Tip Tuesday: Knitting Colorwork Made Easy - From Charts to Tension
Colorwork can transform traditional garment shapes into works of art. Whether you're new to colorwork or looking to refine your skills, this guide will help you navigate the essentials of reading charts, managing your tension, and fixing common mistakes. Let’s jump into the world of knitted colorwork so that you can begin stitching stunning patterns with ease.
How to Read a Colorwork Chart
Reading a colorwork chart is the first step to tackling this technique. Here’s how to ensure you’re on the right track:
Understanding Chart Direction: Remember that colorwork charts are always showing you the right side of your work.
If you’re knitting in the round, read your chart from right to left for every row. If you’re working flat, read from right to left on right side rows (RS) and from left to right on wrong side rows (WS).
Pay Attention to Row Numbers: The numbers on the side of the chart correspond to the rows of your knitting. Typically, row 1 is at the bottom of the chart, so work your way up as you progress through the pattern.
Check the Chart Key: The chart key is your essential guide to understanding the techniques, symbols, and color choices in your chart. Always double-check this before you start knitting to avoid any confusion.
Essential Colorwork Terms & Abbreviations
Before you start, familiarize yourself with these common colorwork terms:
Floats: The strands of yarn that run along the back of your work when that yarn is not in use.
MC: Main Color.
CC: Contrasting Color.
Adding a New Color
Managing Tension in Colorwork
Tension is crucial in colorwork knitting, as it can make or break the appearance of your finished project. You don’t want to pull too tight and bunch up your knitting. But you also don’t want to leave it too loose. The tension of your fabric should appear just as it would if it had been knit in a single color.
Check Your Floats: Floats that are too tight will pucker your fabric, while those that are too loose can create gaps. To avoid this, spread your stitches out on your needle every few stitches to ensure that your floats are just right.
Twisting Yarns: When carrying your yarn over several stitches, twist the working yarn with the unused yarn every 3-5 stitches to secure the float. This helps maintain even tension and keeps your fabric smooth.
Fixing Mistakes
Mistakes happen, but you don’t have to unravel your entire project to fix them:
Use a Duplicate Stitch: If you realize you’ve used the wrong color in a stitch or two, you can fix it with a duplicate stitch instead of frogging your work. This method allows you to correct individual stitches without disturbing the rest of your knitting.
Knitted colorwork can seem intimidating at first, but with a solid understanding of charts, tension, and techniques for fixing mistakes, you’ll be creating beautiful, colorful patterns in no time.
Remember to take it one step at a time and swatch, swatch, swatch! Don’t be afraid to practice on smaller projects before diving into something larger.
Want more colorwork techniques? Learn how-to knit mosaic colorwork next!
Here are some tools that made this demo a breeze…
- Yarn Bowls: Keeping your yarns organized during colorwork projects is essential! These Rise & Shine for Twig & Horn, Daisy bowls are both functional and beautiful.
- Needles: Using the right needles for your yarn will prevent your tension from slipping and your yarns from catching. For this swatch we used LYKKE.
- Pattern: Vallo
- Yarn: Phoebe
Happy knitting, and stay tuned for more tips in our next Tip Tuesday post!
