Crazy combos!
Can you use handspun, self-striping yarns, marled, and speckle or multicolour yarns in colourwork? How about holding 2 lighter weight yarns together to create your own marled effect?
There are some yarn types that are a bit WACKY… but can still be really effective for colourwork.
Are you ready to get more experimental with colourwork? Alexa and I can point you towards the right resources, answer your questions, and keep the inspiration flowing – Get our excellent email updates.
This post is the third in our 5-part Week Of Colour! Check out the other posts too:
Using hand spun yarn in stranded colourwork
When using ‘crazy’ colourful yarns for colourwork, we would argue that in each case the key is making sure you have really strong contrast. That’s why we suggest pairing a wacky yarn with a solid or kettle-dyed yarn.
Wednesday’s hat is made from the Anthology pattern in Baah Yarns Sonoma in ‘night sky’ as the background colour with Sweatermaker Yarns Mac (hand spun) in a pale blue + rainbow as the foreground colour.
This colourwork chart is a 4-stitch repeat, and will fit evenly on the swatch hat or cowl pattern included with the Strange Brew sweater recipe.
This hat is a perfectly lovely hat, but in all honesty, it is also just a swatch! Immediately after completing it, I was overwhelmed by ideas about how I could adjust and improve the stitch pattern. Below are my thoughts for how I might adjust the pattern for a more interesting motif which takes the great aspects of the original and expands upon them. This might be the beginning of my Strange Brew Knitalong design…
what if I love my speckles!?
Alexa made a sweet hat for Hunter using Rainbow Heirloom Sweater in ‘princess rockstar’ (leftovers from this sweater), with Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK in ‘fly’ (leftovers from this sweater).
The details:
For Hunter’s hat (pictured below), I used the Anthology pattern. My semi solid as the main colour and the speckle as the contrast. I worked Chart A 4 times, Chart B 3 times, and Chart C 3 times. I worked the decreases in the speckle. I topped it with a confetti pompom using both colours.
self striping yarns in colourwork
There are a lot of colourwork knitters who pair a self-striping yarn with a solid when working colourwork. The blending is automatic, and so there are far less ends to weave in – always a bonus!
While this isn’t stranded colourwork (it’s a slip-stitch pattern), we made a LOT of Bumble hats and sweaters using a solid colour yarn paired with a self-striping yarn. These examples give you a sense of the effect you could also achieve with stranded colourwork patterns.
I find these ‘wacky’ yarns really addictive and delicious, but sometimes quite challenging to use in a way that really highlights their beauty. So if you’re feeling adventurous, grab your wacky yarns and the Strange Brew pattern to design your own yoke sweater, or choose one of our ready-to-knit colourwork patterns.
Got Handspun?
Sometimes spinners have a difficult time finding projects to showcase their beautiful yarns! The strategy of pairing handspun with solids or commercial yarns can both highlight the special nature of the handspun, and make the precious yarn stretch a bit further! To share this idea, just click the links below to share this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, or by email.
Crazy Colour from TCK:
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November 1, 2021 @ 2:47 pm
I would like to buy the chart pattern for the wacky Wednesday hat and/or full chart you talked about in your blog. I’ve looked through your Anthology stitch pattern library and can’t seem to pick it out.
Thank you!
November 8, 2021 @ 4:22 am
Hi Julie – You don’t need to pay for it, it’s simply the first chart that’s included in this blog post (the navy blue and light blue coloured chart). If you’re having trouble using that 4-stitch repeat chart on the Anthology hat, pop us an email at tincanknits@gmail.com . ~Em
November 8, 2021 @ 12:09 pm
Thank you! I figured it out. I’m very impressed with your website. LOTS of useful information.
Julie R
October 18, 2017 @ 6:16 pm
Thank you for this fabulous series. I’ve never tried colourwork before and now I feel inspired to try it!
Last week, when I first saw your picture about colour choices (the image featuring the three red toned yarns wrapped around a piece of card) I immediately wondered about how to combine yarns with different textures and different twist types like crepes, plied, woolly etc in colourwork. Your examples suggest that anything goes – which is great for a beginner like me to just dive in and give it a try with whatever is in my stash.
Can you please share the name of the software you use to draw your colourwork grid patterns? I’d love to try this myself and I’m likely to make a right mess of it using graph paper and colour pencils. Thank you!
October 18, 2017 @ 2:23 pm
You are incredibly generous with your pattern information!
Thank you!
October 18, 2017 @ 8:52 am
What a very interesting and useful post! Thank you. I spin and do sometimes need inspiration for using precious skeins.