How would you do this? Would you carry the yarn with every stitch? I don’t know how else to do the blue.
How would you do this pattern?
Welcome to KH!
You could knit many of the blue dots as intarsia. Where there are 2-3 dots across a row, carry the blue yarn across the intervening yellow background. You don’t have to have a separate bobbin for each dot but you can carry the yarn up to the next row and a new dot where possible (see around row 15).
You don’t have to grab a float at every stitch. Every 4-5sts for example may be enough to keep fingers from snagging on the yarn loops. It’s similar to this stranded knitting video.
It’ll take a bit of planning but that should work.
This pattern reminds me of one I knit for my son. It was an alligator with dots up one sleeve.
I’d also carry the yarn across the back. I only use separate balls/bobbins when there’s a really huge gap between colour changes (current project has colour changes on edges, so I’m using two balls. Carrying the yarn across cuts down on potential tangles, too!)
I’m pretty new to knitting, what do you mean about carry it across? I’m currently getting really tangled up carrying the yearn across every stitch
Let’s say you’re knitting the main colour and heading towards the next colour change - every few stitches (doing it every stitch is a little too much), drape the contrast colour yarn over the main colour yarn, not too loosely or taut though, or your work can get puckered up, then work the next stitch. Just keep repeating this until you need to change colour.
For large areas of contrast colour, carry the main colour yarn across like you did before with the contrast colour.
So carry both coloured yarns throughout the whole sleeve but only doing it every few stitches rather than every stitch?
You’ll carry the one you’re not currently working with - ‘catching the floats’ every few stitches - but if you don’t need to change colour again on the row you’re on, just work with main (or contrast) colour to the end so you save a bit of yarn.
From how the spots are arranged it looks like you’re going to be carrying yarn a fair amount! If you had large patches of plain yellow with no spots you wouldn’t need to carry the blue in those sections.
Hello
What an exciting pattern!
I don’t think you need to carry both colours of yarn right across every row. It would use up a lot of yarn and my guess is that the amount of yarn the pattern suggests to buy probably wouldn’t allow for carrying right across every row and you might end up short on the blue.
Did you watch the videos @salmonmac linked? I would do a mixture of bothe methods which I think is what both @salmonmac and @Shintoga are advising.
For instance beginning with yellow and working across to the first blue and joining in that blue, then making a decision about whether you want to:
EITHER
carry the yellow behind the blue to the end of the row, and carry it back again behind the blue to the end of the blue section where you switch back to yellow
OR
drop the yellow and work to the end of the row with only blue, working back in only blue until you need yellow, at which point you pick up the dropped yellow yarn which is sitting at the row below where you left it, you lift up that yellow from the row below and use it in you current row.
Then make the next decision, do you want to carry blue yarn behind the yellow all the way to the end of the row and all the way back to the blue section
OR
Do you want to drop the blue and work jnky yellow to the end of the row and back, then when the blue is needed again it is just waiting at the row below and you can bring it up.
Hopefully you can see that one method uses a lot more yarn whilst the other will use up less, but that also it is fine to mix the methods, carrying behind (like fairisle) in some parts so that it is available in the right place when it is needed (I think salmonmac used row 15 as an example and I’ll explain my hnderstanding of it in a minute) but dropping (like intarsia) in other places to reduce how much you have to carry nd how much yarn is used.
At each Co.our change you make a decision, look ahead and see what is coming and plan for that by either carrying or dropping your other colour.
For instance, if it was me, I’d probably carry the yellow throughout the sleeve so behind every blue dot there would be a carried yellow yarn (see notes from Shintoga, it need not be every stitch, every few), but I would not carry the blue throughout the sleeve, I’d drop it.
Salmonmac mentioned row 15 or thereabouts, if you look there are 2 blue dots. The one on the right gets completed and you switch to yellow, at this point it might be a good idea to carry the blue yarn behind the yellow for several stitches before dropping it.
If you drop the blue at exactly where it switches from blue to yellow on tnat row there is no blue yarn available for the next dot on the row above, it would mean cutting the blue and starting again, more ends to weave in. But if you carry the blue several stitches before dropping, then work the rest of the row in yellow, then work back in yellow, when you get to where the next blue dot starts there is a blue yarn hanging on the row below just waiting for you to lift it up and use it.
Make any sense?
It’s a bit of making decisions as you work and a bit of planning a little ahead to carry that blue just enough to keep it available in the right p,aces but without constantly carrying it behind the entire project.
If you haven’t already watched the videos I suggest you do that. Also it’s really important to drop and pick up colours correctly so that you don’t create a hole.
If it was me I’d make a swatch to try out the 2 different methods of switching colours, just to get a feel for it.
I hope this helps some. I didn’t really say any different to the others, but sometimes the same information in a different voice helps.
Since this is knit back and forth, it’s not necessary to carry the blue across the row. The easiest solution is to carry the yellow background across the blue dots. When you’re finished with the dot, continue with the background which has been carried across the dot.
In cases where there are multiple dots in a row you can carry the blue behind the yellow till you get to the next dot, then carry the yellow behind the blue.
It’ll take a bit of planning and an eye to where you need the blue yarn to be on the next row but it’s easier in practice than you might think. Try it out on a small swatch just to get the hang of it and have fun with the new technique!
Hi, I think that is what I’ve done.
This is the back of my work. I’m not constantly carrying it. I am having to where two blue dots are in the same row. I’m just pulling it slightly too tight I think but for my first jumper I think it’s looking quite good!
It’s very good. You’ve got the idea for sure. Yes, it shouldn’t pucker, that’s too much tension on the floats. One trick is to catch the float then stretch out the sts on the right hand needle so that a bit more of the carried yarn is used.
See in this video especially around 2:30min.
Wow!
For a first jumper you are doing amazingly well!
Yes that’s just how I imagined the floats.
As salmonmac has said just stretch out our knitting as you go to keep the tension even and allow the floats to stretch out with the fabric.
Brilliant progress!
I have never done this myself but I know my son would love a patterned, multi coloured sweater and I will eventually take on the challenge when I find the right pattern for him.
Intarsia knitting will be perfect. Means lots of balls of wool on the go… but worth it…
look ar utube for how to do it… it’s easy. Honest but as I said. Multiple balls on the go. And quite a bit of sewing in ends. But much better result than carrying across the yarn.
Teacup, your cable Teddy seeater looks fabulous!
I thought I recognized this as the cabled Teddy Bear sweater you posted earlier - you are making great progress and the patterns are coming out wonderfully!
Hello Lucy
Do you know how to embroider? I would knit entire blanket in the yellow and then go back and embroider duplicate stitch over the areas marked as circle.
If you need help with duplicate stitch, there are
some great YouTube videos. Write back if you need
Any more explanation. This works great for me.
I
My first time here & happy to join you all