Transcript
Now I’m going to show you how to knit with two colors at the same time, which means I’m going to need to hold one color in one hand, and one color in the other hand.
In this pattern right now, what I’m doing is, I’m doing five brown stitches followed by one yellow stitch. I’m holding the brown in my right hand, and knitting normally. Three, four, five.
And now I’m going to knit one yellow stitch, using the yarn that’s tensioned in my left hand. Some people always hold the yarn with their right hand, and some people always hold it with their left. And there’s lots that both camps like to say about why their version is better, where the other person’s is not as good. But really, you should be able to knit with both hands, in order to do stranded knitting patterns.
It’s called stranded knitting because, as I knit across with this brown, the yellow is in the back making a long strand that will now end because I’ve made a stitch with it. If you turn your knitting inside out and look, you can see the same pattern represented in all of these strands across the back, which is why it’s called stranded knitting.
In really good stranded knitting patterns, you never have to use more than two colors on any single row. Stranded knitting is also great because it makes a really thick and durable fabric, because really it’s double thick. I like to do stranded knitting because I’m working with both hands, and I get to knit twice as fast as normal. And it just feels really good.
That is how to knit with both hands. You will get better as you practice. It’s always awkward to start knitting with your non dominant hand. Here are some examples of stranded knitting. Here are some mittens made in just two colors. And here are some mittens made in many colors. But in all of this, you’re only ever using two colors per row. That’s important. If a pattern is telling you to use more than two colors per row, maybe don’t try that one yet until you’ve gotten a little better at stranded knitting.
