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25 Spectacular Sweaters, Hats, and

Accessories

colorworkKNITTING

Sarah E. White

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

25Spectacular

Sweaters, Hats, andAccessories

Sarah E. White

STACKPOLEBOOKS

0 1 1 5 5 7 01 41 4 3


For Anna, the most colorful thing I’ve ever made.

Copyright © 2015 by Sarah E. White

Published bySTACKPOLE BOOKS5067 Ritter RoadMechanicsburg, PA 17055www.stackpolebooks.com

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording or by anyinformation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the pub-lisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechan-icsburg, PA 17055.

The contents of this book are for personal use only. Patterns contained herein may bereproduced in limited quantities for such use. Any large-scale commercial reproduc-tion is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First edition

Cover design by Tessa J. SweigertPhotography by:

Tiffany Blackstone—front cover, i, 2 (center), 6, 7 (right), 8–9, 10 (top), 11–12,13 (right), 14 (top), 15–20, 21 (bottom), 22, 25–32, 33 (top), 34, 35 (top), 36–39,40 (right), 42–57, 62, 64–78, 81–96, 108–110

Beth Hall—2 (top left and right), 3–5, 7 (left), 10 (bottom), 13 (left), 14 (bottom),21 (top), 23–24, 33 (bottom), 35 (bottom), 41, 59–61, 79–80, 97–100, 102–103

Sarah E. White—21 (middle), 40 (left), 101Color wheel image on pg. 1 copyright velusariot, via BigStock.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

White, Sarah E.Colorwork knitting : 25 spectacular sweaters, hats, and accessories / Sarah E. White. —

First edition.pages cm

Includes index.ISBN 978-0-8117-1414-3

1. Knitting—Patterns. 2. Color in knitting. I. Title.TT825.W5513 2015746.43'2—dc23

2014047392


Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Knitting With Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Knitting With Self-Striping Yarns . . . 5

Super-Bulky Rainbow Scarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Eyelet Beret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mock Cable Gloves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Self-Striping Knee Highs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Color Belt Sweater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Making Your Own Stripes . . . . . . . . . 23

Sunburst Horizontal Stripe Scarf . . . . . . . . 25

Ombre Striped Mitts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Welted Stripe Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Swim Lesson Socks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Color-Block Striped Raglan Sweater . . . . 37

Slip-Stitch Knitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Brick Stitch Scarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chain Stripe Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Lattice Mitts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Boxy Stripe Socks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Slip-Stitch Tweed Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

All About Stranded Knitting . . . . . . 59

Bluebird Cowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Two-Color Cable Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Checkerboard Mittens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Wear Your Heart on Your Socks . . . . . . . . . 72

Diamond Circular Yoke Sweater . . . . . . . . 75

Intarsia Knitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Superstar Scarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Argyle Style Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Reindeer Games Mittens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Polka Dot Socks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Flower Doodle Vest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Yarn Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Visual Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108


Introduction

any knitters are both intimidated by and enchanted with color knitting.The dramatic looks created when colors are combined with a masterfuleye draw attention, but also leave some knitters with the idea that col-orwork is too complex for the average knitter.

Rest assured that the techniques behind color knitting—whetherbasic stripes or intricate stranded knitting patterns—are not that diffi-cult to learn. It’s only a matter of focus and the amount of time involvedthat separate simpler projects from more complicated designs. Thisbook will guide you through both as we explore using self-stripingyarns, making stripes yourself, forming patterns with slipped stitches,stranded knitting, and intarsia while knitting a scarf, hat, a pair of mit-tens/gloves, a pair of socks, and a sweater with each technique.

Color knitting is a lot of fun. It’s the perfect way to inject your per-sonality into your knitting, whether through the selection of colors orthe motifs and patterns you choose to use. It’s also a great way to boostthe skill level on basic projects, and looks impressive even though thetechniques are not at all difficult.

Join me now on this color adventure!


Super-Bulky Rainbow Scarf

The fun thing about usingself-striping yarn is that itdoes all the work for you.The awesome yarn I usedfor this pattern, BerrocoBrio, does even more thanmake pretty stripes; it alsoshines with a bit of lustrousfiber. The random thick andthin nature of this yarnadds to its appeal.

Though you can alwayssubstitute yarns with simi-lar weights and properties,you should really check thisone out if you can. You’llhave a showstopper piecethat will keep you plentywarm and that you can knitup in no time.

6


Eyelet Beret

There are some great self-striping yarns that are madejust for knitting socks, butthat doesn’t mean you canonly use them on projectsfor your feet. The yarn usedhere has long been in mystash—and I’ve used it forsocks before—but I wantedto illustrate how you can usea great single skein of sockyarn for a different project.

This one is fun, too,because it’s worked from thecenter of the top out, so youcan see the progress—andthe color play—quickly.Despite the small yarn andneedles, this is a fast projectand great for gift knitting.

Both the colors and theeyelet design of this hatremind me of flowers, so I’dsay this is a great one foryour brightest sock yarn andperfect for wearing on rainyspring or fall days.


Mock Cable Gloves

I love a simple glove patternfor showing off the beautyof self-striping yarn. Thispair is intentionally not aperfect match. I want myprojects to be unique anddistinctive from store-bought knits. The prettycolors and “unmatched”look give these gloves afunky edge.

The mock cable rib is asomewhat fiddly extratouch that takes thesegloves beyond the basic,but you can use regular ribbing if you’d rather.

12


Self-Striping Knee Highs

When the yarn is doing all thework, you might as well let itdo a lot of work. With thesesimple socks, all you have toworry about is decreasingdown the leg, which is donein a way that adds the look ofa seam along the back of theleg. There’s also an optionalround of eyelets to include ifyou want to weave a ribbonthrough and tie the socks toyour legs for extra securityand cuteness.

The pattern as presented isfor a rather small leg, butdon’t worry; it’s easy to cus-tomize your socks and I’ll walkyou through the wholeprocess. See Making Socks toFit You on page 17.

Just for fun I used what’scalled an Eye of Partridge heelflap, which is a little differentfrom the standard flap but isboth pretty and durable. Feelfree to use a standard two-row repeat heel flap pattern ifyou prefer. (You’ll find it in thepatterns for the Boxy StripeSocks on page 51 and thePolka Dot Socks on page 90.)


Color Belt Sweater

This is one of the projects inthe book that I’ve wanted toknit for a very long time. Ithought it would be fun tostart a sweater in the mid-dle, with a sort of belt. Thebelt is worked flat, thenseamed up the back.Stitches are picked up foreach portion of the top andworked separately, then the“skirt” is picked up and knitin the round, increasing intoan A-line shape. Finally, theside and shoulder seams aresewn and stitches are pickedup and worked down for thesleeves.

It’s a project that neverstops moving, and the yarnis a perfect match. I reallylove the way this one turnedout and I hope you’ll love it,too.


Sunburst Horizontal Stripe Scarf

It’s fun and easy to makeyour own stripes, and it’sinteresting to see what hap-pens when you throw a dif-ferent stitch pattern orconstruction method intothe mix. This project isworked sideways, or thelong way, and you use eachcolor for just one row, leav-ing long tails at each endthat become the fringe. It’s areally easy but different wayto work a scarf, and single-stripe rows in garter stitchlook a lot more interestingthan garter stitch stripesworked vertically would.

I used three colors for myversion, but you could easilymake this a stash-bustingproject and work each rowin a different color. I’ve donethat, too, with shades of thesame color, and it was reallybeautiful.

I also made this a bit of askinny scarf, which meansyou can knit a couple ofscarves from one skein ofeach color. Or make it widerif you like.


Ombre Striped Mitts

Using different shadesof the same color issure to create a har -monious effect. Here Iused four shades ofblue, working from thecuff up and from light-est to darkest. A littlecable panel down theback of the arm makesthese a little more funto knit and to wear,and the length makesthem a great additionto an outfit with shortsleeves. When the airconditioning goes on,so do these mitts!

28

Shown with

Two-Color

Cable Hat


Welted Stripe Hat

I like to play with textures instripes to give them a dif-ferent look. In this case thered stripes are worked instockinette stitch and thegreen are in reverse stock-inette, making for a funfabric that folds in on itself.This hat may feel like ittakes longer to knit than itshould because you gainlength a little more slowlyas it folds up in the welts.But it’s a really cute lookthat will stretch to fit a variety of heads.


Swim Lesson Socks

These simple ribbed sockshave a funny namebecause they have a story.While I was working on thisbook, my daughter, whowas four at the time, wastaking swim lessons for acouple of weeks. I needed areally easy pattern I couldknit poolside, and becauseit was summer these shortsocks were the result.

The ribbed leg meansthey’ll fit a range of sizes,and I like the combinationof a solid color and a mot-tled one to add a littlemore interest. Just for fun Idid a short row heel onthese, but feel free to worka more standard heel flapand gusset (see Self-Striping Knee Highs onpage 15 or Boxy StripeSocks on page 51 forinstructions) if you’d rather.

34

Shown with

Diamond Circular

Yoke Sweater


Color-Block StripedRaglan Sweater

I knew I wanted to include araglan sweater in this col-lection because it’s such aclassic shape, and it’s prettyfun to knit, too. Addingstripes after the raglanshaping is done makes it alittle more interesting toknit the body, but makesure you end the roundunder an arm so the chang-ing of colors isn’t so notice-able.

I worked my sleeves inthe solid blue color, butyou may wish to work themin stripes as well. If that’sthe case, pick up an extraskein of each stripe color,just in case.


Brick Stitch Scarf

One of my all-time favoriteslip-stitch patterns is BrickStitch. It’s such a simplerepeat you’ll have it memo-rized in no time, but it’sreally dramatic in brightcolors like I used here. Icouldn’t decide which colorI liked best as the “brick”and which as the “mortar,”so I switched halfwaythrough. This makes for afun lesson in color domi-nance, but you can do it allone way if you’d rather.


Chain Stripe Hat

As soon as I started thinkingabout including slip-stitchknitting in this book, I knewI wanted to do a patternwith chain stripes. This boldpattern is usually workedas shown, with three colors,but you could also makethis a stash-busting projectby working each “chain” ina different color.

Either way, this is an easypattern to master and agreat illustration of thepower of slip stitches.

This combination of col-ors reminds me of a sunnyday in summer, but chooseany three (or more) colorsyou like for a striking hat allyour own.

Shown with Sunburst

Horizontal Stripe

Scarf


Lattice Mitts

I love this sweet pattern andthese cute little mitts, per-fect for a garden party orwhenever you need tokeep your hands warm.They leave your fingers freebut cover your thumbnicely, providing a nice bal-ance between mobility andwarmth.

I chose this pattern toillustrate the color principleof working with two shadesof the same color. Use alighter and darker versionof whatever color you liketo make mitts you’ll love towear.

These mitts are identicalso you can wear either oneon either hand.

48


Boxy Stripe Socks

This slip-stitch pattern issomething I came up withwhile playing around withother patterns, but I’m sureI didn’t invent it. This is areally good first slip-stitchproject because you’re onlyslipping stitches on tworounds of the repeat; therest is just stripes.

I like the subtlety of thispattern in two colors thatare close to each other onthe color wheel, but youcould do it with comple-mentary colors or evenblack or brown plus abright color for a com-pletely different look.


Slip-Stitch Tweed Top

Ihave to say, I really love thissweater. The tweed patternhas sort of a houndstoothlook and it’s really easy toknit.

You could use one colorfor the “stripes” or choosethree related colors as I did.I love the way the pinkswork with the green back-ground color and make thegreen look a little differentdepending on which pinkis near it. That’s a greatcolor lesson right there!

This sweater is meant tofit a little more snugly thansome of the other gar-ments in this book, but feelfree to work a size up ifyou’d rather have a littlemore room.

54


Bluebird Cowl

This cowl is an easy combina-tion of stripes and strandedcolorwork that uses lots ofdifferent colors to make abig statement on a smallscale. This is not a strictly traditional Fair Isle style pattern, because the floatsbetween colors in the blue-bird section can get quitelong. Every few stitches,catch the non-working yarnbehind the working yarn sothe floats don’t get toounwieldy.

The yarn I chose, Color byKristin, is designed by colorpro Kristin Nicholas, and allof the colors work really welltogether, so you can pick anycolors you like to make yourdesigns. I particularly likethe orange as a backgroundcolor playing against thecool blue and green of thepatterns, and the bright pur-ple is a lot of fun, too.

To change up this cowl, itis easy to substitute bands ofany sort of pattern you liketo make a colorful and cozycowl perfect for winterweather.

62


Two-Color Cable Hat

Working a simple cable intwo colors looks a lot morecomplex than it is. You sim-ply work one part of thecable in one color and therest in the other, just aswith any other strandedknitting project. Alternat-ing stitches of each colorfill in the spaces betweenthe cables, making this aneasy, quick, and colorfulproject.

Work it in team colorsand you’ll be warm forevery game, or choose yourtwo favorite colors for thisfunky warmer.

66


Checkerboard Mittens

Alot of knitting projectsuse bold colors, but it’salso fun to combine onegreat color with a basic,go-with-almost-any-thing color like white orblack. In this case I wentwith a classic combina-tion of red and black foran easy-to-knit pair ofmittens reminiscent of acheckerboard. This proj-ect is a great introduc-tion to stranded knittingbecause you don’t haveto follow a chart or reallyeven think much aboutwhat you’re doing. I alsolove the alternatingcolor thumbs, which arereally cute and practicalfrom a knitting stand-point, keeping the yarnmoving around withoutlong floats.


Wear Your Heart on Your Socks

Hearts are a classic graphic pattern, and I knew I wanted to include somehearts in this book. These socks are fun to knit, and I like that the yarn Iused isn’t completely solid so there’s some variation in color throughout.

I’m a big fan of gray with a bright color, but you can use any neutral(and, indeed, any color for the hearts) that you like to suit your style.

These socks are worked from the top down with a short-row heel andwith patterning all over except on the cuff, heel, and toe. This makes thesocks super warm and cozy, and also helps them stay up.

72


Diamond Circular Yoke Sweater

The circular yoke sweater isa classic from Iceland, and Imade mine in Icelandicwool, which makes for anextra warm and cozysweater. The increasinglylarger diamond motifs fitnicely around the yoke,where increases areworked over just a fewrounds (in contrast to theraglan design, whereincreases are made everyother round). For a moredramatic look, use a non-neutral color for the back-ground. Maybe red or blue?

This sweater just begs tobe worn on the coldestdays of winter, playing inthe snow with the kids oron a ski trip. Meant to beworn with layers under-neath, the size is roomy.Check the finished meas-urements and considerhow much ease you wantwhen choosing your size. Iknow I’m going to get a lotof use out of mine, becauseI’m always cold!


Superstar Scarf

Intarsia works best whenyou use a nice, simple,graphic image, like this star.It makes a big impact with-out being difficult to knit.

The yarn I used, Mal-abrigo Worsted, is super-soft and great to work with.You will love it while youare knitting and you willlove it while you are wear-ing it. This scarf is sure tobecome a go-to scarf inyour collection. It’s alsoperfect for men or women,so keep this one in mindfor gift knitting. Work it inrather neutral colors like Idid, go bold with school orsports team colors, or tryblack and hot pink or anyother color combinationthat suits your fancy.


ArgyleStyle Hat

When I first thought aboutthe projects for this book,I wanted to make my intar-sia socks argyle becausethat’s such a classic design.But then I realized thatmaybe it was a little tooclassic and that an argyle-style hat, complete with abold diamond and diago-nal lines worked in dupli-cate stitch, would be a lotmore fun.

This hat is slightlyslouchy, perfect for peoplewith a lot of hair or whojust love the slouchy style.

84


Reindeer Games Mittens

Intarsia, perhaps more thanany other form of colorwork,provides lots of options forbringing whimsy into yourknitting. It makes your knit-ting into a blank canvasonto which you can knitanything you can dream up.

I wanted these mittens tolook like winter, and I alsowanted to give a nod to thegreat knitting traditions ofCanada and northernEurope, so I stitched a rein-deer on the backs of themitts.

These mittens are sure tobrighten your day, and theyare very easy to knit. They’realso a really quick projectthanks to thicker yarn (I knitthese in a weekend).

I love the reindeer in asomewhat non-traditionalcolor, but go ahead and useclassic browns, whites, andgrays if you’d rather. Or gowith red and green for holi-day mitts.


Polka DotSocks

Once I decided I didn’t wantto make my socks with anargyle design, I had tocome up with somethingelse, and I finally settled onpolka dots. I also decidedto only put the dots on theleg of the sock so that Icould work the heel andthe join in the round forthe foot, meaning therewould not be an uncom-fortable seam in the shoe.

I worked the foot in plaingreen, but an interestingalternative that would stillnot cause a seam would beto work the foot in stripes.Now those would be someeye-catching socks!

I love the play of the coolsilvery gray against thebright green, but just aboutany color combination youlike would be great in thesefunky socks.

90


Flower Doodle Vest

Iam a big doodler. I alwayshave been. I love writtenlists and I write three pageslonghand in a notebookevery day, and I often doo-dle a little when I’m think-ing about what I want towrite or what I need to do.Common among my doo-dles are flowers. So com-mon, in fact, that mydaughter has been knownto take my notebook anddraw a flower in the marginfor me if I haven’t alreadydone so.

These doodles are repre-sented in the two differentflowers on this roomy vest.It’s a great item to wearwhen you need a littlewarmth but don’t want afull sweater. Try wearing itbelted or closed with ashawl pin if you don’t wantit open all the time.

I picked springtime col-ors for my vest, but choosesome of your favorites for aproject that’s fun to knitand lovely to wear.


Visual Index

Super-Bulky Rainbow Scarf

6Eyelet Beret

9Mock Cable Gloves

12

Self-Striping Knee Highs

15Color Belt Sweater

19Sunburst Horizontal Stripe Scarf

25

Ombre Striped Mitts

28Welted Stripe Hat

31Swim Lesson Socks

34


Color-Block Striped Raglan Sweater

37Brick Stitch Scarf

43Chain Stripe Hat

45

Lattice Mitts

48Boxy Stripe Socks

51Slip-Stitch Tweed Top

54

Bluebirds Cowl

62Two-Color Cable Hat

66Checkerboard Mittens

69


Visual Index

Wear Your Heart on Your Socks

72Diamond Circular Yoke Sweater

75Superstar Scarf

81

Argyle Style Hat

84Reindeer Games Mittens

87Polka Dot Socks

90

Flower Doodle Vest

93

continued


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CRAFTS/Knitting

Ready to add some pizzazz to your knitting?

Try adding a vibrant color or two!

Knitting expert, designer, and author Sarah E. White provides photo-illustrated instruction and insights into 5 colorwork techniques and then offers 5 original patterns to practice each skill.

✦ Learn to make the most of self-striping yarn, create your own stripes, knit slip-stitch patterns, work stranded knitting, and use intarsia for bold graphic shapes

✦ Build your skills by trying each technique from easiest to most difficult, as they are ordered in the book, or skip ahead to your favorite pattern

✦ Five patterns are provided for each technique—a scarf or cowl, hat, gloves or mittens, socks, and a

sweater—a colorful collection of 25 patterns you will turn to again and again

✦ Even if you are already comfortable with colorwork techniques, Sarah’s fun, flirty designs are sure to tempt. Who can resist the Bluebird Cowl, Mock Cable Gloves, or Lattice Mitts?

Sarah E. White is a knitwear designer, writer, and crafter living in Arkansas. She writes knitting articles for About.com and CraftGossip.com, and is the author of Quick & Easy Baby Knits and Picture Yourself Felting Your Knitting.


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