Colorwork Yarn Management: A New Idea

Yarn management in stranded colorwork can be a problem. There are a lot of ways to hold your yarn, and once you settle on something, it’s hard to change. But is your way really working? I was confronted with that question when I watched a video workshop recently, Continental Stranded Colorwork with Biggan Ryd-Dupps.

Biggan is a colorwork expert, and her designs are a masterwork in color. I would expect her to know the absolute best, most effective way to knit stranded patterns. But because I am who I am, I was skeptical—Biggan knits stranded colorwork while holding both strands of yarn on one finger.

I can’t say I haven’t heard of this method before, but I gave it about a half a second’s worth of attention because I thought it sounded too “worky,” a.k.a. awkward. A couple of my thrower friends use this method, though, and their colorwork is beautiful. My technique is to hold one color in my right hand and one in my left. And truth be told, I don’t love knitting colorwork. I find myself having to really concentrate on leaving my floats loose enough not to pucker the fabric, and that takes away the meditative nature of knitting.

But watching Biggan demonstrate the technique was so interesting that I decided to lean in and try it myself. Here’s my practice swatch:

I actually liked the technique. Quel surprise!

Here’s what it looks like when Biggan does it:

I found that my tension was better with this technique, and my swatch had both long and short floats, so I have high hopes for this method of yarn management. The one-finger method was surprisingly quick; I was a bit worried about this, fearing it would really slow me down. I was able to keep the two yarns in place on my finger, with just enough room between them to easily pick up the correct color quickly.

As with any new technique, it’ll take me a while to become truly proficient. I hope I can make myself change to this yarn management method, but I’m an old dog. The absolute bounty of beautiful colorwork patterns available now might be the driving force to make the change, though!

If you’re interested in learning how to manage your yarn in a different way, check out Continental Stranded Knitting.

Cheers,

Kathleen

P.S. What yarn management technique do you use for stranded knitting?

Originally posted on May 16 2014; updated on September 14, 2020. Main image: The yoke of the Glimmer Crop by Margaret Stauffacher, knit by Mimi McClellan.

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