The Secrets of Colorwork Knitting

Have you ever wanted to knit an amazing colorwork yoked sweater? Or mittens with fun geometric patterns? Or some of those fun multi-colored shawl projects? Even if you’re a new knitter you can make ALL of those things - it just takes time and practice. Today’s post will discuss the different kinds of colorwork knitting you can do and some tips and tricks to help you get started or improve your technique.

Intarsia Knitting
Intarsia is a technique used to create anything from simple shapes to intricate pictures in your knitting. With Intarsia, different sections of each row are worked in different colors. Intarsia is different than stranded knitting in that the knitter doesn’t carry the unused yarn behind the work, but instead drops the old color, brings the yarn for the new color up under the yarn of the old color, and then continues on knitting in the new color until the next color change or the end of the row. This method twists the yarns to close any gaps between the old and new colors.

There are a few different methods for twisting your yarns, depending on if the gaps are vertical or diagonal. A good photo tutorial for these methods can be found at Vogue Knitting. One of the most difficult things to conque in knitting intarsia is the issue of yarn management; that is, how to keep your yarns tangle free as you twist them while knitting. There is a great article on Mason Dixon knitting - Intarsia: 7 Decent Tips that you might find helpful as you tackle your first intarsia project.

Fair Isle and Stranded Knitting
Stranded knitting is created when you carry two or more yarns with you as you work to create patterns in your knitting. The unused colors are simply carried behind your work when not in use, creating floating strands which can be seen on the wrong side of the work. Stranded knitting is how those gorgeous yoked sweaters and colorwork mittens are created. Stranded knitting tends to produce a very warm fabric, because each stitch is essentially two layers of yarn thick.

Fair Isle knitting is a specific kind of stranded knitting where only 2 colors are worked per row, and the yarn is only carried behind the work for a limited number of stitches. Fair Isle knitting originated in the Shetland Islands. Today most knitters use the terms Fair Isle and Stranded Knitting interchangeably, although they are distinctly different. Kelbourne Woolens features a great article describing the differences between the two.

One of the most difficult things to conquer in stranded knitting is to keep your floats (or strands) at the right tension. Too loose and your stitches look messy. Too tight and your knitting puckers. They key to this is practice, but we have also found learning to knit with a two-handed Fair Isle technique (that is, knitting with one yarn held in each hand) makes this easier. Check out this video from Very Pink Knits to learn the technique.

Photo credit: Knitty, Design: Three Tams, Angela Wu (Designer, model, photographer)

Mosaic and Slip Stitch Knitting
Mosaic knitting is probably the easiest of the colorwork techniques to learn. In mosaic knitting, you work with two colors to create intricate designs - but you only knit with one color at a time! This technique is a lot like knitting stripes, only you'll just slip certain stitches on a row as you work.

For example, if you are knitting with a light and dark color, when you work a row or round in the light color, you will be slipping the dark stitches. And when you work a row or round in the dark color, you will be slipping the light stitches. Easy, right?

Because you are slipping the stitches, there is a limit to how many slipped stitches can be worked consecutively (usually only two or three maximum). This means that mosaic knitting often ends up looking very geometric, like mosaic tiles. If you’re looking for more information about this technique, check out this article about mosaic knitting from Knitty.

We hope that this post has helped define the different types of colorwork knitting and give you a few tips and resources on how to conquer each technique.

We can’t wait to see what colorwork projects you create. Please share them with us on Instagram - be sure to use #knitterspride in your posts!

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How to Re-Use Yarn: A Guest Post with Knitted Bliss

We’ve teamed up with Julie Crawford of the Knitted Bliss blog to bring you a handy tutorial on repurposing yarn from project that either didn’t turn out the way you planned, or for some reason have gone unused since finishing them. Julie’s original post appears appears here, along with our own recommendations for reclaiming yarn so you can use it for a new project you’ll love!

I don’t often do tutorials, but I have recently learned SO MUCH about how to reuse yarn from a knit that I had to share it with you guys. In particular because I’ve finally decided to turn my Delineate Tank into a Manzanilla Sweater, using the Spirit Trail Fiberworks yarn that I loved so much the first time around. I had almost two full skeins leftover from the original project, so this sweater will be a mix of unused yarn AND recycled yarn, which will have its own considerations. First, let’s recycle the yarn.

Note: The ‘stickier’ a yarn is, the harder it is to rip back. if there is any mohair or angora in it, it will be cling to the stitches, and not want to be easily undone. It can still be done, but you’ll need to go more slowly.

You will need:

• the project
• wool wash (my favourite is Eucalan)
• a crochet hook or blunt tapestry needle
• some waste yarn
• a sink
• a towel

Knitter’s Pride Recommends: Our Wool Winder & Swift will make balling and reskeining yarn faster & easier!

A note about the wool wash, in case you are wondering why I’m declaring Eucalan as my fave: I’ve tried other kinds, but I always come back to Eucalan because I get a lot of product for the price, which means more washes. It’s totally biodegradable and made with natural ingredients, and I also really like that the cap and top of bottle seem to magically stay clean and never get gummed up or sticky. My favourite scents are Pink Grapefruit and Jasmine Wrapture, but I’m using classic Eucalyptus scent for this tutorial.

Step 1
If you look closely at your hems and where you bound off, and pull a bit at the fabric, you will be able to see the tiny tail of where the ends were woven in. You can use a crochet hook or a blunt tapestry needle to begin pulling it loose, until you can then undo the cast off. If at any point prior to this you can’t find the end or the knot you pulled when you cast off was so tight there’s no way you’ll undo it, then you can always get some scissors and snip out the cast on edge.

Step 2
Start pulling. You may need to pause now and then, especially with flat knitting, as the sides tend to be a bit stickier.

As the yarn comes away, you will need to wrap it into a ball. If you have a yarn winder you can attach the loose end and unwind the sweater that way.

But you can also just use your hand, like this:

Or, try one of our new nostepinnes!

You will need to make a new ball for each section of yarn that you have. So, as you are winding and come to the end of the skein in the knit, put that ball aside and start a new one with the new end that you find.

Step 3
Once you have unwound and have all the balls of crinkly, ramen-noodle style yarn, you will need to get it ready for a bath. You can use a swift if you have one (shown above is the Knitter’s Pride Signature Swift), but I used the backs of two chairs, one of which had the high chair on it. And it had so much crusted baby food and weird stains that I couldn’t bear to snap a photo. So, it should look like the photo in this link, where the chairs are clean. Then, using the waste yarn, loosely tie 2-3 sections of it to keep all the strand of yarn corralled together. This will be very important for keeping the yarn from becoming a snarled mess later on. It will look like this:

Step 4
Bath time! Pour a capful of Eucalan into a sink filled with warm (not hot) water. Immerse the yarn.

You want to ensure that the yarn is fully saturated, and not floating on the surface. Push it down until it’s absorbed a fair quantity of water, and let it sit for about half an hour to help the fibers get fully relaxed. After 20 minutes, take a look at the yarn – is it still a bit crinkly? Then it needs more time. Continue soaking. If it’s relaxed, then drain the water (no need to rinse), squeeze out the excess water gently, and roll in a towel to remove more of the water. Hang to dry away from heat or light, a shower is a good place for this.

Step 5
You can then wind your yarn into a ball, or into a hank, both are shown below. Here is a 1 min video showing how to wind your yarn into a hank (the long one that looks like a pastry), which is ideal if you aren’t going to be using it right away.

Hedgehog is just for visual interest. I was trying to get one of the cats to lay beside it, but when was the last time a cat did anything you wanted it to do?

Now, before you dive into your knit, if you have a mix of yarn you have recycled AND yarn that hasn’t been used (like me!), then you want to keep the following in mind. I would like to give a big shout out of thanks to Celeste, a previous commenter who emailed with me about this, and had wonderful tips to share:

• Cotton and acrylic might not change a lot in the process above, but wool, wool blends (and alpaca) can stretch a little or a lot.
• It could also have stretched a bit, if you hung your washed yarn up to dry, rather than laid it flat.
• Once a yarn is washed, it plumps up, filling in the space between fibers. Unwashed yarn won’t have done this yet. So you know that this will affect your….
• Gauge!! You will need to do a gauge swatch in both your washed yarn AND your unwashed yarn to compare, and see if there is any difference. There could be a very big difference, and you want to know before investing a sweater’s worth of time into a knit.

Then Celeste also suggested this brilliant step:

“Another way to do a quick check is to lay the two yarns parallel to each other. You likely won’t see a difference in thickness. If you do, then it’s a sure sign. What you’d want to look for is the twist of plies of the yarn. If you lay a ruler next to them count the times the plies curve over the yarn in 4″/10cm segment (like a swatch the larger the measurement the greater accuracy). Then do the same for the second yarn. If they match up perfectly you can choose where to go from there.”

Genius, right? So if your yarn is showing a difference, then simplest solution is to wash all of it, both the used and unused yarn. If it is treated the same way and more likely to behave the same from one skein to the next.

There you have it! How to reuse your wonderful, precious yarn. If you’ve invested all that time into creating a knitted piece, it should be something you love to wear. If it isn’t (once you have completed the 6 emotional stages of frogging a project) and you love the yarn, why not give it a new lease on life? You might knit something you can’t live without this time!

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Spring Socks KAL & Favorite Stretchy Cast-Ons for Sock Knitting

We've teamed up with Heart of the Mitten to bring you an exclusive sock knit-along (KAL) to welcome the return of warmer weather! We're featuring a great new pattern that is sized for the whole family; learn how you can enjoy special discounts and participate for a chance to win some fabulous prizes!

Leanna Lace Spring Socks KAL

What: Knit any size of the Leanna Lace Socks pattern; you can use either the called-for yarn (Alpakka Forte) or opt to substitute in a sock yarn of your choosing. Grab your copy of the Leanne Lace socks here on Ravelry or here on the Heart of the Mitten website; if you wish to knit with Alpakka Forte, enter KAL15 at checkout to get 15% off your order after putting both the yarn and pattern in your cart (discount is good through Midnight CST 5/31/18).

When: KAL begins on Tuesday, May 15 and runs through Saturday, June 30. We will announce prize winners on Monday, July 2 in the Ravelry group. 

Where: Join the fun by sharing your photos in the Knitter's Pride Ravelry Group and on Instagram using the hashtag: #KPHOMsocks - photos need to be posted by Midnight on June 30 in your time zone to be eligible for prize drawings. 

Prizes

Grand prize drawing: One lucky winner will receive 3 balls of Dalegarn Hakkespett in the colors of their choosing, a Greenery Fixed Circular Needle Case, a Lilac Needle & Crochet Gauge with Yarn Cutter, and a package Wool Needles!

Participation prize: Share your Leanna Lace sock project using any yarn and Knitter's Pride needles for your chance to win a Royale Special Interchangeable Set!

Kick-Off Prize: One lucky blog reader will win a Zing DPN set - find details on how to enter at the end of this blog post!

Favorite Stretchy Cast-Ons for Sock Knitting

Once you have your yarn, pattern and needles, it's time to cast on! We've rounded up 3 of our favorite video tutorials for stretchy cast-ons below to help you get started. And if you're worried about Second Sock Syndrome? Consider knitting your socks two at a time - click here for our free tutorial!

German Twisted/Old Norwegian Cast On: This is a very popular cast on for socks, and for good reason - it's super stretchy, making it perfect for socks! 

2x2 Tubular Cast On: This cast on can be used for any 2x2 ribbed cuff; it's a little more complex than the other options listed here, but it produces a beautifully stretchy edge.

Knit/Purl Cast On: Nearly invisible, this is a great choice for top-down socks. Best of all, it works for ANY rib combination! 

Giveaway

One lucky blog reader will receive a Zing DPN Needle Set - just leave a comment on this blog post telling us the name of your favorite stretchy cast on, along with your Ravelry ID or email address so that we can contact you if you win. We will randomly select a winning comment to announce on our next blog post on Friday, May 25. Good luck!

Winner + How to Dye Yarn at Home with Minimal Mess

Congratulations to imwalton, our winner for this month's blog giveaway! We will be in touch with you shortly to arrange for the delivery of your prize.

If cabin fever is starting to set in this winter, why not try dyeing your own yarn to add some color to your next project? It's easier than you think - in fact, you might have everything you need already in your kitchen! Here, we've used sugar-free Kool-Aid to dye a multi-colored skein of yarn and will show you how to do your own at-home dyeing with minimal mess.

Supplies:

• 1 skein of undyed yarn. We've used Beth, a blend of 30% US Merino Wool, 20% Silk and 50% Alpaca from Kraemer Yarns, which already has several ties on the skein to keep skeins tidy throughout the dye process. Click here to see their many undyed yarn options!
• Packets of sugar-free Kool-Aid in a variety of flavors. We've chosen Pink Lemonade, Strawberry & Grape to create a Valentine's Day-inspired colorway; click here to see the colors produced by each flavor on the Knitty blog archive.
• 3 bowls (for mixing dye).
• Microwave-safe dish. Make sure that your entire skein of yarn can fit comfortably without the colors touching.
• Gloves.
• Dish Soap.
• Spoon for mixing.
• Newsprint or brown craft paper (to cover your work area). 

Dyeing Your Yarn:

1. Mix each flavor of Kool-Aid in its own bowl with hot water. For our colorway, we mixed 1 c. hot water with 1 packet of Pink Lemonade, 2 c. hot water with 2 packets of Strawberry, and 2 c. hot water with 2 packets of Grape. Stir with spoon to ensure that powder is thoroughly dissolved, then add a dash of dish soap to each bowl and give it another quick stir (the soap will help to work the dye through your skein of yarn).

2. Take one end of the skein and dip it into your first bowl of dye. Gently work the dye through with your gloved hand in a "massaging" motion.

3. Take the middle of the skein and dip it into the next bowl of dye, again massaging the dye throughout the  skein with your gloved hand.

4. Take the other end of the skein and dip it into your final bowl of dye, working the dye through the skein with your gloved hand.

5. Now, begin massaging your yarn to incorporate more of the undyed skein into each color section like so:

6. Allow the skein to set in the bowls for a few more moments, then transfer to your microwave-safe dish carefully, gently squeezing to remove excess dye from each color section as you do so. Make sure to go from light to dark in order to protect the lighter color as much as possible.

7. Heat set the dye by microwaving for 1-2 minutes (find more info on how to heat set your yarn here; there are also guidelines for heat setting dye in a conventional oven found here).

8. Remove your yarn and allow to cool down before the next step - you want to avoid shocking the fibers from hot to cold, which could cause accidental felting.

9. Rinse  in cool water, either by hand or in a top-loading washing machine which allows you to skip to the spin part of the cycle. If rinsing by hand, gently remove excess water by squeezing skein gently, then wrapping in a fluffy towel to remove remaining moisture. Hang to dry, or lay flat on Knitter's Pride Blocking Mats, if you prefer.

Note: If this is your first time dyeing, or if you are just unsure whether or not you have correctly heat set the dye, we recommend testing a small section of the skein under running water first before immersing the entire thing. If your dye was heat set correctly, you will not see any dye in the water at this stage. It will be easier to return to step 7 to re-set the dye if you have only rinsed a tiny section!

Once your skein is dry, you can look for the the perfect pattern for your new creation!

Our Naturalz needles are a great choice for this colorful yarn!

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Giveaway + Indian Cast-On Tutorial

Did you know that Knitter's Pride needles were developed with an international panel of knitters and crocheters - and that these very same needles are sold throughout the globe under the KnitPro brand?

KnitPro International is based in India, where we have some interesting traditions when it comes to knitting - specifically, when it comes to casting on! The traditional Indian cast-on method is a unique way of starting a project, using the big toe to tension the working yarn while holding the short end of the yarn double in the right hand. A slip knot is made, and stitches are cast on in the form of slip knots with the double stranded short end and the working yarn.

If this sounds a little confusing, fear not - here is a tutorial video demonstrating the technique:

Almost all Indian knitters learn this method of casting on, and many continue to use it permanently.

Go to any town in India, and you'll find that nearly every family has a knitter in their midst - even in the remotest of villages! The selection of yarn is limited to mostly cheap acrylic yarns in fingering and DK weights, and believe it or not, circular knitting is not known in most parts of the country.

Typically, India has two types of knitters: the traditional knitter in villages and towns who knits out of need and can copy a pattern just by looking at it, but never knits from written patterns. The other type is the modern knitter: a computer literate Raveller who knits from patterns, looks up YouTube videos for knitting techniques, and buys yarn online.

This month, we're celebrating the global craft world with our "Knitting Around the World" board on Pinterest. If you'd like to find out more about where your Knitter's Pride needles and hooks are made, click here to read this recent feature on the Knitting Daily blog! 

March Giveaway
Two lucky readers will win their choice of prizes: a Waves Crochet Hook, a Dreamz Fixed Circular, or a Dreamz DPN!

To be eligible, simply leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite designer or technique with an international flair. Be sure to also include your Ravelry ID or email address so that we can contact you if you win!

We'll randomly select 2 winning comments to announce on Friday, March 28. Good luck! 

Winner + Caring for Wooden Needles

Congratulations to our winners for this month's blog giveaway!

Raveler EvilSquirrel said, "My crafting plans are to whip up a few pairs of super bright socks for my hubs (since he will now only wear hand knit socks in bright bold stripes) I love Taat on 2 circs! And there will be a scarf OTK for me when I start school this September to be a Nurse!! Hot pink of course."

Renee said, "I would be happy to have a set of double point needles. I have several projects to work on from socks and fingerless mitts to shawls and shawlettes."

Both of our lucky winners have been contacted to arrange for the delivery of their Karbonz needles. Join us next month for another great giveaway right here on our blog!

Caring for Wooden Needles

Dreamz needles: image courtesy of
WEBS - America's Yarn Store

Wooden and bamboo needles get naturally moisturized by the oils in the wool yarn (lanolin) and your hands, thus becoming smoother with every use. However, it is a good idea to clean and moisturize your Dreamz, Cubics and Basix needles a couple of times in a year. Here are our top recommendations:

Clean your needles with a clean, dry muslin or paper towel, then apply a very thin layer of natural bees wax. Allow it to dry and then buff it with soft muslin or chamois cloth. This can also be done using a small amount of cold cream as most cold creams contain bees wax. Alternatively, rubbing your needles with wax paper is also a good option.

Whatever method you are using for moisturizing the needles, make sure you wait at least 24 hrs before using them again for knitting!