I have been crocheting for 30+ years and decided to start knitting about 3 years ago. I’ve got the basics down and have decided to make a baby dress that uses 4 colors. The bottom of the dress is striped in a mountain or wave pattern and uses a chart to show how to do it. I understand how to read the chart, but I’m not sure how to change the yarn color for just a few stitches at a time. I don’t have the pattern in front of me, but it’s knitted and an example is 3 red stitches, 1 orange stitch, 1 blue stitch, 1 orange stitch, 4 red stitches - repeat around. Next row was 2 red stitches, 2 orange, 2 blue, 2 orange, 2 red - repeat around. This continues adding another color in. Do I stitch with the yarn and just let it hang until I need it again? I know this will leave yarn stretching on the inside of the garment, but I am at a loss on how to do it:hair: otherwise. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.:wall:
How do I change colors in a chart pattern?
If yarn is carried for just a few sts at a time, the strands across the back are usually not very long. When you have multiple colors, it may be that by the time you would repeat a color, the strand loops behind too many sts and makes too loose a loop. In that case you need to catch the carried yarn by twisting it over the current working yarn halfway along. That way you’ll have shorter loops of the carried yarn. It’s like the way you would twist the yarn when changing from one color to another to prevent a hole. There’s a video at the top of the page under Free Videos, Advanced Techs, Stranded or Fair Isle knitting. It only shows two colors but the idea is the same.
Thank you so much! That was exactly what I was looking for.
Most color knitting of this type is done with only 2 colors in one row, anytime you use more than 2 colors it is quite a bit more complicated. Elizabeth Zimmermann a well known knitter, now deceased, recommended avoiding patterns that use more than 2 colors in a row. It is doable but I’m just warning you so that when you find it challenging you won’t think there is something wrong with you. 
Sometimes folks use only two colors in a row and then go back and fill in, with duplicate stitch, colors that aren’t used very often. That makes the knitting easier, but the finishing harder. 
Kaffe Fasset (I think is the spelling), a male knit designer uses oodles of colors in a row sometimes and he suggests using short pieces of yarn and I believe he knits in the ends as he goes. I’ve not tried that.
This helped so much. Thank you. It will open up so many more patterns to me.