How I Knit Stranded Colorwork - Continental Knitting
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- In this video, I show how I knit stranded colorwork continental knitting style while holding both colors in one hand. This method is a surprisingly easy and relatively quick way to knit with two colors as a continental knitter. I hope you find it helpful to see how I knit!
Video Chapters ------------------------------------------------------------
Demonstration Starts: O:51
How I hold 2 colors: 2:00
How I knit with 2 colors: 2:50
How to avoid puckering: 3:34
How I trap floats: 6:06
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I am 78 years old and have been knitting since I was 7. Growing up in Scotland I was taught the “throw” method. I learnt the continental method but always reverted to the throw method for color work. So, thank you for your great tutorial.
I'm so glad to see a method for Stranded Colorwork for Continental knitters. I'm doing a colorwork Christmas stocking and I'm rubbish at English knitting. A shame, as I'm a total Anglophile. English knitting doesn't come naturally to me at all. This was a useful video. Thanks for sharing!
Thks. I thought I was the only person in the world the carried both colors in 1 hand. I hadn't considered dominant though. I will pay more attention now.
Caleb- As someone terrified of stranded color work, I must say that was a great video! Very, very helpful and informative. I've been wanting to try some of the simpler patterns that are out there and your calm presentation may be just what I needed to give it a try! : )
This is super helpful! I'm a left-handed continental style knitter trying to learn colorwork, and this helped me sort out how to do it in a way that will work for me! Thank you!
Thank you. I find this pattern the hardest, one stitch among several others. Your stitches are so consistent.
Hi Caleb,
I really enjoyed this video, and not just because your technique for continental stranded knitting matches mine almost exactly...lol I've been doing double knitting for quite a while now and the continental approach makes double knitting almost effortless and just as speedy as my regular knitting. (One of the perennial complaints I hear about double knitting is how slow it is.) I don't want to ignite a "comments war" about continental vs english but for me, when I see throwers trying to manage getting both strands to the front and then the back and then the front, back etc. which is the core of double knitting, it's almost painful to see how much unnecessary work they're putting themselves through. Even people that hold a strand in each hand are still jumping through hoops to complete the double knitting technique.
A helpful hint I used when I was first starting to double knit made the learning process a lot easier. I took a new kitchen sponge, and left it out to dry. Then I cut a small rectangle out of the sponge and cleared out a circle in the middle. I used this "ring" on my index finger to keep the two strands separate as I knitted. I called it my "training wheel" because I only needed it for a few weeks while my fingers "learned" how to keep the strands separate. Once the muscle memory was in place, I took off the ring and I haven't looked back since.
Thanks again for a wonderful show-and-tell. I hope everyone who sees it will make the effort to learn this approach. The benefits in enjoyment, speed and lessened finger fatigue make it too good to pass up.
Bless you for this video. Am new to stranded colorwork. Have struggled mightily to teach myself English and various continental methods of holding yarns in left hand and just can't coordinate it no matter what I do. Have watched at least 4 hours of videos but yours if the clearest and best I've seen. I will look no longer. Thank you for this!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!! I was getting so confused with the two handed yarn method, I am so happy I found this!❤
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, I always enjoy listening to your channel
Thank you so much for being here!
I am a newby at colour work, (contintental knitter in Australia) but before I started I searched for tutorials, and found that your turtorial was not only clear and well demonstrated, but I see that after I did some practice it would be the most efficient way too for speed!
Appreciate that this specifically showed continental technique. Thanks!
Oh boy! This will make my stranded work so much easier!
what an amazing video! Love that you just get right into it, and you explain exactly how I'd want this to be explained to me lol! thanks!!!
Ohhhhh… you made that look easy! And it’s definitely faster than what I been doing with continental & English!!! Thanks!!!
Best video explaining color dominance, stranding continental style and catching floats!! Thank you!
This is the first video I watched to learn colorwork and it already helped me even though it wasn't a tutorial. Thank you so much! next step for me will be casting stitches for colorwork :)
Thank you. I am dysfunctional with anything but continental. Very helpful.
OMG! This video was so helpful! A real game changer for me. No more twisted yarn. 😊
Glad it was helpful!
You popped up on my feed and you knit like I do! I do use the little clover plastic thingy to separate the yarns on my left index finger but watching you catch floats is how I figured it out! So happy and will watch your other tutorials! 😊
This is the 3rd video I've watched this evening trying to figure out how to do 2 color knitting without having to hold each yarn in one hand and this is the first one that I found that made sense with the tensioning. Thank you!
Really helpful thank you, I’m retraining myself to knit continental after many years of English knitting., as it’s much less stress on neck and shoulders. This is helpful as I was getting in a mess with a colourwork project! ❤
Thanks greetings from Ireland
Hi! Thanks for watching :-)
Thank u very much! You made it seem easy. And when I did it I was surprised at how easy it really was. You made me feel confident.
Caleb, I loved the video, and it answered every question and worry about stranded colorwork. I'm also a continental knitter, and will soon be taking a really deep dive into colorwork sweaters. I've been anxious about using both hands, and I like your method MUCH more. Excellent tutorial!
Thank you so so so much for this video!!! It was a real gamechanger although I already had knitted colorwork with different methods. With your way of doing it my tension is always right and it is way quicker than any other method. This is now my favorite way to knit color work! 🤩🤗
Many thanks for nice video Caleb.
Oh wow, that's so simple -but it works and looks terrific. I'm going to give it a try - thank you so much Caleb.
You're so welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful :-)
Your work is beautiful! I hope I can watch this until I can improve my work to look more like yours. I have been doing a similar float technique but I am twisting yarns and must fix my method.
When I knit with a contrast colour, I knit with the dominant colour with right hand and the contrast colour in my left and weave (trap) the colours every two or three stitches as I go along. Love you vids.
Great explanation! I really have to test out stranded colourwork some time
Thank you Caleb. I haven’t tried stranded color work yet, but It is in my plan for 2022. I’m a continental knitter also, and your explanation was very clear. 😃
I've been wanting to try stranded color work, but I haven't found my nerve yet. This video explained a lot of questions I had and it doesn't seem all that scary now. Thank you Caleb for your videos. They are making me a better knitter.
I'm so happy to hear that this was helpful for you! I hope you give it a try soon :-)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! My project was taking me FOREVER cause I was changing the color in my hand all the time, sometimes even for only 1 stitch!!
The few times I've knit fair isle i had the cc in the right hand even though I'm a continental knitter. It always felt so awkward and took such a long time! Especially whenever i had to trap the yarn. I've tried to knit both colors continental style at the same time but i haven't figured out how to do this properly so i will definitely try your techniques. Thank you so much for this video!
Working on my first colorwork project and this video was very useful. I knit continental with both yarns on the left hand so it was good to understand how to trap to contrast color. Thank you.
Great explanation. Thank you!
Wow thank you . I really need it to see that
I'm so glad it was helpful to you!
Me too, thanks Caleb!
Very clear explaining for me to understand.
You are such a fabulous instructor. Thank you so much for sharing your process with us. Super clear and helpful instruction. 😊
Thank you Caleb. Your excitement for knitting shows in everything you do. Keep making more videos 😊
Thank you! Great video and so helpful for the project I’m working on.
Brilliant! Thank you! I knit the same way and had figured out how to trap the dominant color but every time I need to trap the non dominant color I would drop the yarn and twist. I’m going to try this out next time I do colorwork!
I will totally try to make this sweater it looks super cute!
Thank you for sharing this, I’ve been wanting to try this and this helps! Also, I tried catching your main color when it rolled away, I was laughing so hard afterwards I had to rewind to watch it again! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
OMG! Life-changing 🤩 I’ve been struggling with my first standard sweater, and the kid seems to be separating them with your middle finger. I can’t tell you how many videos I watched and this actually works for me. Thank you so much.❤
Thank you for posting this! I just bought the yarn for Michael Harrigan's "Something Festive" and I think I'll try this technique. I haven't done anything stranded in forever and last time I did someone showed me using contrast color in my right hand and an elaborate wrapping technique that just left me feeling like my knitting was right even with extreme mindfulness. Thank you for posting!
Love this tip to secure the floats! Did a colorwork hat that took way to long, I will definetly try this
Great!!! Easy to understand. Thank you
Thank you so much! I knit my colorwork this way but never knew how to properly trap the yarn on the right. Super helpful.
Ooops! I found it and signed up! Sounds like fun!
Thank you for your video but what do you do on the other side ? Do you cut the grey or do you carry it along on the back?
Thanks for that!! I must try it! I’m a fairly new knitter and the colorwork I’ve done takes a lot of untangling yarn! 😬😆
Very helpful for this continental knitter who wants to try stranded color work in 2022.
You should definitely give it a try! It is not that difficult and you can make such beautiful projects :-)
Oh I’ve got to try this. I’m a Continental knitter beginning colorwork, and doing it with both hands and putting the contrast/foreground color in my left and main/background in my left for color dominance is so slow.
Excellent
Thanks so much for this video! I'll try your method when I start my next project. :)
This was really helpful, thank you!!
Thank you very much for sharing how you do it.
Next time I will knit with two colors I will try your way.
So far I have found it difficult and I have not had a good flow.
Thank you so much, your instructions are very clear and precise. I will definitely try it.
Let me know how you like it :-)
Great advice! I knit a stranded color work sweater that ended up puckering. I plan on making another one and your advice will definitely help.😍
Superb
Thank you! I just finished my first colorwork yoked sweater ( 35 years in the making! - seriously intimidated my colorwork). I did a similar thing as a continental knitter, but putting your middle finger in between the colors could be a game-changer!
Your videos are so relaxing to me. You have a great personality. I’m new to knitting and I use your favorite cast on for sweaters for my first two sweaters and they turned out great.
Thank you Caleb. Your videos are always so informative. You live for this art form is very evident. I did my first color work on a Halloween sock. I'm a flicker so I held my main color in my right hand and the contrast on the left. It worked.
You made this look SO easy! I have been so intimidated of colour work but this looks so doable :)
Thank you for sharing this! I hold my yarns similar to you, but your way is definitely easier and I'm going to try next time I do colorwork!
Thank you Caleb! I’m a continental knitter and I’ve just started trying stranded colorwork, and I haven’t figured out how to hold the yarns, so your video is very helpful! 🤗
Thanks from Pia in Sweden 🇸🇪
You are so welcome! I hope it helps you figure out what works best for you!
You helped me so much. Thank you. Most sincerely. Karen
Thank you for making this less scary. I will definitely try this! At the moment I’m knitting mosaic (the pathway scarf by Toft) it colorwork but with slipstitches.
This is a very timely video for me because I just started my first colorwork project! I've just been flicking for one color and continental knitting the other. Definitely interesting to see this approach though!
How is your project going? I have tried to hold one color in each hand and I had trouble with that approach myself. Do you like doing colorwork that way?
This is really cool! We actually knit exactly the same way! I even tension my yarn the same way. Love your videos Caleb and I always enjoy seeing what you're up to or what you've been knitting.
This video was really helpful. I’m hosting a KAL for a Sashiko Scarf on Ravelry starting in about a week (1/24) and although I’ve done some Fair Isle knitting in the past, my work is never as smooth as yours. Can’t wait to try your technique for holding both strands in my left hand - as I’ve been doing MC in left and CC in right, and always end up dropping the right yarn, so my tension is awful!
Since I just discovered you, I haven’t done a deep dive on your other videos, so I’m wondering if you have one for Purling Stranded Colorwork Continental? The Sashiko Scarf is knitted flat, so it’s gonna require knitting and purling on the Wrong Side (WS).
Thanks again for your easy to understand video!
thank you
Hi Caleb! I think a knit a long sounds like so much fun! I cannot find the link you mentioned. I love this channel and look forward to your wisdom and insight! Thanks!
Great explanation and camera work. Thank you. Any chance you could show how you purl continental? Struggling with that...
Any suggestions on how to maintain the same tension on both strands holding it the exact way you show in the video? It all feels comfortable but eventually my dominant color strand becomes much looser then the other one.
Very educational as usual. I personally have tried holding both the strands in my left hand while doing colorwork in continental style but it did not work for me. I couldn’t keep the yarn from traveling along my finger and everything turned into a shrinky mess. I figured to hold uhm I think contrasting dominant color on the left hand to knit it continental while holding the main color on my right to knit it in throwing style. It was just a pita bc continental is so easy and fast and there were such few stitches while the most of them I had to throw which I’m not really comfortable with.
But you got to do what you got to do right?
I think I might feel more into trying those rings sometimes.
Hello, thank you for your video! However, I have a problem: when I knit several stitches in the main color (e.g., 5 stitches), the contrast color yarn on my left index finger tends to loosen and slip out of place. Do you have any tips or techniques to prevent this from happening? Thank you in advance for your help!
The yarn you're using is so wooly and beautiful!! Whered you get it? I'm always looking out for wooly yarns for colorwork hats! Sadly I havent felt like i have the time for a colorwork sweater, because I have too many commissions. Hopefully after the holidays I'll be able to join the KAL!
Could you please go over how you pearl continental? I pick the yarn and pull it back from the front. It seems to give different positioning on the needle that only matters when ssk or decreasing some methods. Does that make sense?
What is the piece of paper inside your yarn balls? I made one with a toilet paper roll, but I took mine out. Just curious why you left the paper in. Is it functional or does it help the pulling somehow?
Does it use more yarn to do. I'd like to do this pattern at the bottom of a sweater and then go onto single yarn. N how would I change my needles I'll be using 4ply yarn
We are knitting twins. :-) Down to which fingers I wrap the yarn around. Did you start out crocheting as well? Thanks for the videos and have a great holiday!
genius!
I throw instead of pick. Also I'm a little more traditional, in that in traditional knitting there is no "colour dominance" and the goal is to get even tension no matter the colour. But each to their own.
However I do hold all colours in the same hand, but it's the same hand as the working hand, so opposite to yourself
Thanks for sharing :-)
@@DrowninginYarn It is nice to hear how different people do things :)
what about purling? any video about that?
That was clear, but how do you knit the back of the knitting fabric? You didn't mention that...
I was knitting in the round. I haven’t ever knit colorwork flat. I would probably work it the same way.
@@DrowninginYarn Thanks 👍☺
Flat colour work is quiet difficult catching floats on purl site and for continental knitters a bit struggle
I ve just started - one row - but now I have the float on both sides?? I know that’s not right -help!
merciii
💚
But what about purling!?! I can’t find a video on how to manage the purl side.
2025 here i try holding both in my left hand but i can't so i use both. And im new with continental knitting
I only knit continental, can´t do it the other ways
Am a girl and I can’t do as good as you and thank
I haven't attempted 2 color knitting yet. I'm a chicken.
I'm a Continental knitter, but if I'm doing stranded colorwork I use one color in each hand.
I've tried that and I'm not very good at it. I think it would be helpful for those times when I need to hold three colors though. I know a lot of people like to hold one color in each hand, so I really want to see if I can learn how :-)
WILL YOU MARRY ME?! BUT YOU NEED TO COME TO ROMANIA!! ❤
Mu dep
my brain is not braining. it is like math for me
Love your teaching but PLEASE slow down when you are demonstrating the actual knitting. It is not always clear when watching on a screen. Thank you!
Hi! Thank you… please try to use the speed controls on UA-cam if the speed doesn’t work for you. Hopefully that helps :-)