This
past autumn, after perusing knitting patterns on Pinterest and admiring
one delicious colorwork pattern after another, I decided it was
high-time I learned how to knit with stranded colorwork!
I quickly commenced
to dust off my trusty, double-pointed needles and turned to Youtube
for some information and advice.
After watching quite a few tutorials, the videos that ended up helping me the very most were:
THIS ONE by Suzanne Bryan, which shows how to catch and carry floats. I especially appreciated Suzanne's technique because she shows you how to hold both yarns at the same time, one in each hand. (This method seemed to make the knitting go a lot quicker for me.)
THIS VIDEO by Roxanne Richards, is a very clear introduction into stranded colorwork and shows different techniques that can be used.
And THIS VIDEO by Roxanne Richards, which shows how to read a knitting chart.
After working some practice swatches, my first colorwork project that I undertook was a pair of nautical-themed socks. I was also attempting to write my own sock pattern for the first time, so there ended up being quite a bit of trial and error!
I'm going to save how my nautical socks turned out for another post, and share about my second colorwork project instead, because I actually followed a pattern the second time 'round. 😉
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XvHmgOxlDTDExblg0WWm9KOUJKYe-tVElyu55CQ0IowRx9M10kMkupcETte4BN-5C1DbZIOLIfr5208Xt6QA9e6rJU_8j-fs9m4cowMN3QBMwf-GpAGO52oPS5S7PhUBYOxOXgrk3kzqO3pWFeDZpw4Iuu2nedFXHSYyQ1c3KpM9dBboHHO7obOrnA/w640-h426/knitted%20socks%201_socks%20from%20around%20norway.JPG)
I ended up checking out the book "Socks from Around Norway" by
Nina Granlund Saether from the library, and I'm so glad I did! With over 40 traditional, Norwegian knitting patterns to pore over, Saether's book is a delightful collection of patterns. I particularly enjoyed the history on Norwegian knitting that was included before each pattern, as well as the many different heel techniques shown at the beginning of the book. It was a very fun read, and I'll definitely revisit it again in the future.
After studying all the lovely patterns, I settled upon the "Halling" sock.
It has a relatively simple color chart and the small pattern repeat made it a great choice for beginner colorwork practice.
While this book is extremely interesting and informative, it's intention is not to actually teach the basics of stranded knitting. So, if you're a beginner (like me!), it would definitely be helpful to watch some of the videos linked above that demonstrate the process before starting one of the projects in the book.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigMMHBGAEjHe_B5Ahk79_JiF40rwRrWjaS4pPqUG2H56-2CfdS-KLu6n6UyTLL01ccHRu-aKcdnx0-Tcg_Ox1qp-m1dterY5pmtZZajIQyq4h0U5CA0azMhddF5n9xLWN3J6t3JNUxju58pbgLkROAayuzJBqLrfPuCSIy_R_dd1EFAQgC0T6c6sLtgw/w640-h426/Halling%20Socks_finished.JPG)
And here's the finished pair!
I've officially been hooked on colorwork now,
and have had a lot of fun trying my hand at designing some patterns.
I'll have to share more about some of my other knitting adventures soon. 😊🧶
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