Color knitting patterns have shown up in many cultural traditions for as long as people have been knitting. The method referred to as stranded knitting creates an overall motif that is familiar from Scandinavian and Fair Isle garments. It gets its name from the lengths of yarn that are carried along the back of the work that are also called floats. Stranded knitting looks a lot more complex than it actually is. Almost always worked in the round there is no need to purl; there are only two colors per row, the main color (mc) and contrasting color (cc), and patterns are small, usually no more than 5 stitches per color. Traditionally worked in wool, the resulting two-layered garment is very warm.
For me the trick to great stranded knitting was learning to work with both hands. I always hold my main color in the hand that for me is dominant -- my right hand -- and contrasting color in my left. With this method I can look at the chart and motor along just as if I were knitting one color, and since I'm keeping my yarns separate they don't get tangled while I knit. Once you've mastered this technique it's completely addictive; colors and patterns are endless. Watching your knitting develop is magical.
Join us Sundays in April for a Stranded Knitting class: The Undergrowth Hat, a color stranded hat with a double Latvian Braid and a spring inspired motif. You will learn to knit with both hands at the same time, read and work a color chart and make the Latvian Braid -- a beautiful edging which creates a nice stable edge for the hat (example below).
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| Latvian Braid |
Undergrowth Hat
Sundays April 7, 14, 21 and 28
10AM - noon
$85 does not include supplies
Call the shop to register 773-244-1646
Lynn