Colourwork knitting for beginners – getting started with two colours

Colourwork – knitting patterns with two or more colours in the same round – can look advanced, but the technique is based on nothing more than knit stitches. You knit a few stitches in one colour, a few in another, and let the colour you are not using run along the back. The hard part is not the stitches but keeping your tension even. This guide takes you from the first round to an even result.

What is colourwork?

The technique most people mean by colourwork is called stranded colourwork, and it is sometimes also referred to as Fair Isle knitting or jacquard knitting. The principle is that you have two strands of yarn in use at the same time but knit with only one at a time. The strand that is resting is carried along the wrong side of the work as a loose strand, known as a float.

The result is a thicker and warmer fabric than ordinary stockinette, because in practice there is a double layer of yarn everywhere. That is one of the reasons why mittens, hats and sweaters with Nordic patterns are so warm. If you want to know more about the traditions, read Fair Isle and Nordic patterns.

Choose a good first project

For your first attempt, we recommend:

• Something knitted in the round. When you knit in the round, the right side always faces you and you can see the pattern emerge. You only knit – no purling. A hat or a pair of wrist warmers is perfect.
• A small pattern with a short repeat. A pattern that repeats over 4–8 stitches is easy to memorise and gives short floats. Good templates to start with are Diamonds, Waves and Selbu Star.
• Two colours with clear contrast. Light against dark shows up clearly. Tip: photograph your balls of yarn in black and white. If they look almost the same in greyscale, the pattern will blur together.

Knitting colourwork flat is possible too, but then you have to work the pattern in purl on the wrong-side rows, which is harder. Save that for later.

Choose your yarn

Wool yarn with a little “grip” is forgiving, because the fibres cling to each other and even out small differences in tension. Traditional colourwork is often knitted in wool yarns such as two-ply wool or Shetland wool. Very slippery yarns, such as pure cotton or silk, show unevenness more clearly.

Ideally choose the same yarn quality for both colours, so that they behave the same way.

How to hold two strands

There are several ways, and none of them is the “right” one. Try them and choose what feels best:

One strand in each hand

The background colour goes over your right index finger (English style, or throwing) and the pattern colour over your left index finger (continental style, or picking), or the other way round. Many knitters find this the fastest method once they have got the hang of it, but it requires you to know both knitting styles.

Both strands in the same hand

Both strands run over your left index finger, with a little space between them, or over your index and middle fingers. There are also knitting thimbles (yarn guide rings) that keep the strands apart.

Drop and pick up

You knit with one strand, drop it and pick up the other when the colour changes. It is slow but works perfectly well for learning, and the tension is often even.

Colour dominance – why the position of the strands matters

When you knit with two colours, one strand will always run slightly below the other on the back. The colour that consistently sits underneath usually stands out a little more on the right side. This is often called the dominant colour. Many knitters choose to make the pattern colour dominant so that the motif is clear.

What matters most is not which colour you choose, but that you are consistent throughout the whole piece. If the strands swap places now and then, you can get stripes or unevenness. So let the same colour come from the same direction all the time, and don’t let the balls of yarn twist around each other.

Floats: the most important detail

Most problems in colourwork are about the strands at the back.

Floats that are too tight

If the strands at the back are shorter than the fabric they cross, they pull the knitting together. The result is puckered and tight, and the garment comes out smaller than it should. This is by far the most common problem for beginners.

How to avoid it:

• Spread out the stitches on the right needle before you change colour, so that they sit at their natural width. Then the strand behind will be long enough.
• Knit with the wrong side facing out. A common trick when knitting in the round is to turn the work inside out so that you knit on the far side of the circular needle. The floats then run around the outside of the circle and automatically become a little longer.
• Go up a needle size. Many knitters knit more tightly in colourwork than in plain stockinette. Knit a swatch in the pattern and measure – see how to calculate knitting gauge.

Floats that are too long

Long strands at the back easily catch on fingers and buttons. A common rule of thumb is to catch the strand if it would be longer than about five to seven stitches, or around 2.5 cm (1 in). You catch it by laying the resting strand over the working strand before you knit a stitch, so that it is held against the back. Don’t catch it in exactly the same place round after round – the caught strand can then show through on the right side. Shift the catch by a stitch or so.

The best solution, of course, is to choose or draw patterns without overly long stretches of the same colour. In KnitGrid’s pattern editor you can see long stretches of the same colour directly on the grid and adjust the pattern before you knit.

Changing colour and weaving in ends

When you start a new colour, leave a tail of 10–15 cm. Weave in the tails on the wrong side when the work is finished, ideally along a row of the same colour so that they don’t show through. An alternative is to catch the tail in the floats over the first few stitches, in the same way as you catch long strands.

At the beginning of the round, a small “jog” often appears in the pattern, because knitting in the round is really a spiral. It is least visible if you place the beginning of the round where it shows least, for example under the arm or at the back of a hat.

Blocking works wonders

Colourwork almost always looks uneven straight off the needles. Soak the work in lukewarm water, gently squeeze out the water in a towel and let it dry flat (or over a balloon or a hat form for a hat). Many small irregularities even out as the wool relaxes.

Reading the chart

Colourwork is almost always worked from a chart in which each square is one stitch and the colour of the square shows which yarn to use. If you haven’t done this before, read our guide how to read a knitting chart.

Your first pattern

A good suggestion: knit a hat with ribbing in the background colour, then a border of Hearts or Selbu Stars, and the rest in stockinette. That way you practise colourwork on a limited section, and the hat is finished quickly. If you would rather make something of your own, you can create your own pattern and see a preview of how it will look knitted. And with Christmas just around the corner, there are more ideas in the guide to Christmas knitting patterns.

Frequently asked questions

Is colourwork difficult for beginners?

No, not if you can already knit in the round. The technique is the same; what is new is holding two strands and getting even tension. Start with a small project and a pattern with a short repeat.

How many colours can you use in the same round?

Two colours per round is most common. You can use more, but it becomes harder to keep your tension even. Many patterns instead change colours between rounds, so that only two colours are in use at a time.

Why is my colourwork puckered and tight?

Usually because the floats at the back are too short. Spread out the stitches on the right needle before you change colour, try knitting with the wrong side facing out, and block the work when it is finished.

How long can the floats at the back be?

A common rule of thumb is about five to seven stitches or around 2.5 cm (1 in). If they are longer than that, you should catch the strand. Since stitches are wider in thick yarn, five stitches there make a longer float than in fine yarn – so think in centimetres too.

Do you have to twist the yarn?

No, not for ordinary floats. Twisting or catching the yarn is only needed when a strand would otherwise be too long. Don’t twist the strands around each other at every colour change; that easily leads to uneven tension and tangled balls of yarn.