Don’t let the stranded colorwork intimidate you, it’s a great chance to practice tension and the end result is eye-catching! The pattern is well-written and straightforward, which helps novice color workers.

We recently started carrying Aalta Truth, a DK yarn in merino and alpaca so I wanted to try it on something lush. It has lovely texture and stitch definitions, plus addictive colors, a recipe for awesome fiber therapy. <3 (Note that the pattern is written for a thicker yarn, so I adjusted my needle sizes.)

Tricks needed:

1. Basics (cast on, knit, purl, bind off)
2. Ribbing (alternating knits and purls). Pattern uses a 2x2 or (2k, 2p) rib.
3. Stranded color work; working in different colors within a row.
4. Stitch marker (optional)

Working Notes
1. Pay attention (!) to note regarding needle sizes; I highly recommend most knitters use one size for the ribbing and the next larger size for the color work. Most knitters will find that they knit colorwork more tightly than non-colorwork and using a larger needle size for the color work will mean that the fabric tension for the ribbing and the colorwork match better than if they use the same needle size. Because Truth is a DK, I needed to use a smaller needle than specified (pattern calls for worsted + US 9). Truth has some alpaca in it (so, halo, fluffs bigger when blocked) plus I knit on the tight side, so I used a US 7 for the ribbing and a US 8 for the colorwork. I’m really pleased with the fabric tension matching after seeing how the ribbing fits with the color work.

1. Once you complete the ribbing, the pattern moves to charted instructions. If you’re new to charts, don’t stress (at least not yet), as the rows are a 4 stitch repeat and the charts show the color combos. The hardest part is remembering that there is a bit of a change up at the end of row/beginning of row, so make sure you use a unique stitch marker for EOR/BOR.

2. Also, I looked for clear instructions about what stitch to use during the color work but couldn’t find where it said to knit all rows. This will seem self-evident to folks who do stranded color work but I think knitters who are new to color work might not know that.

3. Stitch marker use: I always use stitch markers to help me keep track of counting while casting on large numbers of stitches. I also tend to use them when ribbing or working any repeats; this helps me identify more quickly when I’ve gotten off count. In this case, I placed a stitch marker every 20 stitches. This meant that each section of ribbing should end on 2 purls; if it didn’t, I’d messed up somewhere within that 20. It worked similarly for the color work: depending on the row, I knew which color I should have right after the marker. This kept me from getting too far down the row before realizing I’d made a mistake.

4. Tensioning in colorwork. First, I’ll remind y’all again to use a slightly larger needle on the colorwork, as recommended in the pattern; this made a big difference in the fabric tension between the ribbing and color work.

I’m still a color work novice (even experienced knitters and yarn shop owners learn new tricks!) so I used this project as a chance to practice my tensioning. One of Yarnivore’s teachers gave me the following feedback on past projects: be sure to stretch the just-worked stitches along the needle barrel every so often. As a result, I would stretch the stitches out every 5-6 stitches, as I moved along the row. At first, just after the ribbing, I was worried that I was way too tight so I started by knitting fairly loosely (for me, I’m on the tight side of average). After a while, I found a nice, even rhythm in tensioning the strands and worked stitches. The initial looser stitches weren’t too loose in comparison to my later rows. By the end, I was confident in my tensioning so am now looking for my next stranded project!

1. Yarn colors used: A) postal blue, B) magenta, C) yellow, D) brown. I chose to follow the directions exactly, meaning I used colors A, B, C, D in the specified order. If I did this project again, I would probably use the brown to work the second ribbing section (instead of magenta). I’m sure that I’m the only one that will pay attention to the colors, just a personal style thing.

2. Blocking: I chose to steam block (using a steam iron but without touching the fabric) as I was in a bit of a hurry (steamed fabric dries/sets faster than wet blocked fabric). Before blocking, the ribbing wouldn’t lay entirely flat; after blocking, the cowl looks perfectly finished!