-isle. 😮 😂 I explained to my students that this was stranded knitting and they all enjoyed the class anyway. So. The point of all this is that I enjoyed and appreciated your video very much.
I’ve saved this to my “knitting” library. This summer, I’m hoping to do my first color work, a cowl for my mom. I will be watching this a lot. Thank you! Happy knitting 💚🧶💚
I’m still rather new to knitting (long time crocheter) but I’ve picked up color work without much more instruction aside from just following the pattern. These are some great tips. The puckering one is definitely helpful because I’m always worried about my floats being too tight so what I do instead of stretching the stitches, I just hold a finger underneath the float as I knit it to make sure it stays loose.
While I’ve done a fair amount of colorwork, I really appreciated knowing that I’m doing things relatively correctly. I’m always looking to improve my work so I’ve just subscribed to follow your work more closely. However, I DO catch floats every three stitches because I need and appreciate the extra warmth provided by the extra thickness. Great video! ClaudiaSJI
That's interesting. I don't feel like the thickness changes whether you catch of not, there's the same amount of strands running along the back of the project. But I could be wrong.
Great video! I’m learning that everyone seems to do things differently and at first that was frustrating to me as a new learner 😄 However, I have figured out that I don’t like continental knitting in the style of the fist instructor that I came across SO now I LOVE seeing how different people tackle things. I would love to see how you catch your floats, but I also appreciate the advice that it’s not always necessary EVERY 5 stitches 😊
Really GREAT video! color dominance due to which side the yarn is knitted on was surprising. I used to put the MC is on the left side, but will definitely switch from now on. Also, interesting is the catching of floats and avoiding puckering. I did watch your video on catching floats and actually frogged one of my finished hats to redo without catching the floats and adding the expanding the stitches to avoid puckering. wow, it made a HUGE difference! Thank you!!
THIS was a fabulous (6+) lessons! You really covered so much but the floats at the end and stretching them out was VERY informative! ALSO I was gathering supplies for that had by Hunter! WOW I can't wait to chk out your ravelry also! TY ~ you have a new fan!
The tip for covering the chart from the top helped me a lot. I always covered from the bottom and it caused me to struggle a lot. But covering from the top is a great tip. Thank you.
Nice job of keeping up the pace. I like instructional utubes where I can learn something. I have immersed myself in charting and love it. Interesting: on my own I figured out that covering above was the best. So it was fun to hear you confirm that. I am venturing into colorwork; I liked learning about not worrying about floats if you are using a wool that is not slick or superwash (not sure how you said it). I was given an old kit of unopene, different colors of skeins of wool and directions... in Norwegian. The wool is rough and the pattern I picked out (in English) does not require long floats. I love your video; I'll be back! Thanks, Patricia
Thank you soooo much for this most helpful video!! I am new to colorwork and just now teaching myself to knit continental so I can use the two handed technique that you use. You answered every question I had been wanting to understand and more in such a straightforward and simple way!! You had mentioned about using yarn that is sticky and non superwash can you share what yarn companies and fiber and yarn weights you enjoy using. If you could please share pattern and yarn for what you are wearing on your videos as everything you knit is Amazing!! I am so happy I found you and can’t wait to watch all your videos!! ❤
I'm glad this answered your questions. As far as yarn, any untreated wool I generally love, it's difficult to suggest which ones since I don't know where you live but if you have a local yarn store that you like, you might want to pop in there and ask them about their non-superwash options. I'm wearing the Riddari sweater in Nutiden yarn in this video. I'll try to remember to add it to the description on my next videos.
I am knitting several beanies of the US National parks, sometimes seven different colors but only two in any row with up to 12 stitch floats. I would love to see how you handle the floats.
Thank you, very informative. I learned from my mom who did Norwegian sweaters, like the one you are wearing, and she knew this stuff and passed it on. But it was good for me to check your thoroughly informative video to see if I missed anything! Mom hated using commercial patterns (she claimed they confused her and she didn't know how to follow them)--so she made up her own using graph paper and colored pencils. Way before computers... Anyway, you are right on on all counts, thanks!🥰
@@cloknitsIt’s so hard though to change! I’ve been knitting English for almost 30 years and I tried Continental knitting because I wanted to be a bit faster… my brain was just 🤯
This is the first video I ever saw on this channel and I'm so very happy that I clicked on it when it was suggested to me today. Your presentation was so informative and helpful and you have such a great way of explaining things that I subscribed right away and gladly will check out all the other videos that you have already made. I would describe myself as in a "far advanced beginner" stage of knitting, ready to enter into the next phase which involves tackling some of my favorite and a little more complicated patterns which also include some colorwork. I feel that you are the perfect knitting teacher for me and I can learn a lot here. So thanks for making this available, sharing from your experience and using your set of talents in such a beautiful way that brings joy to so many of us in the knitting community. Heartfelt greetings from Germany.
Thank you Clo. My two biggest takeaways were about not needing to catch your floats over short distances and the spreading out of stitches after doing 3 or more stitches in the same colour. I have done colour work a few times before and I stopped catching my floats for short distances as I found it didn’t add anything. So it’s nice to hear that it’s ok from the perspective of an experienced colour work person like yourself. For the spreading out of stitches I will do that going forward. The other anti-puckering thing I did was to go up a needle size (+0.25-0.5mm). This is generally only something I do for small circumference colourwork (socks, sleeves, etc).
Going up a needle size is actually something I recommend for things that need more stretch, like socks. Even if you keep you tension even between stockinette and colorwork, stranded will never have as much stretch as st st, so the bigger needles help.
Thank you for explaining the difference between Fair Isle and stranded colourwork. Over my lifetime I have learned about cultural appropriation; it's a huge problem for many peoples these days. I do some stranded colourwork and sometimes I use Fair Isle motifs. I call my work 'Fair Isle Style' knitting, to make it clear that I am not stealing the patterns or impersonating someone born / raised / living on Fair Isle itself. I'm from BC in western Canada and have seen artists of many sorts appropriate First Nations imagery without any idea of the meaning of the images and no understanding of their place culturally for so many people. Thanks for the other explanations, as well. I've bookmarked your video and will be checking out some of your others, once time permits.
Merci !! Really enjoyed your tips and explanation of how Fair Isle fits into stranded colorwork. I'm on my first stranded project - Goldenfern by Jenn Steingass. My prep included completing swatches in the round. The swatching really made me focus on spreading out stitches. I struggle a little with needle size between stranded color work and areas of knitting in the main color. Gauge wasn't always to same. Know I'll make mistakes but your video is amazing and a must watch for someone trying out, or getting back to, stranded color work. I'm sure to watch it again (and share with my knitting group in Langley BC).
Thank you for the comment. Yes some people have to go up a needle size to knit stranded and have the same tension as stockinette. Practice makes perfect!
I just subscribed. Thank you for your explanation on stopping puckering. I have had trouble in the past with this problem so I stopped trying. Your demonstration helped very much. Such a good tip. I’m going to try Colorwork again. Please continue with your wonderful work. I would love to see more on any aspect of colorwork
Lovely tutorial on all the best tips.. I’m with you on all of these.. I do colourwork, fair isle, and stranded, and I too do everything the same as you, including teaching myself to knit both English throwing and continental to use both hands to knit, knit 2 colours with left hand when it small even stitches, and stretch the stitches across to ensure spacing when changing colours. This is a fantastic tutorial.. and a wonderful refresher and validation of tips and tricks for the best of the best.. thank you! ❤️
I have been interested in colour work for a long time. I think all of the tips are very valuable to someone who is just starting. The one thing i find intimidating is how to keep your yarn from twisting together. The top you gave is great. I hope to start a toque soon 😊. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the video. I'm planning my frist colourwork pullover so every tip and trick is really helpful because I bought beautiful yarn already and I don't want to ruin it ;)
It's very difficult to ruin nice yarn. I've knitted sweaters before that I ended up never wearing, unraveled them years later to reknit the yarn into something else. Enjoy your yarn!
Thank you. All of your tips were a great review of techniques. I've only tried one colorwork piece, and will use all of your tips for project #2. Personally, I'd appreciate a video of how you do your colorwork.
I just finished my first colorwork. I would love you to have a tutorial on catching floats. Thank you. I have loved your podcasts from your every first podcast!
I’m just teaching myself how to do color work and this video has been so helpful! Especially how to avoid puckering and how to hold the two color yarns. Thank you so much for being a great teacher!!!
Thank you for these tips! I’ve always covered the chart rows below, but your method sounds much better! Yes, please, on the video about catching floats.
Thank you for helping confirm that I don't need to catch all my stitches as long as they aren't too long. The only thing I am now learning as I am progressing in the stranded colour work pattern I put together is working with 3 colours and trying not to get them twisted in the process. I also realized that in my creation, I am coming to a point where I will need to occasionally catch stitches in some specific rows. Again thank you for your insight 😊
A great episode. I love knitting with 2 colours in a row. Im a mirror image left handed knitter. I hold both yarns in my left hand just different fingers. And the twisting of two yarns in a row is a great tip. I make sure not to get the the twist. Im new to knitting but I love very complicated graphs. And catching floats. I like every 2 or 3 stitches. I also like the No Floats
Thank you, great podcast! Very helpful. I am a very tight knitter and have had trouble with my tension in colorwork, which I have only done a few pieces. I do use a ring in my knitting for speed but I think with colorwork now I am going to try to do the two handed method as you have shown to loosen my tension. I have always been afraid that my project will be too open or gappy if I knit loose but I just have to practice.
I am a new subscriber. I love your simple explanation and wonderful tips to improve technique on stranded knitting. I definitely would appreciate seeing how you catch gloats. I have yet to master that technique. Thank you. ❤
I'm pleased to know that I can just skip catching floats if I want to when knitting stranded colorwork. For hats, I like using a particular wool yarn that's "sticky", so from now on I won't be catching floats. After wearing the hat a couple of times, the floats start to felt a bit and create a smooth finish. Thank you!
Thanx! I’ve been catching my floats AND stretching the stitches out before knitting the next color stitch. (First colorwork sweater!) We’ll see what technique I keep as I gain more experience. It’s so much fun! I see why people keep casting on colorwork items.
I'm knitting my first ever colourwork jumper and the tip about which order I hold the strand has made a massive difference in my work! It looks so much better now (though I hope blocking clears it up a bit in the other part too, since it's a top down design and it might be too noticeable otherwise! Thank you for the great advice :D
I just found this video! I was always told to twist the 2 colors when you change. Which always was a nightmare. And I always stretched out my stitches on my right needle too much, I guess, as it made the float longer than it should be and draped too much, making it a float I could catch a finger or ring into. You explained it very well how you just stretch enough so the stitches below line up. I am saving this video for reference. Subscribed!!!!
Thank you! I guess I never realized color dominance was a thing. I also love that this is how you taught yourself continental, so I’m going to give that a try! Thank you.
Your first tip was the most important. I knit that same hat you showed and I ended up ripping it out because the tension was awful with 2 superwash yarns. When I reknit it, I kept one yarn, a superwash gradient, and used an untreated yarn for the other. It worked!
Thank you for this lesson. I have been knitting for a long time and was taught to catch the long floats. I never liked the way it looked and colors poked through to the front of the work. I thought it was my technique. You showed me that it was not. Am right now knitting a simple 2 color yoke for a swoncho. Decided to not catch any floats and it looks so my better. I would love to see a video of how you catch your floats. I know it is sometimes necessary so that fingers do not get caught in the floats. Great video.
My takeaway was the effect from "sticky" yarn vs. superwash, in colourwork. The validation of the techniques I use already was great. Your explanation pace/style is great.
Thank you Clo. Wow! I learned a lot. The anti-puckering tip and color dominance. Never thought about covering the top part of the chart yet that makes perfect sense. Well done and I LOVE the sweater you are wearing.
I found this to be a great review. I have knit several different color work projects. I always think I can improve 🤓. You did a great comprehensive summary of important points. I did not know the difference between stranded color work and Faur Isle. I look forward to your future videos!
This is the first time I have watched one of your tutorial videos. EXCELLENT!! Very, very informative and SO well done. Clearly presented, both visually and verbally! :) Thank you!!!! I look forward to watching additional videos by you. :) :) :)
This video was super helpful for giving me a general overview of the topic, i watched some other ones that all cover specific techniques that were helpful too but left me a little confused about the bigger picture, so thank you so much!! I now feel a lot less intimidated about trying my first color work project :))
i catch every stitch as this solves the problem of puckering. I was taught to do this over 50 years ago by an elderly lady from fair isle. it also allows for speed and rhythm in my experience.
Great video! My tips for absolute beginners is to start with something that only has tops two colours per round and that can be knit on a circular needle. My first colour work project was mittens on double pointed needles as I thought it was easier to do something small. It was a nightmare to tension, and I ended up with one mitten that was gigantic and one that was huge. Both unusable. My next project was on circular and so much more successful!
I really enjoyed seeing your video yesterday. It demystified quite a bit about stranded knitting and I will be using your tips going forward. Thank you so much
I finally learned continental knitting after years of throwing my yarn English style. Can’t wait to try using both in color work! And I would REALLY like to see how you float your yarn when you’re using this technique, please! 😊
Interesting video !!! As I am right-handed and knit the more easy continental-way, I put the two different yarns on my left index-finger in a way that the yarns cross over between the two lower knuckles on the 'outside' of the finger. This gives me a uniform tension. 🙂
This was so helpful! I'm just learning how to do colorwork and making the same hat! Thank you so much for all the great tips on holding the yarn. And not catching floats. I only did one row today and my yarns were all twisted together at the end.
Great video. I have such a problem with color work and I am sure going to use your technique, makes sense. I have the tension problem and puckering problems. Love color work but I always frog a lot. Wish me luck😊.
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The second video with my technique for catching floats and the jogless join is up: th-cam.com/video/2GWwFZAbziI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=9CM5KlO8EVbxGDye
Gracias no pensaba que lo pudiera arreglar yo 🙂
Hello! That blanket behind you on the sofa is beautiful. Do you have a pattern or link for it? Thanks :)
@@hbrown8538 Thank you, it's called Stamina by Camille Descôteaux.
When I reverse the darks and lights on a colorwork pattern, I take a photo of the original chart and put it in reverse or negative effect on the photo editor and print it out that way!
Wow! Thank you for that!
I must say, this is the first time I've seen somebody explain how color dominance works. I did figure it out myself, precisely what you've said: the strand that runs lower creates a slightly larger stitch at the point of switching colors. I've explained it to a couple of people online and also once when this question came up in my local knitting group and people were always like, oh, I understand now! What I don't understand is why this is not in the books that aim to teach stranded knitting, or at least in the two books on the topic I have this is never mentioned, there's just the instruction: keep the dominant color left, but why - nobody says.
So thank you very much for spreading this knowledge in public!
Somehow, people seem to be satisfied with the how but not the why. The why is the reason I remember things so I'm always curious to dig deeper.
@@cloknits Same here, if I try to memorize instructions I am very likely to mess up but when I understand how things work I can always get the result I want.
The aim should be to make the stitches even (without dominance) in any colour work …. Please watch Arne and Carlos videos on Norwegian knitting.
@@wendysopel-tetreault2058 Arne and Carlos are amazing. I've seen their videos talking about this and I agree that you can achieve this results but I personally don't like that it twists your yarns and disrupts the flow of my knitting. I prefer dealing with a little bit of color dominance twisting my yarns to make them come up from the same place. That's just my 2 cents, and I think that the aim should be to enjoy what you do and the result it gives you.
@@wendysopel-tetreault2058 I have watched them and I disagree with them on this. I disagree both on the thesis that colorwork dominance doesn't exist and the thesis that it is a tension problem. I have learned some things from them that I haven't seen elsewhere for which I am very grateful but on this particular topic I think they are most likely not interpreting what they're doing correctly. Because I've watched them explain that they hold the color mostly used in the current round in the left hand and the less used color in the right hand, so they change color positions. OK, this is a completely valid approach. But my assessment is that they don't get the color dominance that is usually achieved by being persistent and they decide to call this a tension problem in other videos. Which I not only don't agree with but I think is actually counter productive for people who are trying to learn what to do and most important, what result to expect from what they're doing. So yeah... A fan of sorts but on this topic, very much not a fan.
Yes please for video on catching floats. It's been a long time since I did any stranded knitting, so all your tips were bringing back some of the how-to's. Your video was very thorough and well explained. I also want to say that I really like your haircut (I know, nothing to do with knitting, but you have the features to pull such a haircut off).
I already did! It's in the pinned comment. And thank you for the kind words.
The biggest tip for me was how to cover the chart to stay on track. Thank you for including that, as I cast on my first fair isle project today (a hat), and know that will save me headaches. And thankful you showed the different methods of holding the yarn strands…I will try using both hands. Thanks again for putting out a great podcast.
Thank you for commenting! I hope my advice helps.
You're going to love it. It's beautiful and addictive. Best of luck!❤
I really like that tip too!
Thanks for all the tips. 50 years a knitter and haven't really got to grips with colourwork. Great stuff!
Great trick for lace knitting too
Excellent video. I haven’t knit color work before but I find myself drawn to it more and more. So what a gift this video is for me, as I am one to gather information first before starting a new technique.
Perfect timing! Thanks for commenting.
The puckering tip ! Awesome. Thanks
It's to important!
This was a great recap of all the tips and tricks. You are so articulate and a joy to watch. Love your sweater!
Thank you so much!
OMG, keeping the dominant colour to the right to avoid twisting! Gamechanger!
It's so much simpler than untangling the yarns all the time!
I wish I’d have been able to see this when I first decided to delve into stranded knitting, as it covered everything I had questions about in the beginning.
I’ve not done a lot yet (socks & baby hats), but I was familiar with all that you shared except for one BIGGIE!
I feel like I’ve been set free, having been given permission to not catch my floats! My mind is reeling from that revelation.
This was an excellent video instruction. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Go on and be free! As long as you get the results you want, you really don't ever have to do anything you don't like doing.
This is extremely helpful! You made me feel less afraid to try color work! Thank you so much ❤🙏
That's amazing! Like almost everything in knitting, if you mess up, you can always unravel and start again.
Excellent #6 tip. Elizabeth Zimmermann would be proud!
That is the ultimate compliment! 🤩
Thank you! I haven’t done much, just a headband. But now I understand why different things happened.
Wonderful!
This video was very helpful to me. I have not yet mastered keeping yarns over separate fingers. I still stop and pick up what I need. I’m glad to find your channel!
Thank you for commenting! I hope you find your sweet spot with how to hold the yarn.
Your last tip was a revelation for me. Thank you! You also helped me with value. I thought the difference in color would stand out more when in fact the values were too close. Next time I’ll use my camera to check. I went to so much trouble to make Fair Isle socks only to see the pattern disappear in the end. Tip: make a swatch and block it! Stranded knitting can pull together after an inch or so. Also you can play with color placement.
You are right, swatching is so valuable! I'm glad you found helpful tips.
My oil painting teacher really emphasized value over color so your value really clicked for me. Taking a photo and editing it into b/w might help me avoid purchasing mistakes.
Lots of good reminders and the information about the floats to prevent puckering was appreciated. My next knit will be a Marie Wallin faire isle sweater. Thank you very much.
You just reminded me that I have a Marie Wallin design in my queue but that one is a long term commitment cause I'm spinning the yarn for it as well! 🥴
Thank you for this video. I loved seeing your work. It is very inspiring. The two tips that stand out most for me are the chart covering, I am guilty of covering the bottom of my charts when doing color work, and the tip for how to prevent puckering is gold. Thank you again, I look forward to more of your videos.
I'm right into starting to think about knitting colourwork. In the past I was frightened top mich. It is auch a wonderful reassurance to see and hear your explanations in this video. Now, my fears are calmed down. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable experience with us knitters......you are a wonderful teacher!
Thank you so much for your nice comment. You can do it!
I was very scared about colourwork and I am very happy how many things you explained! You started with teh definition of stranded colourwork and fair isle and this was pretty good for me. The tipps are great. I will start now with colourwork!
Love your sweater! That is my gold standard that I am looking forward to being able to make! One day!
It's called Riddari and it's been on my to-knit list for a very long time. I'm glad I finally made it.
Looks great and love the colours!🧶@@cloknits
Just yesterday I picked up four skeins of yarn that I thought went well together to try out my first colorwork patterns. I had been planning to use them interchangeably with each other, but after watching your video I ran and took a picture in grayscale to check the values of them. Two of the skeins had almost the exact same value! That actually really helped me narrow down my color choice for my first pattern, since now I know I don't want to combine those two yarns with each other, but they'll both work with any of the others.
Great! That's such a helpful trick that changed the way I see my colors.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU,, THANK YOU!
It bugs me when people call everything as Fair Isle!
3:16
You explained it very well!
Fair Isle has such a rich amazing history, it deserves it's own spotlight.
Exactly!
I have done a lot of stranded, fairisle knitting knitting, but I still learned thanks so much
I'm glad you learned some more!
I’m so glad your video came up in my feed. I’ve been afraid to try color work mainly because of the way to hold my yarn and tension! I have saved this video in case I forget but I don’t believe I will. I appreciate your clear explanation, thank you ❤
Thank you for leaving a comment and welcome to my channel!
Hello! The algorithm sent me here and thank you for some great tips!
I love when the algorithms are actually helpful! Welcome!
Me as well. I subbed in the first ten mins, this is so helpful. I did my first cowl in two stranded colorwork and it was fun! There are great patterns out there for that! ❤
Thank you so much for this video! It has been the most clear and educational video on colorwork that I’ve ever seen. I would appreciate a video on catching strands too. That’s one of my biggest stumbling blocks. Thanks again - you are awesome!!
Glad it was helpful! I have another video in the works.
The tips about covering the chart above rather than below is genius, and so obvious now that you've explained it!
It does make sense since we are reading it from bottom to top. But somehow it took me forever to think of doing it this way.
The spacing of the stitches to prevent puckering was brilliant.
Let me know if it makes a difference in your knitting!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your tips. I have been a knitter for 50 years and colourway knitting has been on my wish list for all of those years. Your explanations are brilliant. I'm going to give it a go feeling well armed with this video 🌻
I'm glad the algorithm showed me this video! I had a lot of trouble with stranded colorwork when i tried it a few years ago, but I've been wanting to give it another go. This is so helpful!
Thank you so much, I am trying colour work for the first time and managing 2 colours is daunting but you explained the process really well
Thank you, I truly believe anyone can do colorwork if you have the right info to start!
I'm from the UK (so an English knit style I guess). It had never occurred to me to keep one colour in the left hand and the other in the right. The sheer amount of time I have wasted untangling balls of wool is incalculable. So thank you!
I'm glad this makes sense to you. Some people don't mind untangling yarn as they go, I hate it! haha
Exactly. Well said. Something I find helpful and to enlarge on your second tip is to take a photo of your colour choices, edit them into grayscale and watch what happens! Also, I remember being asked to teach a fair-isle class and discovering the wool I was asked to use was a multi-coloured gradient wool against a solid. No, no, no, that is not fair-isle. 😮 😂 I explained to my students that this was stranded knitting and they all enjoyed the class anyway. So. The point of all this is that I enjoyed and appreciated your video very much.
Yes to all this! Taking a picture in grayscale can be so helpful.
I’ve saved this to my “knitting” library. This summer, I’m hoping to do my first color work, a cowl for my mom. I will be watching this a lot. Thank you! Happy knitting 💚🧶💚
Wonderful!
I’m still rather new to knitting (long time crocheter) but I’ve picked up color work without much more instruction aside from just following the pattern.
These are some great tips. The puckering one is definitely helpful because I’m always worried about my floats being too tight so what I do instead of stretching the stitches, I just hold a finger underneath the float as I knit it to make sure it stays loose.
While I’ve done a fair amount of colorwork, I really appreciated knowing that I’m doing things relatively correctly. I’m always looking to improve my work so I’ve just subscribed to follow your work more closely. However, I DO catch floats every three stitches because I need and appreciate the extra warmth provided by the extra thickness. Great video! ClaudiaSJI
Ditto!
That's interesting. I don't feel like the thickness changes whether you catch of not, there's the same amount of strands running along the back of the project. But I could be wrong.
@@cloknits well that’s true however it “seems” to be more dense when caught more frequently . But I too could be wrong 🧶🧶🧶🤔
Great video! I’m learning that everyone seems to do things differently and at first that was frustrating to me as a new learner 😄 However, I have figured out that I don’t like continental knitting in the style of the fist instructor that I came across SO now I LOVE seeing how different people tackle things. I would love to see how you catch your floats, but I also appreciate the advice that it’s not always necessary EVERY 5 stitches 😊
Yes! Everyone loves different things and we need to find the solutions that work for us. I will absolutely make the video about catching your floats!
Really GREAT video! color dominance due to which side the yarn is knitted on was surprising. I used to put the MC is on the left side, but will definitely switch from now on. Also, interesting is the catching of floats and avoiding puckering. I did watch your video on catching floats and actually frogged one of my finished hats to redo without catching the floats and adding the expanding the stitches to avoid puckering. wow, it made a HUGE difference! Thank you!!
THIS was a fabulous (6+) lessons! You really covered so much but the floats at the end and stretching them out was VERY informative! ALSO I was gathering supplies for that had by Hunter! WOW I can't wait to chk out your ravelry also! TY ~ you have a new fan!
Thank you! I hope you love making your hat.
@@cloknits i’m also going to chk out that cowl of yours!
Your explanation of color dominance made it click for me!
The tip for covering the chart from the top helped me a lot. I always covered from the bottom and it caused me to struggle a lot. But covering from the top is a great tip. Thank you.
It really does make a world of difference, right?
Nice job of keeping up the pace. I like instructional utubes where I can learn something. I have immersed myself in charting and love it. Interesting: on my own I figured out that covering above was the best. So it was fun to hear you confirm that.
I am venturing into colorwork; I liked learning about not worrying about floats if you are using a wool that is not slick or superwash (not sure how you said it). I was given an old kit of unopene, different colors of skeins of wool and directions... in Norwegian. The wool is rough and the pattern I picked out (in English) does not require long floats. I love your video; I'll be back! Thanks, Patricia
thank you for leaving a comment Patricia. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you soooo much for this most helpful video!! I am new to colorwork and just now teaching myself to knit continental so I can use the two handed technique that you use. You answered every question I had been wanting to understand and more in such a straightforward and simple way!! You had mentioned about using yarn that is sticky and non superwash can you share what yarn companies and fiber and yarn weights you enjoy using. If you could please share pattern and yarn for what you are wearing on your videos as everything you knit is Amazing!! I am so happy I found you and can’t wait to watch all your videos!! ❤
I'm glad this answered your questions. As far as yarn, any untreated wool I generally love, it's difficult to suggest which ones since I don't know where you live but if you have a local yarn store that you like, you might want to pop in there and ask them about their non-superwash options. I'm wearing the Riddari sweater in Nutiden yarn in this video. I'll try to remember to add it to the description on my next videos.
Excellent - thank you. Yes, please do a video on how to catch floats (if you haven't already). Thanks.
Will do!
I am knitting several beanies of the US National parks, sometimes seven different colors but only two in any row with up to 12 stitch floats. I would love to see how you handle the floats.
I ' m a crocheter but this was fantastic Video . I learnd something new you explainded so good Thank you 😊
Glad it was helpful! I wanna learn how to do crochet colorwork.
Thank you, very informative. I learned from my mom who did Norwegian sweaters, like the one you are wearing, and she knew this stuff and passed it on. But it was good for me to check your thoroughly informative video to see if I missed anything! Mom hated using commercial patterns (she claimed they confused her and she didn't know how to follow them)--so she made up her own using graph paper and colored pencils. Way before computers... Anyway, you are right on on all counts, thanks!🥰
i love the way you just casually drop in that you are knitting continental with your left hand and English with the right AT THE SAME TIME
Haha! It's quite casual for me. I learned to knit English style from my grandmother when I was a child but then I taught myself to knit continental.
@@cloknitsIt’s so hard though to change! I’ve been knitting English for almost 30 years and I tried Continental knitting because I wanted to be a bit faster… my brain was just 🤯
Houndstooth is and EXCELLENT first colorwork pattern. Very simple.
This is the first video I ever saw on this channel and I'm so very happy that I clicked on it when it was suggested to me today. Your presentation was so informative and helpful and you have such a great way of explaining things that I subscribed right away and gladly will check out all the other videos that you have already made. I would describe myself as in a "far advanced beginner" stage of knitting, ready to enter into the next phase which involves tackling some of my favorite and a little more complicated patterns which also include some colorwork. I feel that you are the perfect knitting teacher for me and I can learn a lot here. So thanks for making this available, sharing from your experience and using your set of talents in such a beautiful way that brings joy to so many of us in the knitting community. Heartfelt greetings from Germany.
Wow! What a beautiful comment, thank you it means a lot. I hope you keep learning more and more every day.
Thank you Clo. My two biggest takeaways were about not needing to catch your floats over short distances and the spreading out of stitches after doing 3 or more stitches in the same colour.
I have done colour work a few times before and I stopped catching my floats for short distances as I found it didn’t add anything. So it’s nice to hear that it’s ok from the perspective of an experienced colour work person like yourself. For the spreading out of stitches I will do that going forward.
The other anti-puckering thing I did was to go up a needle size (+0.25-0.5mm). This is generally only something I do for small circumference colourwork (socks, sleeves, etc).
Going up a needle size is actually something I recommend for things that need more stretch, like socks. Even if you keep you tension even between stockinette and colorwork, stranded will never have as much stretch as st st, so the bigger needles help.
Thank you for explaining the difference between Fair Isle and stranded colourwork. Over my lifetime I have learned about cultural appropriation; it's a huge problem for many peoples these days. I do some stranded colourwork and sometimes I use Fair Isle motifs. I call my work 'Fair Isle Style' knitting, to make it clear that I am not stealing the patterns or impersonating someone born / raised / living on Fair Isle itself. I'm from BC in western Canada and have seen artists of many sorts appropriate First Nations imagery without any idea of the meaning of the images and no understanding of their place culturally for so many people.
Thanks for the other explanations, as well. I've bookmarked your video and will be checking out some of your others, once time permits.
It's so important to recognize the impact different cultures have on our hobbies and crafts. Thanks for the great comment.
Merci !! Really enjoyed your tips and explanation of how Fair Isle fits into stranded colorwork. I'm on my first stranded project - Goldenfern by Jenn Steingass. My prep included completing swatches in the round. The swatching really made me focus on spreading out stitches. I struggle a little with needle size between stranded color work and areas of knitting in the main color. Gauge wasn't always to same. Know I'll make mistakes but your video is amazing and a must watch for someone trying out, or getting back to, stranded color work. I'm sure to watch it again (and share with my knitting group in Langley BC).
Thank you for the comment. Yes some people have to go up a needle size to knit stranded and have the same tension as stockinette. Practice makes perfect!
I just subscribed. Thank you for your explanation on stopping puckering. I have had trouble in the past with this problem so I stopped trying. Your demonstration helped very much. Such a good tip. I’m going to try Colorwork again. Please continue with your wonderful work. I would love to see more on any aspect of colorwork
Thank you for commenting! I'm glad you found this useful.
Lovely tutorial on all the best tips.. I’m with you on all of these.. I do colourwork, fair isle, and stranded, and I too do everything the same as you, including teaching myself to knit both English throwing and continental to use both hands to knit, knit 2 colours with left hand when it small even stitches, and stretch the stitches across to ensure spacing when changing colours. This is a fantastic tutorial.. and a wonderful refresher and validation of tips and tricks for the best of the best.. thank you! ❤️
Twins! 😍
I have been interested in colour work for a long time. I think all of the tips are very valuable to someone who is just starting. The one thing i find intimidating is how to keep your yarn from twisting together. The top you gave is great. I hope to start a toque soon 😊. Thank you for sharing.
I have a video for that!
Thanks for the video. I'm planning my frist colourwork pullover so every tip and trick is really helpful because I bought beautiful yarn already and I don't want to ruin it ;)
It's very difficult to ruin nice yarn. I've knitted sweaters before that I ended up never wearing, unraveled them years later to reknit the yarn into something else. Enjoy your yarn!
I love all of your videos. You are a great teacher and your content is so clear!
Thank you so much.
Thank you for a great comment!
Thank you. All of your tips were a great review of techniques. I've only tried one colorwork piece, and will use all of your tips for project #2. Personally, I'd appreciate a video of how you do your colorwork.
Thank you for your comment. I will do more stranded knitting videos for sure.
I just finished my first colorwork. I would love you to have a tutorial on catching floats. Thank you. I have loved your podcasts from your every first podcast!
Thank you so much!
I’m just teaching myself how to do color work and this video has been so helpful! Especially how to avoid puckering and how to hold the two color yarns. Thank you so much for being a great teacher!!!
I'm happy you found new tips!
Thank you for these tips! I’ve always covered the chart rows below, but your method sounds much better! Yes, please, on the video about catching floats.
Just starting my first colourwork socks and this video was so helpful. Thankyou!
What a great video! What struck home was the puckering and chart tips! Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thank you for helping confirm that I don't need to catch all my stitches as long as they aren't too long. The only thing I am now learning as I am progressing in the stranded colour work pattern I put together is working with 3 colours and trying not to get them twisted in the process. I also realized that in my creation, I am coming to a point where I will need to occasionally catch stitches in some specific rows. Again thank you for your insight 😊
3 color stranded is a little trickier yes. Keep going, you'll get the hang of it.
A great episode. I love knitting with 2 colours in a row. Im a mirror image left handed knitter. I hold both yarns in my left hand just different fingers. And the twisting of two yarns in a row is a great tip. I make sure not to get the the twist. Im new to knitting but I love very complicated graphs. And catching floats. I like every 2 or 3 stitches. I also like the No Floats
We all have a favorite ways of doing things and it never ceases to amaze me.
Thank you for your tips! I am a little scared about trying color work, but your advice is so helpful as I dive in!
You can do it! You'll be so proud afterwards.
Thank you, great podcast! Very helpful. I am a very tight knitter and have had trouble with my tension in colorwork, which I have only done a few pieces. I do use a ring in my knitting for speed but I think with colorwork now I am going to try to do the two handed method as you have shown to loosen my tension. I have always been afraid that my project will be too open or gappy if I knit loose but I just have to practice.
Yes, practice is key. Doing small projects for practice instead of endless swatches is more motivating too.
thank you and glad I found your channel you have great content@@cloknits
I am a new subscriber. I love your simple explanation and wonderful tips to improve technique on stranded knitting. I definitely would appreciate seeing how you catch gloats. I have yet to master that technique. Thank you. ❤
Great tips as always. Just about to start a stranded knitting project. I knit English so we’ll see how I do using continental in my left. 😊
You don't have to if you don't like it but it's always worth a try.
I'm pleased to know that I can just skip catching floats if I want to when knitting stranded colorwork.
For hats, I like using a particular wool yarn that's "sticky", so from now on I won't be catching floats. After wearing the hat a couple of times, the floats start to felt a bit and create a smooth finish. Thank you!
Thank you for a very informative video. I am an experienced colorwork knitter but still picked up some tricks and reminders from this.
You're welcome! I'm always learning myself so I'm glad it was helpful for you.
this was soooo hepful! and here I was thinking I needed to catch floats as often as possible. thank you very much.
Thanx!
I’ve been catching my floats AND stretching the stitches out before knitting the next color stitch.
(First colorwork sweater!)
We’ll see what technique I keep as I gain more experience.
It’s so much fun! I see why people keep casting on colorwork items.
They are so fun and rewarding.
I'm knitting my first ever colourwork jumper and the tip about which order I hold the strand has made a massive difference in my work! It looks so much better now (though I hope blocking clears it up a bit in the other part too, since it's a top down design and it might be too noticeable otherwise! Thank you for the great advice :D
Wonderful!
Really helpful! Doing my first colorwork and my yarn needs to be unwound. Thank You!.
I just found this video! I was always told to twist the 2 colors when you change. Which always was a nightmare. And I always stretched out my stitches on my right needle too much, I guess, as it made the float longer than it should be and draped too much, making it a float I could catch a finger or ring into. You explained it very well how you just stretch enough so the stitches below line up. I am saving this video for reference. Subscribed!!!!
You are so welcome!
Thank you! I guess I never realized color dominance was a thing. I also love that this is how you taught yourself continental, so I’m going to give that a try! Thank you.
Really helpful video for the lead up to me knitting my first colourwork sweater! Thank you!
Your first tip was the most important. I knit that same hat you showed and I ended up ripping it out because the tension was awful with 2 superwash yarns. When I reknit it, I kept one yarn, a superwash gradient, and used an untreated yarn for the other. It worked!
Thank you for your tips! I'm making my first colourwork sweater for my daughter and your tips have been invaluable!
I'm so glad to hear it! Your daughter is a lucky one.
Thank you for this lesson. I have been knitting for a long time and was taught to catch the long floats. I never liked the way it looked and colors poked through to the front of the work. I thought it was my technique. You showed me that it was not. Am right now knitting a simple 2 color yoke for a swoncho. Decided to not catch any floats and it looks so my better. I would love to see a video of how you catch your floats. I know it is sometimes necessary so that fingers do not get caught in the floats. Great video.
Thank you! I do have a second video now with techniques and more tips. To check it out!
Brilliant! Cover the chart from above! Excited to try your tips. Thank you.
Simple but so practical.
My takeaway was the effect from "sticky" yarn vs. superwash, in colourwork. The validation of the techniques I use already was great. Your explanation pace/style is great.
Thank you for commenting!
Thank you Clo. Wow! I learned a lot. The anti-puckering tip and color dominance. Never thought about covering the top part of the chart yet that makes perfect sense. Well done and I LOVE the sweater you are wearing.
Thank you so much!
I found this to be a great review. I have knit several different color work projects. I always think I can improve 🤓. You did a great comprehensive summary of important points. I did not know the difference between stranded color work and Faur Isle. I look forward to your future videos!
It's the Alpine Bloom Hat by Caitlin Hunter, available on Ravelry.
C'est la première fois que je t'écoute en anglais, Bravo ! tu fais très bien ça.
Merci beaucoup 🤗
Thank you! I can't wait to tackle my first colorwork cowl for my best friend. :) Your tips are very helpful!
Wonderful!
This is the first time I have watched one of your tutorial videos. EXCELLENT!! Very, very informative and SO well done. Clearly presented, both visually and verbally! :) Thank you!!!! I look forward to watching additional videos by you. :) :) :)
This video was super helpful for giving me a general overview of the topic, i watched some other ones that all cover specific techniques that were helpful too but left me a little confused about the bigger picture, so thank you so much!! I now feel a lot less intimidated about trying my first color work project :))
i catch every stitch as this solves the problem of puckering. I was taught to do this over 50 years ago by an elderly lady from fair isle. it also allows for speed and rhythm in my experience.
It creates a different fabric though and I personally prefer the look of not catching. I love that you found what works for you though.
Great video! My tips for absolute beginners is to start with something that only has tops two colours per round and that can be knit on a circular needle. My first colour work project was mittens on double pointed needles as I thought it was easier to do something small. It was a nightmare to tension, and I ended up with one mitten that was gigantic and one that was huge. Both unusable. My next project was on circular and so much more successful!
Great tip! The join on dpns and magic loop are more difficult to manage for sure.
I really enjoyed seeing your video yesterday. It demystified quite a bit about stranded knitting and I will be using your tips going forward. Thank you so much
I'm glad it answered some of your questions!
I'm about to CO my first colorwork cardigan and this video was very helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome. Have fun with your sweater!
You explain with such clarity, thank you
I finally learned continental knitting after years of throwing my yarn English style. Can’t wait to try using both in color work! And I would REALLY like to see how you float your yarn when you’re using this technique, please! 😊
The video is linked in the pinned comment for the floats! I'm glad you liked this one.
Interesting video !!!
As I am right-handed and knit the more easy continental-way, I put the two different yarns on my left index-finger
in a way that the yarns cross over between the two lower knuckles on the 'outside' of the finger. This gives me a uniform tension. 🙂
That's great. I often hold both yarns on the left as well.
The puckering tip as a beginner colour work knitter is a great tip thanks.
I'm glad you liked it!
This was so helpful! I'm just learning how to do colorwork and making the same hat! Thank you so much for all the great tips on holding the yarn. And not catching floats. I only did one row today and my yarns were all twisted together at the end.
Yeah, that makes it so much longer than it needs to be.
Great video. I have such a problem with color work and I am sure going to use your technique, makes sense. I have the tension problem and puckering problems. Love color work but I always frog a lot. Wish me luck😊.
You can do it! Just keep practicing.
You are right! Can always learn! Will try the cover top of pattern rather than from below! Great idea!
Perfect!