Colorwork, stranded knitting, fairisle — whatever you call it, knitting with more than one color of yarn has always seemed like a big challenge to me.
I tried it once. It was 2009 and I decided to knit a very simple winter hat in a Spud and Chloë yarn for my oldest child, then 19, who was going to school in Connecticut. It was the simplest of fairisle patterns, involving just a few blocks of squares.
In the end, it was pretty much an epic fail. I sailed right into knitting, without realizing I would need to carry the strands loosely along the back of the work. Instead, I pulled them tight and the finished product barely fit my then-six year old. As it turned out, he was the only one who was happy about the project!
But I've been thinking about trying knitting in color again this year. The lovely Teeniebean on Ravelry showed me her mittens and I fell in love. Yes, I may be setting myself up for failure, but I've got to try them.
Not only do they have that beautiful exterior, they have a full lining. I'm planning to dye a riotously colorful skein for the lining, since I'll be the only one who knows about it.
A local knitting friend turned me onto a blog full of knitting know-how called TECHKnitting. It is truly the most amazing resource for knitters. There is a whole series of pieces on colorknitting, which I'm hoping to work through this week in order to get myself in shape for the project. In addition to a piece on the basics, there is a discussion of knitting with one color in each hand and avoiding the color jog when knitting in the round.
This is my challenge for the new few weeks. I'm looking forward to learning about it and am hoping I'll be able to conquer colorwork this time.