Stranded Colorwork: Parallel and Rotating Floats // Technique Tuesday

This is the second video in a series on stranded colorwork. This video explains how the way you float the strands of stranded colorwork affects the result of the pattern on the right side of the work. Two methods are discussed: parallel floats and rotating floats.

To jump right to a specific point in the video, click on the adjacent timestamped link:
Introduction 0:00
Parallel floats: 0:47
How to knit parallel floats: 3:45
Rotating floats: 5:47
How to knit rotating floats: 6:59
Dealing with the twisted strands: 9:09
Comparing parallel floats to rotating floats: 11:02
How to check for tension issues: 12:54
Which way is better? Parallel or rotated? 13:51
Keep track of your dominant yarn in parallel floats: 18:55

[sandrachilds]

I can not express in words the gratitude I have for the time and effort you give to your fellow knitters. This tutorial went above and beyond.

[pialindeg]

I am danish and a natural continental knitter. I work with the two strands in my left hand. The color nearest me is going over my forefinger and the other goes over 2 fingers (forefinger and the long one) and both strands are going around my littlefinger to control tension. Its quick to knit in that way and you hardly haven't any problems with dominance.
Thank you for taking up this topic - its nice to be able to do it more ways as each pattern can demand you switch your method.

[joan]

Up until now, my strategy has been to pick a color and be consistent with which hand I hold it in. This tutorial will help me take it to the next level!

[anneyoungman]

Roxanne your videos are really well explained, lovely to listen to and very informative. Thank you .

[rosinagreenwell]

Excellent tutorial thank you. I have watched this twice to make sure I understand fully. I watch on the tv but have to use my phone to make comments! I feel inspired now. A great big thank you from me!

[clappcats]

The most helpful video I've seen that explains dominance in stranded colorwork.

[carolentin]

Thanks so much for answering questions I've had for years about stranded colorwork, especially the rotating floats! While I had noticed that some garments had angled floats, I never found anything that explained how it was done, or even what it was named, so I've just kept on with the parallel floats. Can't wait to try the rotating style! I do find that the parallel float strategy is great when I have one yarn a bit thinner than the other, so I use it as the dominant strand to compensate. I also notice that, over time, with well-used multicolored mittens, you can't tell which was the dominant color . If I have a student who prefers the two handed method, I teach them "Right Recedes, Left Leaps Forward, " to help them remember how the dominance will play out. I truly appreciate the extra effort you expend to make the sample swatches for teaching purposes. The sign of a dedicated teacher who knows a sample is worth a thousand words! This is a superbly produced lesson!

[mitz]

Wow, I have been knitting for 40+ years. I had no idea about how the stitches chande depending on how you hold the yarn!
Thankyou, very well explained

[tutleymutley]

Oh this helped explain a LOT! I use parallel floats in my fairisle, and have generally very even tension in my knitting. I had seen Arne and Carlos' argument re colour dominance, asserting there's no such thing - but had knit several swatches demonstrating it. I now understand why both arguments are correct and that it is a structural thing. THANKYOU SO MUCH! (I do love fitting another piece into the jigsaw).

[sohcahtoa]

You solved my problem/mistake with my first Fair Isle hat! I noticed a stripe effect with my background color in one row of my hat. I carried the white below for most of the hat, however there is one spot where I carried the green below and oh my does it stand out! Just like the mittens you showed! I now know what I did wrong and will be careful not to do that again! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[mimimaitri]

That grey and red swatch comparing techniques looks amazing as a sort of pattern in its own right. I just love the texture gradation.

[bobbinsew]

Your explanation of colour dominance is the best I’ve found, thank you for explaining so clearly what happens and why. If i have the WHY as well as the HOW I find a technique is so much easier to understand and apply to my own work. Great videos, glad I found you!

[kbenesch]

I am thoroughly fascinated by your detailed excellent description of approaches to colourwork. Thank you so much for your explanations with the knitted examples juxtaposed to each other. I am quite excited to try out swatches to see what works best for me in various types of patternwork. Thank you!

[songbanana]

This was so incredibly helpful. You showed very clear and helpful examples that perfectly illustrated what you were referring to. I watched your other video and could immediately knit colorwork myself! Seriously there are so many knitting tutorials where the sound quality is bad or they use black and you can’t see the stitches or they can only explain their unique way of holding the yarn—you can show throwing and picking! One of the best tutorial series on YT, thank you so much.

[Reuben-]

You have so many wonderful videos!

I'm working on a three color parallel stranded beanie. This beanie is mainly a swatch because I wanted to see what the three colors looked like together in a motif from another pattern (a sweater), plus color work is a really fun way to look at knit stitches.

Because I learned to knit using the "throwing" method I don't hold the yarn. I pick up, knit, drop, and repeat. It's pretty tedious but it's still a fun process to work with. What I've done with my three colors I assigned them a dominance order; green, brown, and cream, in that order. I've normally knit with a tight tension, but in another fit of tediousness I stop every few stitches and massage pluck and tease what I've completed to try and keep the tension from bunching up. And think calm and zen thoughts.

It's great fun all the same and your video's have helped me a lot in so many ways! Thank you!

[spiderlaurence]

I’ve been trying to find a video that explains this for ages!! Only recently started knitting a fair isle jumper and living in Scotland means that everyone talks about dominance. But I saw a video with Arne and Carlos and they said dominance was not something that appeared in their knitting and I could not find an explicit explanation of why this would be. I now understand why!! Thank you

[pamorlich]

I can't thank you enough for this video on yarn dominance. The Arne and Carlos video really raised my blood pressure a bit, LOL. You explain it perfectly and have evidence to back up your explanation! I have shared this video several times in online discussions on dominance where many claim it is just a tension issue. So there!!!

[jacquelinesalem]

This is incredibly valuable! Not enough words. Thank you for all the work involved in putting this series together.

[iunderscoream]

Thank you for your thorough explanation! Many knitters will say that the yarn on the left will be dominant, but I hold both yarns in my right hand and drop/pick up one at a time. The concept of a strand going above or below the other makes total sense to me! I'm looking forward to your next video; it's hard to find examples of catching floats with both yarns in the right hand.

[patricedragon]

What an incredibly helpful video! Thank you, Roxanne, for always taking the time to help others to understand and improve their knitting projects. I feel like a super knitter now! 💜🙂