Knitting

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How to Make Your Own Ombre in a Knitting Project

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ombre knitting patternsAn easy way to change the look of a knitting project is to knit stripes instead of working in a solid color, and one fun way to make stripes is to use an ombre palette.

Ombre simply means graduated colors, so you might use, say, several different shades of blue in a project (I did this on a pair of mitts in my latest book).

If you’re not sure how to make your own ombre, Red Heart has some great tips on its blog. The sample swatches show crochet, but it works the same in knitting.

The post lays out several options for making color choices and combining them in a project, whether you do solid stripes like I did on my project or work with several strands of yarn at once and change out colors one at a time for a more blended effect. Either way, making a project ombre is a lot of fun.

Have you ever knit an ombre pattern before? I’d love to hear about it!

Looking for more Ombre Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

[Photo via Red Heart.]

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Comments

  1. I would prefer to buy a skein of yarn already dyed in ombre, rather than having to buy so many different skeins and then having to figure out what to do with all the leftover. Of course, it would depend on what the project is and what kind of effect you want. For a simple scarf, mitts, or dishrag, I would go with a pre-dyed skein.

Have you read?

Stitch Some Seagulls on Your Sweater

It’s been well documented that I love a knitting pattern with a bit of whimsy, so when I saw the Mine! Pullover from Sarah L. Kelly recently I knew I had to share it with you.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to knit a sweater with a yoke full of seagulls? And another seagull at the waist? Chasing little crabs?

The story behind the sweater (and you knew there had to be one, right?) is that while Sarah was traveling around Europe there were a lot of cheeky seagulls about. They reminded her of the scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls say “mine, mine, mine” and thus the Mine! series of patterns was born. 

Oh yes, there’s a whole set. It was the sweater I saw first but there’s also a pair of socks (and the pattern says there’s a cowl, too, but I couldn’t find it as of this writing. If you see it let me know and I’ll add the link here!) so you can totally deck yourself out in pesky seabirds if you want.

But back to the sweater for now. This is worked in DK weight yarn from the top down in the round. The yoke and a section at the bottom are worked in stranded colorwork, with stripes on the body, though you could make the body a single color if you wanted. Details like the beaks and eyes are added with duplicate stitch to make the knitting a little easier.

The colorwork sections are charted. The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm.

The socks are worked in sock yarn and come in three sizes. There worked from the cuff down and change needle sizes to accommodate the less stretchy nature of stranded colorwork. You can choose from a side profile or a seagull that’s looking out from the sock. Make a matching pair or mix it up.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry: sweater and socks. If you make them I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah L. Kelly]