Knitting Colorwork
There are several ways to knit colorwork and many special names they are known for. Let’s start with stranded colorwork.
Knitting stranded colorwork is not much harder that knitting with one single color, but it can produce stunning pieces. The basic concept is to work a few stitches in one color, then the next few stitches in another color, then a few stitches in the firts color again, then back to the 2nd color and so on, with both yarns always attached to your work. The color that isn’t being worked is carried at the back, making a float, before being worked again. Stranded colorwork gets its name from these strands of yarn, commonly called floats, that travel through the back of the work.
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.
I will also provide links to the pattern so you can put the color dominance theory to the test yourself.
What is color dominance and how does it work?
For color dominance to be present in your knitting you must do the stranded knitting with parallel floats method, regardless of how you hold your yarn (will come back to this topic later). Parallel floats means that you don’t twist your yarns while knitting.
The yarn dominance makes your dominant color pop to the forefront with bigger stitches while the non-dominant (often referred to as background) color recedes… yes, you guessed it, to the background! This effect is caused by the way the yarn strands travel on the wrong side of the fabric.
On the wrong side, the non-dominant color strands travel above the dominant color strands, going straight to the next non-dominant color stitch, that means it’s pulling at the stitches and making them retract and be less noticeable. Meanwhile, the dominant color strands travel below, going down and up again to the next dominant color stitch; which means taking a longer path that uses up more yarn, some of that extra yarn transfers into the stitches and so they are taller and end up being bigger, really popping in the design.
Color or yarn dominance is an effect of the structure of stranded colorwork fabric and not an uneven tension problem. If you have uneven tension in your knitting, that would be a problem but it’s not the reason for the bigger dominant stitches.
Abbreviations often used in colorwork knitting patterns:
MC: main color
CC: contrasting color
If the CC is the dominant color, as is always the case in the Fair Isle knitting tradition, it will stand out from the MC (non-dominant) background.
The color dominance effect is more noticeable when you have vertical patterns and change yarn color frequently, which is why this cowl pattern is perfect for testing that theory.
As you can see in the photos avobe, there is a distinct horizontal line on the right side of the cowl, that matches the horizontal mustard line on the wrong side, that’s where I fliped which one was the dominant color.
At the bottom half the dominant color was the darker moss green, while at the top half it was the mustard yellow. Can you see how they pop and/or reced?
Let’s compare the two following cowls:
Over the white background you have a cowl knitted following the Fair Isle tradition of the CC being dominant and the MC being the non-dominant receding background. At the bottom you will see that the ligher pink background has bigger purple stitches while at the top the purple background has bigger (dominant) light pink stitches.
Over the wooden background you have a cowl where the MC is dominant while the CC recedes. At the bottom the purple MC background has the bigger dominant stitches while at the top the grey MC background has the dominant bigger stitches.
In the case of this cowls the colors switch hands on purpose at a specific point to get a mirror like effect, but they also serves as example of how noticeable the difference can be in your knitting if you’re not consistent with the way you hold your yarn. Even if the effect can also be subtle, depending on the pattern, being consistent with color dominance can make the end project look more polished and professional.
How to hold your yarn to knit stranded colorwork
When knitting colorwork patterns with parallel floats (without twisting the yarns), it’s possible to hold both yarns in either the left or the right hand or, to hold one yarn in each hand.
One yarn at a time
If you are completely new to colorwork, you might want to start by working with one yarn at a time, while the other yarn hangs at the back waiting its turn. If this is the case for you, it is imperative that you keep your yarn balls organized, with the dominant color ball to the left and the background color to the right, making sure that your strands don’t get twisted when picking them up and putting them back down again.
This method is great for beginners.
Learn how to knit stranded colorwork one yarn at a time with this video.
Both yarns at the same time
On one hand
Knitting holding both yarns at the same time can be faster, but it requires a bit more practice. It can be done with either your left hand (continental style for pickers) or with your right hand (English style for throwers).
In either case both colors are held on only one hand, but they must be positioned with the dominant color to the left and the background color to the right. When you go to knit a stitch you pick only the color you are going to use with the tip of your needle, alternating between colors as needed but without changing their position (left and right) on your finger.
With your left hand (continental style for pickers)
Both colors are held on your left hand, but they must be positioned with the dominant color to the left and the background color to the right. When you go to knit a stitch you pick only the color you are going to use with the tip of your needle, alternating between colors as needed but without changing their position (left and right) on your finger.
Learn how to knit stranded colorwork continental style with this video.
A Norwegian thimble can be a nifty little tool to knit colorwork with the yarns on your left hand.
With your right hand (English style for throwers)
Both colors are held on your right hand, but they must be positioned with the dominant color to the left and the background color to the right. When you go to knit a stitch you pick only the color you are going to use with the tip of your needle, alternating between colors as needed but without changing their position (left and right) on your finger.
Learn how to knit stranded colorwork English style with this video.
With both hands (picking and throwing)
The left hand should hold the dominant color, knitting continental style, while the right hand will carry the background (non-dominant) color, knitting English style. This set up makes both yarns travel the lower and upper path they are meant to follow naturally.
This is by far my favourite method but it is mostly a matter of personal preference. The best method is the one that works best for you, so I encourage you to try them all and pick your favourite. With enough practice you’ll soon become very proficient with it.
Learn how to knit stranded colorwork mixing styles with this video.
Which color should be dominant
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It all depends on what traditional style you want to follow.
On the Fair Isle tradition, the MC is always held to the right and makes the receding background. Meanwhile the CC is held to the left, becoming the dominant color that pops.
Cool reasons to knit colorwork
(in no particular order)
- The extra layer given by the colorwork provides more warmth to your knitted items.
- You can practice new techniques, going as far as knitting continental and English style at the same time!
- You can easily customize any given item, once you start playing with colorwork the possibilities are endless.
- You don’t have to settle on just one color.
- You can use up leftover yarns this way.
- It’s fun!
Tips for success
Keep your balls separate
Keep your yarn balls separated, the dominant color always to the left and the background color always to the right.
Be consistent
Sometimes which one is the background color and which one is meant to pop is fairly obvious, but that’s might not always the case. Other times it is just a matter of preference, but regardless of whichever color you choose as your dominant color and which one as a background color, be consistent! Always handle them properly to get a neat result, especially if you are making something that comes in pairs, otherwise you’ll end up with weird different looking socks, or mittens, or sleeves…
An added bonus of being consistent is that it makes the reverse side of your knitted fabric neat and tidy too!
Choose colors with high contrast
Since you are making the effort to knit with more than one color, you want the colors to be different enough from each other that the pattern will be easily seen. A very bright paired with a very dark color will undoubtedly make the design show up, so they are always a safe bet. If you are in doubt about whether a pair of colors provide enough contrast you can take a picture of both yarn together and apply a black and white filter to check.
Check your gauge
It is common to knit colorwork a bit (or a lot) tighter than plain stockinette stitch, so if you have a lot of both in a pattern it might be worth checking to see if you need to go up in needle size for the colorwork sections.
Other tricks that help maintain an even tension are
Put more space between your stitches
It is quite common to knit near the tips of the needles, for colorwork you need to avoid that and spread your stitches further apart from each other than you normally would. It is important to have a loose enough tension for floats traveling behind your work so the fabric retains some elasticity. If you are finding that your work is still too tight, consider spreading them by hand every so often.
Knit inside out
If you find that your colorwork sections are too tight and have no give, knitting inside-out will help loosen up your floats and add an overall stretchiness to your garment.
Choose a pattern that is meant to be knitted in the round
It is a lot easier to knit colorwork when knitting, as opposed to purling. So, at least at the beginning, choose patterns that are designed to be knitted in the round, like this easy introduction to colorwork cowl.
Block your knitted item
You will be surprised by how huge a difference blocking will make to the overall look of your knitting. This is especially true for colorwork because your tension might vary greatly from color to color and from colorwork sections and plain stockinette sections, blocking will take care of that. Don’t rely on it completely though, you knit to have a somewhat even overall tension for it to work its miracle.
A little bit a about colorwork knitting traditions
Fair Isle
Fair Isle, the most remote inhabited island of the UK, is situated up north of the Orkney islands as the southernmost of the Shetland islands. Though the Shetland islands are part of the UK nowadays, they where part of Norway from the 9th to the 15th century a lot of Norwegian influence can be seen in Fair Isle knitting patterns with vertical designs or that icorporate the Norwegian star.
The traditional sweaters from Fair Isle and the Shetland islands were knit in the round with DPNs (double pointed needles), with only two colors per round and around 5 or so in the whole garment. Back then the colors would have been natural sheep colors (the Shetland sheeps have an incredible array of natural colors) or dyed with plant based dyes.
In the Fair Isle knitting tradition the most abundant color constituting the background was held to the right (non-dominant) while in other traditions like in Norway that was apparently a choice left to the knitter.
The whole garmet was knit in the round, with extra stitches at the armhole openings that were later steeked to make the sleeves. Cardigans were also knitted in the round and then steeked to open the fabric and turn it into a cardigan.
The old traditional patterns usually had no more than 3 sts of any given color, so that the strands at the back didn’t become too long, with an overall look of horizontal stripes. More modern patterns now include large block of colors, with the strands trapped at the back of the work.
If a pattern is not one of the traditional geometric Fair Isle knitting patterns (peerie, x, o, diamonds, trees…), then it should more properly be referred to as stranded colorwork, even if it is knit in the round with only 2 colors per round. All Fair Isle is stranded colorwork, but not all stranded colorwork is Fair Isle.
*Special thanks to Lisa Mazitelli for testing this cowl and allowing me to share her beautiful photo.
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