Colorwork?

[aedifica]

O ye knitters,

I'm curious to try colorwork. I've been knitting a while, have done socks and scarves and a sweater, and have dabbled in cables, but I've never done colorwork and know really nothing about it. Do you have any suggestions for an easy project to learn on?

Thanks,
aedifica

Edited to clarify: What I'd really like is a good pattern for a first-timer--I've tried looking for one on Ravelry and Google, but my search skillz are failing me this time.

Comments

[fish_echo]

When I first did colourwork, I did small squares of the right size to be potholders or kitchen scrubbers. I found that a good size to experiment with.

[aedifica]

That does sound like a good idea. Thank you!

[fish_echo]

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy! :)

[ct]

What sort of colorwork? There are two main types: intarsia, which is where you have larger sections of each color, or stranded (aka fair isle), which is where the color changes every few stitches.

A lot of people find that stranded colorwork is easier done in the round. I don't have a specific project in mind, but maybe a hat? Hats aren't very time-consuming, but they're big enough that you wouldn't be dealing with the fiddlyness of small-diameter circular knitting at the same time you're trying to learn something else. (Or, if you like small-diameter circular knitting, maybe one of those sleeves for a coffee cup?)

[aedifica]

I like doing socks (as long as they're worsted-weight yarn), so smallish-diameter isn't a problem. I suppose stranded, but I really don't know--I just have "colorwork knitting" in mind and don't know enough yet to be more specific, which means right now I'd be happy to learn either!

You could do mittens

[jazzypom]

Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang. They use colourwork, and are knit in the round. It's stranded colour work, so you'll learn the notion of dominant colour due to placement of the yarn (it depends on where you 'place it'), stranding (the fact that you have to take into consideration that if you knit too tightly, it will cause the gloves to be illfitting). This is done with fingering or 4ply yarn, just two strands. They are colourful and warm. I have... yarn waiting to do this project. :D

Edited to add: electra was my first stranded project. I do like doing fairisle, but have come to the conclusion that as much as I like doing complicated knits, my style is more subdued - where the colour and the simple stitches take over.

At the risk of vanity

[wired]

I wrote the pattern for the Shipping Green Water mittens (rav link). If you have any children in your life, they are super-fast, teach the concept of colorwork, and did I mention fast?

My first colorwork was the Knitpicks Felted Snowflake Cuff. Also fast, easy, and satisfying.

Re: At the risk of vanity

[aedifica]

Ooh, thanks for both links! I think I'll start with the coasters associated with the Knitpicks cuff--one of my friends has already declared her willingness to be given those coasters!--but I'm also bookmarking your mittens in case I develop a friendship with any kids the right size. :-)

[ames]

I found the Center Square Hat to be a great first colorwork project.

[aedifica]

That's pretty! Thanks for the link.

[medrin]

I think I learned colourwork by just... doing it. I've never really knitted after patterns until very recently so I did a lot of socks/hats/mittens with my own patterns. It's really easy to draw your own! Just draw it up and knit a standard sock/hat/mitten with many colours.

Things so think about when using multiple colours:

When knitting a pattern with colour changes after every few stitches the trick is to not twist the yarns on the backside. I use continental knitting and always keep the yarns in the same order on my finger. I've never mastered english style so I don't know about that but I've heard that if you can do both it's practical to do one style with each yarn. Also, if you draw your own pattern there should be no more than four stitches of the same colour in a row.

The trick with knitting blocks of colour is to always twist the yarn. Otherwise you'll end up with a big hole in whatever you're doing. Throw the yarn you've used over the one you're picking up so they hook in to each other.

[aedifica]

Cool, thank you very much for the tips!

[neotoma]

I rather like the Endpaper mitts -- colorwork, but very geometric and therefore predictable.

Of course, I think my first colorwork was a Komi cap, so maybe I'm not a good person to ask for advice...