I learned to knit in my early 20s while at university. At the time, I craved a new creative outlet to balance the chemistry and calculus that filled my student days. After several garter-stitch scarves and the thrill of seeing how the shifting shades in hand-dyed skeins transformed with basic stitches, I set my sights on stranded colorwork knitting. I loved how the planning and precision of charted motifs combined with the (often) unexpected color interactions. As I knitted my first Fair Isle swatches, I was utterly captivated to see my best-laid palette plans take on a life of their own once knitted into fabric. After more than two decades and many hundreds of swatches, I’m still eager to cast on and try another color combo!
Left to right: Detail of the Durham Chevrons Cowl, which is knitted as a tube with alternating colors of a gradient yarn paired with a high-contrast color. Detail of the Clover Ridge Cowl, using knitted inlay to create allover pattern. Photos by Matt Graves
Stranded colorwork knitting—where multiple yarns are worked alternately in a row, with the unworked yarn loosely stretched across the back of the work—is often synonymous with color knitting. However, there is an amazing range of ways we can play with color and texture in our knitting. We’ve gathered four patterns into this collection that make use of a variety of color techniques, ranging from very easy undulating stripes to an unusual inlay technique that keeps you on your toes.
Left to right: Detail of The Modern Bohus Hat, which uses stranded colorwork knitting but with purl stitches that add color complexity. Detail of the Parastripe Shawl, a color study in marls from eight different colors, knitted in a syncopated chevron rib pattern. Photos by Matt Graves
Each of the four patterns in this eBook are preceded by a page of techniques and resources to smooth your knitting path. I hope you will take these ideas and designs, interpret them into your own work and palettes, and then share them with us in the Farm & Fiber Knits library. We love to see your makes!
Get a closer look! Click on any image in the gallery below to open it in full-screen mode and to read more about each pattern in the collection.
Warmest wooly wishes,
—Kate Larson, editor
Included in The Creative Color Collection eBook:
- Color-Shifting Stripes: Gradient Yarns and Simple Stitches
- Durham Chevron Cowl by Kate Larson
- Marvelous Marls: Multistrand Method
- Parastripe Shawl by Cecelia Campochiaro
- Powerful Purls: Color + Texture
- Modern Bohus Hat by Tanis Gray
- Knitted Inlay: Traditional and Modern
- Clover Ridge Cowl by Jenny Monteleone
