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Principles of Knitting

The Comprehensive & Timeless Guide

june hemmons hiatt

completely revised & updated

Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting

The

The P

rinciples of K

nittingju

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emm

on

s hiatt

Aword-of-mouth

phenomenon

since its original

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passionate and loyal

following, The Principles

of Knitting has served as

a treasured resource for

an entire generation of

knitters. Now completely

revised and updated,

this long-awaited new edition contains indispensable information for every

knitter, from the beginner to the most experienced, on all aspects of the craft.

Written in clear, direct language, The Principles of Knitting is like

having a knitting mentor by your side, ready to answer any question in

a comprehensive, reasoned, and informed manner. June Hemmons Hiatt

includes instructions for all facets of knitting, from the most basic skills

to the most advanced techniques, and offers suggestions for best practices

as well as alternatives and innovations.

The Principles of Knitting provides the inspiration and instruction to

help every knitter gain the knowledge and confidence needed to produce

unique, beautifully crafted garments, accessories, and household items.

It is the one reference guide no knitter should be without.

The definitive book of knitting techniques

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254

chapter 13

Color Techniques

T he introduction of more than one color to a knitted fabric livens things up considerably; as you will see, there are ways to do this that

even beginning knitters will fi nd easy, while others can challenge the expert.

The simplest patterns are horizontal stripes, which can be enhanced simply by varying the number of rows or by using yarns in different colors and textures. Vertical and diagonal stripes and more complex geometric motifs are made with the Stranded Color method, working with two colors at the same time.

Also, many patterns can be done by combining color and various stitch techniques to add lively surface texture. All of these refl ect the underlying grid-like nature of the fabric; however, the Intarsia technique escapes this geometry and makes it possible to create free-form, painterly motifs.

Other ways to add color to a garment are discussed in the chapter on Surface Decoration, which includes needlework, appliqué, and trim, as well as beads and sequins. Those techniques can be used, either alone or in addition to one of the methods described here, to create color and textural effects that lie on the surface of the fabric.

Putting Colors Together

For anyone interested in learning how to design, or even for those who simply want to acquire greater confi dence in choos-ing a pattern, some time spent learning more about how color can be used effectively is a good investment.

Many books have been written on color theory, including several specifi cally about designing for knits, and classes are available that teach how colors and shapes interact. However, you can do a great deal to train your eye in an informal way.

Wherever you are, pay attention to successful design—store windows, fashion magazines, books, television, and Internet sites are all rich resources. And by no means limit yourself to knits, nor just to clothing design—interior design is a good source of inspiration for color and pattern ideas, as are im-ages of the natural world, such as fl owers, insects, and birds.

When you see something you like, stop and think about why it appeals to you and analyze how it was done. Or chal-lenge yourself by taking a design you do not particularly like and try to change it into something that is more appealing. Trace a pattern, or make several copies of it, and then use cray-ons or colored pencils to fi ll it in with different color combina-tions; cut pattern elements apart and reposition or resize them to see what will happen.

Another excellent exercise is to make several versions of charted color patterns for knitting—use one pattern with dif-ferent color combinations, or use the same colors in several different patterns to see what effect a change of scale or differ-ence in proportion between light and dark will have.

Pin the samples up and look at them from a distance. The stitches in a knit behave like the pixels of a digital photograph, the little squares of individual color that make up an image. If a color motif in a knitted fabric contains large stitches or is seen close up, the edge will appear to be stepped; if the stitches are small or seen from a distance, the edges will smooth out, just like when a digital photograph is enlarged or reduced.

Chapter 13: Color Techniques 255

Therefore, the gauge you use to make a fabric is a major factor in the appearance of the details in the design and it also determines how many motifs you can fi t within the frame of the garment.

In addition to the scale factor, a biological phenomenon occurs called “optical mixing,” which means that the smaller the bits of color, the more the eye blends them together into an entirely different one, just as if you had mixed paints on a palette. Similarly, your perception of a color seen separately will change when it is placed in close proximity to another. An interesting exercise is to cut various shapes out of different colored papers and put them next to or on top of one another to see how much they change. For instance, if you put two squares of the same color on top of two backgrounds in two other colors, the color of the squares on top will no longer look alike; the same phenomenon may be evident when you use different background colors in separate areas of a pattern for a pattern yarn in a single color.

These experiments with design and how the eye perceives color and pattern are fascinating and well worth trying. The important thing is to be playful and curious, and to remember that you learn something just as important from the examples you think of as failures as from those that succeed.

Blends and Stripes

To begin, here are several elementary but effective techniques that make it easy to add color to what might otherwise be a very plain design.

Multiple YarnsOne of the simplest ways to introduce color to a knitted fab-ric is, in effect, to create your own yarn. If you hold two or more yarns together while you work, the individual colors and/or textures will blend together in the fabric, producing a tweedy effect and a new color that is the sum of its parts. At its simplest, you can combine two yarns for an entire fabric, but you can also change the colors held together to add variety to stripes or other types of color patterns (see Color Blending, below).

Notice that I said “textures,” for you need not use the same types of yarns. In addition to blending colors, you can combine smooth with fl uffy or nubby, thick with thin, or shiny with

dull. Twist the yarns under consideration together, and then wrap them around your fi ngers to get an idea of the effect they will create in the fabric. Keep in mind that the thickness of the combined yarns needs to be suitable for the type of garment you plan to make—this is an opportunity to use those superfi ne yarns you might otherwise avoid.

Basic Horizontal StripesAnother elementary way to add color is to do a few rows in one color, and then a few in another. Just attach a new sup-ply of yarn along with the existing one, and switch back and forth between the two; for information on stranding the yarn up between rows, see Tips for Stranded Color.

When working circular, it is possible to make stripes of any number of rows; every round brings you back to where the other yarn is attached, and you have the option of dropping one and picking up the other.

Multiple Yarns. Two yarns held as one.

Basic Stripes.

Tips for Working with Multiple Yarns

Here are some suggestions for how to handle the yarns.

• Keep a close eye on your work when using more than one yarn; it is all too easy to insert the needle between the strands instead of into the center of the stitch, or to miss a strand when you wrap the needle to make a stitch. The result will be stray loops on the surface of the fabric.

• Do not wind the yarns together into a single ball; you may fi nd yourself with a terrible tangle. The stitches tend to take up more of a heavier strand than a thinner one, and less of a smooth yarn than a textured one. Instead, place each yarn in a separate container and only gather them together in your hand when you start to work.

• To keep the yarns from winding around each other when working fl at, turn the work to the right at the end of one row and to the left at the end of the other.

When working in the round, stop from time to time and circle the needles and fabric in the opposite direction to untwist the yarns.

Or, with either method, push the stitches back from the tip of the needle and let it hang from the yarn to unspin.

256 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

However, when working a fl at fabric on single-point nee-dles it takes two rows to bring you back to the side where the other yarn is attached. Therefore, when working this way it is impossible to make stripes with an odd number of rows. However, working on double-point needles makes it possible to use a technique called The Slide, which gets around that limitation (it is also used for patterns in Double-Fabrics).

The SlideUse a pair of double-point needles or a circular one. For one-row stripes, work as follows:

1. On outside: With Yarn A, Knit across row. Drop Yarn A at left edge; do not turn.

2. Slide stitches back to tip of needle at right, pick up Yarn B, and Knit to end of row. Drop Yarn B; both yarns are at same edge of fabric; turn.

3. On inside: With Yarn A, Purl across row. Drop Yarn A; do not turn.

4. Slide stitches to right tip of needle, pick up Yarn B, and Purl to end of row; drop Yarn B; both yarns are at same edge of fabric; turn.

5. Repeat Steps 1–4 as needed.

Since you can slide the stitches to pick up whichever yarn you need next, it is easy to make stripes of any number of rows.

For instance, for three rows in one color, one row in an-other, work as follows:

• With Yarn A, work two rows, turning at the end of each row; work third row with Yarn A, drop it, and Slide. Pick up Yarn B and work one row, drop it, turn, and pick up Yarn A and repeat.

Color BlendingColor blending is a method of gradually shifting the color pal-ette of either the background or foreground of a pattern. This approach can be applied to plain stripes done with several yarns, as described above, but is also interesting when used with the Stranded Color or Mosaic Patterns discussed below.

The concept is simple enough and there are several ways to apply it; here are some examples.

1. Select four yarns in closely related colors, and/or in different textures, and designate them Yarns A, B, C, D; these are background colors.

2. Select a fi fth color that contrasts more strongly with the other four to use as the main yarn; call it M.

3. Work one stripe holding Yarns M and A.4. For next stripe, retain Yarn M, drop Yarn A, and pick up

Yarn B.5. Continue in this way, working each stripe with Yarn M

and the next yarn in the sequence of blending colors.

There are several other options for how to sequence the yarns; for example:

• Reverse the order, such as A, B, C, D, C, B, A.• Hold A and B together for several rows, and then hold B

and C together, next C and D, and fi nally D and A; repeat the sequence for the length of the fabric.

Fibonacci StripesAn interesting design theory is based on what are called Fi-bonacci numbers, named for the medieval mathematician who fi rst defi ned them. The Fibonacci series starts with 0 and continues with the sums of numbers paired according to a simple rule:

• 0 + 1 = 1, 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 3 = 5, 3 + 5 = 8, and so on, to infi nity.

Notice that the two numbers on either side of the equal sign in one step are added together in the next step.

Only the smaller Fibonacci numbers are of interest to knitters: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 . . .

The theory is that stripes made with rows of any Fibonacci number, in any sequence, will be aesthetically pleasing. In other words, you might use a stripe of 8 rows, and then one of 3, fol-lowed by one of 5, but never one of 4 or 9 rows. And of course, this need not be limited to plain stripes, since it would have the same effect when applied to more decorative ones, such as the Stranded Color patterns described below, although you may fi nd few repeats with the number of rows that will fi t the theory.

Stranded Color Patterns

Stranded Color patterns appear in many knitting traditions throughout the world, which means there is a wealth of de-signs to choose from and unlimited inspiration for new ones. The patterns consist of geometric motifs done in one color

A Shetland Fair Isle pattern.

Chapter 13: Color Techniques 257

with the background in another; while many different colors may be used to create the overall pattern, it is rare for there to be more than two colors used in any one row.

Although a garment made with patterns of this kind looks complex, they are actually easier to do than you might think. The patterns are always charted (see Charted Color Patterns), and are usually done in plain Stockinette.

Stranded Pattern MethodsTo make patterns of this kind, two yarns are alternated to the stitches across the row, with one or more stitches done with one yarn, and then one or more stitches with the other. These are called “stranded” patterns because the yarn needed next

must be drawn past the stitches just made with the other yarn, leaving a horizontal strand on the inside of the fabric.

Simple variations of the standard knitting methods can be used to handle the yarns for these patterns, and there are two specialized techniques as well. The differences between them have primarily to do with the amount of manual skill required and the speed and ease of working, but they all produce the same result.

The easiest approach is to use a modifi cation of your pre-ferred knitting method; this speeds up the time it takes to get used to handling two yarns and is a real boon for those who are strongly right- or left-handed.

Another option is to use the technique of Slip Stranding; only one yarn is held at a time and it works equally well with any of the knitting methods.

Traditional Fair Isle of the 1920s. Shetland Museum and Archives, photograph by J. Murray.

Diagram of Stranded Color pattern, looking down on stitches.

Stranded yarns on inside of fabric.

Stranding yarn past two stitches.

258 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

For anyone who wants to do these patterns frequently, how-ever, it is well worth the effort to learn to carry one yarn in each hand, or both yarns at the same time in the left or right hand. This requires the most practice to achieve a consistent and satisfactory fabric, since few people are equally adept with both hands, but it is a fast and effi cient way to work.

Regardless of which method you use, the most important thing is to provide just enough yarn to each strand so it is nei-ther too loose nor too tight. If it is too loose, the stitches at either end will take up the extra yarn and enlarge; if it is too tight, it will bunch the fabric together. Here is the basic rule for how to measure out yarn to the strand:

• Before changing from one yarn to the other, spread the stitches last worked out along the right needle so there is a gap between each one that is roughly equal to the yarn width, and then work the next stitch.

The following instructions refer to Yarn A and Yarn B; these terms can be used to designate either the dark or light colors, respectively; or think of them as the background yarn and the motif yarn, if you prefer.

Stranding: Yarns Held to LeftIf you carry the yarn on the left, you can work a Stranded Color pattern by holding one yarn on each of your fi rst two fi ngers, or carry both yarns on your left forefi nger with one close to the nail, the other between the fi rst and second knuckles.

There are no special instructions required for working with two yarns instead of one in this way; simply use the needle tip to pick up whichever yarn is needed next from your left fi nger. Most people fi nd it diffi cult to manage two yarns this way while working in Purl, so the method is primarily used for doing a circular fabric in Knit.

Whenever the pattern requires more of one yarn than the other, the two yarns will pass through your hand at a different rate, therefore, maintaining even tension can be a challenge. You may need to try several methods of holding the yarns to fi nd which method works best for you—this is as much a mat-ter of anatomy as it is of dexterity.

Stranding: Yarns Held to RightThere are three ways to hold both yarns to the right for a Stranded Color pattern, although the Right-Hand Method is by far the easiest to learn and to do.

The yarns can also be held on the fi rst and second fi ngers of the right hand, but this makes Purl more of a challenge. How-ever, there is an interesting alternative suggested by the method used for Twined Knit where each yarn is picked up by the fore-fi nger as needed, and this makes Purl considerably easier. With either of these methods, a Knitting Belt, or some similar support for the needle, is a great help, but is not necessary.

Right-Hand Stranding

The Right-Hand Method of knitting is easily adapted for color patterns; it does not require learning a new skill but is more a matter of becoming accustomed to managing the two yarns and changing from one to the other.

Working this way is ideal if you have never done a color pattern before, do them only occasionally, or have tried one of the other methods and were unhappy with the result. You will fi nd it just as easy to control the tension when working either Knit or Purl, which is why this method is a good choice if you want to do a Stranded Color pattern in a fl at fabric.

When you pick up the yarns, have Yarn A pass between the fi rst and second fi ngers and trail over the back of your hand, and have Yarn B pass between the third and fourth, or fourth and fi fth fi ngers in the same way. Separating the yarns this way keeps them readily accessible and prevents tangling; having them trail over the back of your hand keeps them from getting caught between palm and needle.

You will be using just one yarn at a time to work the stitches, as follows:

1. Pick up Yarn A with thumb and forefi nger, and work fi rst group of stitches in that color.

2. Drop Yarn A, space last group of new stitches out along right needle, and pick up Yarn B; strand yarn past last group of stitches and work next group in that color.

3. Drop Yarn B, pick up Yarn A, and work next group of stitches as described in Step 2.

4. Continue in this way, alternating yarns to work as many stitches in each color as shown in pattern; always space stitches out on needle to measure yarn to strand, and strand yarn on inside of fabric.

Stranded Color pattern showing strands on inside.

Chapter 13: Color Techniques 259

There is no need to concern yourself with the tension of the inactive yarn; just let it trail through your fi ngers until you need it again and at that point adjust the tension to allow enough length to the strand.

Also, it is not necessary to wrap the yarns around each other every time you change from one color to the other, although you may see this recommended (however, see Twined Knit, where this is done after every stitch). Nothing is gained by this when making a Stranded Color pattern; it tangles the two yarns together and they will need to be unwound from time to time before the work can proceed.

Stranding with Two Right Fingers

Many knitters who work with the yarn on the right forefi nger are adept at working color patterns with the second yarn car-ried in the same way on the middle fi nger. You may want to experiment and decide whether to tension the two yarns to-gether, or to separate them, with one wrapped on your small fi nger and one on the ring fi nger, or some other combination that suits your hand and preferences.

• Work with yarn on forefi nger in usual way; to work with yarn on middle fi nger, tilt hand slightly nearside to move forefi nger out of the way in order to wrap yarn.

• To work in Purl, keep hand tilted toward nearside for both strands; if necessary, bend forefi nger down to hold the yarn it carries out of the way when wrapping yarn with middle fi nger.

Stranding with Right Forefi nger

Instead of holding both yarns poised above the needle with two fi ngers, with this method each yarn is picked up with the forefi nger as needed; it works just as well for Purl as for Knit, so is ideal for working fl at. This is similar to the method used for Twined Knit, and there are illustrations included with that material that you may fi nd helpful for this purpose.

Hold yarns together in the palm of your hand or wrap them on your little fi nger in the usual way; insert your forefi nger and middle fi nger between the two yarns to keep them sepa-rated, or keep one yarn on the nearside of your thumb; there is no need to place tension on either yarn until it is in use.

1. Draw hand down, away from needle tips, to put slight tension on two yarns, and move forefi nger under Yarn A to pick it up.

2. Move hand back up into position and bring Yarn A past previous stitches in other color, measuring off adequate yarn to strand, work next stitches according to pattern, and then drop yarn from forefi nger.

3. Draw hand down away from needle tips as before, and move forefi nger under Yarn B to pick it up.

4. Move hand back up into position and bring Yarn B past previous stitches in other color and work next set of stitches according to pattern; drop Yarn B from forefi nger.

5. Repeat Steps 1–4 to work pattern.

This seems complicated when described in words, but with a little practice the motions become very quick and smooth.

Yarn RingIf you prefer to hold both yarns in the same hand, a Yarn Ring is a tool you can wear on your forefi nger that is designed to keep the strands separated so they will not tangle together as much; see Tools.

There are two versions: one is a metal coil with a pair of loops on the top through which the yarns are threaded; the other is plastic with a series of pegs capped by a fl at bar to keep the yarns in place.

Either tool will do the job, but I fi nd they make it awkward to readjust the yarns as necessary to maintain tension; by all means try them for yourself and see if one or the other suits you.

Slip Stranding MethodHere is another way to do color patterns that can be used with any knitting method; it is as easy to do when working circular or fl at, and in either Knit or Purl.

One yarn is used to work all the stitches of the motifs across the row, while slipping all the background stitches; then the other yarn is used for a second pass across the needle in the same direction, working all the background stitches and slip-ping the motif stitches. In other words, it takes two passes across the stitches on the needle to make one row of fabric. It might seem that having to manipulate all of the stitches twice in order to do a single row would be a very slow way of working. In fact, it goes along quite well, because the slipped stitches move from one needle to the next very rapidly.

When working circular, one round brings you back to where the other yarn hangs in wait and you can pick it up to work the next round. However, when working fl at, at the end of the fi rst pass across the stitches one yarn will be at the left side, the other at the right side. The solution is to work with a circular needle or a pair of double-point needles and use the Slide technique, described above; simply move the stitches from the left tip of the needle to the right tip to pick up the other yarn for the second pass across the stitches.

Slip Stranding a Flat Fabric

Slip all stitches purlwise with yarn stranded on inside of fab-ric. Work as follows:

1. On outside: With Yarn A, Knit all motif stitches, and Slip all background stitches purlwise with yarn stranded farside. At end of row, drop Yarn A; do not turn.

260 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

2. On outside: Slide all stitches to right needle tip, and pick up Yarn B; Knit all background stitches, and Slip all motif stitches with yarn stranded farside. At end of row, turn.

3. On inside: Work as described in Steps 1 and 2, but in Purl, and strand yarn on nearside.

The fi rst two passes across the needle are used to make a sin-gle, outside row, and both yarns will then be together again at the edge. The next two passes are used to make a single, in-side row, and the yarns will then be together at the other edge.

Slip Stranding a Circular Fabric

1. First round: Knit all motif stitches with Yarn A, and Slip all background stitches, with yarn stranded farside.

2. Second round: Knit all background stitches with Yarn B, and Slip motif stitches with yarn stranded farside.

At the end of two full rounds, all the stitches will have been worked once, completing a single row of the fabric.

Two-Hand StrandingOne of the fastest ways of doing Stranded Color patterns is to carry one yarn in each hand. Many knitters fi nd this some-thing of a challenge to learn, and it takes practice to develop even tension and produce a smooth, attractive fabric. How-ever, if you think you will want to make Stranded Color pat-terns frequently, by all means have a go at this; learning it will be well worth the time you invest.

In those areas of the world where this is the traditional

method, knitters work even complex patterns with ease, and you will undoubtedly encounter rather amazing claims regard-ing the speed they can achieve. Do not be intimidated by these stories. Keep in mind that these knitters have honed their skills with a lifetime of practice—most learned as children, knit fre-quently, and rarely do any other sort of knitting. Anyone who comes to the craft later in life, or only works this way occasion-ally, cannot expect to develop an equal facility. Besides, this is not a race; your comfort level while working is more important than speed, and you have only yourself to please.

First practice just the knitting method you have never used before; after you are comfortable with it, only then try to com-bine it with your customary method. Also, because Two-Hand Stranding is commonly done entirely in Knit while working in the round, it is a good idea to practice that way as well because Purl is somewhat more diffi cult; once you have some facility with Knit, then learn to Purl if you want to work fl at.

• Hold Yarn A as for Right-Finger Knitting; hold Yarn B as for Left-Hand Knitting. Knit stitches with Yarn A ac-cording to pattern, space new stitches along right needle to measure yarn to strand, and then work next group of stitches with Yarn B, according to pattern. Alternate in this way across row.

It is tempting to hold the yarn used for the majority of the stitches in a row in the hand with which you have the greatest facility. However, it is usually best to be consistent and always hold the background yarn in one hand and the pattern yarn in the other, regardless of which of them will be used for more stitches on any pattern row; for more information on why this is the case, see Theory of Color Dominance, below.

Weaving-In YarnsMost Stranded Color patterns are designed with a limited num-ber of stitches between one color change and the next. This is done partly because it is more diffi cult to control the tension on

Two-Hand Stranding.

Tips for Slip Stranding

A disadvantage of this method is that it can sometimes be diffi cult to keep track of where you are in a complex pat-tern. The problem is that on the fi rst pass across the needle, the colors of the new stitches on the right needle will not ac-curately refl ect the sequence of colors in the pattern because some of the stitches slipped will be the same color as those just worked.

Here are some suggestions that will help you keep your place in the pattern.

• Be consistent, always working the motif stitches on the fi rst pass, and the background stitches on the second, or vice versa.

• To check for accuracy after the fi rst pass, look on the inside of the fabric; all the stitches with a strand below them were slipped, those with no strand were worked.

• After completing the second pass, check the new stitches on the needle to see if the completed pattern is correct be-fore going on.

Chapter 13: Color Techniques 261

longer strands, but also because the strands are prone to being snagged when the garment is put on or taken off.

The Weaving-In technique cures the problem of over-long strands by attaching them to the inside of the fabric while working a stitch with the other yarn. Most often the strand is caught at its midpoint, so instead of one long strand there are two shorter ones.

Keep in mind that the length of the strand is determined by the gauge of the fabric—a strand drawn past four stitches will be an inch long if the gauge is 4 stitches per inch, but only half an inch long if the gauge is 8 stitches per inch. (Mary Thomas discusses a fragment of Arabian color knitting some thousand years old, which she says is worked in silk at an astonishing 36 stitches to the inch; at that gauge, a strand drawn past even 9 stitches would be only ¼ inch long.†) A quick comparison of the scale of the pattern you plan to use with the gauge you expect to have will tell you whether weaving-in is something you want to consider.

When the strand is caught like this on the inside of the fabric, it may peek through on the outside. This is more likely to be the case if the fabric isknitted at a loose gauge; if the two yarns are in strongly con-trasting colors; or if the garment fi ts tightly and the fabric is stretched taut in wear. The tweedy look this can create is not suitable for every garment design, but in some it is consid-ered desirable; see Woven Intarsia. To get a realistic picture of how the fi nished fabric will look and behave, dress your gauge swatch; see Dressing a Swatch.

In addition to the practical purposes described here, a stranded pattern with systematically woven-in yarns can be beautiful when turned to the outside of a garment, as shown in the photograph on page 258. Also, the Weaving-In technique is used for Purl Inlay; however, in that application the woven-in yarn is not used for any of the stitches.

Weaving-in is done in slightly different ways depending on how you hold the yarns. While the fi rst set of instructions be-low can be used with any method, those that follow are spe-cifi c to each one.

Weaving-In: Lattice MethodThis technique is worked in the same way as the Lattice Tech-nique (see The Stitches); the yarns are stranded in the normal way across one row, and caught up against the inside of the fabric on the next.

It is easy to do and works with any method of holding the yarns for a color pattern, but it is a particularly welcome op-tion if you hold both yarns on the right, because the alterna-tives are less than ideal.

Work a row of pattern; on next row, at the midpoint of a long strand, catch it up as follows:

• If working on outside, reach down on inside and lift strand onto left needle with right side of strand on nearside; Knit strand and next stitch together as for a Right Decrease.

• If working on inside, Slip next stitch, lift strand onto right needle with right side on nearside, insert left needle under strand and into stitch on farside and Purl strand and stitch together as for a Left Decrease.

While it is best to pick up the strand at its midpoint, if neces-sary, do this one stitch to right or left of center in order to work it together with a stitch in the same color yarn so it is less likely to be visible on the outside.

It is particularly important to allow enough yarn to the strand with this method of weaving-in, because it will be drawn up into the row above.

Weaving-In: Yarns in Two HandsThis is the most effi cient method to use for weaving-in; how-ever, how the two yarns are manipulated depends upon whether you are working in Knit or Purl, and whether the yarn to be stranded is held to the left or right. There are four sets of instructions to be learned, which may seem compli-cated at fi rst, but once you are familiar with the technique it goes very quickly and becomes quite automatic.

Hold Yarn A in the left hand, Yarn B in the right hand. Work to the midpoint of a group of contrast-color stitches, and then catch the strand up on either side of the next stitch in one of the following ways.

Knit with Right Yarn/

Weave Left Yarn

1. Insert right needle into stitch as to Knit.

2. Shift left fi nger nearside so Yarn A leans against right needle tip.

3. Pass Yarn B to farside of Yarn A, wrap around needle as to Knit, and draw through new stitch.

4. Shift left fi nger farside, holding Yarn A away from needle tips; pass Yarn B between Yarn A and needle to Knit next stitch.

Knit with Right Yarn/Weave Left Yarn: Step 3.

Knit with Right Yarn/Weave Left Yarn: Step 4.

Strand woven in on inside of fabric.

† Mary Thomas, Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book (New York: Dover Publications, 1972), p. 91.