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Dealing with Color Dominance in Colorwork Knitting

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I will admit than when I am working with more than one color in a row or round, I don’t always pay a lot of attention to which yarn is dominant. I work colorwork holding one yarn in each hand, and while I know enough to keep holding the same color in each hand throughout a project, I can never remember which one is supposed to “pop” based on which hand you are working it with.

This great blog post on color dominance in knitting from Jessica McDonald Designs reassures me that I was probably doing it “right” (bearing in mind there’s not really a right or wrong in knitting, just what you like and what you don’t like) all along without paying much attention.

As she explains in much more details in the post, the yarn that’s to the left will be more dominant in the knit fabric, because the floats from the yarn on the right will push it forward as you knit.

Because I tend to be an English knitter (holding the yarn in my right hand) I naturally put the contrast yarn in my right hand when I knit.

If you don’t know how to knit holding one strand in each hand (or you’re working with more than two colors) Jessica explains how to work with yarns in different ways to ensure the contrasting color of your choice is more dominant.

It’s certainly not the end of the world if you knit a different way, but you might be surprised by how different a project can look just by working with the yarns configured a different way as in the swatch above. You can clearly see a difference between the top and bottom of the swatch, and all she did differently was a switch on which yarn she was holding in which hand.

Head to the blog post to learn more about color dominance, and have fun learning more about easy ways to change the look of your project.

[Photo: Jessica McDonald Designs.]

 

Comments

  2. Whichever one is farthest to the left will be most dominant, which would be the one at the bottom of the ring if the loops are on the same side, or the one on the left side of the finger if they are on both sides.

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.