I started knitting about three weeks ago and am working on a blanket. I am wanting to use two colors to make alternating horizontal stripes. I am at the point where I want to change colors, start a new row with a new color, and have no clue as to how to do this. I have searched the videos and have not found anything that helps.
The pattern I am using is simple and straight forward. This a blanket with alternating horizontal stripes using two different colors. I am making vertical ripples (using the knit two pearl two method). I am making the color changes at the beginning of a new row.
So my question is “How do I make the color change?”
How wide are you making the stripes? If the stripes are narrow sometimes you carry the yarn along the side of the piece to the spot you need it next, but it does make a visable line of the carried yarn along the side of the work. If you were going to put some sort of border around the whole thing that line may be covered up by that.
To do what I said above you knit your one color and then drop it and just start knitting with the new color and you can catch it in under the working yarn each time you go past it on the side it is on. If you would have to carry it quite a ways you usually just cut the yarn leaving a nice tail to work in later and start working with the new yarn.
Either way when you change colors you really just leave the one there and start knitting with the new one. Sometimes when you use K2, P2 or other changes of stitch of this nature you want to knit one row even with the new color to get a nice clean color change and then go back to your pattern. But if the color changes are written into the pattern you are using it should tell you if you do something like that.
Thank you MarigoldinWA.
The pattern that I am using is my own. I wanted to knit a blanket with alternating stripes of different widths. I am just doing the K2 P2 stitch to get the ripples and changing colors after so many rows. There is no border. Nothing fancy, so I think.?
If I am understanding you correctly, I just leave the old color hanging and start a new row with the new color? Should I cut the yarn of the old color before I start the new color? Is there a video showing this process? It would help me a lot.
I looked to see if there is a video of that here on KH but I didn’t see one. It is not really hard. You can just go ahead and cut the yarn you are not going to use for a while. Cut it leaving an end of it about 6 inches long. Then hold the new color so that it too will have a tail left at the edge and begin knitting with it. Things may seem a little loose there but you can snug it all up when you work in the tails. Work the colors into the section of the color they are. IOW If you had red and white you would work the red tail into the red and the white tail into the white.
Thanks, this helped a lot!